What’s up, everyone? I’m glad you made room in your schedule to read our post this week! Last time, our topic was idioms and phrases with the word ‘room’ and we covered the very basics that you might use on your daily life such as leg room, room temperature, room service and so on.

No room to swing a cat in Parisian apartments (Photo by Timea Kadar from Pexels)

Now it’s time to dig deeper and take a look at some other idioms that are also worth exploring. Ready to take this to next level?

Do you feel like you need some breathing room or breathing space? These phrases describe a period of time, usually in between activities, when you can take a break, recover or expect another event to take place.

• The meeting was postponed to last week. So now we have some breathing room and more time to prepare our presentation.
• I’m coming back from my holidays on Sunday and I get back to work on Monday. I hate it when there’s no breathing room after a trip.

Have you ever been told to read the room? That’s when you must pay attention to your surroundings to get a feeling of people’s mood. Usually said when someone says something inappropriate or inconvenient.

• Read the room, Claire! This is no time for jokes.
• I wanted to ask for a raise at the meeting earlier today, but I read the room and realized it was probably not the best time.

The report looks fine, but I see room for improvement (Photo by Canva Studio from Pexels)

The corporate words just loves to use the phrase room for improvement as constructive criticism. It means that althought something is good (let’s say a project, a report or even a person’s performance), but it could be better.

• Jack, I can see you made a lot of progress since you started taking Spanish. But there still room for improvement, and I’m sure you can achieve that if you don’t miss so many lessons.
• Good job on the last project! There is some room for improvement, though. I need you to try to stick to the deadlines.

Has anyone ever told you to get a room? Then you have to watch out for excessive PDA! This idiom is used humorously or even ironically to address a couple whose displays of affection should be carried out in private.

• Ugh, get a room, you two! Some people are actually trying to watch the movie!
• When my boyfriend and my brother wouldn’t stop talking about videogames for over an hour, I jokingly told them to get a room.

And my favorite and by far the funniest one, no room to swing a cat. I guess it speaks for itself, but it doesn’t hurt to emphasize that this idiom is about a small, crowded or confined space.

• These Paris apartment might look charming for the outside, but the truth is they’re so small there’s barely any room to swing a cat.
• Do you seriously want to buy a piano? But there’s not even room to swing a cat in this flat!

Do you know any other idioms with the word room? Make sure to share in the comments below. Have a nice week!