ALT A storybook-style illustration of a woman in a pink cardigan clutching her face in horror in a doorway, with a tiny kitten peeking from her pocket, as two children in muddy raincoats and wellies and a muddy spaniel stand on a new cream carpet covered in paw prints and boot prints. A text box reads 'idiom: have kittens' and "Mum's having kittens about the new carpet!", with 'meaning: to be extremely worried, upset or angry.'

ALT A vintage-style painting of three smiling children in Halloween costumes, two in pointed black witch hats and dark outfits and a blonde girl with a hair bow holding a small carved pumpkin, with a boy on the right carrying a pumpkin bucket, against a plain beige background. Text reads 'dress up', 'phrasal verb', 'to put on special clothes to look like someone or something else' and 'We're dressing up as witches this year!'

ALT An illustration of a startled man in a brown cardigan leaping out of a green armchair, with his newspaper and a teacup flying through the air, while a smiling child in a white sheet ghost costume peeks out from behind the chair and a terrier hides under the coffee table in a cosy living room. A text box reads ‘idiom: jump out of your skin’ and ‘You made me jump out of my skin!’

ALT An illustration of a nervous man in a brown tweed coat clutching a paper bag and glancing sideways at a tall, grinning shopkeeper leaning over a wooden counter in an old-fashioned shop, with a black cat sitting on the counter staring at the customer, shelves of tins and jars of sweets behind them. A text box reads ‘idiom: give someone the creeps’ and ‘That shopkeeper gives me the creeps.’

ALT An illustration of a British family having tea in a cosy living room, with a father in a knitted vest, a mother in a floral dress and pearls, a teenage boy in a blue jumper, a girl with a blue hair bow and a terrier on the rug, while a skeleton peeks out of the open cupboard under the stairs, between coats, wellies and a hoover, with a finger to its lips. A text box reads ‘idiom: skeleton in the cupboard’ and ‘Every family has a few skeletons in the cupboard.’

ALT A watercolour illustration of a startled man in a flat cap and red cardigan, spilling tea from a floral cup in an armchair, with a wide-eyed terrier beside him, with text reading ‘slang: gobsmacked,’ the example ‘When my lottery numbers came up, I was absolutely gobsmacked!’ and ‘meaning: so shocked that you can’t speak.’

ALT A girl with long dark hair running joyfully across a green hillside in heavy rain with her arms outstretched, seen from behind, with text reading ‘idiom: right as rain,’ the example ‘I’m feeling right as rain again after 3 weeks on my sickbed!’ and ‘meaning: feeling fit and healthy’.

ALT A woman with short red hair holding one hand to her face in embarrassment, with a laptop open on her knees, against a pale blue wall, with text reading ‘plonker,’ ‘meaning: a silly or foolish person,’ and the example ‘I just replied to everyone at work. I’m such a plonker!’

ALT A hand-drawn illustration of a large grey spanner jammed into a set of pulleys and belts, with yellow sparks and stars bursting around it, with text reading ‘idiom: throw a spanner in the works,’ the example ‘We should be able to complete our project this week, as long as nobody throws a spanner in the works!’ and ‘meaning: to do something that prevents a plan from succeeding.

ALT A white cup and saucer seen from above on a black background, with a lightning bolt flashing in the dark liquid, with text reading ‘idiom: storm in a teacup,’ the example ‘I’m not worried about the latest health scare. It’s just a storm in a teacup!’ and ‘meaning: a small event that has been exaggerated out of proportion.’

ALT Black silhouettes of three monkeys swinging from leafy vines above a pile of peanuts, with text reading ‘If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys!’

ALT A red and blue linocut-style illustration of four people in business clothes holding drinks, frozen inside blocks of ice, while a smiling man in a red jumper bursts out of the ice in the centre holding a mallet, with text overlay reading 'idiom: break the ice,' the example 'Nobody was talking, so I told a joke to break the ice,' and 'meaning: help people relax and start talking.'

ALT A watercolour illustration of a black sheep wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket, standing among four white sheep in bow ties and pearl necklaces in a cosy sitting room, with text overlay reading 'idiom: the black sheep of the family,' the example 'Everyone in my family is a lawyer, so as an artist, I'm the black sheep!' and 'meaning: the person a family or group disapproves of.'