Idioms

a weight off your shoulders

This page is about the idiom a weight off your shoulders

Meaning

You can say a weight is off your shoulders if you no longer have to worry about something or deal with something difficult.

For example

  • Thanks so much for agreeing to take care of Snoopy while I'm away. It's a weight off my shoulders knowing that a real dog lover will be looking after her.

  • I think it was a real weight off Cathy's shoulders when you offered to take care of the arrangements. She's got so much else to deal with at the moment.

Origin: Probably related to the fact that if someone is carrying a heavy object across their shoulders, and they put it down, it's "a weight off their shoulders".

Quick Quiz

He has a lot to do this week, so Trevor said it'd be a real weight off his shoulders if I could

a. find him more to do

b. do the reports for him

c. take his backpack off
a) find him more to do b) do the reports for him c) take his backpack off
a weight off your shoulders

Learn idioms easily with
Common English Idioms PDF ebook!

Common English Idioms

Contributor: Matt Errey