Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.  Ephesians 4:29

Idioms, colloquialisms, and slang are common in our speech and rather confusing for those trying to learn a language.  I am guilty of using all three. Having lived in or traveled frequently to different parts of the country, it is possible for me to mix phrases from various regions in the same sentence…adding to the confusion.  This became quite evident when I worked with a young woman from South America.  She had just immigrated to the United States and while her command of English was good, she had not yet had much exposure to the variety of idioms, colloquialisms, etc.  When combined with accents and cultural differences, conversations between us were sometimes laborious.  I would later learn that for the first two years, she thought I was being critical when I was trying to reassure her because of the different views our respective cultures had on the use of a certain phrase.  Fortunately, she was living with an older couple who regularly reminded her that in the U.S., the phrase was a form of encouragement.  I still felt awful about the miscommunication and certainly would have chosen different words had I known of the stress it was causing her.  Therein lies one of the issues with speech: miscommunication.  As ambassadors for Christ we’re called to guard our speech and “unwholesome words” can take a variety of forms.  There are many idioms used regularly in our culture.