Time controls everything: your deadlines, your plans, and even how long you get to sleep. And more often than not, we all wish we had more of it. No wonder English has so many idioms to talk about it. Here are five you'll hear all the time.

In the nick of time

If you do something "in the nick of time," you do it at the very last moment, just before it's too late. The phrase comes from an old meaning of "nick": a small notch or mark, like the ones people once cut into sticks to keep track of time.

Football players collide in a pile at the goal line.

We got to the gate in the nick of time. They were about to close it.
The firefighters arrived in the nick of time to save the house.
I grabbed the last ticket in the nick of time.

Burn the midnight oil

When you stay up late working or studying, you're "burning the midnight oil." The phrase comes from the days of oil lamps, when working late meant burning more oil.

I've been burning the midnight oil all week to finish this report.
We had to burn the midnight oil to get everything ready for the wedding.
She's burning the midnight oil before her final exams.

Against the clock

When time is running out and the pressure is on, you're working "against the clock." You'll often hear it as "racing against the clock."

The team is working against the clock to fix the website before the launch.
I was racing against the clock to finish my essay before midnight.
With the event only three days away, everyone's working against the clock.

Time flies

One moment you're starting something new, and the next you're wondering where all the time went. That's when we say "time flies." German speakers already have something very close: Die Zeit vergeht wie im Flug.

Time flies when you're having fun.
We've been married for ten years already? Wow, time flies!
I can't believe it's October. Time flies.

On the dot

"On the dot" means at exactly the time you said, down to the minute. It comes after the time: "at nine on the dot."

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. on the dot, so don't be late.
My alarm goes off at 6:30 on the dot every morning.
She always arrives at eight on the dot. You could set your watch by her.

A woman in a pink coat taps her wrist as if pointing to a watch.

No matter how hard we try to manage time, it keeps moving, whether we like it or not. But at least now you can keep up with it, on the language side of things anyway.

Since we're talking about time, let's not waste any more. Jump into our Daily Dose of Denglisch Docs to learn more English expressions.

Tick-tock! | 5 English idioms to talk about time