Imagine you tell your friends
how easy an exam was only to find out that you actually failed.
What would you say in this situation?
We could say that you have egg on your face,
which means that you're
totally embarrassed because you were wrong in that situation.
So today you'll learn 24 useful kitchen and food expressions
that you can actually use in your daily life.
Plus, we've included a little test to help you understand
and remember these expressions.
Also, there's free downloadable PDF document
that you can access at the end of the lesson.
But before we get to that,
if you want to learn fun, convenient ways to advance your English then be sure
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Awesome. Now let's get to it.
So the first one we're going to look at is a whisk.
So a whisk is the sort of balloon shaped utensil I have right here.
And we usually use this to beat eggs or cream
to increase the volume of the mixture.
And another meaning of whisk is to suddenly or quickly
take someone or something from one place to another.
Okay.
So this right here is a sieve.
We usually use it when we are straightening ingredients or, like,
trying to get big particles out of a mixture or like flour.
When you're baking, you want to remove any clumps
or lumps in the flour, so you would hit it against your hand like that.
And it's pretty cool for also straightening liquids.
If there's like particles in it, the sieve will help to catch
those bigger particles and allow the smaller ones through.
So a really cool expression with the word sieve
to have a memory like a sieve, which means to forget things easily.
So here we have a frying pan and a nice expression
that you could use related to a frying pan is out of the frying pan
and into the fire, which means to go from a bad situation to a worse situation.
So this next one is quite common, and you've probably heard it in movies
and TV series.
And it is to see the glass half empty
or half full. So here we have
a great demonstration of a glass half empty and half full.
And what this expression needs is to see, for example,
if the glass is half empty,
it means that you're quite a pessimistic person and you're seeing situations
as you know, you're looking at the worst parts of situations.
You're basically seeing the situation as more negative than positive.
But if you see the glass half full you're quite optimistic,
which means that you always look on the bright side of life
or you always focus on the positive side instead of the negative side
of the situation.
So some great examples of this is...
So over here
we have a platter with fruit in it today,
and we would use the expression to hand something
or give something to someone on a silver platter to mean
that you are making it easy for them to succeed or for them to get something.
So if you give someone something on a silver platter
you're giving it to them
without them needing to try, without them needing to work hard.
Over here we have a fork.
And a great expression with this word is to fork something out,
which means to give something or pay someone money with a bit of hesitation.
So you might have noticed that I'm wearing an apron.
So this is called an apron.
And we have another great expression using the word apron,
and that is to cut the apron strings.
And it's usually literally these strings over here to cut those strings.
So when someone is tied to someone else's apron strings, you're saying that the
person is being influenced or controlled quite a lot, quite greatly by that person.
So when we cut those apron strings, we are saying that there is no longer that
control or that influence in that relationship between those two people.
So a great example would be to say...
So over here, we have a greater and as you can see,
we would usually use this to grate cheese,
which is you know, always delicious on some toast and other foods.
But a nice expression you could use is to say that someone grates you,
which means that that person annoys you or they sort of
get on your nerves in some way.
So over here we have cookie cutters.
And as you know, we use these to cut shapes into the dough
before we bake cookies.
So we would press them into the dough like that.
So an example of this would be to say a cookie cutter person or thing
which means that this thing or person lacks originality or distinction.
Speaking of cookies, over here, we have a cookie jar
and a nice expression using the word cookie jar
is if you catch someone with their hand in the jaw,
it usually means that they are caught in the act of doing something
that they shouldn't be doing similar to being caught red handed.
So over here we have the scoop,
and scoop is an object that we would use for dishing ice cream.
When you're dishing your ice cream, you could use a scoop
because it's so much easier to use than a spoon, for example.
And we have a nice expression using the word scoop,
which is to get information to get scoop
and this is usually used by journalists.
So when journalists get the scoop, they're getting the latest,
most interesting information before anyone else does.
And similar to
a scoop, we have the spoon and a great expression using the word
spoon is to say that someone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
And if you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth,
this is usually said with a bit of resentment or disapproval.
And it means that you are born into a privileged or rich family.
So you grew up quite privileged or rich.
In other words, this person is someone that never needed
to worry about, you know, lacking anything.
They always had what they needed So a great example of
this would be to say...
Now, it's time for a quick quiz.
Are you ready?
So over here we have some salt.
And a great expression you could use
relate to the salt is to rub salt into someone's wounds,
which means to really make them feel bad or guilty
or make them feel even worse than they already do about something.
Okay, so this next one is related to corn.
And the expression that we'll use related to it is to be corny.
Something is corny or someone is corny.
They are too sentimental, too predictable, and really not original at all.
You could also refer to someone as corny meaning that
a person tends to make really sort of awkward
and uncomfortable kinds of jokes, or they say really awkward things.
In other words, they are pretty unoriginal,
and you can sort of predict the kind of things that they would say
Similar to corny would be cheesy.
They mean basically the same thing.
So someone who is cheesy is also kind of awkward.
And unoriginal and they tend to make jokes.
Just aren't that funny or corny or cheesy
joke is one that's sort of similar to a dad joke.
Like you could have predicted the outcome or it's just not that funny.
It's kind of like, Oh, cringe.
This would be corny or cheesy because it's sort of like something
that everyone would say.
It's not very original to say that you're not motivated by money.
Right?
So right here we have whipped cream
and whipped cream is really delicious,
as you know, on desserts and in drinks.
But a great expression that you can use related to cream
is the cream of a particular industry or particular area.
For example, if I say the cream of the movie industry
or the cream of the architecture industry, it would mean that these people
are the best of that particular group or in that particular industry.
So here we have slices of beef,
which here in South Africa, we would say that this is biltong.
We call it biltong.
I'm not sure if it has a different name in other countries,
but it's basically sliced, spiced, dried beef.
And here we have shaved beef, which is basically deli meat.
It's meat that you would use on your sandwich.
So this next expression that we're going to look at is to have beef with someone.
So if you have beef with someone, you have a grudge or a disagreement
with that person.
And it's not very common to use it in formal situations.
But it is very colloquial.
It's very informal
to talk about a grudge or disagreement that you're having with someone.
So right now we're going to look at this fruit right here, which is a lemon.
And if you were to refer to something
as lemon, it would be something that you bought
and then found out that it actually has a lot of problems.
It's not working the way it should.
Now, right here,
we have bread and butter, right.
So if we say that something is your bread
and butter, we're saying that it is your main source of income.
So over here we have milk.
And of course, you know what milk is.
But there are quite a few expressions using the word milk.
And a nice one that you could use is to say
there is no use crying over spilled milk.
So when something spills
it obviously was an accident, it didn't happen on purpose.
You didn't intend for it to spill usually.
So if you cry over spilled milk, you are, you know, feeling regretful or feeling
sorry for yourself because of a mistake or something that went wrong.
So you could use in a sentence such as...
So over here we have bananas.
And if you go bananas, you're going crazy or you're acting quite silly
or even you've actually could be quite mad about something, so bananas. Hmm.
It would definitely depend on the context.
So if you go bananas, you could just be acting
silly, acting crazy, or you could just be really angry.
So now I'm feeling bananas about the situation.
So the opposite of going bananas would be to be
as cool as a cucumber.
And this basically means to be really calm, to be chilled,
to just, you know, relax as a cucumber.
And you usually use this in a situation where things are quite chaotic
and you're as cool as a cucumber.
So you could say, for example...
So right here, I have a pie.
A nice expression related to pie is to eat humble pie,
which means that you would behave
in a way that shows other people
that you were wrong or you were mistaken about something.
So a nice example of eating humble pie would be to say
So the last expression that we're going to look at today is to be toast.
And that means to be in serious trouble or to be defeated or ruined.
All right, guys.
Now it's time for the final quiz.
So, how did you do on the quiz? Now it's your turn.
Why not be as cool as a cucumber and practice writing a few sentences
using the expressions we've covered in today's lesson. Share them
down in the comments.
We look forward to reading them.
Also, we've got a treat for you simply click on the link
in the description to receive the PDF document for today's lesson.
I hope you enjoyed today's lesson as much as I did, and if you would like
to keep learning new vocabulary with us, then be sure to watch this lesson next