hello I'm Emma from English and in this
video I'm going to show you how to use
some of my favorite English body idioms
English idioms probably drive you crazy
idioms are really common expressions and
together the meaning of these
expressions is different than the
individual meaning of each words so in
this example we're not talking about a
crazy driver if someone or something is
driving you crazy they're really
annoying together the words have a
different meaning than individually of
course there are hundreds and hundreds
of English idioms and actually you might
recognize some of them because they
might be similar to expressions and
idioms in your own language in English
there are really commonly used idioms
and there are some that are more obscure
or less commonly used so in this video
I'm going to be focusing on a few that
are very commonly used now idioms are
really creative imaginative and fun ways
to use language if you're studying for
your IELTS or your TOEFL exam or
generally you just want to impress
someone with your English then learn to
use a few idioms anyway
let's get started remember that I've
chosen these idioms because they all are
to do with the human body somehow pain
in the neck
now this idiom is similar to the first
one we spoke about drive you crazy so if
something or someone is a pain in the
neck they're really annoying
they said that my car was going to be at
the mechanics for over a week it's such
a pain in the
neck or I hope he doesn't bring Peter he
can be a real pain in the neck stop it
you're being a real pain in the neck now
you can also use pain in the butt or
pain in the ass and so these two options
are a little more crude a little ruder
you probably wouldn't well you
definitely wouldn't use those with your
boss or someone you just met but you
know with your friends or when you're
being quite casual you can say pain in
the butt or pain in the ass
same meaning so the next one play it by
ear so this is when you don't have a
plan and you deliberately you choose not
to have a plan you want to just make it
up as you go be a bit flexible do
whatever you feel like at the time for
example we don't really have a plan for
tonight we're just going to play it by
ear you know if you're hungry you'll eat
if you want to dance your dance if you
want to go for a walk you'll go for a
walk if you decide you want to go to the
movies you go to the movies you just
make it up and you do whatever you feel
like at the time you're playing it by
ear
here's another we don't know what the
weather is going to be like this weekend
for the camping trip so we might have to
play it by ear it's kind of like wait
and see and we'll make up our plan
closer to the time I'm sure you've heard
of this one too cost an arm and a leg so
then something is really expensive if it
costs an arm and a leg it's expensive
taking a family of five on a trip to
Fiji it's going to cost an arm and a leg
I love their new kitchen but it must
have cost them an arm and a leg I want
my kids to have the best education
possible but the school fees are costing
an arm
Legg I just don't know if it's worth it
to get something off your chest so if
you have a problem or something's
bothering you and you need to tell
someone about it then you're going to
get it off your chest
thanks for listening to me complain
about my boss I just needed to get it
off my chest
he's been frustrated about this for
months he just needs to talk to him
about it and get it off his chest ok I
need to get something off my chest
I've been waiting to tell you about it
for weeks to keep an eye on something to
keep an eye on something it means to
take care of something or to watch over
something and protect it I'll keep an
eye on dinner while you're on the phone
I'll watch dinner I'll make sure that it
doesn't burn while you're on the phone
Oh
Sara said she'd keep an eye on the kids
while we go out another one I'm all ears
I'm all ears
it means that you're fully listening and
you're paying attention give me just a
minute to finish this then I'll be all
ears
well if you've got a better idea then
I'm all ears if you think that you've
got a better idea then tell me about it
I'm listening have you ever gotten cold
feet do you have cold feet so this is an
idiom that you use when you're feeling
really nervous right before an important
event or a big event so if you decided
you wanted to go skydiving and you put
all of the gear on the special clothing
and you fly up into the sky in the plane
and suddenly you look down and you
realize how far away the ground is and
you get cold feet you get really nervous
and you think maybe I don't want to do
this after all that's a good example of
getting cold feet he was so nervous
before his presentation I thought he was
going to get cold feet so how did it go
or did you get cold feet now this last
one I know you're going to love and
appreciate if something goes over your
head it means you don't get it
you missed the meaning you haven't quite
understood what's happening now when
you're learning a new language this
happens all the time someone says
something to you and you're not quite
sure what it means it's gone over your
head it didn't go into your head so that
you understood it it went over your head
now this is a really awesome one for you
to try out when you're in an English
conversation and somebody says something
that you don't quite understand you're
not sure about the meaning you can say
to them sorry
that would straight over my head can you
say it again
you
well that's it for this lesson I hope
that you've learned a few new English
idioms that you can try out soon make
sure that you subscribe to my youtube
channel so that you find out when I
release new lessons there are plenty of
other video lessons that are already on
my youtube channel so check them out you
can also find me on Facebook or come and
check out my website at em in gleesh com
where you can learn a bit more about my
online English courses bye for now