if someone accuses you of burying your head in the sand or if they ask to pick your brain would you
know what they're talking about keep your chin up do you need to get something off your chest
all of these expressions are so common in day-to-day english in fact they're idiomatic
expressions all relating to parts of the body in today's lesson i'm going to give you 25 of
the most common body idioms these are really great idiomatic expressions to help you express yourself
more clearly concisely and really to broaden your language and have a bit more fun with english
so from our heads to our toes in today's lesson we are going to look at 25 idiomatic expressions
from hands arms elbows and yes even feet let's get started
now before i start with idiom number one don't forget do click that subscribe button
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with me and sabra let's get started so number one if someone says do you mind if i pick your brain
for a minute about this do you mind if i pick your brain for a minute about this or do you
mind if i pick your brain you can just keep it that simple they don't literally want to pick
your brain they are not a zombie but they simply want to get your opinion to ask your opinion about
a project an idea or anything that's going on in their lives really really not very good at
english so do you mind if i just pick your brain about this grammar question yeah sure go for it
i'm all ears wait i'm getting to that one in just a second number two off the top of my head
i think there's a supermarket that sells that product around the corner but i'm not sure
so basically when you say that something is off the top of your head it means you're giving an
answer to a question to a query but you haven't done any research or thought about it in too much
detail so for example if you were to ask me which online dictionary do i prefer probably off the top
of my head i'd suggest the cambridge dictionary that's actually one that i've used quite a few
times so when you give an answer without much research or thought but essentially you're
trying to help someone to give them an answer that they need immediately now if you have your head or
berry berry not burry bury your head in the sand then essentially you are trying to avoid something
you want to avoid thinking or dealing with a particularly unpleasant situation or problem it's
no good burying your head in the sand if we do not sort out the problems with this project then we
are going to get fired you've got to face the facts here it really looks like he's cheating
on you why are you burying your head in the sand so an expression that we use to say that basically
you need to face the truth you need to avoid you need to stop avoiding the truth manage it deal
with it don't bury your head in the sand number four if something is eye-catching eye-catching
then it catches your eye it's attractive it gets your attention sabra was wearing a particularly
eye-catching dress the other day i thought she looked lovely it's attention grabbing now if you
stick your neck out if you did it literally you'd look like this so a bit ridiculous but obviously
with idioms we don't need to be literal if you stick your neck out for someone then you're taking
a risk you're taking a risk for them in fact so you could say i really stuck my neck out for you
getting you that job interview you need to make sure that you work hard and do well in the company
so you're taking a risk if someone that you recommend to your company that you work for
gets a job interview gets the job but then doesn't work very well it could potentially reflect badly
on you you could also stick your neck out just by commenting in a meeting saying something that
could potentially be seen as controversial or conflicting with your manager's opinion
you really stuck your neck out there when you offered your opinion but i think the manager
responded quite well so to take a risk to risk incurring criticism or anger by speaking boldly
or indeed by helping somebody else by recommending someone in the example that i gave you earlier now
earlier on i did say i'm all ears i'm all ears now clearly i am not all ears i only have two you can
actually see them today how i've tied my hair up but when you say you're all ears you're saying to
someone i'm listening i'm here i'm ready to listen i want to hear everything you have to say so this
is a great idiomatic expression when you're really showing enthusiasm and willingness to
listen you're giving someone your full attention look don't worry how long it's going to take i
am all ears explain the problem to me and let's see if we can find a solution now number seven
referring to your tongue okay if something is on the tip here of your tongue or who can't pause
think if something is on the tip of your tongue it's actually referring to your memory to your
ability to remember a person's name for example oh who was that girl i met last night really lovely
wearing the yellow dress oh her name is on the tip of my tongue sally sarah sandra sandra so when
something is on the tip of your tongue it is just almost within your grasp for you to remember it
it's there but you can't quite remember it you're trying to think to remember better you are almost
able to remember you just might need a few more seconds okay we've gone from tongue to teeth ah
this one a little bit unpleasant but that kind of is the point of this idiomatic expression if you
describe a situation something you have to do as like pulling teeth okay pulling them out like a
dentist okay that's a horrible thought for most of us but if you say oh teaching that class today was
like pulling teeth it means it was particularly unpleasant and not very enjoyable it was difficult
getting my students to do their homework on time is like pulling teeth it is so difficult to do
now teeth again okay but this time not teeth but tooth if you have a sweet tooth not sweet teeth a
sweet tooth then you're referring to somebody who like me likes a lot of sugary chocolatey things
i like sugar okay i have a sweet tooth some people prefer savory say more pastries
but others that like desserts cake ice cream chocolate have a sweet tooth i bought her a
box of chocolates for a birthday and she'd finish them by the next day that girl has such a sweet
tooth i can't believe it moving down chin okay has anyone ever said to you keep your chin up
now think about this a lot of these expressions to do with the body parts kind of make sense
something is eye-catching it catches your eye if you have a sweet tooth okay you don't taste the
flavours in your teeth but you get the idea so if someone says to you chin up they are telling you
to be more positive think about how you actually physically stand when you're sad or depressed or
not feeling very positive okay so chin up means come on be stronger
be positive things will be okay it's a great idiomatic expression to try and motivate
and support someone i know you didn't pass your driving test this time but chin up just a couple
more lessons and you'll probably pass next time number 11 to give someone the cold shoulder
now this essentially means that you're cold you're ignoring them perhaps they've been rude
to you they've upset you and you're giving them the cold shoulder because you want to basically
ignore them i had a massive argument with sabra the other week so i'm giving her the cold shoulder
that'll teach her not true we never argue much when you have problems where do you feel that
you normally store them this is kind of a little bit of a psychological lesson today
when you have problems when you're worried when you're stressed where do you feel that pressure
often on your heart on your chest so when we say to get something off your chest this area
we're saying to unburden yourself to relieve your problems basically to talk to somebody and share
how you feel so your chest doesn't feel so heavy weighed down with problems or indeed frustrations
i was so stressed at work that even my boss noticed and asked if there was anything i had to
get off my chest now if you say there wasn't even any elbow room these are your elbows okay elbows
but if there's no elbow room it means it's very very crowded i went to a bar last night
and there was no room to move there was no elbow room it was crowded number 14 to put your finger
on something if you say i can't quite put my finger on it i can't quite put my finger on it
it means you can't discover the exact reason why a particular situation is the way it is or perhaps a
feeling that you have the reason why you have that feeling for example i really don't trust that new
guy at work i don't know why i can't put my finger on it when there's something wrong but you just
don't know how to explain it or the reason why you feel like that something very strange about
that guy but really i can't put my finger on it i wonder what it is number 15 to keep someone at
arm's length okay yeah arms length essentially you're keeping somebody at a healthy distance i
really don't trust that girl at work but i'm just going to keep her at arm's length until i get to
know her a little bit better essentially you don't particularly trust someone or you want to avoid
being connected with them so you keep a distance not quite the same as cold shoulder where you
ignore them completely but just keep someone at a healthy distance to keep them at arm's length
number 16 quite a simple one but one that we use so often if something costs an arm and a leg
it is very very expensive of course if you had to pay with your arm and your leg you would see that
as being quite a great significant cost to you so as an example i bought a beautiful dress the other
day for the party but my goodness did it cost an arm and a leg i will not be telling my husband
number 17 another one with arm we often refer to the police as being the long arm of the law it's
a bit weird isn't it yeah it's a weird expression but if you do hear it then at least you understand
what they're talking about tony was caught by the police for breaking covert rules during lockdown
he could not escape the long arm of the law number 18 if you're willing to give your right arm your
right arm for something now usually people are right-handed so we actually rely i'm right-handed
on our right arm more than our left okay so for example if i broke my right arm i
would find it very difficult to write neatly or even type very easily with my left hand
so if we say i would give my right arm to go on holiday right now we're saying that we are
desperate for something we would make any kind of sacrifice to get that thing or achieve that thing
i would give my right arm for a burger right now now number 19 moving on to hands in fact handy if
something is handy essentially it's useful that simple if you say that's handy there's a bus stop
just down the end of my road it's so handy to get around the town or you can describe a person as
being handy meaning they're very useful they can do lots of little odd jobs and different things
so handy means useful it's a great expression and one that we commonly use then number 20 of course
we can offer to give someone a hand just a hand not two and not literally of course but when you
offer to give someone a hand you are offering to help them oh my goodness what did you buy at
the supermarket come on let me give you a hand with those bags let me help you now number 21
if someone is an old hand an old hand at something then they are extensively experienced in that area
sally's been working in that bakery for years she's an old hand at making cakes
meaning she's got a lot of experience leila and sabra have been teaching english for over 10 years
they are definitely old hands at teaching grammar now number 22 if someone says come
on i'm just pulling your leg they're not literally pulling your leg they are joking
they are mocking they are kidding they aren't being serious perhaps you're trying to persuade
someone that something is true when really it's not come on really is that your new car
you're pulling my leg are you serious you're getting married really you're not just pulling
my leg now number 23 if you have itchy feet no you're not going to be scratching your feet
and i'm not even going to try and bend my leg up this way to show you my feet you simply are
eager to travel you want to to go somewhere to do something i can't wait to go on holiday
i have got such itchy feet at the moment i really need to get away now 24 if you are trying to find
your feet to find your feet it means that you want to become more confident or familiar in
a particularly new situation for example when you start a new job it does take a couple of weeks to
find your feet to understand your position in the company and the work you need to do
or becoming a new parent it takes quite a while to find your feet and understand how to deal with a
crying pooping hungry baby now number 25 probably one of my most favorite expressions to put your
foot in it or to put your foot in your mouth if you say i put my foot in my mouth again it's more
british english but american is more likely to be i put my foot in it didn't i it's referring
to your mouth essentially it means you've said something that you shouldn't have you've
said something by accident that upsets or perhaps embarrasses somebody i really put my foot in it i
didn't realize she was getting a divorce i didn't mean to ask about her husband i can't believe i
asked if she was pregnant when she's just put on a few pounds i really put my foot in it didn't i
so there we have it 25 super common idiomatic expressions all connected
with two parts of the body there was quite a few body parts that we covered there from
head to feet but there are many many more how many more do you know how many of these were new
to you do comment below either add a new body idiom for everybody else to learn or indeed
try using one two or even three of these ones that i have just shared remember personalizing
the language is going to help you remember these idiomatic expressions so they're not just on the
tip of your tongue that's not where you want them you want them here thanks so much for watching
i look forward to seeing you very soon with yes more idioms if that's what you want
comment below and let me know what kind of idiomatic expressions would you like to learn next