Hey! How have you been doing recently?
Hey Andrea! Yeah... I had a busy day, I'm really beat.
Oh, don't worry! I'm sure you'll win next time.
I meant I'm extremely tired. Oh yeah! Of course, I knew that.
Have you been studying English for some time and still feel like you’re stuck using the
same phrases? I’ve been there on my own language learning journey and understand
how frustrating it can be when you want to take your vocabulary to the next level but feel like
you’re not getting anywhere. Well, today’s lesson was created to help you do just that. We’ll look
at 60 Advanced English Phrases that are perfect for everyday conversations. To help you remember
them more easily, I’ve put them into 6 groups associated with different rooms in the house.
But before we get started, if you're new here and frustrated with boring methods of learning English
that just don't seem to work, you've come to the right place! Each week we create lessons like
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You might be surprised to know how many great phrases contain words related to the bedroom.
The first one we’ll look at today is:
This means to successfully deal with something or solve a problem.
Ex: I had a lot of tasks to deal with at work, but I was able to put them to bed before the weekend.
Similar to this, we have...
This one is more literal and is usually used when referring to helping someone,
typically a child, prepare for and get into bed at night.
Ex: She prefers to read after she puts the kids to bed.
If you sleep something off, especially alcohol,
you go to sleep so that you will feel better when you wake up.
Ex: After he stayed out late partying, he went to his room to sleep it off.
If you can do something in your sleep,
you can do it very easily, usually because you have done it so often.
Ex: I've done this task so many times I could do it in my sleep now.
This means to start to fall asleep, especially for a short period of time.
Ex: Yesterday, the office was so hot she nearly dozed off at her desk.
This one may sound awkward, but it’s really not. It means to make an agreement to work with a
person or group, or to be involved with them, in a way that causes other people not to trust you.
Ex: The owner of the company is obviously in bed with the supplier.
This is said to someone who must accept the unpleasant results of something they have done.
Ex: You were late for work every day this month,
so your boss gave you a final warning. You've made your bed, now lie in it.
A pipe dream is a hope or plan that you have that you know will never really happen.
Ex: Many people believe that living on Mars someday is just a pipe dream.
We use this to refer to an easy and comfortable situation
in which a person likes to live. Ex: Moving to Spain has been a bed of roses.
This means to worry about something so much that one cannot sleep.
Ex: After I failed the exam, I decided not to lose any sleep over it.
So you have the vocabulary, but in your day-to-day life,
you have few if any real opportunities to use what you're learning by speaking?
So we decided to solve this problem by creating our RealLife App.
This is the only place where anytime, anywhere you can just press a button and start practicing
your English instantly with other English speakers from around the world. You can have
fascinating conversations about your life, your passions, different cultures, or even just about
the weather if you want! This will take you from feeling like a lost and insecure English learner
to being a confident and natural English speaker. And that’s not all. You can listen to the full
interviews of all the experts you are hearing from today, and more, with a full interactive
transcript, and vocabulary definitions. Having a great teacher can be life-changing,
but I know many of you just cannot afford that and so you have to learn on your own. That's why
we've made the RealLife App a FREE resource that you can use to improve your speaking.
So download it now for free by clicking up here or the link down in the description below.
Or you can just look for RealLife English in your favorite app store.
The next group of words are linked to the idea of washing or cleaning
If you wash your hands of something that you were previously responsible for,
you intentionally stop being involved in it or connected with it in any way.
Ex: After he resigned from his job, he couldn't wait to wash his hands clean of the whole company.
If you are washed up, you are no longer successful, skilful, popular, or needed
and you have no chance of it in the future.
Ex: When she became a dancer, she feared that she’d be washed up by the time she turned 35.
If a doctor gives you a clean bill of health, they tell you that you are fit and healthy.
Ex: The doctor gave him a clean bill of health.
This describes someone with a neat and attractive appearance and style of clothing.
Ex: My sister’s fiancé is a nice, clean-cut young man.
This means to tell the truth about something secret.
Ex: He decided it was time to come clean about what he'd been doing.
If you start with a clean slate,
you do not take account of previous mistakes or failures and instead make a fresh start.
Ex: After he failed the test, he decided to start with a clean slate.
This means to do something to make yourself look cleaner or neater,
usually by washing your face and arranging your hair.
Ex: He freshened up before going out with his friends.
If you make a clean sweep of something such as games or tournaments, you win them all.
Ex: The actress made a clean sweep at the awards ceremony.
This simply means to stay out of trouble.
Ex: When he started a new job, he tried his best to keep his nose clean.
If you wipe the floor with someone, you defeat them completely in a competition or discussion.
Ex: The football team wiped the floor with the opposition.
Now let’s get into some phrases related to the word business.
If someone or something is doing something like nobody's business, they are doing it very fast,
in large amounts or to a great extent. Ex: It's been raining like nobody's business.
If you say something is business as usual,
you mean that people will continue doing what they normally do.
Ex: Less than a week after the earthquake, it was business as usual in the city.
Is something that has not yet been done, dealt with, or completed.
Ex: Before he left, he made peace with everyone he had unfinished business with.
This means to start doing what needs to be done Ex: After the introductions, the team got down to
business.
We use this to mean that you continue doing what you usually do.
Ex: The street was full of people going about their business.
This refers to behaviour that is not acceptable or is dishonest.
Ex: The teacher suspected that the children had been
up to some monkey business while she was out of the room.
This simply means, to do what needs to be done.
Ex: She is good at taking care of business, so she's been put in charge of organizing the event.
This means to scold or treat someone harshly.
Ex: The passengers will give the bus driver the business if he keeps driving so recklessly.
We use this to say that someone makes an effort to do something because they think it is important.
Ex: She makes it her business to get to know all the staff in her office.
This is the part or end of something that actually does the work or carries out the procedure.
Ex: That’s an electric drill. This is the business end of it, so point that part away from yourself.
Before you continue watching, why not pause the video and let us know if you’d
like to learn more vocabulary related to daily activities. Share in the comments
below and don't forget to add an encouraging message to the other members of the community.
Now let’s look at 10 phrases related to the cooking.
To invent a clever or dishonest story, excuse, or plan.
Ex: He had to cook up an excuse when he crashed his father’s car.
We use this when something is not planned or considered carefully enough.
Ex: He had another half-baked scheme that wasn't going to work.
This means to have a medical operation or surgery.
Ex: He needed to go under the knife after he broke his leg.
If you say or do something in the heat of the moment,
you say or do it without thinking because you are very angry or excited.
Ex: She was angry and shared her feelings in the heat of the moment.
This happens when you are forced to stop working because you have become
ill or very tired from working too hard.
Ex: After working every day for a year, she burnt herself out.
This means to make someone very angry.
Ex: When I hear stories of animal cruelty, it makes my blood boil.
To turn up the heat means to put pressure on a person or situation in order to get what you want.
Ex: The team really turned up the heat on their opponents in the second half of the match.
If you say that someone has cooked the books, you mean that they have changed
figures or a written record in order to deceive people.
Ex: The man was sent to prison after he was found guilty of cooking the books at his company.
Slow burn means a gradual building up of anger, as opposed to an immediate outburst.
Ex: My boss did a slow burn when he saw the expense report.
This is a term used for when someone feels mentally exhausted and burned out.
Ex: She felt completely brain-fried after studying for the exam.
Okay we’re about to discuss some interesting phrases related to food and eating.
Refers to something worth thinking seriously about.
Ex: He enjoys reading books, that give him food for thought.
If you describe something as the icing on the cake,
you mean that it makes a good thing even better or a bad thing worse.
Ex: Good- The athlete received a gold medal and the icing on the cake
was that he also received a sponsorship deal. Bad- Not only did he crash his car,
but the icing on the cake was that he had to pay a speeding fine.
When something takes the cake, it means that it is the worst or best of its kind.
Ex: All of the restaurants are good, but this one takes the cake.
You use dog eat dog to express your disapproval of a situation where
people want to succeed and are willing to harm other people in order to do so.
We sometimes use the expression: It's a dog-eat-dog world out there.
If you describe an idea, plan, or promise of something good as pie in the sky,
you mean that you think that it is very unlikely to happen.
Ex: Their plans to set up their own business are just pie in the sky.
This means to provide or offer a useful skill or attribute to a group or situation.
Ex: He brings years of leadership experience to the table.
This means to make something seem more positive or pleasant than it really is.
Ex: She sugarcoated the information on her profile.
If you eat humble pie, you speak or behave in a way which tells people
that you admit you were wrong about something.
Ex: He was forced to eat humble pie after he was caught stealing.
This phrase also means to admit that you were wrong about something.
Ex: He said he’d never lose, but he had to eat his words after he lost at the game.
This means to eat too much food when you're at someone else's home.
Ex: My neighbors came over yesterday to watch the game and ate us out of house and home.
And finally we’re going to look at phrases related to sitting.
If you say that someone is sitting pretty,
you mean that they are in a good, safe, or comfortable situation.
Ex: They bought their house while prices were low, so now they're sitting pretty.
When we use sit tight, we’re telling the other person to remain in the same place
or situation and not take any action, usually because you are waiting for something to happen.
Ex: When she heard a strange noise last night,
her husband told her to sit tight while he investigated.
We use this when something is difficult to agree with or accept.
Ex: The President’s decision did not sit well with many people.
If you say that someone is a sitting duck, you mean that they are easy to attack,
cheat, or take advantage of.
Ex: He felt like a sitting duck when he got lost in a foreign city.
This means to do nothing about a problem or a situation that needs dealing with.
Ex: Instead of studying harder to pass the test, the boy sat on his hands and gave up.
If you sit something out, you don’t take part in it.
Ex: Due to his injury, he had to sit out the game.
If you sit on the fence, you avoid supporting a particular side in a discussion or argument.
Ex: They sat on the fence about who to vote for.
Means to attend a meeting, or class. Ex: His boss asked him to sit in on the meetings.
If you say that someone is sitting on something, you mean that they are delaying dealing with it.
Ex: He had been sitting on the assignment for at least a month before he submitted it.
This means to see something happen and choose to do nothing about it, or simply, to take no action.
Ex: “We can’t just sit idly by and watch the planet being destroyed. We have to do something!”
In this video, you learned 60 Advanced Words and Phrases that you can start using TODAY!
If you don’t remember them all, not a problem! We’ve created a free downloadable PDF worksheet
that you can access by clicking on the link in the description box down below.
This way you can extend your learning even further!
I hope you enjoyed today’s lesson. Make sure you like this video and share it with a friend who’s
also learning English. To keep learning more useful vocabulary, check out this next video: