There's nothing more British than a good cup of tea!
or is there? There's the Queen, she's very British! there's rain, that's British!
there's Marmite! have you tried it yet? I will warn you it's very British but it
doesn't mean everyone loves it! However today's lesson I'm sure you're going to
love. Today we're going to be looking at some very British idioms, something to
make you sound a lot more like a native!
okay this is actually very hot so I'm just putting it down for a second
while we get on with the lesson. Now when I say British idioms, I'm sure
the first idiom that pops into your mind is, it's raining cats and dogs.
That is a very British expression however that's not what we're looking at
today. now we all know how much the Brits love their fish and chips and my first
idiom is cheap as chips. To say something is cheap as chips does
literally mean it's very inexpensive it's cheap but it's a great way to say
that you paid very little for something so number one cheapest chips let's stay
on the theme of money if something is cheap as chips do we have an idiomatic
expression in English to say something is expensive well we do and it involves
parts of the body specifically your arms and your legs if something costs an arm
and a leg an arm and a leg then it is very expensive I bought a new jacket
yesterday and it cost me an arm and a leg
brilliant now idioms number three and for have a slightly darker meaning they
refer to death and I will warn you the only polite and gentle way to talk about
someone dying is to say they passed away that's a great phrasal verb for you so
you would say to somebody I'm sorry to hear your grandmother passed away or
your dog passed away but if you're talking in a more general funny way you
could say he popped his clogs now clogs are a type of shoe that come
from the Netherlands however we use this in the UK to say that somebody has died
he's popped his clogs number three strange one similarly so number four to
kick the bucket this does not literally mean he kicked a bucket but to kick the
bucket is to die and again not something you would usually say when you're trying
to console or make someone feel better so it is kind of sad in films or in a
funny way now these are great idiomatic expressions to describe personality
there are very often two categories of people there are dreamers and there are
realistic people I think I'm quite realistic sabres a bit of a dreamer to
describe these types of personality we have five to have your head in the
clouds it means that you're a bit of a dreamer
and you're not always very realistic sometimes it can be used to talk about
teenagers in love they have their head in the clouds they're not being very
realistic or it can refer to people that generally dream a lot and that doesn't
mean sleeping dreaming but just daydreaming in general they're not
always focused on what's happening in the present time on the opposite side
the realists we say to have your feet on the ground if somebody has their feet on
the ground then they are grounded another adjective that refers to the
same thing and it means that they are sensible logical and they think clearly
so to have your head in the clouds and to have your feet on the ground okay I'm
not sure what number we're on but the next idiomatic expression is actually
pretty short but something we use on a regular basis fat chance
now this is simply an expression and an exclamation it's usually said when
somebody is asking you to do something or suggests something is going to happen
so are you going to pass the exam fat chance
this is obviously suggesting that something is really it's not going to
happen fat chance will you go out with me on a
date fat chance as well as this we also say
pigs might fly now I don't know about you but I have never seen a flying pig
and to say pigs might fly again suggests that something is just impossible and
not going to happen I'm going to win the lottery the weekend pigs might fly now
have any of you studied British literature some of you may
have heard of the book or film Alice in Wonderland this was written by Lewis
Carroll and from this book we take the expression to be as mad as a hatter to
call someone crazy or bonkers if you watched our slang lesson so to be mad as
a hatter mad is a synonym of crazy and Hatter of course referring to the Mad
Hatter in Alice and wonderland a great film if you want to improve your English
and have fun at the same time once in a blue moon now this is not referring to
the color of the moon but actually to have a blue moon means to have two moons
in one month so if there is a second moon in the same lunar cycle then this
is a blue moon this is quite a rare occurrence and so to say once in a blue
moon refers to the fact that it doesn't happen frequently and it is rare so I
watch football once in a blue moon maybe less okay those were some idiomatic
expressions to help you sound a little bit more British why not try them next
time you're talking in English to help you sound a little bit more native thank
you for watching don't forget to subscribe and even share this lesson if
you thought it was useful bye