In today’s video, we’re going to be learning 30 British idioms.
An idiom is a common phrase which is used colloquially
but the meaning is not immediately obvious.
We use so many idioms in our day to day life and many of them are animal-related, so we’re going
to focus on idioms which are animal-based today. The first idiom is: Fly on the wall. To be a fly
on the wall means to be unnoticed while watching or listening to something. “They’re discussing
the argument now. I’d love to be a fly on the wall so I could hear what they were saying.”
The second idiom is: Bee’s knees. If something is the bee’s knees, that means it is excellent and of
the highest quality. You could also say someone is the bee’s knees. “This chocolate cake is the bee’s
knees. You have to try it!” The third idiom is: To make a
beeline. To make a beeline for something means to move towards it quickly and with purpose. “I’ve
wanted to meet Harry for ages so as soon as I saw him, I made a beeline for him.”
The fourth idiom is: To kill two birds with one stone. To kill two birds with one stone means
to accomplish to tasks or objectives at once. “I wanted to try out the new restaurant and I haven’t
seen Justine in ages so I’ve booked a table for us both and it’ll kill two birds with one stone.”
The fifth idiom is: Sitting duck. A sitting duck is an easy target, something or someone
which is vulnerable to attack. “If we leave the shop doors unlocked it’ll be a sitting duck.”
The sixth idiom is: To chicken out. To chicken out of something means to back
out of it because of feeling scared or worried. “James was going to go on the rollercoaster
but he chickened out at the last minute.” The seventh idiom is: A wild goose chase. A wild
goose chase is a pointless task, particularly one that involves travel. “She sent me
to the supermarket to buy socks but they don’t even sell socks so it was a wild goose chase.”
The eighth idiom is: To take a bull by its horns. This means to face a problem directly.
Sometimes you might hear someone say to ‘grab’ a bull by its horns, which means the same
thing. “I hate confrontation but I’m so
angry that I’m going to have to take the bull by its horns and tell her.”
The ninth idiom is: To horse around. To horse around means to act in a way that is silly
and playful and sometimes noisy. “Will you please stop horsing around? I’m trying to concentrate.”
The tenth idiom is: Until the cows come home. Until the cows come home means for a long,
possibly even never-ending length of time. It’s usually used when talking about something that you
‘could do’ for a long time because you enjoy it. “I could sit here and read until the cows
come home but unfortunately, I’ve got work to do.” The eleventh idiom is: Dark horse. A dark horse is
somebody who is surprisingly good at something you might not expect them to be. This could be used to
describe someone in a competition who places much higher than expected or someone who surprises you
with their skill. “Wow, Beth, you’re a dark horse- I didn’t know you could bake so well!”
The twelfth idiom is: Hold your horses. To
hold your horses means to wait. Person 1: (walks through the door)
Hello. Person 2: Brilliant, you’re home. I’ve been wanting to talk to you
about- Person 1: Hold your horses, I’ve only been here two seconds.
The thirteenth idiom is: Straight from the horse’s mouth. If you hear something
straight from the horse’s mouth, that means you are hearing it straight from the source;
from somebody who has direct and personal experience.
“I don’t usually pay attention to gossip but I heard this straight from the horse’s mouth.”
The fourteenth idiom is: In two shakes of a lamb’s tail. In two shakes of a lamb’s tail means in a
very short amount of time. “I’ll be back with a cup of tea in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”
The fifteenth idiom is: To go the whole hog. To go the whole hog means to really commit to
something and to take it as far as possible. “Most people in the office don’t celebrate Halloween,
but Anna goes the whole hog every year.” The sixteenth idiom is: The cat’s
pyjamas. Similar to the bee’s knees, if something or someone is the cat’s pyjamas, that means they
are the best. “My last teacher wasn’t very good but my new one is great- she’s the cat’s pyjamas.”
The seventeenth idiom is: To let the cat out of the bag. To let the cat out of the
bag means to reveal a secret. This could be accidentally or it could be on purpose. “I
think it’s time I let the cat out of the bag… I’m pregnant!”
The eighteenth idiom is: Cat got your tongue? This is a question you might
ask somebody who is being unusually quiet. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”
The nineteenth idiom is: Raining cats and dogs. If someone says it is
raining cats and dogs, that means it is raining very heavily outside. “I
wanted to go for a run but it’s raining cats and dogs outside so I think I’ll go tomorrow instead.”
The twentieth idiom is: To let sleeping dogs lie. To let sleeping dogs lie means to leave
a situation alone, to not interfere so you don’t cause trouble. Person 1: “I’m so angry,
I’m going to call her right now and argue with her.” Person 2: “Wait a minute. Don’t you think
it might be better just to let sleeping dogs lie?” The twenty-first idiom is: In the doghouse. To
be in the doghouse means to be in trouble or disgrace. Usually,
because you’ve upset or angered somebody with something you’ve done or not done. “He forgot his
girlfriend’s birthday so he’s in the doghouse.” The twenty-second idiom is: Dog eat dog. ‘Dog
eat dog’ is a phrase we use to describe an environment which is very competitive,
to an extent where people are prepared to harm one another to win. “I
hate working in that office because it’s dog eat dog in there. Everybody tries to make each
other look bad to make themselves look better.” The twenty-third idiom is: Ants in your pants. If
you have ants in your pants, that means you are
restless and moving around a lot, usually because you are nervous or excited. Person 1:
“You’ve got ants in your pants today.” Person 2: (pacing) “I’m so nervous
about this job interview- I can’t sit still!” The twenty-fourth idiom is: To smell a rat. To
smell a rat means to be suspicious of a lie. “She said she couldn’t come to my birthday party
because she had other plans but I smell a rat.” The twenty-fifth idiom is: Fishy. If something is
fishy, that means it is suspicious. “There’s
something fishy going on in that office. Something’s not quite right with their numbers.”
The twenty-sixth idiom is: To have bigger fish to fry. If you have bigger fish to fry,
that means you have more important or better things to
do. “Don’t worry about the invitations, you have bigger fish to fry. You need to find a venue.”
The twenty-seventh idiom is: Another kettle of fish. If something is another kettle of fish,
or a whole other kettle of fish, that means it is entirely different. Person 1: “I’m just
so stressed because we’re moving house and it’s all changing so quickly.” Person 2: “And
how’s your mum?” Person 1: “That’s a whole other kettle of fish.”
The twenty-eighth idiom is: Crocodile tears. Crocodile tears are fake tears,
for example, if somebody is pretending to cry or has forced themselves to cry to gain something.
“I know they’re crocodile tears. She doesn’t actually care about me.”
The twenty-ninth idiom is: Elephant in the room. An elephant in the room is something obvious
and uncomfortable which has not been discussed. “Obviously I know that
he’s said horrible things about me but I didn’t mention it so there’s an elephant in the room.”
And finally, the thirtieth idiom is: To have the lion’s share. To have or get the lion’s share
of something means to have the largest amount of something. “As the main character in Harry Potter,
Daniel Radcliffe gets the lion’s share of the praise but I think
all of the other actors are just as good.” So there we have 30 British animal idioms.
How many of them did you know already? And can you think of any more which are not on this list?
If you can, leave them in the comments and you get bonus points if you can explain what it means too.
Don't forget to follow me on my Instagram page where I regularly post
idioms pretty much every other day, so if you enjoy learning them
then that's the place to be, otherwise, I will see you in the next lesson.