recently one of my students told me that
i haven't done a lesson on english
idioms in ages and she's right i haven't
done a lesson dedicated to english
idioms for quite a while like my
students you might love incorporating
english idioms into your conversation
sprinkling idioms into your speech here
and there the way that you sprinkle saw
on food is a wonderful way to bring
interest and creativity to your speech
it makes our language more dynamic and
that's exactly what i want to help you
do with this lesson today
if you're joining me for the very first
time i'm anne-marie with speak confident
english everything i do here is designed
to help you get the confidence you want
for your life and work in english
in this confident english lesson today i
hope that you'll join me to learn and
add
24 new english idioms to your active
vocabulary
all of these idioms are focused on the
concept of time
whether you want to express that
something happened right on time
that you don't have enough time or you
have too much time be sure to stick with
me all the way to the end because i do
have a practice opportunity for you i
want to make sure that you absolutely
understand what these idioms mean
and how to naturally use them in your
english conversations
let's start with our first four idioms
all of which help us express that
something happened at just the right
time
it wasn't too early and it wasn't too
late the first one is in the nick of
time for example we were stuck in
traffic but we arrived at the airport
just in the nick of time we used this
idiom to express that something happened
just at the last possible moment before
it was too late
if we had arrived any later at the
airport we may have missed our flight so
we arrived in the nick of time
similar to that we can also describe
something as happening at the 11th hour
again this idiom tells us that something
happened
just at the last possible moment before
it was too late
for example
just when we thought we were going to
miss the deadline
carol finished her editing and we
submitted the proposal at the 11th hour
our third idiom in this category is its
high time
for example it's high time that we
consider
moving out of our apartment and into a
house
this idiomatic phrase expresses that
it's about time that we finally do
something
maybe someone has been waiting for a
very long period of time and they are
finally ready it is about time
now is the right time
it's high time and our final idiom in
this category is in good time
in good time expresses that something
will happen when it's supposed to happen
for example
when i was worried about whether i would
ever find a job i really wanted
my mom said
all things happen in good time and now
let's move on to our second category of
idioms all of which are focused on
different points of time for example
eons ago or ages ago english speakers
love this phrase to express that
something happened a while ago in fact
it emphasizes that something occurred a
long time ago just like the example i
shared at the beginning when my student
said you haven't done a lesson on idioms
for ages in other words for a really
really really long time
another example i finished that book
eons ago in other words months ago or
years ago
an idiomatic expression that means the
opposite that means that something will
occur in the future but not for quite a
while is a ways out
for example let's say that it's january
and you've already started to plan your
summer vacation you have everything
ready to go
in a conversation you might say
i know that summer is a ways out but you
can never start planning your vacation
too soon
another great idiomatic expression to
use with a future focus is in the long
run
when we use this in a sentence we're
expressing that something will more
fully develop over time
for example
we should start saving money now so that
we don't have to worry about our
financial security in the long run
the next idiom on our list is one of my
favorites when i get up particularly
early for a flight or to work out
at the crack of dawn
for example i was so excited about my
new job that i woke up at the crack of
dawn today this phrase refers to that
moment when we first start to see the
sunlight on the horizon
and we use this expression to talk about
things that happen
super early in the morning and now our
final idiom for talking about different
points of time is a moment of truth
and we love to use this idiom to talk
about a present moment when something
will be revealed
maybe we've been waiting and waiting and
waiting to find out some information
and
when it is time
for that information to be revealed we
can say it's the moment of truth
for example if you have a child applying
to universities
you might be waiting and waiting and
waiting to get news in the mail on
whether or not your child was accepted
into that university so when that letter
finally arrives and your son or daughter
starts to open that envelope it is most
certainly that moment of truth when you
will find out whether or not your
daughter or son was accepted into that
university and now it's time for our
next six idioms all of which are focused
on expressing a lack of time
in the past i've done lessons on time
management and trying to create better
life work balance so some of these
idiomatic expressions may be familiar to
you
the first one on our list in this
category is to be pressed for time
and we use this to let others know that
we don't have very much time
for example
we were pressed for time and had to
finish dinner early so we could make it
to the theater the second one in this
category is running late you've probably
heard this one before because it's
extremely common
when we know we are going to be late or
we already are late for something
a very common way to use this is to let
others know that you are running late so
you may not be at the meeting on time
you might call your co-worker and say go
ahead and start the meeting i'm running
five minutes late
when you are unable to complete
something because you no longer have
time
you can use the expression to run out of
time for example before i knew it the
test was over and i had run out of time
when we use that expression we're
indicating that we were not able to
finish the task
time ran out the deadline passed and we
were unable to succeed in our task we
didn't finish it fully we ran out of
time and of course in those moments when
you know the clock is ticking you see
time going forward and you know that
you're going to have a really hard time
completing the task
we can say that you're in a race against
the clock or in a race against time
for example during the holiday season
everyone races against the clock to get
their shopping done before the stores
close
and sometimes when we're racing against
the clock we might try to do something
that's kind of cheating or trying to get
ahead in a way to beat the clock in
other words you want to make sure that
you finish your task before you run out
of time
for example
sam tried to beat the clock as he
scarfed down his breakfast and ran out
the door
let's pause here for a moment what do
you think i mean by scarfed down his
breakfast
if someone is trying to beat the clock
they're trying to do something before
it's too late and they're running for
the door
to get to work on time
how do you think they ate their
breakfast
were they eating in a calm super polite
formal manner
definitely not
to scarf something down means to eat it
extremely quickly and
during that process you've probably lost
all your table manners as well
and now our last idiom for expressing a
lack of time is certainly one that you
know i hear my students use it often
time is money as i'm sure you know this
idiom is used to express that time is
precious and we certainly should not
waste it
for example my husband never sits down
for a moment to relax because he
believes time is money
every moment he is working on something
or trying to work toward a specific goal
or to complete a project
all right so far we've had a variety of
idioms that can be used to express that
something happened right on time
that we had a lack of time and to
express different points in time so now
let's move on to our fourth category
with idioms we use to talk about having
excess time or too much time when you go
on vacation you probably would love to
say
that you have all the time in the world
when we have all the time in the world
there's plenty of time there's no rush
there's no panic we don't have to worry
about any upcoming deadlines
that is definitely something we all want
when we're going away on vacation
another example might be we have all the
time in the world to binge watch netflix
shows this weekend
similar to all the time in the world is
to have a lot of time on your hands
again this is used to express that you
have plenty of time
for example sandra has a lot of time on
her hands now that her kids are at
school
with this particular idiom we can also
use it in the negative sense to indicate
that we don't have time that we have a
lack of time for example
now that i'm going back to work and at
the office full time i don't have a lot
of time on my hands to watch netflix
when you have too much time on your
hands and you're not really sure how to
fill up all that time you might start
looking for different things to do to
occupy yourself or
to kill time for example if you're
traveling you might have a six hour
layover in an airport so you might say
that you want to find a really good book
to read while you're at the airport to
kill time
and if that book is particularly good
you might lose track of time
when we lose track of time we don't even
notice that time has passed
maybe before your flight you were really
dreading that six hour layover but then
you found that fantastic book you
started reading and before you knew it
it was time for your next flight you
lost track of time while you were
reading now let's say that maybe you've
lost track of time or you've missed out
on opportunities because you were way
too busy
as a way to apologize to someone else
and to show that you value their time
you might want to make up for a lost
time
for example both of julian's parents
have been particularly busy with work
and approaching deadlines so
to make up for lost time they dedicated
their entire weekend to spending time
together as a family
and now our last idiom in this category
is to live on borrowed time
we use this to express that someone is
living or surviving beyond their
expected amount of time
for example after surviving cancer
karen felt that she was living on
borrowed time and now we have our final
three time focus idioms
all of which can be used to express a
lack of frequency
for example if you want to say that
something rarely happens
you can say that it happens once in a
blue moon
for example
we see our extended family once in a
blue moon and usually only at family
reunions
similar to once in a blue moon is every
now and then
if something happens every now and then
it's a little more often than once in a
blue moon rather than the adverb rarely
we might think of the adverbs sometimes
for example every now and then
hollywood produces a movie that impacts
an entire generation
and now our final idiom on the list for
today is every so often
for example i don't really have a sweet
tooth but
every so often i crave a piece of
chocolate and with that you have 24 new
english idioms all of which are focused
on time to add to your active vocabulary
now when i say active vocabulary i mean
idioms that you can think of and use
instantly in a conversation
to make sure that these idioms are part
of your active vocabulary you need to of
course learn them and then
practice them you need consistent
repetitive practice so i've got a couple
of questions for you
number one which idiom on the list today
was your absolute favorite which one did
you hear and think oh my gosh i love
that idiom
if there was one you really enjoyed
learning i want you to practice using it
in your own example sentence and you can
share your example with me in the
comments below
my second question for you is a little
more in depth i want you to think about
your last week everything that you've
done the things that happened right on
time the things that you didn't have
enough time for moments when you felt
like you had too much time
think about your past week
choose three idioms from this lesson
today
and use those idioms to describe your
week again you can share in the comments
with me below
if you found this lesson useful to you i
would love to know and you can tell me
in one very simple way give this lesson
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thank you so much for joining me and i
look forward to seeing you next time