Hi, my name is Rebecca. And in today's lesson, I'm going to show you a fun and easy way to
improve your English, improve the quality of your English when you speak and when you
write. And that's by using something that we call "idiom pairs". So, what are "idiom
pairs"? Idiom pairs are two words that we use together and produce a different meaning
than when we use those words separately. Let me show you what I mean. What I'm going
to do first is instead of telling you the meanings of these words, of these idiom pairs,
I'm going to read a sentence and you try to figure out if you understand the meaning,
and afterwards I'll explain the meaning to you. Okay?
So, the first one: "I searched high and low for my glasses, but
I couldn't find them anywhere." Right? "I searched high and low for my glasses, but
I couldn't find them anywhere." So what does the idiom pair: "high and low" mean? What
do you think? Okay. Well, "high and low". When we say: "I searched high and low", it
means I searched everywhere. I searched all over the place; I searched up, and I searched
down. So, "I searched high and low." I searched everywhere. Okay?
Next one: "Your house is always spick and span. How
do you do it?" Okay? "Spick and span". "Spick and span", by the way, can be written with
the "k" or without the "k". All right? So what do you think it means if you say to someone:
"Your house is always spick and span. How do you do it?" Well, it's a compliment, it
means very, very clean. All right? So if you say something's spick and span, it means it's
very clean. Next one:
"They've been married for over 50 years and have been through thick and thin." What does
that mean? "Thick and thin." "They have been through thick and thin" means they've been
through many hard times, good times, and bad times; many difficult times, many easy times.
"Thick and thin" -- all kinds of experiences. Okay?
Next one: "His condition is still touch and go." "His
condition is still touch and go." Any idea what that means? Well, that one means that
his condition is still uncertain; a little bit risky. The doctor cannot predict what
is going to happen. Okay? Next one:
"Your English has improved by leaps and bounds." "Your English has improved by leaps and bounds."
For sure, when you use these expressions, your English will improve by leaps and bounds.
So what do you think it means: "leaps and bounds"? All right? Well, "leaps and bounds"
means a lot, tremendously. Okay? So if you say to someone: "Your English has improved
by leaps and bounds", your English has improved a lot; it's improved greatly. All right?
Next one: "We only see each other now and then."
"We only see each other now and then." What do you think it means? Well, "now and then" means
you don't see that person very often; you meet infrequently, not very often. Okay?
So these six idiom pairs are quite easy. Try to remember what they are, try to use them
in conversation, and you might be very surprised to find that people are telling you that your
English has really improved. Okay? So, that's it for now. If you'd like to do a quiz on
this, please visit our website: www.engvid.com. Thanks for watching.