Hello, everyone. I'm George. Today, let's talk about phrases with unexpected meanings.
Okay. In English, there are certain phrases, when you see them, you
don't get the meaning right away. And today, we're going to cover six of those
phrases, that you might not know the meaning of when you just look at the
words. Here we go. Number One. Big Break. Big Break. In English, when you say big
break, it does not have anything to do with breaking your legs or your arms.
In English, we do use the word "break" a lot. For example, if you want to wish somebody
good luck, you would say "Break a leg!" It means I wish you good luck. Here, "Big
Break" means your big chance. The chance for you to become more famous or more
successful. Then we would say, "It's your big break!" Let's take a look at this
sentence. This is your big break. Hold on to it. This is your big break.
hold on to it. And Number Two. Walk on thin ice. Walk on thin ice. In Chinese, we
have very similar saying, but when you say this in Chinese, it means you are a
careful person. You are doing something cautiously. However, in English, when I say
"You are walking on thin ice," that is a warning. It is to warn you that you're
doing something dangerous. You are going to get yourself into trouble. Let's take
a look at the example sentence. You're walking on thin ice. Don't make another
mistake. You're walking on thin ice. Don't make
another mistake. And Number Three. Luck out. Luck out. If you interpret this phrase
literally, you might think it means you are out of luck. You are not very lucky.
However, it is totally different. When you say somebody "lucked out," it means that
person has very good luck. The word "luck" here is used as a verb.
Let's take a look at the sentence here. Our team just lucked out in last night's
game. Our team just lucked out in last night's game. And let's move on.
Number Four. Hold a candle to. Hold a candle to.
Literally, when you hold a candle to someone.
In English when you say to "hold a candle to" it means to be as good as.
to be performing very well. Usually, this
phrase is used with a "not" in the front, so you would say "can't hold a candle to"
Let's take a look at the sentence here. Don't worry. He can't even hold a candle
to you. You are still going to win. Don't worry. He can't even hold a candle to
you. You are still going to win. And Number Five.
Catch wind of. Catch wind of. To catch wind of something means something is
spreading over the wind. Not something smelly. In Chinese, there is actually a
very similar phrase to "catch wind of." It means to hear of something, to hear
about something that happened to someone else. This phrase is most of the time
used on something you're not supposed to know.
So when you say "catch wind of something" it means you learn something you're not
supposed to know. It's a secret. Let's take a look at the example
sentence. They tried very hard to cover the secret, but their parents still
caught wind of it. They tried very hard to cover the secret, but their parents
still caught wind of it. And Number Six. Get a kick out of. Get a kick out of. To get a
kick out of something does not really mean that you're supposed to kick
someone. It means something that is totally different. To get a kick out of
something means you had a lot of fun in it, for example, your reading, your
studying, your learning English. Let's take a look at example sentence. I get a
kick out of learning English. I get a kick out of learning English. These are
the six phrases that I teach today that do not show their meanings right away. Do
you have any phrases that you see and you don't get right away? Share them down
below at the comment area, Tell us, and if you like this video, make sure you click
the like button down below, or you can subscribe to this channel. I'll see you
next time. Bye.