David is such a goody two-shoes hey do
you know this idiom if not watch this
video we're going to go over idioms
related to shoes
what does goody-two-shoes mean it means
somebody who hears another phrase sucks
up to somebody somebody who's always
being extra good above and beyond what's
normal and usually it's a negative
phrase you think of someone being good
is a good thing but in certain contexts
they start to seem like not real and
like they're just doing this to try to
please somebody or to get some sort of
outcome then you might call that person
a goody two-shoes you're not really a
goody two-shoes no do you know anybody
who's a goody two-shoes uh no well the
thing that popped into my mind was one
of my roommates in college who was a
pre-med major and that's obviously a
really serious course of study and so he
did have to be diligent but sometimes it
did seem like he was over studying so we
would poke and prod and try to get him
to come out and have fun with us we
would sort of taunt him with oh don't be
a goody two-shoes come on let's go have
fun for a little while do you mean you
were literally poking and prodding this
kid at his desk no no that may have
happened to okay you were figuratively
trying to get out of his chair by saying
stop being goody two-shoes let's go get
some beer yeah yeah exactly the phrase
to put yourself in another person's
shoes this means it has nothing to do
with their Footwear do not go put on
this person's shoes it has to do with
trying to understand something from
their perspective seeing it from how
they would see it do you have an example
of what this would be yeah so the thing
that I thought of was that when I was
working at a high school at the
beginning of the year one of the
exercises that we would do together is
try to imagine what it would be like to
be the students coming into school on
the first day of school
what would their mindset be like what
kinds of feelings would they be having
and try to put ourselves in their shoes
for a little bit to try to think about
how would they want us to be as a staff
so it basically means to see a situation
from someone else's perspective exactly
the phrase shaking in your boots means
to be really nervous about something
really intense
dated by something again you don't have
to be wearing boots it has nothing to do
with actual footwear it's just an idiom
do you have an example of this yeah so
couple years ago I went in for a job
interview and typically when you go in
for an interview you imagine being with
one other person and answering some
questions and I got there and I met one
person and it really quickly became
clear that I was getting ready to go
into a roomful of most of the staff and
I was kind of shaking in my boots I
couldn't believe that I was gonna go do
that
you'll just haired for that yeah I
wasn't prepared and it just sort of was
like I was instantly nervous in a way
that I hadn't been mm-hmm
waiting for the other shoe to drop this
is when something is going well but you
don't expect it to last you're sort of
feeling like the other shoes gonna drop
things are gonna change things are gonna
end up not going so well do you have an
example of this idiom well I'm chuckling
because my example is being a lifelong
Philadelphia sports fan it just seems
like anytime something goes well the
other shoes gonna drop and so the
current example is the 76ers our
basketball team
they've been rebuilding and they've been
really bad which means that they get a
high draft pick every year and for three
years in a row I think it was three
years in a row their draft pick got hurt
before the season even started so every
year we would get excited because I got
this a new great player but you're also
sort of waiting for the other shoe to
drop especially if it happens three
years in a row kept dropping yeah the
good news
kept ending for the Philadelphia 76ers
exactly the idiom big shoes to fill this
means that you are stepping into
position or taking over something from
someone who was really well-liked who
did their job really well that's when
you have big shoes to fill and actually
in my academy every month I do
conversation exercises and I took an
excerpt from a show where they use this
idiom they were talking about a
principal who'd been very loved by staff
by students who was leaving and when he
talked about hiring a new principal the
man in
charge of that said this person has big
shoes to fill the phrase on a shoestring
budget means to do something with very
little money a shoestring is what you
might lace your shoes up with and it's
very thin it can break we actually
really use shoelace more than shoestring
now except for in this idiom we still
have this idiom on a shoestring budget
so for example when I started Rachel's
English it was very much so on a
shoestring budget I just used the camera
on my computer I bought a sheet to hang
behind me for like ten dollars or
something very much so a shoestring
budget another term that I could use for
this is I bootstrapped it I didn't rely
on other people paying consultants you
know getting a lighting designer or
whatever I just did it all myself I
bootstrapped it and you could also use
the phrase you may have heard this -
pull yourself up by your bootstraps that
means to do something to make change
usually after something negative has
happened all on your own so for example
somebody gets fired from a job maybe and
they're pretty down about it they're not
feeling great but they pull themselves
up by their bootstraps they get out
there they applied more jobs and they
find one that's even better
great phrase if I were in your shoes
this is when you give advice to somebody
it's like saying if I were you but it's
become if I were in your shoes I would
do this so people come to Philadelphia
and they come stay with us and they say
so where should I get a cheesesteak and
I always say wait why do they say that
because Philadelphia is known for
cheesesteaks
that's our famous sandwich delicious and
there are a couple of really famous
spots around the city that everyone has
heard of runny plum they say you should
I go to Pat's or should I go to Geno's
exactly and that's when I cut in with my
unsolicited it no it's solicited it's
probably solicited cut it with my advice
your veteran say if I were in your shoes
I just go to Joe's and Joe's is a spot
right here in our neighborhood but I
think has the best cheesesteak in the
city
he's been to Gino's you've been to Pat's
what's of gems you've made gems these
are the three most famous yes and you're
saying Jose it's better better gotta go
to Jose there's another one that's not
directly related to shoes but two feet
and I wanted to include this because
last week when I was going over
different shoes with my sister-in-law
Lisa she said she had this one pair of
boots that she wore that she said she
loves to wear these in the winter
because she always has cold feet and I
thought okay so she literally her feet
are cold but we use this idiom all the
time and it means to be nervous about
something and the I think the most
common use of this is with marriage
mm-hmm would you say yeah I think that's
right so you get engaged to somebody
leading up to the wedding you might
start to feel a little nervous little
anxious like oh my gosh this is a big
commitment then people might use the
phrase is he getting gold feet
does she have cold feet mm-hmm cold feet
the last one I want to go over is the
phrase if the shoe fits wear it
which is often just shortened to if the
shoe fits right and it's a way of
acknowledging criticism on somebody so
let's say for example in high school I'm
learning how to write I'm not a very
good writer I come home and I say to my
mom man my teacher just keeps telling me
I'm not a strong writer well my mom
knows this because she's been helping me
with my writing she might say if the
shoe fits that's like saying I agree
you're not a strong writer so it's not
as harsh as saying it's true but it's
the same meaning if someone gives you
feedback you complain a lot that's not
something you want to hear maybe you go
to a friend and say Sam just said I
complain a lot and if that friend agrees
that friend might say if the shoe fits I
hope you're not having cold feet about
watching another video I want to be sure
that you see this shoe vocabulary video
from last week if you haven't already
if you have them check out this playlist
of other videos I've done with David
where we go over idioms David thanks for
joining me here you got that's it guys
and thanks so much for using Rachel's
English
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