Hello everyone!
Welcome to Idiom 100, where we learn 100 commonly used idioms by native English speakers.
All of the explanations are in English, so it might be challenging for you,
but just try to imagine the meanings in your head and study hard and soon you'll be able to use these idioms in your conversations.
Is everyone ready? Let's begin.
Hello everyone! Welcome back.
Today's idiom is: make heads or tails.
Can't make heads or tails.
Alright, so in this idiom 'can't make heads or tails'...
Heads, okay, this is your head and what about a tail?
A tail is something a dog or a horse, an animal has.
The tail is the hair at the back of the animal.
Heads or tails.
Alright, so let's imagine a little girl draws a picture of a dog, okay?
But, the girl is only 3-years-old, so she's not a good artist.
And she draws a picture and she says it's a dog.
And you look at the picture, 'Oh... It's a dog, okay...'
Where's the head? Where's the tail?
I don't know. I can't make heads or tails of it, right?
I really don't understand this picture. I can't make heads or tails of it.
Head? Tail? Leg? Foot? I don't know.
Alright, so let's keep this image in our head and then listen to some examples.
Thank you for the e-mail, but I can’t make heads or tails of the contents. What did you want to write?
Oh, I’m sorry, I wrote that in Japanese. I'll rewrite it in English and send it to you.
Alright, so she wrote an e-mail in Japanese and the other person doesn't know Japanese.
So, what does it say? I can't make heads or tails of it. I don't understand it, right?
The next example:
Why didn't you help that man?
Well, he needed directions, but he only spoke German, so I couldn't make heads or tails of what he said.
Alright, so she doesn't speak German and he was speaking German,
so she couldn't make heads or tails of what he was saying.
Alright, so this idiom 'making heads or tails' or 'can't make heads or tails' means that you don't understand something.
Yeah, it makes no sense and you don't have any idea what it means, alright?
So, maybe someone is speaking in a foreign language or the situation is very confusing.
Yeah, maybe you are... you went to IKEA and you bought a big cabinet and it comes in small parts with many screws and bolts
and you don't know how to put it together.
So, you're reading the manual, the book, yeah, and it tells you how to put the shelf together,
but I don't understand the manual.
What? What should I do first? What, how do I do this?
Yeah, I can't make heads or tails of this manual and this shelf, how to do it.
I can't make heads or tails of it, okay?
So, if you're in a situation when you don't understand at all, you can say you can't make heads or tails of it
and we'll understand that you don't understand, alright?
And I'll see you next time!