English with Jennifer work idioms
idioms are colorful expressions and
they're fun to learn you hear idioms
quite often in conversation so you
should definitely take some time to
study them but what's the best way in
this lesson I have a special surprise
for you
I'm teaming up with another youtuber a
very popular and talented English
teacher
Rachel of Rachel's English together
Rachel and I will be teaching some
work-related idioms
we'll use some old and new footage I'll
also be offering some useful study tips
rachel is going to teach the first idiom
are you ready
have you ever heard anyone say keep me
in the loop or I want to stay in the
loop this idiom means to be informed or
connected for example if you're working
on a project at work and you've just
been talking about it to let your
co-workers know that you're interested
in staying involved or informed you
could say great keep me in the loop
so keeping you in the loop means keeping
you informed making sure you get
information as it becomes known or
shared keeping you in that circle
Rachael explained that this idiom can be
used at work this is important here's
our first tip learn when it's
appropriate to use an idiom not all
idioms belong in the workplace or within
a professional exchange but keep me in
the loop is a great work-related idiom
my second tip is learn how to use an
idiom the basic idiom here is in the
loop Rachel gave us two ways to use it
keep me in the loop I want to stay in
the loop it's a good thing to be
familiar with variations of an idiom
okay now I want to teach you the
importance of context I'm going to show
a clip from an old lesson of mine and I
want you to learn how to use context
that's our third tip context refers to
the situation that an idiom is used in
and also the words that come before and
after the idiom how much can you learn
from the conversation the idiom is under
the table listen and try to understand
the meaning and listen for uses for
variations of the idiom
what kinds of jobs involve getting paid
under the table well getting paid under
the table would be jobs like mowing the
lawn babysitting sometimes it could be
construction work even that's something
in your house don't you think there are
some dangers when you get paid under the
table salutely if you're injured when
you're paid under the table there's no
recourse there's no insurance to pay for
your injury can you think of any reasons
why somebody would choose to be paid
under the table well a teenager would
choose to be paid under the table
because they're not working consistently
enough or it could be somebody who
didn't want to pay taxes too often
you'll learn new idioms just by
listening to conversations either real
conversations around you or
conversations on TV or in a movie you
need to learn to use the context to
figure out the meaning in the clip you
heard two variations get paid under the
table be paid under the table so what
does it mean to pay someone under the
table does it mean to pay someone very
little money to pay someone secretly or
illegally or does it mean to refuse to
pay someone if you listen to the context
then you understood that paying someone
under the table means paying them
secretly or illegally anything that
happens under the table happens secretly
or unofficially
rachel is going to teach you another
idiom now listen carefully and you'll
learn the importance of pronunciation
today I'm going to go over the idiom on
fire this means to be doing something
very well for example you're in a
basketball game and there is a guy who
keeps hitting three-pointer after
three-pointer after three-pointer and
making them you might say man that guy's
on fire it can also apply to a social
situation for example let's say you go
to a party with a friend and your friend
is talking to everyone making everyone
laugh everyone wants to be around him
you can say men you were on fire at that
party on can be pronounced with the aw
as in law vowel or the AH as in father
vowel I pronounce it with the aw as in
law it's a little further back in the
face than the AH as in father which is a
little further forward on the N
consonant sounds the tongue will raise
into that position on fire begins with
the F consonant sounds so you'll raise
the bottom lip to the top teeth and let
air come through on on phy the AI as in
buy diphthong on phy uh and finally the
schwa and R sound or on fire on fire
let's see how well you listened what's
the correct way to say that idiom listen
on fear on fiery on fire the last one is
correct right on fire here's the fourth
tip learn how to say an idiom clearly
and naturally on fire is a great idiom
because it can be used in different
situations
Rachel explained that you can use on
fire when you talk about a basketball
game or a party you can also use it at
work for example if a co-worker closed a
few deals
earlier this month and just closed
another deal today bringing in a
lot of money for the company you can say
with admiration you're on fire
not all rodents are cute but this one is
this is from my children's collection of
stuffed animals
and hand puppets I'm not even certain if
this is a mouse or rat but seeing it
reminds me of an idiom we have an
English rat race
rat-race refers to the daily struggle to
be successful at work where there's
competition and pressure to produce one
day after the other you go through this
routine hoping to come out on top but
really you're one of thousands rat-race
refers to this whole situation many
complain about the rat race and say they
hate the rat race some think about
quitting the rat race others actually
leave the rat race behind they change
jobs or they change their lifestyle
maybe they retire early or move out to
the country where life is more peaceful
my suggestion now is to create your own
examples it's my final study tip learn
through practice test out a new idiom
and conversation but this tip comes with
a warning idioms are colorful but don't
overdo it trying to use too many idioms
at one time won't make your English
sound more natural if you'd like more
practice with the idioms we covered in
this lesson click here for an
interactive exercise
if you want more idioms just click and
you can see Rachel's lesson on animal
idioms be sure to check out Rachel's
American English pronunciation Channel
and subscribe
Rachel also has a collection of videos
on American English and real life sign
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free weekly lessons from Rachel and
other great teachers finally Rachel
wrote a 290 page ebook on American
English pronunciation and it has two and
a half hours of audio it's a great way
to work on your American accent that's
it and thanks so much for using Rachel's
English
Thank You Rachel for helping me teach
this lesson that's all for now thanks
for watching and happy studies