what's up everyone i'm andrea your real
life english fluency coach
and in today's lesson we'll be learning
all about
english expressions that confuse
everyone
so in today's lesson you'll have a lot
of fun learning these english
expressions
and it will help you to understand
natives better and you can even start
using them yourself
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in the first part of this lesson we'll
go over a few funny and confusing
general english expressions
then we'll focus on expressions you'll
only hear in british english
okay so we're going to dive straight
into the lesson and start learning these
expressions and the first one
is chin wag so this is a really funny
one
and basically this means to have a chat
so instead of saying oh i was chatting
to my friend the other day
some people might say oh we were having
a good old chin wag
and i guess this comes from your chin is
obviously this part
of your face and as you are talking as
you are chatting more it does
tend to move a lot and another way of
saying that is wag
so it's like your chin is moving a lot
when you're talking
we would use wag to describe the way
that a dog's tail wags
for example so when a dog wags its tail
it's moving like this
so if you think of it this way it's not
one of the most confusing ones but
definitely if you're hearing it for the
first time
it might sound a bit strange but natives
do use this one a lot
so you might hear them say oh i was
having a good old chin wag with
this person the other day or how about
we meet and have a good old chin wag
okay so the next expression is full of
beans
and no this doesn't mean that someone
ate lots of beans
for their lunch or their dinner what it
means is someone has a lot of energy
and they are very lively or excited
so it can also mean that they have a lot
of good
spirits so they're feeling really happy
really energetic
and full of life you will often hear
natives
use this expression when referring to
children
as well so those moments where children
have a lot of energy and are running
around you might say oh they're full of
beans today
and that just means that they are very
lively they have a lot of energy
okay so the next one is the opposite
it could mean that you are in low
spirits so you're not feeling very well
you're feeling a little bit sick or
unwell and
this expression is under the weather
so again you're not specifically under
the weather
but you could imagine if you're not
feeling very well
you might actually feel like there is a
gray dark cloud
hanging over you with the rain dripping
down
and you know you're not feeling very
well you're feeling a bit cold a little
bit miserable
your spirits are low for that reason so
we would use this expression
to describe when we are feeling this way
so
if you ask someone how they are they
might say to you
i'm feeling a bit under the weather and
this is what they mean by that they're
not feeling very well
or they are in low spirits the next one
is it's right up your alley and
when we say this we mean that it's
something that would be of interest to
you
something that you would really like you
could like it because it's to your taste
or to your ability
and so you might say oh i went to this
restaurant the other day
you'd love it it's right up your alley
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okay our next expression is one of my
favorites it's absolutely hilarious
and it is the bee's knees
so when you are referring to something
that is
the best thing ever there is nothing
that can match it
you would describe it as the bee's knees
so
some of our biggest fans might describe
our channel as the bee's knees
in learning english because they think
that there is nothing better
you might go to a concert or you might
go to a restaurant and you might say oh
it's the bee's knees
there is nothing better than this
restaurant or this concert
so this one is really funny i'm not
quite sure of the origins but i have
read some things to do with
obviously you can't imagine bees having
knees
but the equivalent this part of their
body is
where they actually produce the most
honey or the sweetest
part of the honey so i guess that's kind
of where it comes from
but it is a really common one that
natives use a lot so you might hear it
and you could even start using it
yourself
now the next one is used a lot in both
the united states
and in the uk as well and it is
boops your uncle so no
i don't have an uncle called bob but
in english bob is a man's name so
therefore that's the reference to the
uncle
however we use this as a way to say
and there it is or and there you have it
so the equivalent in french would be
voila
so when something is done when it's
finished when it's completed
in england we would say bob's your uncle
so for example someone might be helping
you fix something maybe you're fixing
your bike and then
you're really deep into trying to fix it
and then suddenly you have and you'd say
and bob's your uncle and it means and
there it is
it's done it's fixed and also
just a note here in the uk you might
even hear some people
add an extension to this one so they
might even say
um bob's your uncle fanny's your aunt
okay so the next expression is also
quite interesting
it is pardon my french so this one is
interesting
because you wouldn't actually use it
when you're speaking french
you would use it when you have suddenly
said a swear word or a curse word
so you might have said something
offensive and
after you've said it you might say
pardon my french
or you might say it before as well just
to warn someone
that you're going to curse or say
something that's quite offensive
now this expression can be used in quite
a humorous way
it's not when someone has accidentally
said something offensive it's usually
intentional
so as a humorous way they might actually
say this after they have said the curse
or swear word
okay so the next one is the word cheeky
now i really love this word we do use it
a lot
maybe sometimes we actually overuse it
especially in the uk
but normally you would describe someone
as cheeky when they're being a little
bit naughty
or a little bit mischievous so you
probably heard people describe
monkeys as cheeky because they are
really clever animals and they can be
very
cheeky in terms of if humans get too
close to them in the wild they'll
probably come and grab something from
you and run away
so people would call them cheeky monkeys
you'd also hear people refer to children
this way if they're being a little bit
naughty
a little bit cute and mischievous you
would say that they are being
cheeky however in the uk
we do use this word a lot more to
describe
again something where maybe we're being
a little bit naughty
for example maybe you're going to have a
glass of wine
at a time where it's not usually
appropriate or normal for people
so you might say oh should we have a
cheeky glass of wine
but sometimes doesn't he have to be
alcohol sometimes people would say oh
should we have a
cheeky cup of tea and there's nothing
really cheeky about the tea
it's totally fine and normal to have it
but it's just a way of
expressing this so we like to use this
word
a lot in the uk and you'll probably hear
it
in british tv series
okay so the next one is really funny
because when you actually
picture it you think what on earth
is this where has this expression come
from
and it is cat got your tongue and
it's important to note it's not a
statement it is a question so you would
ask someone
what's the matter cat got your tongue so
you might use this when someone is being
fairly quiet or they are not responding
to a discussion or a question
and you would say what's the matter cat
got your tongue so it's kind of implying
to them
well what's happened all of a sudden
you've gone quiet especially if you're
having
an argument or a discussion with someone
and then all of a sudden they've stopped
it's kind of like what's the matter you
do you not have anything to say
anymore and i don't know where this
expression has come from but
natives use it a lot in these kinds of
situations
but i guess if you think about it is a
little bit
logical because if you imagine a cat
actually
grabbing hold of your tongue you're not
actually going to be able to say
anything or to speak
if you're enjoying this lesson then i
highly recommend you check out this
lesson that we made
with more than 55 expressions that you
can use
in conversation it will be really useful
for you to check it out so you can click
up here
or down in the description box below to
watch that next
and now we're going to take a look at
some more typically british
expressions that can be confusing
okay so the first one is gobsmacked
and i love this word i think it's a
really interesting word
in the uk a slang way of saying
mouth is gob so i think that's where
this one comes from
imagine slapping your gob and maybe not
being able to talk
what it actually means is that you are
astonished by something so you are so
surprised that you cannot even
speak so you might be experiencing
something
that makes you gobsmacked that you
cannot even
speak in that moment you are just so
surprised and so astounded by
it it might even be that someone has
really shocked you or you've been given
some
really crazy news that you cannot
comprehend that you cannot understand
and you might say i am absolutely
gobsmacked because you will be meaning
that you do not know what to say you are
so shocked okay so the next one is used
a lot in the uk
and it is gutted now we would use this
word to describe when we are extremely
disappointed with the situation
and i guess it comes from that feeling
in your gut when you're really
disappointed and upset by something
so you have that feeling in your gut
where
you're really really upset and it just
sits there
and you know it stays there for a really
long time and you
feel so gutted so i guess that's where
this expression comes from
it's quite an interesting one but it is
one that we do
use a lot now i love the next one
because it comes from cockney rhyming
slang
and if you haven't heard about it before
cockney rhyming slang
originated in the east end of london and
it became kind of a language
a way of talking and it all came from
rhyming words so you might have heard
apples and pears being used instead of
stairs
so some people would say i'm just going
to take the apples and pears or i'm just
going to go up
the apples and pears and what they
actually mean is
stairs so it's very interesting if you
would like a lesson on this then please
do comment down below and we can make
that happen as well
but the word here or the expression here
is actually
cream crackered so this is interesting
because
cream crackers are a type of food in the
uk they're very popular
we would have them with some cheese or
sliced tomato or butter on top
but what it actually means is that you
are knackered
so if you hear it there it rhymes cream
crackered
knackered and what knackered means and
cream crackered means
is that you are exhausted it's another
way of saying that you are so
so tired you are absolutely exhausted
okay so the next one is it's pear-shaped
or
it's gone pear-shaped now if something
has gone pear-shaped it means that it
has gone totally wrong
so whatever you set out to do has
completely failed
and i guess this comes from a pear shape
being quite different it's not as round
as an apple
kind of has the the thinner top and then
kind of bulks out at the bottom it gets
larger at the bottom
and i guess lots of pairs can be all
different shapes
so i guess that's where this one comes
from but if you hear the expression it's
gone pear-shaped
that means that it's totally gone wrong
or has failed
now i really love the next one i think
it's really funny
and it could confuse people a lot it
might be a bit of a dangerous one
and it is cost a bomb so if something
costs a bomb it means that it is
super expensive now when speaking to
ethan
i learned that they don't have this
expression in the u.s
but they would say it cost an arm and a
leg
and we use this as well in the uk but we
do also
use cost a bomb and it's just a way of
describing something as
really expensive so the next one that we
use a lot in the uk
is it's a shambles so
this sounds like a really nonsense word
it sounds like
gibberish like you don't understand what
it means but what it does mean
is that something is totally unorganized
and just really bad so for example the
other day
i was watching football watching my team
and it wasn't going very well at all
and i heard my husband say it's a
shambles this team is a shambles so it
means that they were really disorganized
and they were not playing very well but
you can use it for other things as well
so you might describe an event that
you've been to
as a shambles you might even describe a
class that you've been to
as a shambles and many many other things
okay so the last one that we're going to
have a look at is
bagsy so this one in the us
would be shotgun so you probably
heard this in tv series and movies when
people are walking to a car someone
might say shotgun
and that means that they are going to
ride in the front of the passenger
seat okay so we would use this as well
in the uk but we would say bagzi and we
don't only use it for this purpose
we also use it to bagsy other things
another word also that means the same is
dibs so you might say i've got dibs
on the pepperoni pizza for example so it
means that you want to have that
first or if you are amongst friends you
might say
oh i bag z the lemon meringue pie
if there's lots of different desserts
there and you have to choose one
so if you bag see it it means that you
have preference so you're going to get
to choose it
first so it's a little bit similar to
shotgun
but in the uk we use it for a lot more
things
and it's one that you will hear a lot in
the uk
as well so i hope you enjoyed today's
lesson
and that these english expressions that
you've learned today
are not so confusing anymore and
don't forget to have a listen to our
podcast if you haven't already where you
can hear some more confusing expressions
and also on our instagram there are a
few
exclusive ones there also and i'll see
you guys in the next lesson take care
so let's look at some instances of this
that you will find all the time
so in school they probably taught you to
say these like serious sam
let's see got to want to
have to going to however it's pretty
uncommon that you will hear natives
speak this way
most natives will actually speak like my
friend street stan
yeah man i'd say like gotta wanna
gonna have to so maybe you already know
about those ones