if someone tells you to hold your horses
or if you've been running around like a
headless chicken
you may even be asked to keep your eyes
peeled
yes these idioms and many more can often
sound rather
disgusting bemusing confusing
and well quite funny actually yes
idioms in english are really really
varied we've got idioms connected to
animals to disgusting things
and to just weird objects in general
like
the kitchen sink now as frustrating as
it can be
to learn these idioms it is also great
fun
once you get there and understand them
because this is a great way to boost
your english level
instantly using idiomatic expressions
like the 20 i'm going to share with you
in just a minute
will help you sound a lot more natural
and native in
english and importantly help you
understand
native english speakers so
are you ready let's get on with the
[Music]
lesson
okay hold your horses before we get
started i want to make sure that you
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english expressions idioms and to learn
a little bit more
about sabra and me right so hold your
horses
did you understand that expression from
the context in which i used it
if you guess that it's something like
weight
then you are correct essentially hold
your horses doesn't literally mean
hold your horses no it means slow down
wait a moment right hold your horses
i am not paying for dinner you said it
was your turn
right hold your horses i am not ready
yet we can go out in
half an hour number two staying with the
theme of
animals an elephant an elephant
in the room if someone says we're
avoiding the elephant in the room
then essentially you are avoiding a
problem that everyone is aware of but no
one really wants to or knows how to deal
with it
everyone is refusing to talk about this
problem for example
we can't carry on in this relationship i
want to get married and you don't
i think it's time we address the
elephant in the room when you address
something it means you face it and deal
with it so
an extra little bit of vocab for you
there now number three
everything but the kitchen sink
this is referring to everything
imaginable
even the unnecessary things so
often we would say when someone is
packing for a holiday
and maybe has a very large case or even
two
you're only going away for a weekend it
looks like you're packing everything but
the kitchen sink
so everything including unnecessary
things
things you probably won't need what did
you buy at the supermarket it looks like
you've got everything but the kitchen
sink
right number four to keep your eyes
peeled now we usually refer to
peel the verb when we talk about carrots
or
apples removing the skin so
this potentially could sound a little
bit disgusting
so essentially we're not asking you to
peel your eyes
no but to basically pay attention
to look out for something right the
street we need to turn down is just
coming up so keep your eyes peeled
now on the same theme as eyes eyeballs
to be up to your eyeballs in something
now essentially this means that you have
too much of something
more than you want so often we would use
this expression when talking about work
i am
up to my eyeballs in emails i can't
believe
how many people email me in one week
while i'm on holiday
you can also use it to talk about daily
life i am
up to my eyeballs in dirty laundry
i've got so much washing to do now if
someone wants to
pick your brain no they are not a
zombie they simply want to know your
opinion what you
think on a subject the knowledge you
have on something particular
do you mind if i pick your brain about
this new project i just want to get your
opinion on a few things
i want to know what you think maybe you
want to pick my brain about
grammar or pronunciation in fact a lot
of you do
in the comments section below so in fact
why not ask me a question about
idiomatic expressions
is there an idiom in english that you
would like to pick my brain
over let me know comment below now
number seven
if you make a lot of effort doing
something
particularly if you're doing something
for someone else to make them
happy perhaps you want to invite your
mother-in-law for dinner and you clean
the house and you cook and you
make everything perfect by her flowers
you're bending over
backwards for her bending over backwards
now if you imagine
bending over backwards it's pretty
uncomfortable unless you're particularly
good at yoga
so when you bend over backwards for
someone or doing something
you're making a massive effort working
very very hard
so when was the last time you bent over
backwards for somebody and did they
appreciate it now number eight i have to
say
i'm pretty good in the mornings usually
i'm
quite bright breezy awake happy
especially after a coffee
but some people they just always wake up
the wrong side of the bed
yes to wake up the wrong side of the bed
is bizarre it's strange because there
really isn't a right or a wrong side
to get out of the bed but essentially it
means that someone has woken up in a bad
mood they're not particularly happy
they're grumpy they're
miserable maybe they didn't get a good
night's sleep or maybe it's just how
they are in the mornings
right guys the boss seems to have gotten
up out of the wrong side of the bed so i
suggest
avoiding him for the first hour this
morning we'll try plying him with some
coffee and see if that helps
now number nine teeth we've gone away
from eyes and we're now thinking about
these things by the skin of your teeth
by the skin of your teeth now the
origins are actually
biblical i won't get into them now but
it's a pretty old expression
essentially it means narrowly barely or
by a small margin
so just about for example
she passed that exam by the skin of her
teeth
it was only two marks off fail so when
you get through something by the skin of
your teeth
you've essentially just about avoided
something or done something
now a strange expression just check a
minute
yeah um went behind the ears
if you describe someone as being wet
behind the ears
that essentially you are saying they're
immature and inexperienced
now this actually comes from farm
animals from when
a lot of animals are born in their
amniotic fluid
bit gross okay they're all wet and gooey
but the mummy will lick them
make sure they're clean but they usually
miss their ears so their ears the back
of them
are quite wet this is just a bizarre
expression
but you get the idea it's referring to a
baby animal an inexperienced
immature baby animal wet behind the ears
so what do you think about the new girl
at work lovely
but a bit wet behind the ears i don't
think she's ever had a job before
now number 11 a wet blanket a wet
blanket again you can see i'm trying to
somehow connect these idioms
essentially if you describe someone as
being a wet blanket they
are boring they create a situation where
everyone's having fun
and then they do something to make it a
lot less fun
essentially we're referring to a wet
blanket putting out a fire or
flames of some sort so this is someone
who dampens who makes
wet everyone's enthusiasm or excitement
for something
they were all celebrating his birthday
but she came in and was a real wet
blanket
just sat there sulking all day i think
she wanted the attention
number 12 this is pretty horrid and if
any of you are vegetarian this probably
justifies why to run around like a
headless chicken
yes the thought of a chicken without a
head is not particularly nice
and especially as they're running around
now apparently
some of you guys can let me know if this
is correct when a chicken has its head
chopped off it will still
run around for a short time um yeah
grim but anyway you get the idea how
ridiculous
it is we use this figuratively
not literally to say that someone is
running around doing lots of things in a
very disorganized way
it's a bit chaotic they're not being
particularly efficient or effective
i have been trying to get this party
organized but honestly i feel like i'm
running around like a headless chicken
no one is helping now number 13 you can
thank my mother for this to run around
like a blue ass
fly now clearly i'm using the word ass
so it's probably not going to be very
formal none of these idioms really are
but i would say that this is a little
bit more informal than the rest
it's essentially the same thing as to
run around like a headless chicken
to run around like a blue ass fly means
you are exceptionally
busy you're in a state of frenzied
activity you have got so
much to do and so little time just
imagine a fly
buzzing around your room it really does
seem like it's doing something and
nothing and just
crazy and chaotic so very similar to
running around like a headless chicken
to run around like a blue ass fly i have
been running around
like a blue ass fly all day and i don't
think i've got anything done i've still
got to do the food shopping and pick the
kids up
get their homework done get them into
bed get them bars cook for dinner oh my
goodness
[Music]
number 14 a bull male cow
in a china shop a bull in a china shop
now
china is the uh like teacups and sources
that we would refer to um a kind of posh
plate wear plate where yeah let's say
plate where
okay and imagine a bull in a shop of
this
yes there'd be a lot of breakage a lot
of things smashing crashing
on the floor so when we refer to
somebody being a bull in a china shop or
going in like a bull in a china shop
they are not being
very subtle someone who is very
careless in the way they move or behave
it doesn't literally have to be about
breaking things it could be about
being insensitive and upsetting people
so
being very clumsy and not very tactful
in dealing with sensitive situations
honestly
she always comes into the meeting like a
bull in a china shop just blurts out her
idea and dismisses everybody else's she
really doesn't have
much tact meaning ability to be
sensitive
and delicate in certain situations
monkeys
and monkey business okay now in this
case we're referring to kind of the
playfulness of monkeys so when we refer
to
monkey business we're referring to this
exact thing shenanigans naughty
behavior but fun so for example
the boys have been very quiet this
afternoon i wonder what monkey business
they are getting up to
so being mischievous potentially
this could even be behaving in an
illegal
manner but often it is just referring to
children behaving as children do number
16 and i bet you've heard this one
before and it really is a funny one
the best thing since sliced bread
apparently a long time ago when the
sliced bread machine was invented
everyone thought it was amazing
and i'm guessing this is everyone in the
uk because we do like our sandwiches
so when we say the best thing since
sliced bread we could be
serious we could be saying something is
amazing fantastic
the best thing you've heard of or
recently at least
or you could be using it in more of a
sarcastic way
honestly the way they're behaving you
would think the new girl's the best
thing since sliced bread which is really
nothing special
honestly the iphone i think it's the
best thing since sliced bread
number 17 this is one that i won't often
use but i've definitely come across
it more holes than swiss cheese
more holes than swiss cheese now i'm
sure swiss cheese isn't all holy
like that kind of cheese but when we say
there's more holes in something than
swiss cheese
we're saying that it has many faults
many problems flaws
wow that netflix series has more holes
than a swiss cheese
seriously how even did they get together
that just didn't make any sense to me
i've got a bone to pick with you no
not literally i'm not gonna pick your
bones or poke you with one
no when you say that you've got a boned
pick with someone it's quite a
serious idiomatic expression meaning
you've got an issue
you need to raise with them you've got a
problem something you need to tell them
something that needs to be discussed
that's usually pretty serious look i've
got a bone to pick with you
you said you were going to pay me about
that 10 pounds last week and you still
haven't
so when am i going to get my money back
have you got a friend
who as lovely as they are might not be
as
talented as they think in one particular
area
perhaps they think they're a fantastic
singer or painter or photographer
or even chef now if you've got the kind
of relationship where you can talk
quite freely and openly and kind of
make fun then you might use the
expression
don't give up the day job don't give up
the day job
so what did you think of my meal last
night did you enjoy it
well i wouldn't give up the day job if i
were you
and finally fat chance or slim chance
now
actually there's two opposing adjectives
fat being
and slim being the opposite but
essentially if you say
fat chance or slim chance you're saying
that there is a very
minute possibility of something
happening
he asked me out for dinner the other
night fat chance i'm gonna say yes
now fat chance is actually going to be a
little bit stronger and ruder than
slim chance there is a slim chance that
i can make it to the party tonight but
i'll let you know i'll text
beforehand if you say fat chance it
really sounds quite
rude and abrupt so avoid that unless you
are talking about somebody crazy
inviting you out for dinner
and there we go 20 idiomatic expressions
that are bizarre
strange and may even have you laughing
just from the picture the imagery
that they create so comment below try
using
one or more of those expressions in a
context that is personal
to you and of course if there are any
other idioms that you would like me to
explain
add those in the comments section too
thank you for watching
bye