if you are someone who loves sports then
you are definitely going to love this
idiom lesson
[Music]
what's up everyone my name's Wes this is
Interactive English which is the place
that you want to be to practice and
improve your English skills and the way
that you are going to improve your
skills today is by learning some new
idioms I'm going to teach you some
idioms that are related to sports that
doesn't mean that you can only use these
idioms when talking about sports they
can be used in a variety of different
situations and I'm gonna talk to you
about that today and as I teach you
these idioms and tell you the meaning
I'll give you some example sentences as
well as show you some videos so you can
see how these idioms are used in context
so let's begin the first idiom is a
tennis idiom and it is the ball is in
your court
and what this means is that it is up to
you it is your responsibility to do
something or to make a decision the ball
is in your court so example when when
you're playing tennis you hit the ball
to somebody else and then the ball is in
their court it's up to them to act so
this can be used in a variety of context
it could be used in business in a
negotiation for example maybe you make
an offer to buy something and then you'd
say well okay here's my offer
the ball is in your court it is your
responsibility to make a decision now or
tell me what you want to do and we often
use this idiom is just a stand alone
statement and you would tell somebody
you know the ball is in your court now
it's up to you the balls in your court
call me back balls in your court
I said no me right back in the driver's
seat so the ball is in his court the
next idiom is to get off the hook and if
we're talking about hooks you can
probably guess that this is a fishing
idiom when you're fishing you use a hook
to catch the fish so if the fish gets
off the hook then they are able to
escape danger they're able to escape
punishment and that's exactly what this
idiom means you are escaping
responsibility for something that you
are no longer responsible for this this
action
happen that was bad or wrong you are no
longer going to get punished for this
thing you are able to get off the hook I
don't have a choice I guess I'm kind of
hoping you'll come back over the railing
let me off the hook here so for example
when I think of this idiom because I'm a
teacher I think of students that when
they don't do their homework and maybe
there's a punishment and they're trying
to think of an excuse I might tell them
I'd say you know you're not gonna get
off the hook that easy you are not
getting off the hook that easy mister
and that is a common sentence in which
you might hear this idiom being used
that you would tell someone you're not
going to get off the hook that easy that
you you need to be held responsible for
for something that happens you're not
going to have it completely removed
you're gonna have to suffer the
consequences a little bit you're not
gonna get off the hook that easy then we
have a baseball idiom go to bat for
someone to go to bat for someone means
just to to defend somebody so in
baseball when you go to bat for another
player that you're basically helping
that person out they don't have to bat
because you're going to do it for them
you're going to help that person you are
going to defend them I'm tired of going
to bat for you and your show I want to
thank you for going to bat for me last
week
next is a hunting idiom and this idiom
is used quite often and it is to give it
your best shot
and often people would just say it as a
sentence and just say give it your best
shot and this means that you should just
try your hardest do your best so when
you're hunting even though I'm not a
hunter you are shooting something and
you want to give it your best shot you
tell people this all the time whether
they're doing sports or or business you
would tell them and encourage them and
say give it your best shot
go and give it your best shot well my
Nigel best sauce okay O'Conner
give me your best shot so for example I
would tell you guys this if you're
thinking that learning English is too
difficult I don't know if I could do it
I would encourage you and say you
give it your best shot just try your
best that's all that we're asking you do
give it your best shot next is an idiom
that comes from horse-racing and that is
the home stretch and if you're talking
about the home stretch you're talking
about the end so when talking about
horse-racing at the end of the race you
might hear somebody say the horses are
coming down the homestretch they're
getting close to the end and you can use
this when you are getting close to the
end of something specifically when
you're about to complete something or
finish something so with this lesson I'm
just about halfway through it I'm not
quite in the homestretch just yet we're
almost done home stretch this is the
home stretch
all we got to do is focus big tough
during the home stretch
next is a golf idiom and that is not up
to par so in golf you you have a score
that you try to get for each hole and if
you match that score then that would be
par so that's your the average score
that's what you want to do if somebody's
not up to par then that just means that
they're not good enough to do a job or a
position and you just don't have the
skills or abilities to do something and
somebody might say you know yeah it's
you know this work it's not up to par so
if I'm not up to par performance why Jim
this isn't exactly a turn-on there's a
thing called proposition 48 says it if
your grades aren't up to par and take
the SAT if you score 700 or more you can
get in college I hope these video
lessons are definitely up to par for you
guys I hope so next is a boxing idiom to
throw in the towel and in boxing if
somebody throws in the towel then that
just means they give up the match is
over and that's exactly what it means to
give up something so if you're tired of
doing something you don't want to do it
anymore you'd say you know I'm just
gonna throw in the towel I'm done I give
up or you might hear it being used that
somebody's you know they're trying to
encourage you and tell you not to give
up and they'd say don't throw in the
towel don't throw in the towel just yet
keep going keep working hard that's
throwing in the towel he says once the
debts of pay
there won't be too much left round after
round I kept getting Frankie to patch me
up he's talking about throwing in the
towel but he ain't my manager you can't
throw in nothing maybe it's time to
throw in the towel if you guys are
thinking you know I'm done learning
English it's too difficult I don't want
to do it I would tell you don't give up
don't throw in the towel just yet
and I'm not gonna let you off the hook
that easy I'm always going to encourage
you and tell you to keep going and give
it your best shot and I'm just gonna
keep using these idioms over and over so
that you'll remember them let's just
keep going we're coming down the
homestretch which means we're getting
close to the end but don't leave just
yet I have some more great idioms for
you and this next one is a football
idiom it's an American football idiom
and I'm sure some of you might be
rolling your eyes like American football
nobody watches that but this idiom is a
good one and it is blindsided and if
somebody is blindsided it just means
that they did not see something coming
they did not expect this thing to happen
you were blindsided by something so for
example somebody might tell you some
news that is shocking like oh they're
getting a divorce you're like oh my
goodness I was just blindsided by this
like you was blindsided by this as I was
invited me like being so nice and
friendly to my face so when you're
blindsided it's not really a good thing
it's something that you weren't
expecting and you would be blindsided by
something so we often use it with the
preposition by I was blindsided by this
thing that was not good and I was
surprised I was blindsided then we have
a basketball idiom slam dunk this is
probably a a phrase that you've heard
before especially if you're a basketball
fan in basketball a slam dunk is when
you take the ball and you slam it and
hang on to the rim yeah I I can't slam
dunk the basketball I can't jump so if
something is a slam dunk then it just
means it's a sure thing it's easy to do
it's easy to accomplish you know that
you're gonna do this thing
you say well you know it's a slam dunk
so you're watching this video right now
and I'm thinking like hmm I wonder if
they're gonna hit that like button but I
know you know it's a slam dunk it's a
sure thing you're gonna hit that like
button right unless you think this
lessons not up to par it's a slam dunk I
hope it's a real slam dunk to me this
decision is a slam dunk
the next idiom is call the shots this is
a billiards idiom because when you're
playing billiards you you often have to
call your shots and point to the pocket
where you want to shoot the ball so if
somebody calls the shots it just means
they are making the decisions you might
often hear this idiom in business
because there's a hierarchy of people
from the boss the manager and then you
and and your boss would call the shots
they would be making the decisions I
call the shots you're calling the shots
now let's go see nothing but the bench
issue you ain't calling the shots you'll
play so I'm a bit curious if you knew
some of these idioms already I hope that
you weren't completely blindsided by
these idioms and I hope that you can go
on to use them and try to use them and
give it your best shot
but because this is Interactive English
I have a bonus idiom for you and this is
going to be a question and I want you to
click on the correct answer before I ask
you this question and you go off to
another video I want you to hit that
like button if you enjoyed learning
these idioms so are you ready are you
ready for your bonus idiom what does it
mean to hit below the belt what do you
think click on the correct meaning if
something is below the belt it's a
martial arts idiom what do you think it
means if you don't know please don't
give up don't throw in the towel just
just choose one give it your best shot
which one do you think it means click on
the correct answer or the video is just
going to end