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! Nice to see you again.
Today's idiom is: walking on egg shells.
Walking on egg shells.
Alright, so does everyone know what an egg shell is?
It's from an egg, it's the shell, the outside, the white part of the egg.
And it's very fragile, right?
So, if we put a bunch of egg shells on the ground and we walk on the egg shells, you have to walk very carefully.
You don't want to break the egg shells, right?
So, you can't stomp around. You're going to walk very carefully if you are walking on egg shells.
Alright, so let's imagine this picture in our head as we listen to the examples.
How is your daughter doing?
Her entrance exam is coming up, so we're all walking on egg shells around her.
Alright, so the daughter has her entrance exam coming up. She's very nervous and worried.
So, the family is walking on egg shells around her.
Maybe they're very careful what they say or what they do.
Okay, let's listen to another example.
How did the trip to Mexico go?
There was a spread of influenza, so we were all walking on egg shells for a while.
Okay, so influenza went around Mexico, so they were walking on egg shells.
They were very nervous and careful not to get the influenza.
Alright, so 'walking on egg shells', if you guessed it, means to be very careful in a tense situation.
Okay, maybe someone's very nervous or it's an uncomfortable situation and you must act very carefully.
What you say or do could be very bad in the situation if you're not careful.
So, let's think maybe your friend lost his job, okay, and he's having a difficult time with money.
So, maybe you should walk on egg shells with him.
You should be careful. Yeah, you don't want to talk about money or invite him to a nice restaurant or something.
So, in such a tense, uncomfortable situation, be very careful and walk on egg shells, alright?
So, that's all for today. I'll see you next time!