20 Stunningly Beautiful English Idioms English Vocabulary Lesson

hello everyone and welcome back to

english with lucy

today i’m going to talk to you about 20

of the most beautiful idioms in the

english language i’ve chosen these

idioms because i like their meaning i

think they sound nice i think they refer

to beautiful things and let’s just face

it some of them are really fun to say so

this video is perfect for improving your

vocabulary but if you want to improve

your pronunciation and your listening

even further then i highly recommend the

special method of combining reading

books with listening to the audiobook

version on audible it might sound a bit

weird but trust me it works let me

explain take a book that you have

already read in english or a book that

you would like to read in english i’ve

got lots of recommendations down in the

description box and read this book

whilst listening to the audiobook

version reading alone will not help your

pronunciation because english isn’t a

strictly phonetic language how a word is

spelt or written might not give you any

indication as to how it’s pronounced if

you listen to a word as you read it your

brain will start to make connections and

the next time you read that word you’ll

know how it’s pronounced and the next

time you hear that word you’ll know how

it’s spelt how it’s written it is such

an effective method and the best part is

you can get a free audio book that’s a

30-day free trial on audible just click

on the link in the description box and

my recommendations give it a try it

really works right let’s get started

with our 20 beautiful english idioms

number one is it takes two to tango it

takes two to tango i love the way that

this one sounds

when you say it takes two to tango it

means that both parties or people

involved in a situation or argument are

equally responsible for it for example

we need to come to a compromise here it

does take two to tango after all

take two to tango take two to tango it’s

hard to say

number two is my absolute favorite idiom

i have mentioned this in quite a few

videos before but it’s worth a spot here

it is every cloud has a silver lining

this means that every difficult or sad

situation has a comforting or more

hopeful aspect even though this may not

be immediately apparent it comes from

the sun shining behind a cloud the cloud

is obviously a negative thing for some

people

i don’t mind clouds because i’m very

very white

but the sun shining behind the cloud

creates a silver lining and the sun’s

going to come out later and be hopeful

and comforting for you it’s a nice way

of expressing seeing the positive side

of something or seeing something

positive that will come later on as a

result of something negative for example

i was so upset that i failed that first

interview but now i have my absolute

dream job every cloud has a silver

lining

number three is to burn the midnight oil

to burn the midnight oil this means to

work or study late into the night for

example i’ve been burning the midnight

oil trying to finish a very important

course that’s a hint if you

if you didn’t quite get that

number four is kind of similar but it’s

got a slightly different meaning it’s to

burn the candle at both ends

to burn the candle at both ends

this means to work or to do something

from very early in the morning to very

late at night thus getting very little

rest you’re using all your free time in

the morning that you would usually use

to rest and you’re also using all your

free time in the evening that you would

also use to rest so you’re getting very

little rest

an example i was worried about will this

summer because he was burning the candle

at both ends he’s a farmer it was

harvest he was getting up early and

coming back very very late i was worried

number five is a lovely one it is water

under the bridge

water under the bridge

this refers to problems or disagreements

that someone or a group of people had a

long time ago

but now they don’t care about it anymore

because time has passed and these things

can’t be changed they’ve moved on

for example yes we had our disagreements

but that’s water under the bridge now it

doesn’t matter we’ve moved on

number six is to wear your heart on your

sleeve to wear your heart on your sleeve

if you wear your heart on your sleeve it

means that you openly share emotions and

feelings rather than keeping them hidden

inside for example i wear my heart on my

sleeve i am not afraid to tell someone

if i like them number seven is a funny

one i love this one it is lovely weather

for ducks

lovely weather for ducks you’re probably

thinking what the hell

let me explain it’s a humorous phrase

for

very wet rainy weather of which we have

a lot in the uk

and ireland

i might ask someone how’s the weather

looking and they might reply oh well

it’s gonna be lovely weather for ducks

the ducks are gonna love all this rain

number eight is to burn your bridges to

burn your bridges this is the act of

unpleasantly

and permanently ending a relationship

with another person or an organization

like a company that you worked for it’s

always a good idea to not burn your

bridges there have been many times where

i have wanted to burn bridges but i

haven’t and

quite a few of those times actually

there’s been a benefit

afterwards as a result of my not burning

my bridges

for example i’m so glad i didn’t burn my

bridges with my old boss because she’s

just offered me an amazing new job in

her new company

number nine this is lovely variety is

the spice of life variety is the spice

of life this is a phrase that says that

new and exciting experiences make life

more interesting for example i never

like to visit the same restaurant twice

because variety is the spice of life

that is not true for me i find a

favorite and then i

go there until

it shuts down basically

very upsetting when that happens number

10 is to londoneer to lend an ear

this simply means to listen to somebody

with sympathy an example

take my mobile number i’m always here to

lend an ear if you need one number 11 is

a change of heart

this means a move to a different opinion

or attitude for example

the troll had a change of heart and

decided to dedicate their life to

supporting anti-bullying campaigns that

would be a nice thing wouldn’t it number

12 is to touch someone’s heart to touch

someone’s heart

this means to make someone feel a

particular emotion

or strong feelings for example the

handmade birthday card from the little

girl down the road really touched my

heart

it made me feel very

touched

number 13 is to take one’s breath away

to take one’s breath away if you say

that something has taken your breath

away you’re emphasizing the fact that

it’s really beautiful or amazing

or breathtaking an example the way he

played that piano took my breath away

number 14 is one that i really like i

love all the weather-related idioms it’s

the calm before the storm the calm

before the storm this is a period of

unusual peace silence and tranquility

that seems to come before more difficult

or chaotic times

for example

every morning before i open my laptop i

sit down at my desk with a coffee and

enjoy the calm before the storm before

the busyness of my daily life begins

number 15 is to spread one’s wings to

spread one’s wings this means to become

more independent and confident and to

try new things

it refers to birds leaving the nest they

fly for the first time and spread their

wings an example

moving it to a new country at a young

age really gave me the chance to spread

my wings i became more independent and

more confident number 16 is so sweet

it is those three little words

those three little words and yes those

three little words is the idiom it is

the phrase we’re looking at saying those

three little words is an indirect way of

referring to the words i love you those

three short little words an example in

use i might say to my friend with her

new boyfriend

has he said those three little words to

you yet implying has he said i love you

yet

it’s a nice way of asking a question

without being too direct about i love

you which can be a big deal

number 17 is actually more of a proverb

than an idiom but i thought it would be

nice to include it because i really like

it it is what comes around goes around

you might remember the justin timberlake

song

i’m not going to sing it cause i will

get demonetized this means that if you

treat someone badly or do something

negative it’s likely that the same thing

will come back to haunt you that they

might treat you badly or you might just

be treated badly in general for example

she picked on me in middle school and

now her boss bullies her

what goes around comes around

number 18 is hook line and sinker hook

line and sinker i love this one it’s a

nautical one

relating to navigation and the sea and

sailors and maritime this means

believing something completely something

that’s usually not true for example you

got me hook line and sinker when you

told me you were going to be on the x

factor the x factor is a popular talent

show a singing talent show in the uk i’m

sure you have it in your country

perhaps number 19 is to have a soft spot

for someone to have a soft spot for

someone this means to have a great deal

of affection for someone or it can be

something for example i have a huge soft

spot for ginger cats i have a lot of

affection for ginger cats

it’s nice because obviously i’m speaking

about cats it’s not strictly romantic

it can be if someone says to

their crush or love interest i have a

huge soft spot for you then yes it

probably means romantic affection um but

it doesn’t have to be and i really like

that i feel like i’m being extra british

today like awkward and weird anyway and

the last one is to only have eyes for

someone to only have eyes for someone

for example oh no i didn’t say the

definition

this means to only be attracted to or

interested in one person which is lovely

monogamy

for example i only have eyes for william

he is the only person that i’m

interested in and attracted to obviously

because i i’m gonna marry him

right that’s it for our 20 beautiful

idioms i hope you agree with me that

they are lovely

fun to say they’ve got beautiful

meanings

and they’re just

just nice aren’t they

um please do share any other beautiful

idioms or idioms that you consider to be

really really nice fun to say satisfying

or really meaningful down below in the

comments section don’t forget to check

out audible you can get your free

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lifestyle which is lucy bella earle

again link down below i will see you

soon for another lesson

then i highly recommend this

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this is a phrase that says the new annex

for example i never like to visit the

same restaurant restaurant

i really like the weather related idioms

i do have a whole video on whether

related idioms i believe and if not then

i should make one definitely unless i’ve

covered them all in this video anyway

that doesn’t matter number one is number

one

number 17

is more of a proverb than an indium an

indium

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you