9 English Idioms with Explanations and Examples Learn English Vocabulary Lesson
hello everyone
and welcome back to english with lucy i
have been testing out the new
poll function on instagram
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learn english with
lucy somebody already took english with
lucy
so i had to add learn i’m sorry so yes
on my instagram stories i’ve been asking
you guys what do you want to see in my
videos
i’m going to be talking to you about
some really lovely expressions and
idioms
and i’ve decided that i’m going to talk
about expressions and idioms that relate
to
animals because in a lot of our daily
conversation we mention animals but we
don’t always
intend to talk about animals so let’s
talk about that today
quickly before we get started i’d just
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lucy2 right let’s get started with the
lesson
now the first one what am i talking
about
if i talk about the birds and the bees
so i might say something like oh i
learnt about the birds and the bees from
my friends at school or
my mum refused to teach me about the
birds and the bees
what could it possibly mean it means sex
education
or sometimes just sex if i ask you where
did you learn about the birds and the
bees
i’m asking you where did you learn about
how babies are made for example it’s an
important one to know
to avoid any uh awkward situations
i don’t want somebody to ask you about
the birds and the bees and for you to
start talking about honey and
parrots the next one
is to have ants in one’s pants i wonder
if this one translates into your
language comment below if this one is
the same in your language
but if you have ants in your pants it
means that you are full of nervous
energy you can’t stop
moving um you’re maybe a little bit
hyper active
so sometimes in the morning i really
want to go on my run and i have ants in
my pants i can’t stop moving until i go
on my run and burn all my energy
now the next one is a phrasal verb and
it is
to chicken out to chicken
out i’m going to use it in a sentence
for you
i was going to jump off the cliff but i
chickened out
it’s inseparable you can’t separate it
it means to decide not to do
something because you are scared it’s to
avoid doing something
because you are scared so i was going to
jump off the cliff but then i felt
afraid
so i didn’t i chickened out the next one
i’ve got
another phrasal verb for you and this is
to clam
up to clam up a clam is a shellfish
it’s a type of seafood delicious
but to climb up has nothing to do with
shellfish
i could say i asked him where he was
last night and he quickly climbed up
if he climbed up it means shut his mouth
stop talking
and it means to stop talking quite
suddenly and abruptly
now the next one i can’t remember if
i’ve mentioned this in a video before
maybe but i think it’s very relevant and
important for this video
it is to hold one’s horses
so it can be said as an exclamation hold
your
horses hold your horses
it means wait and be patient stop
being impatient i remember my mum always
used to say this to me
especially when it was snowing i always
wanted to get outside
go in the snow and she used to say hold
your horses
if you’re going out in the snow you need
to wear a hat you need to wear a scarf
we need to get your coat on
and i was too excited i had ants in my
pants
um but i had to hold my horses and i had
to wait and be patient
the next one is to be in the dog house
to be
in the doghouse so i might say my dad
came back
very late from the pub last night and
now he’s in the doghouse
to be in the doghouse means that you are
in trouble with another person
so my dad is in trouble with my mom my
mom is not happy with my dad
and she’s put him not literally in the
doghouse
now the next one is such a useful one i
use it all the time
it is to kill two birds with one stone
and you might be able to work out what
it means actually and i’d love to know
as well
if you have an alternative for this in
your language please please please
comment below i love it when you talk
about
idioms being the same in your language
um to kill two birds with one stone
is to get two things done to complete
two tasks
with just one effort if i pick up my
friend from school
and i go shopping on the same trip i
killed two birds with one stone because
i’ve done two things with just one trip
okay
what about the next one straight from
the horse’s mouth
if you hear something straight from the
horse’s mouth it means that you’re
hearing it from the
original source so if someone asks me
are you sure
you’re right about that piece of news
i’ll say
i heard it straight from the horse’s
mouth they told me directly
and the last one is to smell a rat
hmm i smell a rat here now
i actually really like rats and they’re
actually quite clean and shouldn’t smell
but if you smell a rat it means that you
suspect
trickery or wrongdoing in a situation
so if something’s maybe too good to be
true
for example i’ve just had a nigerian
prince
tell me that i’ve won 20 million dollars
and all i have to do
is send him my bank details my mom might
say to me lucy i smell a rat
i think there’s like trickery going on
here and yep so to smell a rat is to
suspect
trickery or malicious intent
right guys that’s it for today’s lesson
as i said before if you have any of the
translations for these idioms in your
own language
please comment them below and remember
to mention which language you’re talking
about
um also if you’d like to contribute
subtitle translations you can do that by
following the link in the description
box and you can
translate the subtitles for this video
into your own language so you can help
people
who aren’t of such a high level as you
are also don’t forget to check out
lingoda the link is also in the
description box and you can use the code
that i mentioned before
don’t forget to connect with me on all
of my social media i’ve got my facebook
i’ve got my instagram and i’ve got my
and i will see you soon for another
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lesson
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you