TOP 5 English Idioms Vocabulary you need to know

Hello! I’m Emma from mmmEnglish!

I’ve made several videos about English idioms

and that’s because

they’re a really important part of English.

They’re expressions that come up all the time

in both written English and spoken English,

in formal and informal conversations.

When used correctly, especially in an English exam,

they show creativity and they demonstrate

a control over the language.

Now most idioms don’t make a lot of sense, literally.

Often you can’t just look at the words

and try to guess the meaning.

The meaning is often something completely different

to the individual words in the idiom.

So you need to learn

the meaning of these idioms separately

which might sound like more work and it might sound

stressful,

but I’ve got a really great tip to share with you today

to help you remember these idioms

and to start using them more in conversation.

So, you ready?

This is the advice that I give all of my students.

When you hear a new idiom

and you learn the meaning,

think about a situation in your own life where

the meaning of this idiom is relevant.

So let’s use a really common idiom as an example,

‘a blessing in disguise’

which is used when something seems bad or unlucky

at first

but it results in something good happening later.

So just to be clear,

disguise is something that someone wears

to hide themselves,

so a blessing in disguise is a good thing

that is hidden, got it?

Okay, so to help you remember this idiom

and this is something that you should do every time

you learn a new idiom,

is think about how it relates to you.

Think about an event or a moment in your life,

where something happened

that seemed bad at the time

but it resulted in something good happening later.

So let’s use an example to explain.

My best friend Amy wanted to study medicine

and her parents really wanted her to study medicine too

but she didn’t get accepted at the

University she wanted to study at.

That’s bad, right?

She was really upset about it at the time

but a few months later, she got an opportunity

to volunteer with an aid organisation in Africa.

So she thought ‘Why not?’

She went out and went on a big adventure.

But she loved the work that she was doing there,

helping refugees to apply for visas

so that they could start new lives in other countries.

And she was really good at this job,

she instantly found her true passion in life.

So over time, she was promoted within the organisation

and now she’s the CEO!

So, when the university didn’t accept her

for the degree in medicine,

that was a blessing in disguise

because she probably would never have found

her true passion

if she just went to university and studied medicine

like her parents wanted.

Now, can you think of an example from your life

where this idiom is relevant?

I want you to write it down because

this is going to help you remember

how to use this idiom.

And you can write your sentence in the comment

under this video if you want me to check it for you.

Let’s try another example now,

‘the best of both worlds’

so this idiom is used when you can enjoy

the advantages or the benefits of two different things

at the same time.

My mum used to live in the city,

it was close to her work and she loved

going to the theatre and galleries in her free time

but now that she’s retired,

she’s moved to a small town by the beach

and she really loves it.

It’s quiet, it’s peaceful,

she’s got some good friends there.

But she misses going to the theatre and seeing shows

every week, like she used to,

it takes her over an hour to drive to the city

so she doesn’t go there very often now.

But recently, my mum bought a small apartment

right in the middle of the city.

So now she’s got the best of both worlds,

the peaceful relaxing beach lifestyle,

but then when things seem a little quiet,

she can drive to her apartment in the city

and see some shows and visit the gallery.

She’s got the best of both worlds.

So what about you?

Can you think of a situation in your life

where this idiom is relevant? A time when

you had the best of both worlds.

Again, tell me about it in the comments, I want to read it!

Okay, to ‘give someone the benefit of the doubt’.

Now if you give someone the benefit of the doubt

you trust that they’re telling you the truth,

you assume that their behaviour is honest

and correct, even though you’re not certain that it is.

I don’t know if you know this about me yet,

but as an English teacher, I can be a massive pushover.

I always want to believe that my students

are telling me the truth.

So when I first started teaching,

I was working at a university in Melbourne

and my students were all international students

who had to pass an exam

before they were accepted into their university courses,

so the stakes were really high.

If they failed, their visas would be cancelled

and they would be sent back to their home country.

So many of the teachers, my colleagues,

were very tough on their students, if they handed in their

assignments late, if they didn’t arrive to class on time.

But, if my students had a good reason

why they were late then I believed them.

I remember one guy, Paulo,

arrived an hour late for class and he told me

that he had locked his keys inside his car.

That was his reason.

And I was a little suspicious at the time because

his hair was all messy and he looked a bit sleepy.

But I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

He was a good student, so I wanted to trust him,

even though I wasn’t sure if he was telling me the truth.

I found out later that he was,

so I was glad I’d given him the benefit of the doubt.

Okay, your turn!

Think of the time in your life when

you gave someone the benefit of the doubt,

when you accepted that they were telling you the truth,

but you weren’t a hundred percent sure about it.

When a situation is not under control,

this idiom is a good one to remember.

It often relates to arguments and behaviour.

So if a situation is out of hand,

it’s not being managed well and it could cause

some problems for you, then you can use it.

So for example, my nephew, he had fifteen

friends come to his sixth birthday party last weekend

and we planned some party games to play.

I had three prizes to give for the winners.

So when I gave out the prizes,

two kids who didn’t get a prize,

started crying uncontrollably

and another tried to take a prize off the winner.

So things got really out of hand,

so I quickly had to give out some chocolates

to help keep things under control.

Maybe that’s not the best example.

Okay so during the celebrations last night,

things got a little out of hand.

Paul broke a window by accident, they were all

drinking a lot and I tried to stop them

before things got out of hand but I wasn’t quick enough!

Your turn!

Can you think of an event or a situation in your life

where things got out of hand?

You know, they got a bit crazy.

Can you believe

that we are already up to idiom number five?

Time flies when you’re having fun!

This is a really common idiom.

You can use it when you don’t notice how long

something takes because you’ve actually

been really enjoying yourself.

It’s been fun, so you can simply say

‘time flies when you’re having fun!’

It tells the listener that you’re surprised

by how quickly times gone by

and it’s the perfect idiom to use when you get to the

end of a speaking exam and your examiner says

“Okay, that’s the end of your speaking exam!”

You can impress them

and show them how much you were enjoying yourself

during the exam by saying

“Really? Gosh! Time flies when you’re having fun!”

And actually this idiom is often just reduced down to

‘time flies!’

If you’re in a meeting with some colleagues, for example

and someone says

“It’s 3:15pm already! Our meeting’s run over time.”

You could say “Oh, really? Time flies…

I’ve got to go. I’m late for my next meeting!”

It’s just a casual way of saying

that the meeting was interesting and you didn’t notice

how quickly time went by.

But it’s a positive expression so don’t use this idiom

if you’re frustrated or annoyed

that the meeting ran over time.

And when you’re using the complete idiom ‘time flies

when you’re having fun!’

the use of you’re

is not directed to the person that you’re talking to.

It’s not like you’re saying

your time flies when you’re having fun.

It’s a really general statement, it’s not specifically

referring to anyone. It’s a fixed expression

so it’s always said,

‘time flies when you’re having fun!’

And yes time does fly!

We are coming to the end of another lesson

but the five idioms in this video are very common.

You’ll hear them often in movies,

you’ll read them in books,

you’ll hear them in conversations

and you can be confident using

any of them with native English speakers

because

people use them in all English-speaking countries.

They’re really useful ones to learn.

Don’t forget to practise using them in the comments

below this video, I’ll try to check them for you

so I can give you some feedback.

So keep watching more mmmEnglish lessons right here

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I’ll see you again next week. Bye for now!