20 ENGLISH IDIOMS TO SOUND LIKE A NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER

hello everyone and welcome back to

english with lucy

today i’m going to show you 20 idioms

that you can use to sound like a native

english speaker this video is really

going to help you improve your

vocabulary but if you want to improve

your listening and pronunciation skills

even further then i highly recommend the

special method of combining reading

books with listening to the audiobook

version on audible it sounds weird

reading and listening at the same time

but it’s such an effective method 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 for books and audio

books down below in the description box

and as you read that book listen to the

audiobook version at the same time

reading alone will not help with your

pronunciation or your listening for that

matter english is not a strictly

phonetic language the way a word is

spelt or written in english might not

give you any indication as to how that

word is pronounced that’s why

pronunciation in english is so hard for

my students

but if you listen to a word as you read

it your brain will start making

connections and the next time you see

that word you’ll know exactly how it’s

pronounced how it’s supposed to sound

and the next time you hear that word

you’ll know how it’s spelt how it’s

written it’s such an effective method

and the best part is you can get one

free audio book that’s a 30 day free

trial on audible all you have to do is

click on the link in the description box

and sign up give it a try because it

really really works

right let’s get started with the lesson

idiom number one is a drop in the ocean

a drop in the ocean

i think there’s a song called a drop in

the ocean i used to really like that

when i was at school a drop in the ocean

means a very small or insignificant part

of something big or whole

for example the government’s pledge to

increase health funding by a hundred

million is a drop in the ocean compared

to the billions that need to be spent

number two is a lovely one i think

they’re all lovely actually because i

chose them myself for you

number two is action speak louder than

words

actions speak louder than words this

means that it’s better to actually do

something

rather than just talk about it

for example

stop apologizing to me and prove to me

that i can trust you actions speak

louder than words

that’s a good one to use in your next

fight with someone who has lost your

trust

number three is to add fuel to the fire

to add fuel to the fire

this simply means to make a problem

worse to exacerbate a problem

we learned exacerbate in another class

didn’t we recently comment down below if

you remember which it was for example

don’t tell her about the delays you’ll

just be adding fuel to the fire

number four is the ball is in your court

the ball is in your court

this means that it’s your turn to make

the next step or decision for example

i’ve done all i can do the ball is in

your court now

number five is to bend over backwards to

bend over backwards

this means to do whatever it takes to

help someone

for example

our company is bending over backwards to

satisfy our customers

sometimes it can mean that you’ve helped

too much you’ve put in too much effort

oh i’ve been bending over backwards

trying to solve his problems and he

hasn’t given me the time of day to give

someone the time of day is to give

someone the proper attention

number six to bite off more than you can

chew

to bite off more than you can chew

this means to take on a task that is too

big

for example i think i’ve bitten off more

than i can chew with this project

this is something i said all the way

through my university degree i was

working i had a youtube channel i was

doing projects i had taken on extra work

i bit off more than i could chew and i

suffered the consequences but it was

worth it i’m okay now

actually homework here have you ever

bitten off more than you could chew

let me know about the situation in the

comments section down below

maybe you were studying and working at

the same time maybe you were trying to

maintain a long-distance relationship

whilst

doing an internship i don’t know let me

know

oh number seven is a good one this is

one my mom uses a lot it’s by the skin

of one’s teeth by the skin of your teeth

this means to only just succeed

something by a very narrow margin by the

enamel on your teeth but we say skin we

don’t normally say skin of teeth but for

this particular saying we do an example

i think i might have passed that exam by

the skin of my teeth

only just

number eight

is derived from a fable i think or a

childhood story it’s to cry wolf to cry

wolf this means to call for help when

you don’t need it

and i think the story is i wonder if you

have this in your own country and

culture

um a boy

kept pretending that there was a wolf so

that people would come and in the end

when a wolf did actually come he called

for help and no one came because they

always thought that he was crying for

help when he didn’t actually need it an

example my new flatmate is always crying

wolf

number nine is to cut somebody some

slack

to cut somebody some slack

this means to give someone a break to

stop judging them so hard

for example you need to cut the interns

some slack they are still learning

number 10 is to cut to the chase to cut

to the chase

this means to leave out all of the

unnecessary details and just get to the

point

an example to cut to the chase i’m not

comfortable working alongside john

anymore

number 11 to get one’s head around

something to get your head around

something this means to come to

understand something to work to

understand something for example i’m

going to spend tonight trying to get my

head around this new legislation

number 12 is to hear on the grapevine to

hear on the grapevine this means to hear

a rumor or an unconfirmed story for

example i heard on the grapevine that

our receptionist will be leaving us soon

number 13 a personal favorite it takes

two to tango it takes two to tango

you’ve got to be comfortable with the

tough sound to say that it takes two to

tango

this means that actions or

communications need more than one person

for example

don’t just blame him for the affair it

takes two to

two parties were involved in that

bad behavior

number fourteen is to miss the boat to

miss the boat

this means to miss the opportunity to do

something

for example

i think you’ve missed the boat on that

application they’ve already started

interviewing candidates

number 15 is a lovely one it is a piece

of cake a piece of cake

this means really easy

that pop quiz was a piece of cake

number 16 is pull yourself together pull

yourself together

this means calm down and act normally

it’s normally said when somebody is

stressing out

for example i think you need to pull

yourself together and stop stressing

about the presentation

number 17 is to sit or to be on the

fence to sit on the fence to be on the

fence

this means to stay neutral and to not

take sides

for example i’m sitting on the fence on

this one i don’t want to offend anyone

number 18 is to step up one’s game to

step up your game

this means to start performing better

for example if you really want to get

this promotion you’ll need to step up

your game

number 19 is to sell someone out to sell

someone out

this means to snitch on someone or to

let their secret out

for example i asked you to keep that

information to yourself i can’t believe

you sold me out like that

and number 20 is

your guess is as good as mine

your guess is as good as mine

this means

i don’t know or i have no idea

for example we just don’t have enough

data your guess is as good as mine

right those were our 20 idioms that you

can use to sound like a native speaker

i’ve got some more homework for you this

is the official homework the other

homework was just

spur of the moment

homework

spur of the moment means on impulse or

without advance planning

the real homework is to write in the

comments section five sentences

using five of your favorite idioms that

we have talked about today if you’d like

to add some sentences with additional

idioms that you have heard native

speakers say then feel free to do so and

we can all learn from each other don’t

forget to check out audible the link to

claim your free audio book is in the

description box and don’t forget to

connect with me on all of my social

media i’ve got my facebook my instagram

and my twitter and i shall see you soon

for another lesson

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