How To Use English Idioms BODY IDIOMS
Hello! I’m Emma from mmmEnglish and in this
video, I’m going to show you how to use
some of my favourite English body idioms.
English idioms probably drive you crazy!
Idioms are really common expressions and
together, the meaning of these
expressions is different than the
individual meaning of each words. So in
this example, we’re not talking about a
crazy driver. If someone or something is
driving you crazy, they’re really
annoying. Together, the words have a
different meaning than individually. Of
course, there are hundreds and hundreds
of English idioms and actually you might
recognize some of them because they
might be similar to expressions and
idioms in your own language.
In English, there are really commonly used idioms
and there are some that are more obscure
or less commonly used. So in this video,
I’m going to be focusing on a few that
are very commonly used. Now, idioms are
really creative, imaginative and fun ways
to use language. If you’re studying for
your IELTS or your TOEFL exam or
generally you just want to impress
someone with your English, then learn to
use a few idioms. Anyway,
let’s get started! Remember that I’ve
chosen these idioms because they all are
to do with the human body, somehow.
Pain in the neck. Now this idiom is similar to the first
one we spoke about, “drive you crazy”. So, if
something or someone is a “pain in the
neck”, they’re really annoying!
“They said that my car was going to be at
the mechanics for over a week… It’s such
a pain in the neck!”
or “I hope he doesn’t bring Peter, he
can be a real pain in the neck!”
“Stop it! You’re being a real pain in the neck!”
Now, you can also use “pain in the butt” or
“pain in the ass” and so these two options
are a little more crude, a little ruder.
You probably, wouldn’t - well you
definitely - wouldn’t use those with your
boss or someone you just met.
But you know, with your friends or when you’re
being quite casual you can say “pain in
the butt” or “pain in the ass”. Same meaning.
So the next one, “play it by ear”.
So this is when you don’t have a
plan and you deliberately - you choose not
to have a plan. You want to just make it
up as you go. Be a bit flexible.
Do whatever you feel like at the time. For
example, “We don’t really have a plan for
tonight, we’re just going to play it by
ear.” You know if you’re hungry, you’ll eat.
If you want to dance, you’ll dance. If you
want to go for a walk, you’ll go for a
walk. If you decide you want to go to the
movies, you go to the movies. You just
make it up and you do whatever you feel
like at the time. You’re playing it by ear.
Here’s another. “We don’t know what the weather’s
going to be like this weekend
for the camping trip, so we might have to
play it by ear.” It’s kind of like wait and see and we’ll make up our plan, closer to the time.
I’m sure you’ve heard of this one, “to cost an arm and a leg.”
So then something is really expensive if it
costs an arm and a leg i it’s expensive!
“Taking a family of five on a trip to
Fiji.. It’s going to cost an arm and a leg!”
“I love their new kitchen! But, it must
have cost them an arm and a leg!”
“I want my kids to have the best education
possible, but the school fees are costing
an arm and a leg! I just don’t know if it’s worth it.”
“To get something off your chest” So, if
you have a problem or something’s
bothering you and you need to tell
someone about it, then you’re going to
get it off your chest.
“Thanks for listening to me complain
about my boss, I just needed to get it
off my chest.”
“He’s been frustrated about this for
months! He just needs to talk to him
about it and get it off his chest!” “OK, I
need to get something off my chest,
I’ve been waiting to tell you about it
for weeks!”
“To keep an eye on something”
To keep an eye on something. It means to
take care of something or to watch over
something and protect it. “I’ll keep an
eye on dinner while you’re on the phone.”
I’ll watch dinner. I’ll make sure that it
doesn’t burn while you’re on the phone
“Oh! Sara said she’d keep an
eye on the kids while we go out.”
Another one, “I’m all ears”
I’m all ears
It means that you’re fully listening and
you’re paying attention.
“Give me just a minute to finish this, then I’ll be all ears.”
“Well, if you’ve got a better idea then
I’m all ears!” If you think that you’ve
got a better idea then tell me about it!
I’m listening!
Have you ever gotten cold feet?
Do you have cold feet? So this is an
idiom that you use when you’re feeling
really nervous right before an important
event or a big event.
So if you decided you wanted to go skydiving and you put all of the gear on, the special clothing,
and you fly up into the sky in the plane
and suddenly you look down and you
realise how far away the ground is and
you get cold feet. You get really nervous and you think
“Maybe I don’t want to do this after all!” That’s a good example of getting cold feet.
“He was so nervous before his presentation, I thought he was going to get cold feet!”
“So, how did it go? Or did you get cold feet?”
Now, this last one I know you’re going to love and
appreciate. If something goes over your
head, it means you don’t get it.
You missed the meaning, you haven’t quite
understood what’s happening. Now, when
you’re learning a new language this
happens all the time! Someone says
something to you and you’re not quite
sure what it means. It’s gone over your
head. It didn’t go into your head so that
you understood it, it went over your head.
Now, this is a really awesome one for you
to try out when you’re in an English
conversation and somebody says something
that you don’t quite understand, you’re
not sure about the meaning. You can say to them,
“Sorry! That went straight over my head! Can you say it again?”
Well, that’s it for this lesson, I hope
that you’ve learned a few new English
idioms that you can try out soon. Make
sure that you subscribe to my Youtube
channel so that you find out when I
release new lessons. There are plenty of
other video lessons that are already on
my Youtube channel, so check them out!
You can also find me on Facebook or come and
check out my website at mmmenglish.com
where you can learn a bit more about my
online English courses. Bye for now!