Most Common English Idioms Easy to Use in Daily Conversations
everybody welcome back to our weekly
live stream my name is Alisha and today
we’re going to talk about everyday
English idioms I’ve chosen some very
common idioms that we use a lot in
American English so today I’m going to
talk about what these expressions mean
and when and how you can use them in
your everyday life too so we have a lot
of vocabulary to cover today as I talk
about these expressions please feel free
to make some sentences in the chat on
youtube or on Facebook and I will try to
check in real time I’m sorry if I can’t
catch yours but please make sure to send
lots of examples with this today all
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hello everybody thank you very much for
joining us as I said today’s topic is
everyday English idioms everyday idioms
that we can use at work at school at
your office at wherever you go these are
very common and very convenient idioms I
think we’re going to begin in about two
minutes or so so as you join please make
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going to share the video and then I’m
going to get started so as I said today
we’re going to practice lots of idioms
I’m going to introduce the meaning of
the expression and then how you might
use the expression and then I’ll try to
check the chat to see your example
sentences to see if you’ve used it
correctly ok so I will share the video
and begin
all righty then so let’s begin then over
here on the left side of the board with
this expression and I think many of you
know to kill two birds with one stone to
kill two birds with one stone I was just
talking to control desk control desk has
a similar expression which is to kill
two birds with one bullet okay with one
bullet so this idea here two birds one
stone
this means to do one task like to take
one action in this case the action is a
stone we say stone because a long time
ago like when hunting we had we could
throw I guess throw a stone so stone
means Rock and use it to kill an animal
we were hunting in this case two birds
so to kill two birds with one stone
means to achieve two things with one
action to achieve two things with one
action so you can use this at the office
for example maybe you have a meeting and
the meeting is with someone you haven’t
seen for a long time so you can maybe
say oh I’m going to kill two birds with
one stone
I’ll catch up with this person and we’ll
meet about a specific topic so to kill
two birds with one stone means to
achieve to achieve two things
with one action two birds with one stone
so I think many people are familiar with
this expression to kill two birds with
one stone so a good warm-up one uh and
as I said if you have an example
sentence please feel free to send that
in the chat I will try to check okay the
next one I use a lot on this channel and
I use it a lot on like social media or
to talk about the things that we are
doing here to keep an eye out to keep an
eye out and usually the preposition that
we use here to keep an eye out for
something to keep an eye out for
something so I say like please keep an
eye out for our next video or please
keep an eye out for the new series we’re
making so please keep an eye out for
means please watch carefully or please
like wait carefully so it’s like
something something is coming something
is coming soon and I hope you are ready
for it so I want you to be ready for it
please keep an eye out for our next
video please keep an eye out for a new
restaurant in the neighborhood so please
keep an eye out for means please look
for so this means like keep one eye
specifically you might hear keep your
eyes also in the plural form means like
please use your eyes to watch carefully
for something use your eyes to watch
carefully for something so keep an eye
out for something
okay uh I don’t see any examples yet but
I will check throughout today’s lesson
let’s go to the next one this next one
is maybe a little bit more challenging
to understand oh sorry
black cow Kim yes you can use the plural
form keep your eyes out for is also okay
okay um so let’s go to this next one to
add fuel to add fuel to the fire
so fuel what is fuel fuel is like the
stuff you put in a car or another
machine to make the car run so gasoline
or maybe petrol so gasoline is an
example of fuel to add fuel to the fire
to add fuel to the fire so fire course
fire is not a good situation
so fire is dangerous fire is bad so to
add fuel to the fire means to add
something else to the fire it begets
it gets bigger and bigger in other words
so to add fuel to the fire we always use
the definite article here not to add
fuel to the fire means to make to make
to make a bad situation to make a bad
situation worse to make a bad situation
worse
so there’s already a problem and then
when you add fuel to the fire something
happens or someone makes a decision that
makes a bad situation an even bigger
problem to add fuel to the fire so we
might use this in an example where like
there’s been a mistake in a project but
then the leader of the project gets sick
we’re like oh no this adds fuel to the
fire
this
makes the problem worse to add fuel to
the fire okay
Edgard on YouTube says is this like
teasing someone who’s already angry in
that case we have a different expression
so Edgard I’ll add one to today’s list
to tease someone who is already angry
like you’re doing it on purpose I’ll add
that down here we have the expression to
poke the bear to poke the bear
so when you want to for some reason
tease somebody so to tease someone means
to make jokes or to kind of insult them
you poke poke is this motion poke is
this motion and bear is the animal so a
bear it’s like an aggressive animal so
we use the expression to poke the bear
when we want to tease somebody who is
already upset I was already angry so to
add fuel to the fire usually describes a
situation specifically a situation okay
um let’s see other examples good okay I
don’t see other questions so let’s
continue to the next one the next one is
to wrap your head around something to
wrap your head around something to wrap
this verb is used for like presents
yeah so we cover a presence we cover a
box this action is called wrapping to
wrap something but here this expression
to wrap your head around something like
we cannot actually put our head around
an object this expression just means to
understand something to understand
something
to understand something usually
something that is confusing and we often
use this expression in the negative form
like I can’t wrap my head around why he
made this decision or I can’t wrap my
head around why he wrote that message so
I can’t understand that thing so to wrap
your head around something kind of makes
it sound a little bit more like you’re
closer to the situation it has a more
casual feel about it I can’t wrap my
head around this so we often use this
idiom in the negative form I can’t wrap
my head around that okay on to the next
one
to call it a day to call it a day we use
this expression at the end of the day
like when we are leaving the office or
like we’re leaving school and we usually
say I’m gonna call it a day I’m gonna
call it a day
so to call it a day means to finish or
to decide to decide to finish to decide
to finish work to decide to finish
school so maybe you’ve been working all
day you reach the stopping point in your
work and you think okay I’m finished for
today I’m going to call it a day so it
here is today so I’m going to say today
is done today’s is one day I’m finished
with the day I’m gonna call it a day so
we use this at the end of the day
usually when we leave work or we leave
school or we leave someplace where we
have responsibilities of some kind
okay good I don’t see any questions yet
some good examples are coming in about
wrapping your head around something Lily
says why aren’t you wrapping your head
around this it’s not your business oh
why are you wrapping your head around
this that one’s a little that means to
understand so we wouldn’t use this to
mean no like in that case maybe it seems
like why do you know that or how did you
know that it’s not your business we
would use it in that way we use wrap
your head around something to try to
understand something confusing we do not
use this expression for like asking why
someone knows something or how someone
knows something
yeah dude guy have funny name and you do
has a good response to your answer too
but your head into something that’s good
for your situation okay on to the next
one time’s going quick last one I have a
beautiful visual for this is a rocket
the expression is it’s not rocket
science it’s not rocket science this
expression means it’s not difficult it’s
not difficult so why did we choose this
expression so rocket science means
science we need to use to launch a
rocket like to send a rocket to space
which is difficult or at least it has
the we associate that we think it’s a
difficult topic so it’s not rocket
science is used when we kind of want to
tease someone and say this really isn’t
difficult you can do it so for example
like sending an email that’s maybe
someone is having trouble sending an
email and we want to tease them like
come on it’s not rocket science so it’s
not a difficult task you should be able
to do this it should be no problem it’s
not rocket science
okay it’s not a big deal all right
so we’ll end there for the first part
who knows a lot of explanation I gotta
go quickly in the next part so we’ll
take one quick break I will introduce
now a couple of the new PDFs that I
mentioned at the beginning of the lesson
we have the other camera today cool so I
picked up I think I showed this one last
week a little bit there are I’ll show
you these two for now this one I showed
last week this is the talking online PDF
this one has lots of Internet phrases on
the back here so if you like if you see
these online this is what these common
expressions me and then there are some
other common phrases and questions you
can use as well as vocabulary words
about the Internet this other one I
wanted to show this is leisure it says
leisure
this means hobbies so talking about your
hobbies and then again on the back is
some extra vocabulary to help you
express specifically your hobbies so
pick one of these up you can choose one
of these there’s a lot more to so you
can take a look at these you can find
these from the link below the video on
youtube or above the video on Facebook
if you’re watching an Instagram please
check YouTube or Facebook okay
so with that let’s go to the next part
if you’re just joining today’s topic is
everyday English idioms and please make
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alright let’s go to the next part the
next part is here this one I also have a
beautiful visual for okay so this next
expression is to burn the candle at both
ends to burn the candle this is my
candle you’ll notice it’s looking weird
so to burn means like to have light
something on fire and it gradually goes
down
like a candle right so usually when we
burn a candle it’s at one end so this is
one end of a candle this is the other
end of a candle to burn the candle at
both ends however means to work
extremely hard so it means to work hard
yes but usually with negative effects so
yes you’re working hard but because
you’re burning the candle at both ends
the candle we were we imagine the candle
as like your health like your body’s
condition or your mental condition so if
you burn the candle at both ends
your mental or your like physical
condition goes down very quickly so
there are negative effects to burning
the candle at both ends so maybe for
example someone who’s at the office like
every night until 2:00 in the morning
they’re burning the candle at both ends
like they’re working too hard it’s
having a negative effect on their mental
state or on their physical state to burn
the candle at both ends to burn the
candle at both ends okay good on to the
next one to be in the dark to be in the
dark so in the dark we always use this
though we always use the definite
article in the dark in this expression
so dark dark means there’s no light so
like at night time there is no light
there’s no sunlight there’s nothing this
expression means to have no information
to have no information so we use this
expression when we want to share
that we don’t know something but maybe
other people do so maybe you didn’t
check an email or you didn’t get some
information you need so you can say I’m
in the dark about the topic for today’s
meeting or I’m in the dark about the
plans for this weekend what’s going on
so I’m in the dark means I have no
information I don’t know anything I
can’t see anything I’m in the dark in
terms of information okay good some
examples are coming in I’m burning the
candle at both ends improving my English
okay but be careful because this is like
remember there’s kind of a feeling of a
negative effect like it’s a little bit
too much maybe but good other I saw one
more awesome one I think Lily wrote I’m
burnt out right now I’m burnt out yes so
burn out isn’t similar a similar
expression which means I did too much I
did too much okay on to the next one
then this one to play devil’s advocate
this is a really interesting expression
with a really interesting history that I
don’t have time to talk about I don’t
thing so let’s look at just the meaning
to play to play here does not mean like
to have fun or like to go out and enjoy
yourself
to play here refers to like an actor or
an actress playing meaning being in the
role of so to play devil’s advocate so
the devil like to give like a little
image of it the devil is like this bad
is bad creature right evil creature
so devil’s advocate so an advocate is
someone who works for someone else like
you’re trying to convince someone of
something for someone else
so in this case if I make myself an
example sentence I say I’m going to play
devil’s advocate
this expression means to argue against
something to argue against something for
discussion purposes so this is very very
common in business or in like any kind
of debate or discussion to play devil’s
advocate so this means I don’t believe
the question I’m asking you but I’m
going to ask you the question so that we
can talk about it so for example if a
friend shares an idea a business idea
with me and she says I want to create a
bar this is my concept I might say okay
I’m going to play devil’s advocate here
so maybe I think it’s a good idea but we
need to talk about all the possibilities
so I say okay like how are you going to
get money or how are you going to
promote this so we say I’m going to play
devil’s advocate in other words I’m not
going to just agree with you I’m going
to ask you questions so you have to
explain yourself so a lot of people
sometimes I’ve noticed they get kind of
like not sure when they have to explain
themselves but this is very very common
in like English business and as well
just in in sharing ideas in English
discussions okay
on to the next one time’s going quick to
draw a blank to draw a blank means to be
unable to remember something to be
unable to remember something a great
visual to remember something a great
visual for this is when someone asks you
something and you think you’ve heard of
it before maybe you don’t know but you
can’t remember it’s like in your head
someone said like hey do you remember
that English Channel from
Internet you’re like yes but I can’t
remember I can’t remember so in your
head you’re like this maybe you know
this symbol on like in like text so
you’re reading text and there’s a blank
like I just drew a blank there’s
something here that I can’t remember to
draw a blank means to be unable to
remember something I can’t remember this
thing sorry I’m drawing a blank on her
name or I’m drawing a blank on that
company means I can’t remember it in my
mind there’s a blank space right there
to draw a blank okay on to the next one
another fire expression to fight fire
with fire to fight fire with fire means
to use the same weapon are the same well
let’s go with weapon so use the same
weapon as your opponent so to fight fire
with fire means to do the same thing as
the person opposing you as your enemy so
this doesn’t mean in like fighting but
it usually means in like arguments so
for example if your neighbor shouts at
you and says you’re too noisy then you
might shout back you use the same tactic
shouting to say well you stay up too
late and make lots of noise so to fight
fire with fire means to use the same
strategy in a competition or in a fight
to fight fire with fire so if I use fire
my opponent will also use fire to fight
fire with fire
ok onward we have lots to talk about
still to go viral to go viral means to
get very popular on the Internet in a
very short period of time so like maybe
a 24 hour period of time or something
like that to go viral so my video went
viral or this picture went viral this
went viral we
in past tense a lot to go viral in past
is we went viral my video went viral
something went viral okay his Facebook
okay hmm interesting
okay I think YouTube is okay let’s go
then to this last one for this category
hair of the dog hair of the dog this is
specifically used in alcohol related
situations so hair of the dog that bit
you
this is used on the day after drinking
you have a really bad what’s called
hangover that feeling of you drank
alcohol you feel bad the next day so we
say to cure a hangover try the hair of
the dog that bit you I don’t have time
to explain like the whole history of
this phrase but it means drink a little
bit of the alcohol you have the night
before to fix your hangover the hair of
the dog is alcohol means alcohol a
little bit of alcohol okay on to I guess
will continue on I think there might be
an issue with the facebook stream sorry
about that some kind of delay maybe but
I hope that it’s okay so I’m gonna
continue on I think YouTube is still
okay which is good so let’s continue to
the last parts the last ones are pretty
quick pretty quick expressions first one
is hands down hands down means no doubts
no doubts so for example hands down she
is the best actress her hands down that
was the best movie of last year hands
down that was the most amazing concert
I’ve ever seen that means no doubts so
the image here is like like there’s no
hands there’s no other people suggesting
something different so that means
there’s no doubts there’s no other ideas
so hands down we use it right before a
strong opinion you
so hands down that was the best dinner
you’ve ever made no doubts no doubts
alright next one not my cup of tea
not my cup of tea means I don’t like it
I don’t like it so we use this to try to
softly say we don’t like something so
like cup of tea it’s yes a very simple
kind of everyday thing but when we say
that’s not my cup of tea it means that’s
not what I prefer that’s not the thing
that I like it’s not for me
so like that movie wasn’t my cup of tea
or mmm I don’t think that restaurant is
my cup of tea so it means maybe other
people like it that’s fine but it’s not
for me
I don’t really like it very much it’s
not my cup of tea
it’s not my cup of tea alrighty almost
then on the fence is the next one on the
fence so on the fence maybe let’s add a
visual here let’s say that this is a
fence ok so on the fence if we’re here
on the fence let’s imagine this is a
person on top of the fence this
expression means not able to decide
something on the fence so I can’t decide
I can’t decide I’m on the fence about we
use we usually use the preposition about
I’m on the fence about something like
I’m on the fence about which place I
should move to or I’m on the fence about
which job I should take so when you have
two options in a situation and you can’t
decide oh I should go this side or I
should go this side to be on the fence
means to be unable to decide we express
our indecision
I don’t know I don’t know so we say I’m
on the fence I’m on the fence
okay last three to read between the
lines to read between the lines is a
very common expression imagine as you’re
reading text there are many lines in
text so in a book or in the newspaper we
have this is one line or two lines of
text so as we read we see this
information and in conversations of
course in conversations we don’t have
these lines of course so to read between
the lines means to understand the
meaning that is not being said it’s to
understand the reak the meaning that’s
not being said so I think other like I
know an expression and in Japanese is to
read the air to read the air this is the
English version to read between the
lines so that means to understand
something that is not being said
directly someone didn’t directly say it
but we need to try to understand it so
like maybe a party host is it’s late at
night and there are still many people at
the party the party house starts to
clean up maybe cleaning up from the
party and you might say oh like let’s
read between the lines here the party
host wants us to leave so they didn’t
say please leave but they’re showing
like it’s time to go so to read between
the lines means to understand something
that’s not set all right
last two last do this one is long but I
this is an interesting expression to me
I think about this expression a lot the
expression is to take the wind out of
someone’s sails to take the wind out of
someone’s sails the meaning of this
expression is to cause someone
to cause someone to lose confidence so
this is a great one for an image I will
draw very quickly so this comes from
like a boat a sail a sail on a boat how
gosh it’s so hard to see is the big
sheet that a boat uses an old boat uses
to move so the boat needs wind yeah the
wind is caught in the sail and that
pushes the boat along so to take the
wind so that means to remove the wind
from someone’s sails so imagine a person
okay imagine a person is a boat and you
or someone removes the wind from that
person sails that means you take their
confidence away like they can’t move or
they feel stuck you’re taking away their
motivation so that’s to take the wind
out of someone’s sails like oh my boss
told me that my my work was bad last
week
that’s like oh like that person took the
wind out of my sails like they took away
my confidence they took away my
motivation or like I invited my friend
for coffee but she just ignored my
message like it took the wind out of my
sails so there’s like a loss of
confidence involved there okay last one
last one hit they have easy one I
finished with an easy one she means to
go to sleep to go to sleep I’m gonna hit
the hay means I’m gonna go to sleep you
might also know hit the sack that’s
another one that means go to sleep Leah
yes stealing my Thunder is a little bit
different stealing my thunder means
taking like taking over when someone
else has an exciting moment so like
Kanye West taking over for Taylor Swift
wasn’t that when he like was like
Beyonce did the greatest album ok never
move I’ll tell you later yeah so these
are some everyday English idioms that
you can use at work
at school at home yes to take the wind
out of someone sales is to demoralize
them the person all right but I have to
finish up today’s lesson if you are
watching on Facebook sorry I think there
might have been a little network problem
there but I hope it’s okay so we’ll
finish up there for today thanks very
much for sending lots of example
questions or example sentences we’ll be
back again next week next week I’m going
to talk about use to and would used to
and would so next week will be August
28th August 28th Wednesday August 28th
10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time there’s an
S T there it should be th but just for
them so so they know that will be 10
p.m. Eastern Standard Time that is New
York City time if you don’t know your
local time please google it Oh so please
join us to talk about used to I’ll talk
a lot about distant past expressions so
how to explain like your childhood or
maybe your school studies or whatever so
please join us again next week for that
lesson and I showed you a couple of
these a new the new PDFs if you haven’t
checked it out there’s a lot of new
stuff to look at from the link below the
video on YouTube above the video on
Facebook so go get these you can
download these these are free check them
out
we’ll finish there for today though so
thanks very much for joining us don’t
forget to send some questions to ask
Alicia please and we’ll see you again
next week enjoy your week enjoy your
weekend thanks for liking and sharing
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you