How To Learn and Use 10 English Idioms
hey I like running and I’m pretty fast
but there was one race I ran in that
didn’t turn out the way I thought it was
going to I’ll tell you more about it at
the end our teacher Tiffany let’s jump
right in
[Music]
alright first things first I need you to
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good job okay so today’s lesson we are
going to learn ten English body idioms
now you may be asking teacher why are
they called body idioms well you know me
I love teaching you English using
methods and formulas that are easy for
you to remember so every idiom we’re
going to learn today
each of them is connected to a body part
so you will be able to remember them
very easily moving forward alright so
here we go our first idiom is this one
right here face the music one more time
for pronunciations sake look at my mouth
face the music very good last time
face the music excellent job now this
idiom is very simple but it means to be
confronted with the unpleasant
consequences of one’s actions or to
accept responsibility for something you
have done now I have a really quick
example for you you see today I actually
was at church and I was spending time
with some young people and there was a
little boy who was kind of acting up he
wasn’t listening to the adults he didn’t
listen to our instructions so I had to
speak to him and I said hey I need you
to listen to us because we’re trying to
go through the program now the little
boy realized if he didn’t listen to us
he would get in trouble later with his
father so he decided
to listen again the little boy didn’t
want to have to face the music so he
decided to listen again facing the music
just refers to taking responsibility and
facing the consequences of your actions
okay so let’s look at some example
sentences here we go first we have this
one right here
Michael broke a vase and had to face the
music when his father got home again you
can tell his father it’s not gonna be
happy when he gets home
right okay got something in my eye there
we go all right number two here we go
after failing a history exam Samantha
had to go home and face the music that
means her parents were not gonna be
happy right and finally here we go the
students all had to go to the
principal’s office and face the music
so you’re understanding that this idiom
is actually related to someone having to
deal with the consequences consequences
that aren’t pleasant because of an
action right so again we say face the
music what’s the body part face and now
you can remember it alright number two
is have egg on your face
what have egg on your face don’t worry I
promise I’m gonna explain it to you okay
so have egg on your face this literally
means to look foolish or to be
embarrassed so think about it if someone
just suddenly puts egg on your face
would you be happy or would you feel a
little bit uncomfortable and probably
foolish and embarrassed well that’s what
this idiom means now let me show you
some example sentences that will help
you learn when to actually use this
properly okay so first we have this one
right here the policeman had egg on his
face because he arrested an innocent guy
well the policeman was very
kriste okay alright number two here we
go
the second example sentence I was
completely wrong and now I have egg on
my face
oops I made a mistake I’m sorry I have
egg on my face okay all right and number
three here we go if the computer issues
continue the manager will have egg on
his face alright idiom number three
written all over your face again written
all over your face now the expression on
someone’s face is showing their true
feelings so for example what is my
facial expression telling you ooh maybe
teacher Tiffany’s not happy right now or
what about this one you can tell that
I’m feeling happy it’s written all over
my face so again this is a very useful
idiom but very easy to understand okay
so again going back to my screen again
it means that it is clear what a person
is thinking or feeling so here’s our
first example sentence I know she’s
guilty it’s written all over her face
alright next I know my son stole the
money the guilt was written all over his
face and finally she could tell that he
was upset it was written all over his
face so think about a time when parents
they hear that their child didn’t do
well in school and the teacher has to
call them and say ah little Johnny or
little Sally oh they really weren’t good
in school today the parents is okay okay
when Johnny or Sally gets home I’m going
to talk to them and hang up the phone
and then the door opens and it’s Johnny
it’s written all over their face they
are upset and they are not pleased with
Johnny okay
so in English we say written all over
your face okay all right moving on -
idiot number four lose face
what do you mean lose face are we losing
our face like Oh No where’d my face go
no we’re not saying that actually this
one literally means to suffer a loss of
respect or to be humiliated it’s very
similar to being embarrassed but it has
a lot to do with respect okay so let’s
look at the three example sentences for
this idiom here we go
the first one is samantha is more afraid
of losing face than losing money
basically samantha doesn’t care about
losing money she just wants to keep her
self-respect she doesn’t want to be
humiliated she doesn’t want to be
embarrassed she doesn’t want to lose
face okay all right next we have this
one right here mark lost face when his
assistant was promoted and became his
boss so think about that situation in
the beginning mark had an assistant who
was under him then suddenly Mark’s
assistant went above him now he has to
respect the person who used to be his
assistant so he feels like he’s lost
some respect he lost face okay all right
and our final example sentence is she
refused to admit she made a mistake
because she didn’t want to lose face all
right okay moving on to number five
idiom number five let one’s hair down
again let one’s hair down now I want you
to think about this what do you think
this means
let one’s hair down think about you have
your hair up maybe in a in a ponytail or
it’s upper like my hair is up in a style
with twists a lot of you actually ask
about my hair so maybe one day I’ll tell
you more about my hair but you have it
up this one says
let it down what does that mean okay now
I’m gonna tell you I want to save you
guessed correctly now this just means to
relax and enjoy oneself or to allow
yourself to behave much more freely than
usual and to enjoy it so basically to
just hey chill out relax everything’s
good
don’t worry about things we say let
one’s hair down okay so here’s some
examples and it says first after a long
day at work the office workers decided
to let their hair down now this is
something that I can use I can use this
expression even though I don’t
physically take my hair out every day I
work very hard every day for you because
I love being your English teacher but at
the end of the day at the end of my work
day I just kind of relax and let my hair
down and enjoy my peaceful time okay all
right here we go next
Mandy spent the weekend letting her hair
down by watching three movies again she
wanted to relax and enjoy her free time
so she said ooh oh I like that movie let
me watch that movie and just relax she
wanted to let her hair down okay all
right and finally our last example
sentence the party gives you a chance to
let your hair down at the end of the
week okay great job now moving on to
idiom number six go over your head go
over your head now is this a physical
motion like something actually happening
no this actually refers to I’ll show you
my screen to go to a more powerful or
important person to get what you want or
to take an issue to someone who has more
authority now tell you a quick story
about this so I have two nieces and the
youngest is about three years old right
now
and sometimes she’ll ask someone to give
her some juice so actually during the
Thanksgiving holiday this is a real
story so she came to me and my sister
her mother and said can I have some
juice please my sister said no you can’t
have any juice she thought about it and
then she walked away about ten minutes
later she came back with the coupler and
said mommy how did you get that juice
and she said I went to pop pop now pop
pop is my father and my sister’s father
of course which is her grandad so she
saw in her mind mommy said no I’m gonna
go to my granddad now in her mind she
thought she was going over my sister’s
head she thought she was going to
someone with more authority now of
course my sister had more authority but
in her little mind my niece’s mind she
said hey mommy said no but pop pop or
grandad is gonna say yes so my niece
went over my sisters head that makes it
okay now let’s see some more examples
and it says here we go I was furious
that he went over my head and complained
to my manager next I don’t want to go
over her head but if she won’t listen to
me I have no choice and finally he had
to go over his head to get the approval
he needed all right moving on to number
7 head start all right an early start
that results in an advantage or an
initial advantage in a competitive
situation okay so I want you to think
about this right now I’m teaching you
English right and you’re learning very
well you’re learning you’re
understanding but my first language is
English so if we go to an interview and
they want an English speaker you can say
hey she has an advantage because she’s a
native English speaker you can say I had
a head start because I already learned
English from a child right when I was a
child okay so let’s see some examples
and it says here we go alright first a
good
education gives your child a head start
in life next I want to leave at dawn
to get a head start over the competition
and finally the inheritance money gave
him a head start in life
alright let’s move on to number eight
number eight is in over one’s head again
in over one’s head now I really want you
to pay attention to this one because
this is extremely useful being in over
one’s head this can happen in so many
different situations okay so this means
more than one can handle or a person has
more difficulties or problems than they
can manage alright so think about it
right now you are learning English and
sometimes you even message me or send me
a message via email or other other ways
and you say teacher it’s hard to learn
English while working or raising a
family you feel like you’re in over your
head you feel like it’s more than you
can handle now as your teacher I know
you can do it and that’s why I want to
give you these tips to help you but
again this is a great idiom for you to
use when you’re speaking about your
English journey or other work you have
to do okay so here are some example
sentences number one Shawn tried to pay
his gambling debts but he was in over
his head again that means Shawn didn’t
have the money to actually pay all of
his debts okay next we have this one
right here the boy tried to get out of
the game but he was already in over his
head and finally everyone could tell
that the man was in over his head
meaning that everybody could easily see
weight this guy he can’t handle
everything he needs to stop so in
English we say in over one’s head you
got it good job all right now let’s move
on to idiom number nine lose your head
again lose
your head now wait a minute
does that mean I can’t find my head like
where did it go
No okay so this one actually just means
to lose self-control to panic or lose
one’s composure for example I’m teaching
you right now and I’m explaining all of
these idioms to you now let’s say for
example my phone suddenly starts ringing
while I’m teaching you and I said oh my
goodness my phone what do I do I have to
teach I lost my head or I started to
panic or lose my composure now that’s
how you can use the idiom in this
situation but let’s see some other
examples in instance okay so here we go
first I was afraid so I lost my head and
started panicking
next after he ignored me I lost my head
and started yelling at him and finally
try not to lose your head when you get
stopped by a cop again that just means
remain calm don’t panic don’t lose
yourself control make sense all right
great job now let’s see idiom number 10
and eye opener okay an eye-opener now
this is a situation that proves to be
unexpectedly enlightening something that
surprises you and teaches you new facts
about life so for example I have told
you all many times that I really really
enjoyed my time in South Korea as a
missionary English teacher
now I spent almost 10 years there prior
to going to Korea I had never
experienced life in an Asian country but
my experience there all of the things
that I learned by living and actually
being around so many Korean people that
experience was an eye-opener I learned
so many things about myself and about
other people so that was an eye-opener
okay
all right now let’s see our first
examples and it’s here we go
living in another country can be a real
eye-opener that is exactly what I just
explained okay all right now our next
sentence here we go Sally said her trip
to Japan was quite an eye-opener and
finally his answer to my question was a
real eye-opener now this is an idiom
that I want you to actually start using
because it’s so useful there are so many
things that happen in your life where
you can use this idiom so many times
where something happens that surprises
you and that teaches you something new
for example this lesson can be an
eye-opener for you make sense all right
great job okay
now let’s move on right here this is
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I really hope you enjoyed this lesson I
hope that you are able to improve your
English quickly now I want to tell you
this really quickly you see on your
screen to speak English like a native
course I view aid in this course and
there are so many students right now
learning with me how to sound like a
native English speaker so if you enjoyed
this lesson and the idioms that you
learned I guarantee you will enjoy this
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speaker so click the link in the
description if you want to actually take
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hope you enjoy this lesson and I will
talk to you next week but as always
remember
to speak English you know I didn’t
forget it’s story time okay so remember
at the beginning of the video I told you
that I’m a runner I’ve always been a
runner I was the fastest girl in my
school when I was in elementary school I
was voted most athletic when I was in
high school and in university so I’ve
always been a very athletic individual
now one day my friend and I a good
friend of mine he’s a guy and we were
hanging out we went out to eat and we
were walking back to his car and he’s
taller than me kind of up we say a husky
fellow not fat not skinny but it’s kind
of a bigger guy and he looked at me and
said TIFF I can beat you in a race now
guys I’m a humble person but when it
comes to athletics I know that I’m
pretty good so I said no you can’t now
again he and I are both adults so we
weren’t in high school weren’t in
university anymore but I still think so
he said TIFF know I can beat you in a
race and I’ll give you a head start
maybe we learned that right I said dude
come on I am gonna whip you that just
means I’m gonna beat you really badly
that’s a slang term he said okay
let’s do it now we were in the parking
lot walking toward his car so he said
okay TIFF I’m gonna give you maybe about
a three-second head start so I said you
know what I’m about to dust this dude
now dust this dude just means I’m gonna
take off and he’s gonna be in my dust
like behind me there’s gonna be dust so
he said okay
ready set go and I took off running now
again I’m very fast so I’m running as
fast as I can and all of a sudden I hear
this sound behind me and I knew he was
running behind me but it was coming
closer and closer so I I try to go in
and faster and faster and before I knew
it he had passed me and took off down
and he was way ahead of me
so far that I actually slowed down and
stopped and looked at him in amazement
now when I finally caught up to him he
looked at me and said I told you I beat
you now again we’re still very good
friends but it really caught me off
guard because I’m very fast so it taught
me this
you never judge a book by its cover
that’s another expression we use in
English it means don’t judge someone by
the way they look because he did beat me
now I’m not gonna say that he’ll beat me
again because next time I have to go
faster but it was fun we had a great
time I hope you enjoyed the story and I
will talk to you in the next video