English idioms

Lend me your ears

2012-01-06T20:02:00.004+01:00

It's sounds unhygienic but like most idioms, you shouldn't take it literially. It means please give me your time and attention; take a moment to listen.

The most memorable example of it being used is here: Still amazing after all these years!

A stick in the mud

2012-01-01T16:54:00.005+01:00

Are you a stick in the mud?

It's a new year - have you made some resolutions to do things differently, to have new experiences and embrace the new?

Or are you a stick in the mud - someone who prefers to remain the same and stick with their old habits and beliefs?

Maybe that's not always such a bad thing.

Here's former politician and famous diarist, Kenneth Clark who explains it rather well.

Once in a blue moon

2011-12-29T16:56:00.006+01:00

How often do you see a blue moon?

Not very often?

Then something that happens very infrequently happens once in a blue moon.

E.G. 'Do you go to the movies very often?'

'Hardly at all; once in a blue moon.'

Of course, blue moon isn't just an idiom but a classic rock and roll ballad - like this:

Like a fish out of water

2011-12-20T21:03:00.005+01:00

Do you sometimes feel like a fish out of water?

That means do you feel as if you are in the wrong place and not comfortable in your environment.

The rugby player felt like a fish out of water in the dance class - although sometimes people can adapt.

Anyway, although most fish stay well below the surface, there are some fish that like to feel like a fish out of water!

To lose the plot

2011-12-05T08:59:00.004+01:00

The plot is the story line or sequence of events in a book, film or play. If you lose the plot, you lose track of it and you can’t follow it.

As an idiom it is a metaphor, usually for someone who has lost touch with reality.

Here’s a sixties icon who lost the plot big time, Syd Barrett, founder member of Pink Floyd, in a rare interview.

After a summer of continuous LSD use, he’d shattered his fragile mind until only an empty shell remained. Sadly, he lost the plot, never to regain it.

In limbo

2011-11-20T14:12:00.003+01:00

The company’s been taken over but we currently don’t know what will happen to our jobs - we're in total limbo.

I can’t do anything until I get the tests back from the Doctor - I’m just in limbo.

It doesn’t go to court until next year so the ownership of the property is in limbo.

Get the idea?

If not, you could always try limbo dancing instead - that’s something quite different. You’ll need a strong back! Don't try this unless you have. There's a free book for anyone who can do this!

The proof of the pudding

2011-11-06T21:34:00.003+01:00

I’ve got a new idea; it’s even better than all the other good ideas I’ve had. I think it will work; what do you think?

Well, we won’t know until we try it. You know what they say; the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

That’s what this idiom means - the test of something is how it works in reality.

It’s a little early but maybe it’s a good opportunity to learn how to make a traditional British Christmas pudding.

This is a cake with the density of a small planet and guaranteed to immobilise you for days - but it is yummy!

You have been warned!

If you want to follow the instructions, you could make your own. Will it be a success? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

One foot in the grave

2011-11-01T17:08:00.003+01:00

It's been a day when many people have been visiting their passed away relatives in cemeteries.

But what if you have one foot in the grave?

It means you are getting old and won't be far behind them!

Let's hope not just yet though.

One foot in the grave is also the name of a popular British sit-com featuring the luckless Victor Meldrew. Retirement brought him no peace at all and he spent most of his time battling against the world as everything went wrong.

Like this!

Put your best foot forward

2011-10-16T19:43:00.004+02:00

To put your best foot forward means to present yourself in the best way.

But which foot is the best?

That’s the question!

Technically, we should say better, as you only have two feet.

If you have two left feet then you are a bad dancer - like this!

As red as a beetroot

2011-10-12T22:41:00.008+02:00

Do you ever feel embarrassed? What happens when you do? Do you go red? As red as a beetroot?

Strange, because a beetroot is more purple than red but what should you do about that blushing problem? Here's some advice.

Pull your weight

2011-10-10T19:01:00.001+02:00

Do you sometimes feel that your colleagues are not pulling their weight or in other words, not doing their fair share of the work?

Pulling your weight is an idiom with a nautical origin when sailors would have to pull heavy ropes together. That was one of the main reasons for singing sea shanties so that all the men would pull together in time. Of course, if a man was sly and lazy, he might let his colleagues do the hard work and not pull his weight.

This would probably not a wise move as he might be thrown to the sharks or at least whipped with the Cat ’o nine tails. Thankfully, these days, workplace punishment isn’t so severe, even for workers who don’t pull their weight!

Like this!

Blow your own tumpet

2011-09-25T22:55:00.003+02:00

These day, particularly in the job market, it doesn’t pay to be modest. You have to promote yourself strongly and openly. You have to be proud of your abilities and achievements and tell everybody about them.

In short, you have blow your own trumpet. Doodle -oodoo!

And here's a man who certainly knew how to blow his trumpet - Dizzy Gillespie.

Between a rock and a hard place

2011-09-19T15:10:00.002+02:00

Where would you be if you were between a rock and a hard place?

Between two difficult and undesirable situations.

We could say that recently, President Obama has been between a rock and a hard place with the budget.

The economy needs more money but his options are limited by the budget ceiling. He's in a 'no win' situation.

Let's hear what he has to say.

Are you spoon fed?

2011-09-15T17:22:00.007+02:00

If you were a consultant, you could be spoon fed work by your company. You can spoon feed information to people.

He's so helpless; he expects me to spoon feed him.

Spoon feeding is literally feeding a baby with a spoon. As a metaphor, it means making something extremely easy for someone.

Well, if you've just had a baby and want to find out how to spoon feed - here's a useful video. Enjoy your meal!

By the way - this baby doesn't look very lively to me!

Hard cheese

2011-09-13T11:20:00.005+02:00

'Sorry mate, it's just hard cheese!

Hard cheese is a synonym for bad luck. It's often said without emotion to describe an unlucky situation that you have to cope with.

'Lost your job? Hard cheese - find another one.'

Like if you are a business with a cash flow problem and you go to the bank - they might say 'hard cheese!' or would they?

Sitting on a goldmine

2011-09-10T18:25:00.004+02:00

Sitting on a goldmine - in possession of a valuable resource

About 6 months ago, I decided to streamline my activities to focus on the launch of my website English4HR and book, English for Human Resources. This meant that after two and a half years of blogging, I reluctantly decided to stop posting on my idiom blog. Imagine my surprise when I recently viewed my statistics to see that the site is still regularly receiving over 4,000 views per month! I realised that I was sitting on a goldmine.

It’s a goldmine for me as a potential customer base for English language products that I’m developing and a resource for you, as a teacher or student, of a rich supply of idioms and video extracts.

You’ll be pleased to know that I have therefore decided to fire up the blog once more. I won’t be posting every day but certainly a couple of times each week. After all, it’s not every day that you discover that you’re sitting on a regular little goldmine.

Start digging!

White lies

2011-03-14T18:03:00.002+01:00

Do you ever tell lies?

Never?

I don't believe you!

OK, just the occasional white lie then.

But it's only so I don't hurt or upset people, like when someone says how does my dress look?

Yeah, you look great - honestly! (God forgive me)

Like this: video with words.

Bone idle

2011-03-05T14:59:00.009+01:00

Bones are the frame on which your body is built. They have joints at the elbows knees and shoulders. Some are hinge joints like knees and elbows and some are ball and socket, like shoulders and hips.

They are useful for working - that’s if you’re not lazy.

Idle means not doing anything; machinery can be idle and so can people.

In the war, it was that said idle talk cost lives. (By giving away secrets carelessly)

If you are bone idle, you are very lazy - maybe even wicked and lazy.

Like this!

Cupboard love

2011-02-21T17:56:00.005+01:00

What is cupboard love?

Is it love of cupboards?

No!

Making love in cupboards?

Definitely not!

It's love based on self-interest, often to do with getting things and if you are a cat, that means food.

Remember, it is pronounced Kubud.

Chasing your tail

2011-02-15T20:08:00.003+01:00

Grrr! Lately, I've been rushed of my feet.

I haven't even had time to blog.

It's like I've been working very hard and just chasing my tail.

Like this!

A drop in the ocean

2011-02-10T23:37:00.001+01:00

As,I'm sure you know, oceans are very big. A drop is a very small quantity of liquid.

Would you like another drink?

Just a drop then.

Liar!

Tear drops will fall and so will rain drops.

A drop in the ocean is an insignificant amount; not enough. They raised some money for the famine in Africa but it was just a drop in the ocean.

What if you literally took a drop in the ocean; what would it look like? Something like this. Thanks to my diving student Krysza for this idea.

BTW By the way, this guy's only oxygen supply is what he has in his lungs, Truly amazing - I pass out just watching.

To hope against hope - fingers crossed

2011-02-08T17:56:00.005+01:00

When you hope against hope, you hope that something will turn out OK even when it seems impossible.

Yet another Polish tragedy with the rally car crash involving Robert Kubica.

I hope against hope that surgeons will save his hand.

Do you believe in miracles? I do and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. That's a good luck gesture where you cross your index finger (the one you point with) and your middle finger. It is thought to originate from trying to divert the negative energy of the devil - let's hope it works.

Now fasten your seat belt to experience the very dangerous drive in Italy (Andora rally)with Morena and Bonato. Their ride comes to a stop when they reach the Kubica car. embedding disabled but click the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALbxMiwf4nw

And here's Kubica's car after the crash.

To pull a face

2011-02-06T17:43:00.002+01:00

OK, so strictly speaking it's not an idiom but there's no need to pull a face.

That'a another phrase for showing dislike (for food for example) or disagreement.

Some people pull very strange faces indeed and the Cumbrians of northern England even created a gurning competition.

If you are not sure what gurning is - watch this video but don't try this at home - it might stick!

Out of the blue

2011-02-03T17:41:00.005+01:00

When something happens out of the blue, it's totally unexpected.

After 20 years my uncle turned up out of the blue.

That's one possibility but what if you were just walking along and something really strange happened out of the blue like a flash mob!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob

Ever seen one? You will if you watch this video!

Poacher turned game keeper

2011-01-27T13:04:00.005+01:00

This one takes a little explaining.

Firstly, a game keeper is not someone who looks after a game like football; he looks after animals that are hunted for food and also sport. Game birds are particular species of birds such as pheasant and grouse which are bred, sadly for them, to be shot as a game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_birds

Even now, particularly in Scotland, people go on shooting holidays on the large, country estates.

Traditionally, these were owned by a Lord or Laird who employed a game keeper to manage the breeding of the birds, the shoots and to protect the birds from locals hunting them for their own needs. In the past, the methods of protection could be brutal such as iron leg traps hidden in the forest and the punishment from the local magistrate, who was probably related to the lord, would be severe.

So who is the poacher? The poacher is the one who steels and hunts on the estate.

When someone changes their role from the person steeling to the person protecting, we can say that they are poacher turned game keeper. This could be a computer hacker getting a job protecting systems.

One of the most famous examples of this was the real life confidence trickster (con man), and fraudster, Frank Abagnale, whose life was portrayed in the movie, Catch me if you can.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale

Well, the FBI did eventually catch him but then they employed him! He was a real poacher turned game keeper.