81: 10 Useful Idioms for English Conversations

Excuse me, sorry, do you speak English? No, I don't, sorry.

So, today we want to bring you an episode introducing everyday English idioms. And what I've done is I've compiled some images. for easy to look at and we're going to describe them for you audio listeners and for you YouTube watchers, viewers. We're going to look at these images and try to distinguish what the idiom is. and what it means. Make sense? Yeah, let's start. Let's start. I have questions. Okay, so here is number one everyday English idiom. What are you thinking?

Instead of a hat, that person has a bowl of baked beans as a hat. Baked beans. Very English. So? Do you have a bean hat? No. You're a bean hat.

A bean head, no. A bean head. Could that mean that you're like an idiot? Yeah, no? A bean head, yeah, like a tiny brain. But no, that's not the idiom. This is an... Stu, you are... Stu? No.

You know this idiom. You use it a lot, actually. Or I use it a lot. His head is farting. Yeah, that's the correct idiom. They're all in his body? Imagine the beans are filling up through his legs. Full of beans!

That's a weird picture for it though. Did you find that for full of beans? Did Chechiputty do this for you? I made all these images on an AI image generator. That's full of beans.

That is the best way I could describe full of beans. Okay, tell me then, what does full of beans mean and when would you use it? You would describe a person or yourself.

I think you don't really say it about yourself. No. More about others. If someone is in a very good mood, very active, busy, maybe a bit like dancing around. Exactly.

Talking a lot. You have a lot of energy. That's full of beans. Because you ate a lot of beans and beans give you energy. Not far off. I found out that it's actually because horses used to be fed beans generally. And then they run quicker. Yeah, exactly. So you would be compared to a horse, essentially, that is full of energy and excitement. Full of beans. So yeah, you'd use that talking to someone about someone else. Oh, he's full of beans today.

Or Nola is absolutely always full of beans. Every day. Number two, describe the image. There's a teacup with tea in it. Looks like a fruit tea because in England, breakfast tea would have milk in it. There's no milk in it. And there's a don't do it sign. Is there a cigarette behind the sign? No, that's the same post. Oh. That would be a really specific idiom. So it's a no tea time. There's obviously a no or a not, which is where the signpost comes in. And tea.

and tea not my cup of tea well done well done this is good no yeah okay not my cup of tea basically means it's not for me i don't like this i don't want this Give me an example. Or it's not typical for me. Or for example, if we talk about music and there's a band we talk about and if I don't really like them and just say like, this is just not what I listen to. So it's not my cup of tea.

That is a really good example. Yeah, that's fantastic. And it's because all English people, including me, being not English, drink a lot of tea. And if it's not your cup of tea, then you don't like it. Yeah, exactly. The stereotype is being well and truly used in this idiom that all English people loved tea. So if something is not your cup of tea, it says a lot. Before we go on to the third one...

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All you have to do to get it is go to easyenglish.video forward slash membership and join our learner membership. Okay, back to the next idiom. Next one. Okay, please describe the situation that you're witnessing here behind you. I have two in my mind, but both are not in there. Okay, but what are you seeing? Describe it for our lovely audio listeners. Well, there's someone...

cleaning their nose under a sky that is raining. Okay. Could they be ill possibly? Yes, they probably have a cold on the rain. Okay. And the idiom you're thinking of? I thought of it's raining cats and dogs, but there's no cat and no dogs, so probably not. Okay. And I thought it's pissing it down, but that's not a saying, is it? It's more colloquial. But then I said no one is peeing in there. Yeah, I don't think the AI generator allows you to show such explicit imagery. So, what could it be?

No, it's not the Travis song. What would you say if you are a little bit ill? Under the weather. It's true. So, she's ill. She's under the weather. She's under the weather. That is right there happening. Yeah, you say under the weather when you are ill, even if you are just... on the way to getting ill like not feeling so well not much energy probably it's normally connected to a cold or like flu like symptoms yeah

Like if you're sick and have a stomach bugger, so you wouldn't say another one. Well, you could also, right? Just not well. But it's more connected to cold. Yeah, it's a more subtle way of saying you're not quite 100%. Okay. And I found the reason for... Under the weather would be on stormy days at sea, the sailors would be put under the boat. To stay dry and to stay healthy and fit. Okay, what's happening here in this picture? Like a brick of ice.

Is that a thing? It's not, but please describe what's happening. Okay, sorry. Big ice blocks. Yeah. A guy tries to hammer them down. Yeah, okay. You almost sort of said it. Not hammer, but he's... Knocking. Another verb? Derevelling. What? You're going too specific. Go real general. With the verb, he is breaking the ice. Oh, yeah, right. That was actually too easy. Yeah, icebreakers. Oh, icebreakers comes from the idiom...

Breaking the ice. And what does this all mean? When would you break the ice? It means in a situation, for example, you meet someone new or you are in a new job. and you feel a bit awkward at the beginning, you don't really know how to get warm with someone, then you have to break the ice to make it warmer. And the ice is basically a metaphor for the...

wall that you have between you and someone that you don't really know that you want to melt down to have a nice, comfortable atmosphere. So you break the ice and here you are happy. Nice to set. And the way you said it is really well described because it comes from when there would be big ships passing through. Titanic.

exactly kind of like the Titanic what they should have had instead of this I always have to cry when I think a little bit not because of the film it's just so sad isn't it and she's screaming and he's like Yeah, there was enough room on the table, on the door, wasn't there? Oh, there was definitely enough room. Well, he wanted her to survive. It's very romantic, but not worth it, really. How often have you watched it? Twice.

Really? Maybe three times. Okay. But what they should have done in the Titanic is when you're coming into port where you usually get a lot of ice because it's coming in, you know, stuck to the land. I have those ice breaking boats. Small little ice-breaking boats that smooth the passage of getting from one place to the other. Well, that would have also not helped. No, there was an iceberg, wasn't there? Okay. Let's go back to the idiom. If you were in a group setting, people would say...

we're going to do something to help break the ice, like find out three facts about each other that will help break the ice so that you feel more comfortable with other people. And typically in Britain, people break the ice with a very dry joke. Absolutely. We'll talk about the weather. Witty humor. Exactly. Over the moon. Yeah, there is literally... Sorry, there's a moon? Yeah.

There's a moon. And someone jumps over it. Yeah, in brogues. That's not important. Okay. If you're over the moon, you're so high up with your... mood and energy that you can even jump over the moon. So over the moon means that you are cloud nine. When was the last time you were over the moon? Every time I see you.

Don't know why I'm laughing. And Nola. Yeah. When you found out your band maybe are recording a new album. Yeah, that's true. You were over the moon with Happiness. I think they are, actually. This one's tough. I'm not sure if you've ever heard me say it, but it is a commonly used idiom. Okay, there's a pear that looks like an apple. Is that an apple too? It is an apple, but it is... A pear. It is pear. So there's one green apple and next to it one red apple that has a form...

of a pear. Yeah. And there is an arrow going from the green apple into the red apple pear. Yeah, because it has become... The apple became a pear. Something has gone pear-shaped. Something turned pear-shaped. Pear-shaped, whereas it once was round and now it's kind of deformed. Oh, something turned like sour. There is an idiom of sour. But no, this is if something has gone wrong. Like we were doing something and then it all went pear-shaped. Not a big mistake.

Or not a big problem, but if something didn't quite go quite right, it still worked. You said that went a bit pear-shaped. Describe this image. I already know it. Okay, but what's going on? There are two feet. Wearing socks. Yeah. On a wooden floor, which doesn't matter. And an arrow going upwards. Yes. And the saying is, pull your socks up. I love it. People use this a lot, especially in school or education-wise or work. It's basically get a grip. Be brave. Yeah.

Jump the gun. Make the jump. Yeah. Wow. You're doing all the idioms right now. I'm not prepared for this. I didn't even know the topic. Pull your what together? There's another one. Pull yourself together. No. Anyway, it's like pull your socks up, be ready, go forward. Don't be afraid. Yeah, exactly. It's like a phrase to prepare yourself to get ready. But you direct it at other people.

It's someone who isn't prepared already. Pull your socks up, mate. And I think it literally comes from Victorian days, school. There'll be a dress code. Until the knee. Yeah, yeah. And there would be a very specific dress code that you'd turn up to school. You're looking ready and prepared to learn. You pull your socks up. Mm-hmm. Perfect. Pull them up. Pull them up. Okay. There is a stroller. A pram. A pram. Is a stroller then... Is it...

Is a stroller American? Could be American. Or is a stroller the one where they sit already in? The one where their older children is a buggy. When they're flat babies, it's a pram. Okay, a pram. Around in the air are floating, dancing, stuffed animals. Teddies. This is my attempt to make the idiom work. And you think I know it? Not sure. Okay, say it then. So this idiom is, the idiom is to throw your toys out of the pram. Oh, when you're pissed off.

absolutely there's not much like metaphor behind it it's literally kind of yeah when a child is angry it literally throws its toys out of the pram and so you're directing this more towards adults with a childish action. A lot of the time you sort of self-destruct. You sort of destroy your own surroundings because you're so frustrated and that would literally be like throwing your toys out of the pram. Okay.

So, unfortunately, we've reached the end of our episode, but as I was saying at the beginning, if you become an Easy English Learner member, not only do you get the interactive transcript, but you'll... also get something we call the after show which is where the public podcast ends the after show begins and we're going to discuss two more which you can listen to two more idioms and you'll also hear some behind the scenes extras and bits and bobs

Connected to Easy English. Bits and bobs. Bits and bobs. Nice. Thank you for watching. Thank you very much, Easy, for guessing these. You're welcome. And we hope this episode was your cup of tea. And we'll see you next time. Ta-ra! I can't imagine. Bye!