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Englishwithdain.comslash transcripts. Today's episode is about idioms. I haven't done one of these in a while, and several of you have written to me asking me to do an episode about idioms, so here it is. I'll cover some that I use on a day-to-day basis, and as always, give you some definitions and examples. Right. There's nothing much to really say about this, so let's get into it. You are listening to episode 130 of English with Dane. Hit it.
This one is super common and not just in American English, but pretty much everywhere. Big Deal is usually used in a sarcastic way. So to say that something is in fact not a big deal. Weird, I know. For example, if your friend is like, oh my god, I have to go pick up some mail, and then I have to run to my appointment at the hairdresser, my life is so crazy, and you say, pfft, big deal.
You know, you really shouldn't talk like that when someone's on a diet. Oh, big deal.
We of course also use big deal not in a sarcastic way, when we talk about a significant or important moment or person. You can say he's kind of a big deal around here if someone is a well-known person who carries weight or commands respect. This can be in a particular industry, community, or wherever. Next up, we have to let the cat out of the bag. This is an easy one, so next time, instead of saying someone told a secret, say they let the cat out of the bag. Then we have once in a blue moon.
If something happens once in a blue moon, or someone does something once in a blue moon, it basically means not very often at all. Rarely. Very rarely, almost never. Muy de vez en cuando isn't even the same because something that happens once in a blue moon is basically something that pretty much never happens. We say this in jest most of the time, so in a joking way, or to exaggerate something. My girlfriend cooks once in a blue moon, for example. This next one is to steal someone's thunder.
To steal someone's thunder means to take away attention from someone else. Let's go a bit faster and get through some more. Next up is to hit the sack. Yeah, me too. I'll need to rest my voice for tomorrow. Next up, we have to be on cloud nine. This one is a classic, and you've probably heard it before. To be on cloud nine literally translates to estar en la nube número 9, and it obviously doesn't make sense, like a lot of things we translate literally.
This idiom means to be ecstatic, to be super happy. I don't have a good example, but just thought I'd add it to the list because I heard it today. Then there's fair and square. Fair as in justo and square as in cuadrado, yes. There's something we should address though, or talk about, which is that to be square can also mean to estar parejo, estar sin deudas, and to be okay with someone in general after not being okay with that person.
So fair and square is like saying that something is honest and straightforward. If you win a competition or a game and you played by the rules, you won fair and square. You can't be upset with someone if they beat you fair and square, but you can be mad if they cheated.
Come on, the girls beat us fair and square.
Okay, last one. To step up your game. Ojo que viene con phrasal verb to step up your game, or to step your game up. And it means to raise your level of effort and skill and focus even. If your friend is losing to you at a video game, you could say, hey, step your game up, man. I'm killing you. You can use it for a bunch of stuff though. Your game can be anything.
How you're doing at work, how much or how little you're exercising, how much you're reading, how healthy you're eating, etc. Literally anything. Imagine you and your friend go to the movies and she has chosen, I escogido, the movie the last two times, and they have both been terrible. You could say, hey, you need to step up your game. It's literally applicable to anything. I actually use this one a lot because it's so versatile.
If you want something bad, you have to fight for it. Step up your game, Scott.
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