Some people find English expressions and idioms hard to learn. I always teach students to remember idioms as one single piece of vocabulary rather than individual words. If you find idioms hard, try using this method – it really works. The theme of our English expressions and idioms this week is ‘hard’: caught between a [...] → Continue Reading English expressions and idioms with ‘hard’
We saw what a hung parliament was yesterday on the World of Words and that started me thinking of more English expressions and idioms with ‘hang’. Here are my favourites: to get the hang of something Meaning: to become competent at a new skill Example: I’ve been learning English for a year and I’m getting [...] → Continue Reading English expressions and idioms with ‘hang’
It’s Golden Week in Japan this week so I hope all the readers over there are having a nice, relaxing break. This week, our English expressions have a ‘golden’ theme in honour of Golden Week. a golden handshake Meaning: a financial incentive for someone to join or leave a company Example: Our company provides $10,000 [...] → Continue Reading English expressions and idioms with ‘golden’
After yesterday’s tips on how to organise your English reading material, today let’s continue the reading theme and look at some English expressions and idioms with ‘read’: to read someone like a book Meaning: to be able to work out someone’s intentions even if he is lying Example: Sam says he doesn’t like Sally but [...] → Continue Reading English expressions and idioms with ‘read’
Last week, we looked at some English idioms and expressions with ‘pull’ so this week, let’s look at some with ‘push’: push off Meaning: go away Example: I am sick of you being rude to me all the time. Why don’t you just push off and talk to someone else? push it Meaning: to try [...] → Continue Reading English expressions and idioms with ‘push’
The theme for this week’s English expressions and idioms is ‘pull’. Can you think of any others to add to the list? pull a fast one Meaning: to trick someone Example: That criminal pulled a fast one and ran off with my money. pull the plug Meaning: to stop giving assistance or support Example: I [...] → Continue Reading English expressions and idioms with ‘pull’
I’m going on a trip to Malaysia today. As I was booking my tickets, I started thing about idioms related to flight. Here are a collection of some fun English idioms and expressions with ‘fly’. to fly by the seat of your pants Meaning: to improvise / to rely on luck, memory, or intuition in [...] → Continue Reading 6 English expressions and idioms using ‘fly’
like watching paint dry Meaning: very boring Example: That film was so boring. It was like watching paint dry. clock-watching Meaning: waiting for something to finish Example: After 5pm, I spend the rest of my time at work clock-watching until I can leave the office. watch your mouth Meaning: be careful about what you say [...] → Continue Reading English expressions and idioms using ‘watch’