??? Strange English idioms that don’t make sense

Hi everybody, welcome to www.engvid.com, I'm Adam.

In today's video, I'm going to give you some idioms and expressions that are very

commonly used by native English speakers.

The problem with these particular idioms and expressions is that they make no sense.

In fact, when you see them, you'll question why we use these expressions at all, because

they're illogical.

The words themselves, the idiom itself, is very hard to understand.

I know that all idioms are a little bit hard to understand, but these ones are extra tricky

because they're just illogical, and you'll understand when I start giving you...

When I start explaining what they mean.

So we're going to look at fat chance and slim chance first.

When someone says fat chance, it means zero chance, no chance.

So let's say, for example, my friend is going, he says he's going to ask his boss for a raise.

And I said, "I know your boss, fat chance, he's giving you a raise."

Means there's no way he will give you a raise.

He's very cheap, the boss.

But then a different friend goes to, says he's going to ask his boss for a raise, and

I said, "Your boss, he's pretty cool, there's a slim chance he'll give you one."

There's a slim chance.

It's not a big chance, but there is a chance.

But the idea here is that fat chance, you would think very big chance, but it actually

means zero chance.

Slim chance, you would think not really, but there is actually some chance.

So it's actually the opposite of what the words suggest, which is why it's illogical,

why it's a little difficult to understand.

So let's look at some of the others.

Clear as mud.

So when someone asks you, "Do you understand?" or "Is it clear?" and you say, "Mm, crystal

clear."

Crystal clear means very clear, I understand everything perfectly.

But sometimes people will say, "Yeah, clear as mud."

But they'll say it in a very positive way, in a very upbeat way.

But actually, clear as mud means I have no idea, I really don't understand.

Now, mud, if you know, if you're not sure what mud is, if you take dirt on the ground

and pour water on it, it will turn into, like, a brown sludge, like a thick brown liquid.

Obviously, not very clear.

So technically, clear as mud means it's not clear at all, but the way people say it can

be a little bit confusing to especially non-native English speakers.

But even English speakers have to take an extra second to think, "Do you get it or don't

get it?

I'm not sure."

Because you're saying clear, but then you're saying mud.

So when people say this, they are being sarcastic.

Now, sarcasm is very, very difficult to teach.

Sarcasm is, like, involves attitude.

You say something very opposite of what you mean, but the person who hears it very clearly

understands what you mean.

Right?

I'm not going to get into it, but if somebody says, "Yeah, clear as mud", they're being

sarcastic.

They're saying that they really don't understand, but they're saying it in a way that sounds

like they do understand.

So, it's a little bit tricky.

That's actually a good lesson.

We'll make another video for sarcasm.

Right as rain.

So, when you think about rain, you're thinking about grey clouds, you're thinking about being

wet and cold.

Not a very good feeling, right?

But right as rain means very good, very good condition.

So, I was sick for a little while, but I took some medication, and now I feel right as rain.

I feel very good.

I feel in very good condition.

So, right as rain, the right is good, the rain is bad, so you're not exactly sure which

it is.

It seems a little bit illogical.

Now, this one is not exactly illogical, it's just a little bit confusing.

I think, again, for non-native speakers.

If someone says they're not a big fan of something, or like, not a fan of or not a big fan is

another common way to say this, it means that they don't like it.

Not a fan?

Just, like, instead of saying, "I don't like it", they say, "Not a fan."

Well, "not a fan" means you don't love it, but a little bit is okay, right?

Or, "I don't love it", like, especially when you're talking about food.

"Do you want to order some bacon?"

"I don't love it."

Well, you don't love it, but do you like it a little bit?

Or is it just okay?

Or, "No, I just don't like it."

But instead of saying "don't like", they say "don't love" or "not a big fan of".

So, not really illogical, just a little bit confusing, not exactly sure what the person

is saying.

"Can't help".

Now, there's a couple of ways to use this expression.

You could say, "Can't help it", and "it" is already understood, like an action or some

sort of idea a person has.

Or "can't help but do something" or "say something" or "act in a particular way".

So, for example, my friend asked me, "Why do you always complain about the traffic here?

You know it's a - you know, there's bad drivers here.

Why do you always complain?"

"I don't - I can't help it.

I can't help."

So, people think of the help as doing something good, but "can't help" means I can't stop

myself from - I can't - I can't not do it.

I must do it.

So, that's where it's a little bit confusing, because "can't help" means must do, and that's

a little bit confusing because it's a little bit opposite.

You have the negative, but the meaning is actually a positive verb, if you think about

it that way.

"I can't help but tell people what I think about them.

It gets me in trouble all the time."

So, "help" means you're helping yourself, but no, you're actually making it very bad

for yourself by doing this.

Head over heels.

I'm sure you've heard this idiom before, especially when people talk about falling in love.

So, Bob is head over heels in love with Wendy.

But the problem is, right now, my head is over my heels, and if you're not sure, heels

are the back, bottom part of your foot.

Okay?

So, right now, I'm sort of leaning on my heels, but my head is always over my heels, which

must mean that I'm in love with everybody, because I see you, I'm head over heels.

I see you, I'm head over heels.

I see you, I'm head over heels.

But what it actually means is fall in love, so like you go a little bit crazy, like you're

twisting around.

So, really, it should be heels over head in love, but it's not.

It's head over heels.

So, that's a little bit illogical as well.

Next, we have a meteoric rise, meteoric.

So, the word here is "meteor".

A meteor is a space rock that comes into the Earth's atmosphere and flies down and crashes

into the ground, and it creates a crater.

Like, if you're not sure what a crater is, if you think about the moon, the moon has

many craters, like little dips in the Earth, because many meteors have hit it over billions

of years.

So, now, the idea is that a meteor falls to the ground or falls into a planet or a star

or whatever, but here we're talking about a rise.

If something experiences a meteoric rise, it's a very fast and very powerful rise, especially

when we're talking about, like, popularity.

Right?

So, this singer was not so well known, but then some famous producer made a record for

her and put it on the radio, and then she became a star, but not just became a star.

She had a meteoric rise to the top of the celebrity A-list.

She was nobody, people heard of her, and then suddenly everybody knows who she is.

She's world famous, very fast, very powerfully, so meteoric rise.

But it should be a meteoric fall, but interesting.

Pardon my French.

Now, here I have...

You have to be a little bit careful.

When you hear somebody say "Pardon my French", they're not speaking French, unless they're

French people, but then they don't use this expression.

English people who use this expression are about to say some bad words or they just said

some bad words, and then say "Pardon my French".

When I say bad words, I mean, like, the F word, the S word, A-hole, and all these words,

these are swear words.

So, somebody who's a little bit more polite in a more formal situation, let's say a politician,

a politician speaking to the media will say, "Oh", like, "I'm a senator", let's say, "That

senator?

Oh, he's an A-hole.

Pardon my French."

And they'll always say "Pardon my French" means I'm sorry that I'm using a bad word,

but I must use a bad word, but it has nothing to do with French.

And "Pardon" means, like, excuse, excuse me.

Break a leg, which is very interesting because this seems like a very bad thing to say to

someone, "Break a leg".

But in show business, and now in basically every situation, when you want to wish someone

good luck, you can say "Break a leg".

If somebody's going for a job interview, if somebody's going for an audition, if somebody's

going to give a performance, anything that they're going to do, like a particular event,

you say, "Okay, break a leg", which sounds like you're telling them, you're hoping something

bad happens to them, but actually you're wishing them good luck, so a complete opposite.

And last one, you'll actually hear this quite a lot, especially when you want two different

things or you want one thing, but you also want something else, and they don't work together.

You can't have both.

So, you can't have your cake and eat it, too.

But that doesn't make sense because if I have my cake, I can eat it.

I have it.

It's mine.

I can eat it.

But no, you can have your cake or you can eat a cake, but you can't do both, which makes

no sense.

So, you can't have everything you want is basically what this idiom means, okay?

So there you go.

A few idioms and expressions that if you're trying to learn them by yourself, you might

get the opposite meaning of what that actually means.

So, it's very important that someone explains to you the actual meanings of these expressions

and you can use them correctly, okay?

Now, if you want to test your understanding of these, go to www.engvid.com.

There's a quiz there.

You can try to do the questions there.

You can also ask me any questions you have about this video in the comments section.

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Bye-bye.