Learn the English Phrases WITH A FINE-TOOTH COMB and IN DROVES

In this English lesson,

I wanted to help you learn the English phrase

with a fine-tooth comb.

When we say that we do something with a fine-tooth comb,

or when we go over something with a fine-tooth comb,

it means we look at it very carefully.

I'm not sure what this hand motion means.

A good example would be this though.

When the police arrive at a crime scene,

they go over it with a fine-tooth comb.

This means that they go over it very carefully.

They look at every single piece of evidence

that they can find.

They don't just walk around, and step on everything,

and do something in a really bizarre unorganized way.

They come and they go over the crime scene

with a fine-tooth comb.

They might even make little squares with rope,

and look at each section of the area

where the crime was committed

in order to gather as much evidence as they can.

The second phrase I wanted to teach you today

is the phrase in droves.

And I know my phrases are usually related.

Today, they're not.

When you say that something happens in droves,

it means it happens with great quantity.

We use this a lot to talk about people.

When there's a sale at a store, people arrive in droves.

That means lots of people arrive at the same time.

A lot of times when there are concert tickets,

when they are selling tickets for a concert,

people will line up in droves to get the tickets.

They'll be so excited to get the tickets,

they'll even line up before the ticket office is open.

They had come in droves.

They arrive in droves to buy their tickets.

So to review,

when you go over something with a fine-tooth comb,

it means you very carefully look at it in an organized way.

And when people arrive in droves,

it means a lot of people all arrive at the same time.

But hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video.

Let me figure out what pocket that comment is in.

This comment is from Albert.

I guess below the belt is a boxing term,

and my response, I think you're right.

So in my last video,

I talked about the phrase below the belt.

And interestingly enough,

I didn't really mention where the phrase came from.

And after a bit of research,

I realized that a couple of people

in the comments were correct.

Below the belt is originally a boxing term.

You shouldn't punch people

below the belt during a boxing match.

I don't often look at the history of the phrases I teach,

because that doesn't always give a lot of meaning.

Sometimes in the case of below the belt, it does.

But sometimes the meaning

has lost its original meaning, or its original use.

And we use it in a completely different way.

So I like to always explain the most common way we use it.

Anyways, I'm out for a bit of a walk here

in a typical Canadian subdivision.

There's a large dog barking over there.

I hope he doesn't come to visit me.

This would be a typical Canadian subdivision.

A subdivision is an area in a town or city

where people live in houses.

Notice there are no apartment buildings here.

They live in houses,

and each person has a small lot with their house on it.

Let me spin you back around.

Jen and I obviously don't live in a subdivision.

We live on a farm out in the country,

and I am in my local town right now,

just taking a bit of a walk.

In a subdivision, it's usually quite quiet.

There's usually not a lot of traffic,

because people live here,

but there are no businesses in a subdivision.

A subdivision is only houses.

That's all that you have.

Maybe there will be a few parks.

There will be things like this mailbox over here.

Let me show you how people get their mail in Canada

if you live in a subdivision.

This, I think we call it a super box.

You can see over here, it says Canada Post.

This is what a mailbox looks like in a subdivision.

And this is a subdivision.

Ah, see ya in a couple days with another short lesson, bye.