IELTS Speaking Idioms: POLITENESS

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- And let's have a quick look at, oh, idioms, oh my.

Idioms already?

Here we go then.

♪ I want some idioms ♪

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♪ I want some idioms ♪

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♪ How to remember them ♪

♪ All I am known I really think so ♪

♪ Is that I want some idioms now ♪

♪ How to learn them ♪

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♪ Is that I want some idioms now ♪

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- Just stretched my legs ♪ All I know ♪

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- Okay.

♪ How to learn them ♪

Idioms, I'm gonna show you a picture

and I want you to guess the idiom.

It's connected with politeness, obviously.

So let's try number one.

What do you think this idiom?

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To bend over backwards is to make a great effort

to be polite or to help someone, okay?

For example, she bent over backwards

to make her guests feel comfortable.

So she made a big effort to make them comfortable.

She bent over backwards.

It's not easy bending over backwards, right?

As you can see in that picture, it's not easy at all.

So that the idea of doing something difficult,

making an extra effort to bend over backwards.

Nice.

Okay, that's it.

Number two.

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I'm still here, by the way.

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Yeah, you're there,

but Ahim, nice to see you here.

Yeah, you've got it.

Mind your P's and Q's.

Mind your P's and Q's.

What a strange expression, right?

Let me bring that up here.

So to mind your P's and Q's

is to be careful about how you behave and speak.

I don't know the origin of this idiom,

but your P's and Q's, like in the picture,

the letters, the P's and Qs,

I guess because the P and the Q look very similar

and they are easily mixed up.

So you have to be careful.

To mind means to be careful about not mixing up.

So be careful how you behave and speak.

For example, "At the formal dinner,

everyone had to mine their P's and Q's."

Okay, this idiom, to be honest,

we don't use it very much, but it's something you may hear.

And I think to recognize it and understand it is useful.

I wouldn't use it myself.

I think it's more for a formal situation,

like a formal dinner or a business dinner, you know?

"Ooh, mind your P's and Q's, be careful what you say.

The boss is here, mind your P's and Q's."

So it's normally for formal situations,

but very useful to know, okay?

Excellent, good.

Let's do number three.

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Right, let me stop you there.

Absolutely, very, very, very interesting.

So the one person who got this, there's a lot of bees,

but those of you in the gold course

will know that the bee stands for B-E, be.

And this one is be on your best behavior.

The behavior here is helping,

the boy helping the older person,

maybe the granddad possibly.

I know, very, very tricky, right?

Not easy at all.

Be on your best behavior, to be. So whenever you see the be,

it means to be on your best behavior,

and it means to behave in the most polite way possible.

"When meeting her parents, he was on his best behavior."

So to be on your best behavior, you know, be polite,

behave the best way.

Very, very common idiom.

It's used a lot.

And yes.

It's similar to try your best or be your best.

A few of you said, but it's specifically about behavior.

So if you are meeting, I dunno, a new colleague,

a new or going on a date, be on your best behavior.

You're meeting a new boss, be on your best behavior,

all those kind of contexts, okay?

Excellent, nice, good.

Let's have a look at the last one, number four.

The very last one is this one.

What do you think this one is?

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This one was too easy, right? (chuckles)

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Yeah, you're all there, guys.

Bite your tongue, absolutely.

It is to bite your tongue.

To bite your tongue means to avoid saying something

that might be impolite or inappropriate,

that might be considered impolite or inappropriate.

For example, "I had to bite my tongue

when she started complaining about her boss."

Okay.

This is,

it's kind of the, I think often it's the situation

where you're listening to people talk

and you want to say something.

You're maybe a bit angry or a bit annoyed or you disagree

and you wanna say something quite strongly

like, "No, that's nonsense."

Or, "Don't complain about your boss,"

or, "Don't talk about my friend like that."

And so you can say it,

but sometimes in English, so that you're,

in order not to be impolite, you bite your tongue, mm.

Which means you don't talk.

If you bite your tongue, eh, then you're not talking.

And it just gives you time to think

and maybe say something more polite.

"I had to bite my tongue."

Okay, I think maybe,

for example, "Because her boss is my friend,"

that may make it clearer maybe.

"I had to bite my tongue

when she started complaining about her boss,

because her boss is my friend."

So, eh, you don't wanna say something.

Maybe you should say something,

but the idiom is to bite your tongue, right?

Don't say something, to avoid saying something.

Excellent, good.

Natalia says, "It's similar in Russian,

maybe in other languages too."

I agree, I'm sure it is.

Yes.

It is, Bessaa, it's similar with hold your tongue, right?

Means, hold your tongue is telling somebody not to speak.

Bite your tongue is you decide not to speak.

But it's a similar feeling, yes.

Saima says, "I had to bite my tongue

when our students complain against our government."

There you go, right.

Excellent, good example.

And basically you're right, it is thinking before talking.

Excellent.

Lovely, very, very nice.

Okay, so we've been looking at idioms.

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