IELTS Speaking Idioms: HOSPITALS

(upbeat music)

- Idioms, in which case we need this.

♪ I want some idioms and I want them now ♪

♪ I want some idioms but I don't know how ♪

♪ How do I remember how to remember them ♪

♪ All I know and I really think so ♪

♪ Is that I want some idioms now ♪

(upbeat music)

♪ I want some idioms and I want them now ♪

- Oh, I want some idioms and I want them now.

Great, idioms.

We're gonna talk about different idioms.

Can you guess these idioms?

I'm gonna show you a picture

and I want you to guess what the idiom is.

What do you think the idiom is?

Are you ready?

Here is number one.

What do you think this is?

(upbeat music)

Any guesses?

Be the crafter.

Be is good, you can see.

What about the arrow?

Where is the arrow?

(upbeat music)

Busy as a bee, maybe.

(Keith laughing)

Be a patient patient.

Be the line is a very good guess.

Not quite.

Be the sewer.

Okay, so the sewer, what's another word?

What is the sewer doing?

(upbeat music)

Iryna, you are a star.

Be the sewer, no.

Layla, thank you for your comments.

Be the bee's knees, maybe, ha ha.

Be on pins and needles, very good test.

Very good guess.

Very good guess.

The answer for this one is the following.

Let me show you.

To be on the mend.

Be on the mend.

The sewer is mending.

To mend is to fix or repair.

To be on the mend, well done, Iryna,

is to be getting better or recovering from a sickness.

For example, I was off work ill for two weeks,

but now I am on the mend.

To be on the mend.

So when you are getting better, you can say to everybody,

I am on the mend.

I am on the mend.

It's like your body is fixing itself.

Is repairing itself.

Excellent, good.

That was it, that was number one.

Let's move on to number two.

What about this one?

Can you guess this idiom?

This one will be easier now.

(upbeat music)

To be on call.

A lot of people said to be on a call.

To be on the call.

No, nothing, to be on call.

If you look at the picture, well it's hard, I know,

but be on call.

Yeah, without the, I should have done cross.

To be on call means be available

at any time needed but not officially on duty.

So you are not, I'm not sure.

I don't think you are paid at least not full pay

if you are on call.

So you are not working,

you may be enjoying time with your family,

but you must be available to be on call.

For example, some doctors have

to be on call over the weekends.

In case there's an emergency.

So it just means be available, be on call, be available.

Just be careful.

No at, no the, no nothing.

On call, to be on call.

Well done, some of you got that.

Well done indeed.

Next one, number three.

What is this?

Can you guess this idiom?

(upbeat music)

(Keith chuckling)

Empty the clock, what?

(Keith chuckling)

(upbeat music)

That's enough.

Yang Yang, thank you very much.

Shizuka, spot on.

Round the clock.

Round the clock, as you can see.

Very good guesses from a lot of you,

but the answer is round the clock.

And this means all day and night,

or more idiomatically, just nonstop.

For example, some nurses work round the clock

at the weekend.

Some nurses work round the clock at the weekend.

So you can work round the clock.

You can say to work round the clock,

you can say to be on call round the clock.

If you're a student, maybe you study round the clock.

The night before an exam you may study round the clock

basically nonstop.

All day, all night, 24 hours.

But it's idiomatic so you can be more

liberal in your use.

Great, round the clock.

Excellent, good, well done.

Round the clock.

Let's move on, the last one, number four.

Can you guess this one, the last one?

The easy one maybe.

(upbeat music)

Oh, you are on the right lines, Samira.

(upbeat music)

This is a bit hard.

(upbeat music)

Sibel, almost.

(upbeat music)

I like it, Edith.

(upbeat music)

Good guess, Raihan.

(upbeat music)

Some very, very good guesses.

Let me bring you back in together.

This one, not to be out of the forest

but to be out of the woods.

The woods is another word for forest.

Definitely in the UK I think we say the woods is the forest.

So we don't normally say to be out of the forest,

we say to be out if the woods with a double,

sorry, with a plural S.

And it means to be out of danger.

Usually we use it in the negative.

I am not out of the woods.

For example, the patient is stable now,

so that means the patient had a problem,

but now they are okay.

Let's make it easier, the patient is better now,

but she's not out of the woods yet.

So it means she's not completely out of danger.

Maybe there was a big accident, they were sick,

they did an operation and she's better,

but she's not out of the woods.

We can use this not just about hospitals,

but at work, with friends, any kind of situation,

even kind of joking a bit where you are, whoops.

I dunno, where you are in trouble for something.

I dunno, I'm trying to think,

for example, with children.

When children do something bad and the parents find out

and the children think that they've got away with it,

that they're okay, but they may say, oh, I think we're okay,

but we are not out of the woods yet.

Our parents may find out what we've done.

So you can use it in different contexts,

but it's very common in the hospital context where somebody,

a patient has an operation and they're better,

but they're not out if the woods just yet.

So they're not 100% better.

They're not out of danger.

Good, four idioms.

I have a bonus idiom for you, which was the last one.

The bonus idiom was to be in the thick of it.

To be in the thick of it means

to be deeply involved in an activity or situation,

any kind of situation or activity and you are involved,

doing a lot there.

For example, hospitals are nearly always very busy

and as nurses, we are in the thick of it.

We are in the center of the activity.

We are deeply involved in the activity.

That's it, to be in the thick of it.

Again, you can use this for work,

for hospitals, for families.

It's a lot of activity

and the parents are in the thick of it.

When you're organizing a birthday party

with all the children, the parents are in the thick of it.

They're in the center of all the activity.

A lot of idioms.

I don't wanna throw too much of you,

but this is just a reference that you can have and can use.

Excellent.

(upbeat music)