Speak Like a Native: Essential Idioms for Advanced English Learners

- Do you sometimes feel stuck

at that intermediate level of English?

One key skill that makes advanced students stand out

is their ability to understand and use idioms

and idiomatic language.

Here I'm gonna show you lots of idioms

that will help you sound more like a native speaker.

(upbeat music)

(music fades)

Hello, it's Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy

here to help you become a more confident speaker of English.

Today I'm gonna do that with idioms.

This is a compilation video

of lots of idioms that you can learn

to help you become a more confident speaker.

As you're watching the video, make notes,

and then later, whenever you're listening to English,

start to notice these idioms

and bit by bit you can start to practice them.

Right now, let's get straight into it.

- Well, I read a book and it was good.

- Mm.

(yawns) Mm.

- I read a book and it was a real gem.

- Ooh.

- Let me give you some exciting idioms

so you can describe books

in a more interesting way.

So let's begin with idioms

about reading generally.

Number one, to be a bookworm.

And this just means to read a lot.

I'm a bit of a bookworm,

but actually I don't read

as much as I would like to.

You can also say I'm an avid reader.

Avid, I'm an avid reader.

It's the same, right?

You read a lot.

Bookworm is interesting,

I think historically it was quite negative

because the worm is like a bug,

and you know that the bugs

used to live in the books

and eat up the books.

So it used to be quite negative,

but nowadays I'd say it's neutral,

it's neither positive nor negative,

it's just a very neutral expression.

Number two, to have your nose in a book.

Now, literally, right, you've got a book,

put your nose in the book,

but of course, idiomatically,

it just means you're always in the book,

you read a lot.

Same meaning as a bookworm.

I always have my nose in a book,

it means I read a lot.

My friend Gareth, when I was growing up,

he was an avid reader.

He always had his nose in a book, all the time.

Whenever you saw him, he was reading.

Number three, to leaf through a book.

So a leaf is a page in a book.

So to leaf through is just to flip through.

You can also say to flip through, right?

You're turning the pages of the leaf.

Really, it means that you're reading it quickly

without paying attention to detail.

I'll just leaf through this book to find where I was.

Ah, yes.

I guess typically,

you would leaf through a recipe book,

a bit like this one, right?

If you're looking for a recipe,

you'll just leaf through and look for,

oh, yes, easy sausage carbonara.

Can't go wrong.

Lovely.

So to leaf through or to flip through,

both of those are good.

Okay, let's talk now about idioms

to describe books as good.

So we've got to be a real gem, right?

This book was a real gem.

Tell you what, this book was a real gem.

This idiom means that the book was valuable,

it gave you something valuable

or/and highly enjoyable, right?

Now, this book, "The Echo Chamber,"

oh, it was a real gem.

I mean, it's hilarious.

It's a comedy, right?

It's a comedy about modern life, social media, and fame.

It had me in stitches, hilarious book,

I highly recommend it.

It was a real gem.

Next, to be a breath of fresh air.

To be a breath, (exhales sharply)

fresh air. (wind whooshing)

Of course, we can use this expression

actually to describe people,

events, but also books,

and basically it's something

that is refreshing and new.

Now, because I spend a lot of time

reading grammar books, vocabulary books,

learning English books, teaching English books,

recently I read a novel

and it was like a breath of fresh air,

or it was a breath of fresh air.

This, "Death and Croissants,"

it's another funny book, quite interesting,

just really an easy read.

So that, yeah, for me,

'cause it was so different and refreshing,

it was a breath of fresh air.

Next, to be a real eye-opener.

Eye, open, eye-opener.

To be a real eye-opener is, again,

a book that gives you a new perspective on something

or gives you new valuable information.

Recently I read this book,

"The YouTube Formula."

It was a real eye-opener,

gave me a whole new perspective

on how to grow my YouTube channel.

Well worth reading, if it stays in the cover. (chuckles)

It was a real eye-opener.

Moving on, by the way,

none of these books are sponsored,

but I can highly recommend them.

Let's move on and talk about exciting books.

So, exciting books.

We can say it was a real page-turner,

a real page-turner,

which means it was so engaging and so interesting

that you couldn't stop turning the pages, right?

You're turning the pages, it's so exciting.

It was a real page-turner.

I think all of the Jack Reacher novels

are real page-turners.

I've just noticed, (chuckles)

I always go for the bargain.

I buy so many books at the airport or the train station.

But this one was a real page-turner.

Next, to be a rollercoaster ride.

A rollercoaster ride

is full of ups and downs,

may be exciting, it may be a twist in the plot,

it may be unexpected things happening in the book.

This one, "Firewatching,"

wow, this was a real rollercoaster ride.

You never know what's gonna happen next.

It's actually also a real page-turner,

but, oh, the ups and downs,

the twists and turns in the plot, really exciting.

Yeah, it was a rollercoaster ride.

Another expression,

to have you on the edge of your seat.

Now, you may know to be on the edge of your seat

means to be excited, in suspense,

when you're watching a suspense or a crime thriller,

also for books.

But you can also say the book

had me on the edge of my seat, right?

It made me be excited and on tenterhooks, if you like,

in suspense.

I read this book, "Mayflies," right?

Very nice book.

They've just made an adaptation for television.

I think it's on Netflix.

To be honest, I didn't like the adaptation very much,

but I loved the book, right?

And this book, yeah,

it had me on the edge of my seat.

It's a story, it's not a crime or a thriller,

but it's a story about everyday life.

Friends when they were young

meeting up again when they are 50

and some strange twists in the plot.

Yeah, it had me on the edge of my seat, this one.

Finally, we can say to be a fast-paced novel.

Fast-paced, to move quickly.

So any kind of crime novel or spy novel

is typically a fast-paced novel.

Fast-paced novel.

You get the nice stress, fast-paced novel.

Jo Nesbo, all of his books

are fast-paced novels.

This is a translation,

but obviously this the Harry Hole series. (chuckles)

What an interesting name for a detective.

But most of his books,

a bit like Jack Reacher,

they are fast-paced novels, really interesting.

Moving on.

Okay, talking about idioms

to describe a book as bad, right?

I've just got one for you here,

and that is to be a heavy read.

To be a heavy read

means a book is not interesting.

Maybe it's either,

it's emotionally heavy or it's intellectually challenging

or it's just boring, basically,

too much information, right?

You may find, for example, this one,

"Understanding Business Finance,"

this was a heavy read.

I didn't finish it.

I found it hard to read.

It's great bedtime reading,

you'll be asleep in no time.

The opposite would be an easy read, right?

If something's an easy read,

well, it's really simple.

I mean, take most of these crime books, right?

Your Lee Child books.

They're an easy read,

short sentences, simple language.

"I'm not going to lie, I didn't speak to the other guy.

There was no point.

There are too many holes in the plan.

It's DOA.

We need to find an alternative."

Band 5 IELTS. (chuckles)

It's not, in case, Mr. Lee, you're watching,

no, it's not Mr. Lee, Mr. Child.

It's just simple, short sentences,

the same vocabulary repeated,

it's such an easy read.

Okay, good.

So coming next to recommending books.

Well, you can say, for example, this one,

I highly recommend this book.

Notice the stress, I highly recommend.

Intonation, it's going up and down.

I highly recommend this book.

Another nice expression

is I can't recommend it enough.

I can't recommend it enough,

meaning it's fantastic, right?

I strongly recommend it.

What, for example,

what's my favorite book here?

Yes, this will be my favorite, this one.

I can't recommend it enough, it's brilliant.

Go out and get it.

That's it for books and idioms about books.

Number one, a busman's holiday.

A busman is a person who drives a bus, right?

A busman's holiday is when your holiday

or your free time is spent doing

what you usually do for work.

So if I went to Poland on holiday and I met people

and they wanted me to teach them English

and I taught them English,

that would be a busman's holiday.

Number two, I got caught up in some work.

To get caught up in something

is to become involved in a task or a job

for a longer time than expected.

So this may be used, for example,

if you're late for a meeting

or for dinner with your spouse

and you say, "I'm sorry, love.

I got caught up in some work."

Next, you really know your stuff,

or you really know your onions.

It means that somebody, it's a compliment

for somebody to say that somebody is very knowledgeable,

or they know their subject

or their field really well.

When it comes to cooking,

Jamie Oliver really knows his stuff.

Number four, I've hung up my boots.

To hang up your boots, remember,

is to retire or to stop working.

Number five, all your hard work has really paid off.

And this is where the effort you put into a task

has resulted in a good successful outcome.

For example, if you studied hard for the exam

and then you pass,

all that effort paid off.

The hard work really paid off.

Next, it turned out great.

To turn out good or great

is when something is successful,

often better than expected.

For example, we had a party last week.

I didn't organize it very well,

but in the end, it turned out great.

Next, don't worry, I'm on top of it.

I'm on top of it means

that I am fully in control of the situation

and handling it competently.

So maybe your boss says,

"Listen, have you finished the work yet?"

You say, "Yep, don't worry, I'm on top of it."

I'm controlling it.

Next, I don't want to pull rank, but...

To pull rank is to show or assert your authority

or seniority to control a situation.

So let's imagine a manager speaks to an employee

and the manager says, "I think we should do this."

And the employee says, "No, I disagree."

The manager may say, "Okay."

More likely the manager will say,

"Listen, I don't want to pull rank,

but we are going to do it my way." (laughing)

So it's a polite way of showing his authority

to control the situation, right?

I don't want to pull rank.

The rank refers to the level, often in the army, right?

Soldier, lieutenant, general, captain, different ranks.

Next, I handed in my notice.

To hand in your notice is to resign

by giving a formal notification to the company.

Next one, she has put

blood, sweat, and tears into this place.

Blood, sweat, and tears

is to put a lot of hard work, dedication,

and energy into a task.

This was a situation they were talking about.

A shop, the owner wanted to sell the shop,

the manager had worked so hard to make it successful,

and their friends said,

"Listen, you can't sell the shop,

'cause the manager has put blood, sweat, and tears

into this place."

Next, everything went pear-shaped.

So a pear is the fruit.

To go pear-shaped is basically

when something goes wrong,

turns out badly, often unexpectedly.

They were talking about when the manager

wasn't working one day, everything went wrong.

Everything went pear-shaped.

To boss me about.

To boss someone about is to give them orders

or try to control them,

to manage what they're doing,

to control what they're doing.

So sometimes workers will say

they don't like their bosses

because the boss will boss them about as a verb, right?

Don't boss me about.

Next one.

You've had a lot on recently.

This means that you've had a lot of work to do.

We can say have a lot on your plate

or just to have a lot on.

So I'm sorry I didn't finish that task,

but I've had a lot on lately.

Finally, I will run everything by you first.

If I run something by you,

it means I will tell you about something

and get your approval or your ideas about it

before I make a decision.

And here, again, they were talking about selling the shop

and the owner said, "Listen, I'm sorry,

but I will run everything by you first in future."

So that they are all involved in the decision-making.

To run something by you.

Nothing to do with running.

It's just to share the idea with you first.

That's it, idioms related to work.

Let's move on to the next topic, disagreeing.

Okay, here we go,

seven idioms to do with disagreeing.

First one, they're going to kick up a stink.

To kick up a stink is also to kick up a fuss,

we use both idioms,

and it means to disagree strongly

and protest against something, right?

It's quite strong.

A stink is just something,

a very, very bad smell.

So imagine you're gonna have a party for your family,

but you decide not to invite

Uncle Tom and his family.

Uncle Tom will probably kick up a stink.

He will disagree and protest

and say, "No, we must come!

It's a family party."

They're going to kick up a stink or kick up a fuss.

Next one, they're going to fight tooth and nail for it.

To fight tooth and nail for something

is to fight very strongly for something.

A situation where maybe two families

want to buy a property

and both of them really want it,

so they're going to fight tooth and nail

to get that property.

I beg to differ. (chuckles)

It sounds very polite, but it's not.

It's just normal, I beg to differ.

It means I disagree.

So if you disagree with someone, you can just say,

well, no, actually I beg to differ.

I think da, da, da, da, da.

The next two idioms are actually quite similar.

The first one, let's not nitpick.

To nitpick, nitpick.

Drop the T sound normally, nitpick.

To nitpick is to focus on

the small details or small mistakes

rather than the bigger picture.

So we often say don't nitpick.

For example, "Here's my plan for next year.

And what do you think?"

"Oh, you've spelt this word wrong.

It's missing a full stop."

"Oh, come on, don't nitpick!

Is it a good plan or not?"

Similar expression, you're splitting hairs.

To split hairs, those of you who have hair,

especially women may know, long hair,

the hair at the end splits, sometimes it opens.

So to split hairs is to nitpick.

It's to focus on small details or small mistakes

that are not important, right?

So I may say to that person,

"Listen, all right, this word's spelt wrong,

but come on, you're splitting hairs.

That doesn't matter."

Next, you're not going to drop it, are you?

To drop it doesn't mean to drop it.

It means to stop discussing a topic or an issue.

So imagine, again, we were talking about the plan,

and my friend continues discussing the little mistakes,

and I say, "Listen, you're not gonna drop it, are you?

You're not gonna stop discussing it."

Or I may say, "Listen, just drop it.

Stop discussing it."

Finally, no can do.

And this is a simple phrase that just means,

it's a colloquial way of saying

something cannot be done.

It's not possible, right?

"Can we go out for dinner tomorrow?"

"No can do.

No, I can't, we can't."

It's not possible, for whatever reason.

No can do, lovely.

Let's move on.

Right, let's look at feelings.

The first two idioms

are related to being angry or irritated.

First one, I've had it up to here.

And often we use this with a physical gesture.

I've had it up to here.

I've had it up to here.

It means I'm really frustrated and annoyed

or fed up with a situation.

I've had it up to here

with your nagging and nitpicking!

The next one, what really bugs me is...

So when something bugs you,

it irritates you or annoys you, makes you angry.

That really bugs me.

Makes me angry, okay?

What really bugs me is people

who don't pick up litter in the street.

Next, I was over the moon.

Just means to be very happy,

really, you know, delighted about a situation.

I passed my test.

I was over the moon.

The next one is about being nervous.

To describe a situation where you're so nervous,

you lose control of the situation.

My nerves got the better of me.

My nerves got the better of me.

I was so nervous, I lost control.

This may happen in your IELTS speaking test.

You're so nervous that you can't speak properly.

Your nerves get the better of you.

Hopefully your nerves won't get the better of you

and you'll be calm and everything will go like a dream.

What possessed you? (chuckles)

What possessed you?

It's the idea that a spirit or a ghost possesses you

and controls your behavior,

so you do something stupid.

Not stupid, irrational or unexpected.

So you can say this to somebody

who does something really irrational that is not good

and you want to know why.

"What possessed you?

You told Uncle Tom he can't come to the party?

Ah, what possessed you?

He's going to kick up a real stink now!" (chuckles)

What possessed you?

And finally, I'm sorry, I got so worked up.

To get worked up,

to get worked up or to be worked up is to be agitated,

emotionally excited, a bit out of control.

Often you may say this

after you've maybe got very angry with somebody

and you've shouted at somebody and you say,

"Oh, I'm sorry.

Really, I'm sorry.

I got so worked up."

Like, you were emotionally out of control.

Lovely, let's move on.

Now, the next topic is gossip.

But just before I gossip,

today's topic, I think idioms and how many to use

is really important.

But another important question, I think,

is how should I learn idioms, right?

Because it's one thing

to watch YouTube videos like this

and just listen to idioms

or maybe pick up one or two,

but it's another thing to really learn them

so you can use them confidently,

which is what you need for the IELTS speaking test.

I think it's great to learn by topic as we're doing here,

but it's really important

that you hear the idiom

in lots of different contexts,

'cause that's the only way you'll really learn

when you can use that idiom.

It's also important to learn,

well, which words can you change

or can you not change?

Can you change the tense?

How do you use it?

How do you pronounce the different words?

And that's why you can do this on your own,

better if you've got a teacher.

But if you don't have a teacher,

I have a new course coming out,

150 English Idioms for IELTS Speaking.

And here there are 30 topics

with idioms for each topic.

I show you how to use them, when to use them,

which words you can change,

when you can't use it,

how to pronounce it,

and then get you practicing lots of examples.

So it's a great way, systematic,

to learn 150 idioms

that can really help you with your IELTS speaking

and your general English ability.

In the meantime, let's get back to some gossip.

Okay, gossip is where you tell people secret information

or you spread rumors,

tell them things that should be confidential.

The first one is between you and me,

and this is when we say something

that you want to be kept a secret or confidential.

Great word, right?

Confidential, secret.

Between you and me,

his plan is not very good, right?

Meaning don't tell him.

The example in the radio program was great.

There were two men, two blokes.

Blokes, two men sat in the pub chatting,

and one bloke, well, his wife was angry with him

and wouldn't speak to him.

And so the bloke says to his friend,

"Oh, I'm having a terrible time.

My wife won't speak to me.

I don't know what to do.

And I feel terrible,

because between you and me, I really love her."

And the waitress walks past and says,

"That's your problem.

You really love her.

That shouldn't be between you and him.

You should tell her.

It should be between you and her."

(chuckles) So true, right?

Between you and me.

Great connector, if you like.

The next one, a little bird tells me

or a little bird told me.

And this is where it's a playful way

to say that you've received information

that is from a secret source

that people didn't know, right?

For example, somebody says,

"Eh, I hear that Uncle Tom

is not coming to the family party."

"How did you know that?"

"Well, a little bird told me." (laughing)

Next one, word gets around.

This expression basically means

that information or rumors tend to spread very easily.

Word gets around.

"How did you know about Uncle Tom?"

"Well, word gets around," right?

Finally, spill the beans.

And you'll say this when you want to ask somebody

or tell somebody to reveal the secret,

tell you the secret.

Spill the beans.

The beans, well, it's a kind of food, from a can.

And if you spill the beans,

they come out of the can.

Let the cat out of the bag, same expression.

Spill the beans, tell us the secret.

That's enough gossip.

Let's move on to talk about relationships.

Okay, relationships,

idioms to do or talk about relationships with people.

The first one, she can run rings round him.

To run rings round someone,

run rings round, run rings round someone

is to outperform or outsmart somebody, right?

Do something better than that person.

The idea you're running rings, it's so easy for you.

I think many, many wives

can run rings round their husbands,

depending on the situation.

For example, once my wife and I,

we invited people to dinner,

and I said, "I'll cook this dish."

And she said, "Okay, I'll cook that dish."

And my daughter said, "Dad, don't bother.

She's going to run rings round you.

She's gonna do it better."

Probably true, actually, yes.

Oh well.

Next, I think I've blown it with him.

When we say I've blown it,

it just means I've made a serious mistake or an error,

sometimes in a situation or a relationship.

I've blown it with him means I've made a mistake

and things are not gonna work out well with that person.

The situation in the radio drama

was a woman who had been dating a man,

and she had talked to him about her family

and she went on and on and on, and he got bored.

And the woman said,

"Oh no, I think I've blown it with him."

He's not interested anymore, he was so bored.

Next one, he's a nightmare.

A nightmare is a bad dream,

but we use this colloquially

to mean that somebody or something

is a very difficult situation to handle,

usually because the situation or the person

causes lots of problems.

He's a nightmare.

And I think in the program

they were talking about a new waiter

or a new cook in the restaurant.

They were trying to train him

and he just kept making mistakes,

dropping things, burning things.

And they were saying,

"Oh, he's a nightmare!"

Right, he just makes lots of mistakes

and causes problems.

We often use this in a kind of a exaggerated way

or a humorous way, right?

He's a nightmare.

Next, I wasn't sure where I stood.

Now, to stand, see,

when you say I'm not sure where I stand,

or where I stood in the past,

it suggests that you're not sure about your status

in a relationship or in a situation.

I wasn't sure where I stood with him.

This goes back to the woman who was dating the man.

And after their first date, the man said,

"Yes, I'll call you, yes."

And then after a week, he didn't call,

and the woman said, "Well, I wasn't sure where I stood."

She didn't know the status

of the relationship anymore.

You can talk about this for relationships,

but also in different situations,

in a work situation as well.

Next one, we have our moments.

We have our moments.

Now, those moments,

actually, they mean good and bad times.

So this really means we have our ups and downs.

We have our moments.

It's suggesting we have moments of anger,

frustration, difficult times.

Sometimes when you look at

happily married couples from the outside

and you look at them and go,

"Oh, everything looks wonderful.

You're so much in love!"

Very often the married couple will say,

"Mm, yes, but we have our moments," right?

Every marriage has its ups and downs.

We have our moments.

The next one, she's a hoot.

A hoot. (chuckles)

A hoot, this means that somebody is very amusing

or can make you laugh.

They're a lot of fun, right?

It's used very informally.

She's a hoot.

She's a fun person to be with,

describing somebody who makes you laugh.

Finally, let's just wipe the slate clean.

To wipe is to clean, right?

The slate is, well, years ago in schools,

we would have a piece of slate to write things on,

so you'd have chalk and you'd write things on it.

So to wipe, to clean the slate,

to wipe the slate clean

just means let's start fresh.

Start something anew,

trying to let go of all the past problems.

This is used often when two people disagree,

or they argue and they say,

"Listen, stop.

Let's just wipe the slate clean and start new."

Lovely.

Let's wipe the slate clean and move on to ideas.

Right, ideas.

The first one,

I did toy with the idea of starting again.

To toy with the idea of something is to consider,

think about something.

We also say to play with the idea.

Kind of you're looking at it,

you're playing with it, to toy.

Toy we know is a noun,

but to toy as a verb,

I toyed with the idea of getting a new job, right?

I considered it.

Let's park that idea for the moment.

To park an idea,

it's like parking a car.

You postpone the idea,

or you put the idea on one side for the moment

and maybe come back to it later.

So great expression in a meeting, right?

If you're chairing a meeting,

you say, "Right, nice idea.

Let's park that idea for the moment and discuss this."

Next, this idea has got legs.

So the idea, if something has legs,

it can walk or it can run, it can go places.

So if you say an idea has legs,

it means it has potential to succeed.

It has the possibility to succeed.

This idea has got legs.

Next, we need to push the envelope.

To push the envelope means to push beyond the limit,

beyond the existing limit.

You'll often hear bosses in companies talk about this.

If you want people to be creative, think outside the box,

then you need to push the envelope.

Push the envelope.

Why?

I don't know.

But push the limits, right?

Next, he has already written off the idea.

To write off an idea is to basically forget

or not go ahead with an idea,

to give up on an idea because it's not going to work.

The context was the owner of the restaurant

who was thinking about,

toying with the idea of selling the restaurant,

but in the end,

he decided to write the idea off or write off the idea,

'cause it wasn't going to work.

And finally, that idea was totally off the cuff.

If something is off the cuff,

it's improvised, spontaneously decided, right?

It wasn't planned.

The cuff, oh, I don't,

if you have a shirt, you have a cuff of the shirt.

I don't wear it, I haven't got a shirt.

Something off the cuff

just means it's improvised, not planned.

Again, it was the idea that the owner of the restaurant

was going to sell it,

he wrote the idea off,

and then he had a new idea

to change the style of restaurant

to sell different food,

and that idea was totally off the cuff.

It was just improvised in that moment,

in that moment.

Good, let's move on.

Talking about restaurants,

let's talk a little bit about food.

Okay, three short idioms about food.

First, they lay on a great spread

or they put on a great spread.

And this is to give a great selection

of food and drinks for an event.

So spread is to put lots of things over a large area.

So if you imagine all the foods spread out.

Here it's a noun,

a spread, a great spread

means a great meal,

a great variety of food.

They lay on a great spread.

The next one, it was a decent meal.

It was a decent meal.

Decent just means that it was reasonable

or quite good quality.

We can use decent with a lot of different contexts.

A decent meal, quite good quality.

If you get, let's say 6 out of 10, that's a decent mark.

If you think this video is quite good, it's a decent video.

Not very good, but quite good. (chuckles)

Lastly, let me top up your glass.

To top up, you can imagine

when you've got your glass or your cup

and you fill to the top.

Let me top up your glass.

Often for wine, but not necessarily.

Okay, the last topic of shopping.

We've got three idioms here.

First of all, I've got my eyes on something.

I've got my eyes on something

means I want to buy or to get something.

If I ask my wife what she wants for her birthday present,

I say, "Let's go shopping and let's find something nice."

And she says, "Oh, that's a good idea,

because I've got my eyes on something at the moment.

I've got my eyes on a nice dress."

Something she wants to buy.

The next one, to fork out money for them,

or to fork out money for something is to pay, well,

is to spend too much money,

often reluctantly, that you don't want to.

So something's very expensive,

you say, "Well, I'm not gonna fork out money on that,"

or "I'm not gonna fork out money for that."

You can use both of them.

Finally, I bought it for a song.

If you buy something for a song, la, la, la, la,

it just means it's cheap.

It's very low cost.

When you go shopping in the January sales,

you'll find some good deals and you can say,

"Huh, I bought it for a song."

That's it.

Here we go, eight idioms I use regularly.

Short, simple,

and that will make you stand out from the crowd.

Right, number one is to nail it.

To nail it.

You can link, nail it.

This means to do something perfectly.

Imagine you take a nail, right?

And you hammer the nail into the wall

and you put a picture on the nail

and the picture looks perfect, right?

It's idiomatic, meaning you've nailed it

for anything that you've done perfectly.

For example, tomorrow my daughter

is going to do a presentation, right?

And I said to her, "Relax, everything will go smoothly.

You're going to nail it!"

Also, the other day my wife did a new recipe.

She was trying out a new recipe and I said to her,

"Oh," after she'd finished,

"this dish is delicious,

you've nailed it!"

She did it perfectly.

And here's another example.

- I'm gonna take the test in two week's time,

and I hope I'm gonna nail it.

- Number two, to be spot on.

To be spot on.

It means to be, well, exactly right or perfect.

For example, I was listening

to the weather forecast the other day,

and it said that today it was going to be sunny.

Sure enough, look outside and it's sunny.

The weather forecast was spot on.

It was perfect.

It was exactly right, mm-hmm.

Do you remember that dish I told you about

that my wife prepared the other day?

Well, when she'd finished,

she did say to me,

"Okay, yeah, I've nailed it,

but is there enough salt?"

And I said, "It's spot on."

There was exactly enough salt,

not too much, not too little, spot on.

Here's another example.

- My friend told me,

"Kristen, you like eating mangoes, right?"

And I said, "Spot on."

- Number three, to be on a roll.

To be on a roll.

The idea of rolling is, you know like a snowball?

When it rolls and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger?

So it's rolling and getting bigger.

It's this idea, to have a series of successes,

one success after another after another,

getting better and better, to be on a roll.

For example, some of you may know

I'm studying French again and practicing French

'cause I needed to brush up on my French,

to brush up on, to improve, right?

To polish my French.

And in the last class it was great,

I was giving one example,

then another, then another.

I was giving so many examples, I was on a roll.

Even the teacher said to me,

he said, "You're speaking so much French today.

You're really on a roll," right?

We can look to Manchester United for my next example.

United have won their last three games.

They are on a roll.

Nice.

Here's another example.

- Novak Djokovic, the famous tennis player,

won 10 Australian Open titles.

It was obvious he was on a roll.

- Now, number four is to get a word in edgeways,

which means to have a chance to speak.

In actual fact, we normally use it in the negative.

We say I can't get a word in edgeways.

Again, when you listen to this,

you'll be hearing the linking.

I can't get a word in edgeways.

This comes from the idea,

well, imagine you're walking through a crowd of people.

There's lots of people,

and you normally have to go like this, right?

This is the edge, the front, the edge.

You need to go edgeways through the gaps.

In fact, we even say to edge forward, right?

Is to move forward slowly.

So the idea of getting a word in edgeways

is to go on the side and to move forward slowly,

trying to speak.

This is apparently where it comes from,

although some people say it's a nautical term

from sailing as well.

But it's the idea that you, you know,

I can't get a word in edgeways,

even going slowly I can't speak,

normally because the other person is speaking so much.

So for example, to make it very, very clear,

I have a boss who talks a lot.

Whenever we have a meeting,

I can't get a word in edgeways,

meaning he doesn't let me speak.

He just rabbits on and on.

I can't get a word in edgeways.

We had a meeting last week,

I couldn't get a word in edgeways.

Another example,

and this is quite a common scenario here in Spain,

I met up with some friends in a bar the other day,

and Miguel, one of my friends, was telling jokes.

He was telling so many jokes

that no one could get a word in edgeways.

And here is another example for you.

- When three people in the breakout room

and I'm one of them,

when they two are talking,

I can't get a word in edgeways.

- Now, idioms are very, very useful,

and it's really gonna help you to understand

when you're listening to films, TV series,

even daily conversation when we're using idioms.

If you want to learn more idioms,

check out my 150 Idioms course.

I also have an idioms book

that can help you at least understand a lot more idioms.

Now, I recognize it's very hard to use idioms

and it's probably best for you to learn them in context

as and when you're improving your English.

If you're doing IELTS and IELTS speaking,

idioms, they're important,

at least idiomatic expressions are important,

which is a much wider area of idiomatic phrases,

but it's also good to learn some idioms.

The thing is, you only want to use one or two

and be really confident about using them.

So if you want to improve

your overall understanding of idioms,

on the one hand, keep learning as you're going one by one,

but you can also check out my idioms course and idioms book.

That's full of stories and context.

It's a fun and engaging way of learning more idioms,

helping your, well,

make your language more colorful, if you like.

Check them out in the link below.

There's a nice discount or a little bundle there for you.

And that's it,

let's get back into today's eight idioms I use regularly.

Number five, it turns out, da, da, da, da,

which means it happens in a particular way.

It happens to be the case.

So here, certain things happen,

this happens, that happens, then this happens.

And then in the end,

the result was something happened in a particular way,

often a surprise or an unexpected result

or an unexpected way.

For example, yesterday I had an appointment,

I missed the bus and I arrived late at the dentist.

But then it turns out the appointment

was for the week after.

It turns out, right?

This happened in a particular way.

It was a surprise.

So I was late for my appointment,

but it turns out it was next week.

I was nervous about my French exam,

but when I did the exam,

it turned out to be really easy.

Here's another example.

- Last week when I know I need to do a mock test with Keith,

I felt super duper nervous,

but today, it turns out my score is pretty good.

I got band 7 in this exam.

- Number six, to crack me up. (chuckles)

If you imagine an egg cracking,

if you crack up you laugh a lot or very hard.

So it cracks me up

is it makes me laugh very hard, very strongly, right?

Last week I watched "The Office"

and it cracked me up.

Another example, my friend Miguel I talked about,

he's very funny.

He always cracks me up.

And here's another example.

- When I watch "Mr. Bean," he cracks me up.

- Number seven, in a way, meaning to some extent.

It's idiomatic 'cause in a way

doesn't mean I'm on a path,

it's just to some extent.

For example, I work from home.

In a way, working from home is easy,

but it can be boring, to some extent.

In a way, I like living here in Santander,

but it does rain quite a lot.

And here is another example.

- In a way, living in the city is more convenient

than living in the countryside.

- Number eight, to make head or tail of something

means to understand something,

usually something complex

or difficult to understand.

So head and tail,

you've got the head of an animal

and the tail of an animal,

like the top and the bottom.

And if you can't understand

the top or the bottom, it makes no sense.

Something complicated.

So for example, something complicated.

If you've ever made an IKEA table,

IKEA is the Swedish furniture shop,

they provide you with a instruction manual paper,

slightly complicated instructions, right?

It's very hard to make head or tail of it,

or it's hard to make head or tail of the instructions.

Maybe sometimes at work

you receive a very complicated email

and you really don't understand what they're trying to say.

I can't make head or tails of it.

Another example, my friend had a plan to go on holiday,

but it was super complex and I couldn't understand it.

I couldn't make head or tail of her plan.

And here's another example.

- Yesterday I bought a bookshelf for myself.

When I opened the instruction,

I need to figure out how can I put them together

to become a bookshelf.

I couldn't make head or tail of it.

- This manual is very complicated.

I can't make head or tail of it.

- So there you have them,

eight idioms I use on a regular basis.

Here are 10 easy idioms

you should be using in IELTS speaking.

Now, imagine the situation.

You meet someone at work for the first time

and you start speaking,

but you suddenly disagree with each other.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You make a bad start and you think,

"Oh, we should start again," right?

You could say we got off on the wrong foot.

To get off on the wrong foot, right,

is to start a relationship in a bad way,

usually by making a bad impression.

You say something wrong or you disagree, right?

To get off on the wrong foot.

To get off just means to start, right?

To start on the wrong foot.

It's strange, notice off and on.

To get off on the wrong foot.

Here's another example.

I think I got off on the wrong foot with my neighbor.

I accidentally parked in his parking space

on my first day in the new neighborhood.

Sorry, neighbor.

Here's another example from one of my students, Hany.

- When I first met my boss,

I told him that I support Tottenham,

but unfortunately he supports Arsenal.

So we got off on the wrong foot.

But after some time we get along well.

- Idiom number two, imagine your neighbor

often watches the TV but really, really loud

and you can hear it and you always feel angry.

You could say, he puts my back up!

My neighbor puts my back up,

puts my back up.

To put someone's back up is to annoy or irritate someone.

So if I put your back up, I annoy you

and you feel angry, right?

Here's another example.

When John criticized his wife's cooking,

bad idea, in front of everyone,

it really put her back up,

and she didn't speak to him for the rest of the evening.

If it was my wife, it would be the rest of the week.

Some more examples from my students, Vladimir and Ahmed.

- Well, obviously the salesman put my back up

when he refused to provide me with the promised discount.

- Well, I did not want

to put your back up with my statement.

I was just trying to share how I felt about it.

- Idiom number three.

Imagine the situation,

your child has an exam in a few days,

they haven't prepared

and he or she is watching the TV every evening.

Now, you could say and should say to your child,

you need to pull your finger out!

You need to pull your finger out. (chuckles)

To pull your finger out

means to start working harder or more quickly.

Another example, I'm behind with this project,

and I need to finish before the deadline.

I'd better pull my finger out.

And here's a nice example from my student, Timur.

- Well, I had been on vacation, right?

Then I came back to work

and there was a lot of work to get done,

so I had to pull my finger out.

- Okay, the next idiom, to have your work cut out,

this is similar to the idiom before, right?

To pull your finger out,

which is advice or telling somebody.

But here, if you have a lot of work

or a big task ahead of you,

to describe that situation,

you can say you have your work cut out.

Cut out like.

(Keith laughs)

you have your work, there you are, your work cut out,

meaning, well, you have a big task ahead of you.

Do you know, I remember when I started teaching, right?

And I was offered, or asked, not offered.

I was told to teach a class of young children,

six-year-old children.

And I remember, it was my first time with children,

I was walking to the classroom with my books

and a teacher came past me and he said,

"Ooh, are you teaching the children in class 12?"

And I said, "Yes."

And he said, "Oh, you've got your work cut out."

And I went, "What? Why?"

What's happening?"

And I got really nervous

'cause he was saying,

"You've got a big, difficult task ahead of you."

And it turns out class 12,

oh, the naughtiest children on the planet.

They were so naughty!

But I survived.

I got through, I managed to do it.

So, to have your work cut out.

Here is another example

from my student from the GOLD course, Miguel.

- A friend of mine asked me

to make a complex project in just one hour

because he had to travel abroad.

So I had my work cut out

because obviously it was very impossible

to do in a short amount of time.

Thank you very much.

- Right, idiom number five.

Imagine, you're doing a lot of imagining today.

Imagine the situation, if you can.

I, or you, let's say I,

am sitting in a coffee bar, maybe Starbucks,

having a quiet coffee.

Then I see across the room a beautiful girl.

Suddenly I get up.

Without thinking, I walk across,

I go up to the girl and I say,

"Would you like to go out with me?"

And you could say, in this situation,

I asked her out on the spur of the moment.

On the spur of the moment

means to do something suddenly

without planning, impulsively.

On the spur of the moment I asked her out.

On the spur of the moment, I got up and walked across.

No thinking involved. (chuckles)

I'm not telling you what she said,

you don't want to know.

But here's another example.

I was in the park with my friend

and we decided to go and buy an ice cream

on the spur of the moment.

And here are some more examples

from my students Fong Ling and Rosella.

- Yesterday, I bought this shirt on the spur of the moment.

- Last week, I was walking down the street

and just chatting with my best friend.

And on the spur of the moment,

I helped an old man to cross the street.

- Idiom number six,

to play by ear or to play it by ear.

It's similar to the previous idiom, right?

So to play it by ear is to improvise

or to do something without planning.

Whereas on the spur of the moment

is suddenly without planning,

to play by ear is not suddenly,

but it's just improvising.

For example, if you haven't prepared for the meeting,

you will have to play it by ear.

Do you remember class 12?

My naughty, naughty children I had to teach.

Well, the week after, right?

Another teacher was given that class.

Nobody wanted to teach them.

And I remember seeing that teacher

in the teachers' room a few days before,

and I said to the teacher,

I didn't say "You have your work cut out."

I said, "Whatever you do,

make sure you prepare for that class.

Don't play it by ear,

or they will destroy you!" (chuckles)

That's it, to play something by ear,

or to play it by ear we normally say.

Here is another example from my student Bang.

- Well, I'm going to have a test tomorrow,

and right now I don't revise anything.

I go to bed

and I think that I will play it by ear tomorrow.

- Right, idiom number seven,

to pull out all the stops.

So to pull, mm, you know.

To pull out, oh, I can pull out my phone, you know.

The stops.

So the stops are part of an organ.

I mean the musical instrument,

like the church organ, right?

The organ has these things that you pull out,

and when you pull out the stop,

the sound gets louder.

So if you pull out all the stops, you get the biggest sound.

So the idiomatic expression to pull out all the stops

is to do the best you can.

For example, tomorrow I'm playing my brother,

I'm playing table tennis against my brother

and he's pretty good.

So if I want to win,

I will have to pull out all the stops.

Here are some more examples from my students,

Romaric, Ali, and Layal.

- My name is Romaric and I'm preparing

to sit the IELTS test in October.

And I'm using these courses

to prepare myself very, very hard

and other stuff around,

so that all those things can help me

to pull out all the stops.

Thank you.

- Well, I like to talk about my IELTS exam.

You know, I did it last year

and it went pretty well.

Actually, at first,

the most challenging part for me,

to know how to start and how to wrap up my talking.

So I started to watch Keith's videos

and it helped me to pull out all the stops.

- I pulled out all the stops to improve my English language

because I aspire to complete my postgraduate abroad.

Thank you.

- Right, idiom number eight.

Imagine again, you're in the pub

and you're listening to friends talking

and someone is talking politics.

And what he says is rubbish,

nonsense, ridiculous, gibberish!

You could say, "He is talking through his hat!"

To talk through your hat means to talk nonsense,

to say ridiculous things.

To talk you know, hello.

Hat you know.

Talk through your hat, hello.

It's crazy!

It makes no sense!

To talk through your hat is to talk nonsense.

Here is another example from my student Francisca.

- In today's conference,

a participant did not stop insisting

that factories have nothing to do with global warming.

To be honest, I hate it when people talk through their hat.

- Right, idiom number nine,

to go from strength to strength.

And this just means to get better and better.

You can imagine,

strength is the noun from strong, right?

To get stronger and stronger,

to get better and better.

We can use this to talk about a person,

about a company, a team, or even a skill, right?

Manchester United have gone

from strength to strength this season.

My English has gone from strength to strength.

Well, not my English.

My Chinese has gone, hmm, well,

my Chinese will go from strength to strength

if I study more. (chuckles)

You could talk about a startup.

This small company, since they began,

have gone from strength to strength.

Here's another nice example from Irina.

- Thanks to my daily practice with you all,

I've been going from strength to strength.

- Okay, the next one.

Now, this idiom, to get your goat, you know to get.

A goat is the animal.

To get your goat is similar to the first idiom.

Do you remember the first idiom?

The neighbor playing the TV and he puts your back up.

He annoys you.

If somebody annoys you or irritates you,

you can also say they get my goat.

To get your goat is to annoy you or to irritate you, right?

For example, the noisy neighbor gets my goat.

I was stuck in traffic this morning.

It really got my goat.

Here's another example from my student, Karen.

- When people talking loudly on the phone

when I'm on a morning train,

that really gets my goat.

- There you have it,

10 easy idioms you can now hopefully understand,

be a bit clearer, and start practicing.

So there you have it,

lots of idioms to help you on your journey

to becoming a more confident speaker of English

and helping you sound more like a native

or proficient speaker of English.

Remember, don't be overwhelmed.

Just choose a few idioms

that you would like to practice yourself,

and when you're practicing English,

try and use them as much as you can.

Get as much feedback as you can.

Do remember though,

if you're doing the IELTS speaking test,

only use idioms that you feel confident about using.

Using them accurately is as important as knowing them.

So, that's it.

If you've liked the video, give me a like.

You can even subscribe,

get notifications about upcoming videos.

I hope this was useful.

Thank you so much for watching.

And that's it.

Take care, my friend.

I'll see you in the next video.

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