5 Common Idioms with 'OUT'

Hi guys. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on idioms with "out".

Today we're going to look at some of the most common idioms that use "out" in the English

language. On the board, we have some sentences. At the bottom, we have some definitions for

each of the idioms that we will look at today. So let's start from the top, and you guys

can tell me what is the meaning of this idiom -- what is its definition. The first sentence

says, "Dan is out like a light." And we have an idiom that means something similar and

can be used in exactly the same situation or in a different situation as well, and it

says, "I was out cold for 20 seconds." So it is possible to say, "I was out like a light

for 20 seconds", or "Dan is out cold" as well. Now, what do you think these two phrases -- these

two idioms -- mean? Do they mean "broken/not working", "tired/exhausted", "not alert/uninformed",

"unconscious/asleep", "not possible/not permitted"? If we look at the context, and we say, "Dan

is out like a light", or "I was out cold for 20 seconds", I think the most obvious one

would probably be "unconscious/asleep". So here, we'll put No. 1. Okay, so if a person

is "out like a light" or "out cold", this can have two meanings. The first meaning can

be simply that they are deeply asleep. So if I say, "Wow, Dan is out like a light."

Like, "I can hit him. I can slap him. He's not waking up", okay? So a person who is not

only asleep but deeply asleep can be "out like a light" or "out cold". Now, if you think

of boxing, and you think of a boxer getting hit in the face and knocked out, he goes unconscious.

So you can say that, "Wow, he's out cold." If there's no response, he's "out cold". He's

unconscious. You can also say, "He's out like a light", okay?

All right, guys. Let's look at No. 2. It says, "The printer has been out of commission for

2 days." Okay, so what do you think this means, "out of commission"? Is it, "broken/not working",

"tired/exhausted", "not alert/uninformed", or "not possible/permitted"? Well, when you

think of a printer, a printer works or it doesn't work, and if it's "out of commission"

it's probably "broken/not working", right?

So we often use this idiom when we talk about

machines, pieces of technology. It can not -- it can be for other things, too. Like,

if I said that "the toilet is broken", I can be a little, you know, exaggerative. I don't

know if "exaggerative" is a word, but I can exaggerate and say, "The toilet is out of

commission." "It's not working." "It's broken", okay?

The next one says, "He was out of gas after the first half." So imagine this is a soccer

player. You know, in soccer you have the first half, the second half. And after the first

half, he's "out of gas" like a car. So your car can be "out of gas". So what do you think

"out of gas" means in this context if we think about cars? Well, is it "tired/exhausted",

"not alert/uninformed", "not possible"? Obviously, "tired/exhausted", right? So this is No. 3.

Okay, so if you're "out of gas", you have no more energy. You are absolutely exhausted.

It can be for a car. It can also be used for a person.

No. 4, "Going on vacation this year is out of the question." So imagine that this year

you don't have a lot of money. Maybe you don't have a lot of free time, so you cannot go

on vacation. It is "out of the question". So this means that -- you probably figured

it out -- it's "not possible/not permitted".

Now, this idiom we often use in an imperative

sense. So if you ask your parents if you can go out somewhere or if you can sleep over

at a friend's house, and they say, "That is out of the question." "That's out of the question."

They are just stating the fact that it's not possible. They're not permitting you to do

it. So you can just say, "out of the question", which means, "not possible", or, "I'm not

allowing you to do it", okay? Finally, "I didn't understand the lesson because

I was out to lunch." Well, there's only one option left, so "not alert". It can also mean

"uninformed". So if you are "out to lunch", you're not actually out eating lunch somewhere.

It kind of means, like, your mind was in a different place, in a different location.

Like, you're on lunch when you're relaxed, and you just want to sit and chat with your

friends. So if you were "out to lunch", it means that you weren't paying attention or

your mind was in a different place, okay? So just as a review, guys, if you're "out

like a light" or "out cold", you are deeply asleep, or you are unconscious. If something

is "out of commission", it means it's not working. It's broken. If you're "out of gas",

you have no more energy. You're exhausted. Extremely tired. If something is "out of the

question", it's not possible. It's not permitted. And if you're "out to lunch", you -- not -- you

are not paying attention. You weren't alert, or you're uninformed of something.

All right, guys. If you'd like to test your understanding of these idioms, you can check

out the quiz, as always, on www.engvid.com. Take care, and good luck.