13 BOOK Expressions in English

Hi there. My name is Emma and in today's lesson we are going to look at

common expressions that use the word "book". So here's my little picture

of a book with a smiley face. I love to read, so I'm very excited to do

this lesson because I love books. So let's look at the first expression.

In total we're going to look at 13 expressions.

So the first expression: "bookworm". I don't know if you can see it here,

but I've drawn a little worm with glasses and a book. This sort of gives

you a hint, maybe, as to what a bookworm is; a bookworm isn't actually a

worm. It's a person who loves to read. Okay, so I am a bookworm. Here's

my example sentence: "Einstein was a bookworm. He loved to read."

How many of you out there are bookworms?

So let's look at a second expression, a common expression: "hit the books".

So what do I mean when I say "hit the books"? I don't mean physically hit

a book. I mean study, okay? So even though the verb is "to hit" we're

talking about "to study".

So let's look at an example sentence. Now of course, I use "gotta" which

isn't grammatically correct. You never write this. This is more for

speech. I might say to a friend, "I gotta hit the books tonight." So what

does this mean? I have to study tonight. I have to spend time studying

tonight. So "hit the books" means to study.

Our third expression: "Don't judge a book by its cover." This is a common

idiom we use in the English language. "Don't judge a book by its cover."

So what does it mean? Well, first of all, "judge" means to criticize

something. And cover just in case you're not familiar with this word, this

is the cover of a book.

So if I judge a "book by its cover" it means I look at the front of the

book and I say, "Oh, I don't like the look of this cover, even though

there's a smiley face, I'm not going to read this book." So we often say

in English, "don't judge a book by its cover" meaning, just because the

cover might be nice or ugly, it doesn't mean the book is a good book or a

bad book.

So we don't just use this expression with books. We use it when we're

talking about food, when we're talking about people, when we're talking

about pretty much anything. So for example, snails... which is a type of

slug, look too gross (ick!) to eat. So in a lot of countries people eat

snails. When I look at a snail I think, "Euuagh, I don't want to eat a snail.

That looks disgusting."

But somebody might say to me, "Emma, don't judge a book by its cover."

Meaning, even though the snail might look disgusting, don't judge it based

on the fact it looks disgusting. Maybe it tastes really, really good. I

don't know. I've never had snail before. If any of you have, please leave

a comment, and let me know if snails taste good or not. Okay, so now let's

look at some more expressions.

So our fourth expression is "to be in someone's good books." So what does

this mean? Well, you'll notice I drew a smiley face here. If you're "in

someone's good books" it means they're very happy with you. They're

pleased with you. So here's an example sentence: "Mulan is in the

teacher's good books." Meaning, Mulan has done something good. The

teacher is really happy with her.

Our fifth expression, "by the book". This means to follow the rules closely

or to follow instructions closely. So let me give you an example. Okay

police officers, I've written "Police officers should do things by the

book." What does this mean? Well, in Canada and in the United States, and

in some other countries as well, if a police officer wants to search your

house they need something called a "warrant".

So they need to talk to a judge. They need to get a piece of paper called

a warrant. They can't search your house without a warrant. Now maybe

there are some bad police officers, I don't know, but maybe there are, who

search your house without a warrant. These police officers are not doing

things "by the book." They're not following the rules.

Police officers should do things "by the book", and get a warrant before

they search your house. Okay just an example, another example with soccer.

Maybe when you play soccer you should "play by the book." Meaning you

shouldn't cheat. You shouldn't break the rules. You should follow the

rules of the game. Okay, so "by the book" -- follow the rules closely.

Okay number six: "to book". So this is a verb we use commonly in English,

especially for doctors' appointments, dentist appointments. And so it can

mean to make an appointment, or also to reserve something, so to make some

sort of reservation. So for example, "I booked the meeting room for 3 pm."

What does this mean? It means I have reserved the meeting room for 3 pm.

At 3 pm, only I, or whoever is in my group ,can use the meeting room.

"I booked an appointment with the doctor for Thursday." So we use "book" a

lot for appointments or to reserve something. "I booked the TV for next

week, for my classroom."

Okay, so now let's look at some more expressions.

So our next expression,

expression number seven: "to read someone like a book". "To read someone

like a book." Can you guess what that means? Well, if you can "read

someone like a book", it means it's easy to tell what they are thinking and

feeling, so you have no trouble, very easy to see what someone is thinking

or feeling.

So for example, "My students know I'm angry, because I'm an open book." So

maybe my face when I'm angry it looks really angry. Maybe my voice, I

can't hide how I feel in my voice. So some of you might "read like a book".

Meaning, it's easy to tell what you are thinking.

This is similar to expression number eight, "an open book". So for

example, "Your thoughts are an open book," meaning people can easily tell

what you are thinking. "It's easy to read you" is another expression. So

what's the opposite of this? What if it's not easy to tell what you are

thinking?

Well, you would be a "closed book" then. So an "open book" -- you're easy to

understand, easy to know what you are thinking. "A closed book" -- nobody can

tell what you're thinking. So I could say, "My boss is a very closed book.

I can never tell what he's thinking."

Okay, expression number nine, this is actually one of my favorite

expressions because it just seems so dramatic, "to throw the book at

someone". So you have a book, you throw it at someone; not literally. What

this expression means, it's a legal term. So we use it when we're talking

about the law, when we're talking about going to court.

If you break the law and you have to go see a judge, if the judge doesn't

like you and thinks you're guilty, and they want to punish you for the

crime you did they "throw the book at you". So usually judges are the

people who do the throwing of the book.

So, for example, there's a TV show, on I think it's on FOX, called "Judge

Judy". And in this TV show there's an angry judge who always -- well, not

always -- but often punishes the people in her court. So if somebody is

there, maybe they stole money, they didn't pay back a loan, Judge Judy will

throw the book at them. Okay, so again it's used with legal situations.

Okay so here is our tenth expression: "every trick in the book". So what

does this mean? It means if you try "every trick in the book" it means you

do everything possible to achieve something, to achieve some goal. So I'm

a teacher, my goal is to get my students to do their homework.

"I've tried every trick in the book to get my students to do their

homework." I've offered them candy. I've threatened to fail them, if they

don't do their homework. I've given them high marks if they do it, low

marks if they don't. I've tried everything to get them to do their

homework. I've tried "every trick in the book".

Okay, number 11, similar to number 10: instead of having "every trick in

the book" we're using "the oldest trick in the book". Okay? So let me

give you an example, to give you sort of an understanding of this. I don't

know if you've ever had an exam or a test, and you were really nervous

about it, and maybe you tried to cheat.

What a lot of students do is they lift up their sleeve and they write the

answers on their arm or they write notes on their arm. Writing the answers

on your arm before a test is "the oldest trick in the book". So what does

this mean? It means so many people have done it before. So a lot of

people have done it, and they've been doing it for a very, very long time.

So if you do "the oldest trick in the book" it means it's very obvious what

you're doing. Everyone's done it before, or most people have done it, and

it's done too often. So you probably won't be successful if you try "the

oldest trick in the book". And I hope none of you have done this, although

when I was a kid I did that. So don't do this one, because it's the

oldest trick in the book.

Okay, number 12: "in my book". So what's "in my book"? It just means in my

opinion. So, for example, "She's very kind, in my book". So this means

she's very kind, in my opinion. Okay so I said that there were going to be

13 expressions, we did reach 13.

I know it says 12 here, but "closed book" was actually the thirteenth

expression, okay? So in my book, you are all great students, and I look

forward to teaching you in these videos. If you want to be in my good

books, come visit us at our website, at www.engvid.com. We have a quiz

there. I advise you to hit the books in order to do the quiz, so study

before you do the quiz, study this video. And until next time, take care.

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