Learn 14 Musical Expressions in English

Hello. I'm Gill at engVid. And today we have a lesson on some expressions that

have some connection with music. So, you could call them "metaphors" or "idioms",

and they all have a musical connection. Okay. So, we have a list here on the

board, so let's just go through them. And you may already have heard some of

them, but I'll explain each one. Okay. So, first of all: "on the fiddle". So,

"the fiddle" is... that's another name for a violin; a stringed instrument that

you play with a bow. So, what...? What could that mean, "to be on the fiddle"?

Playing a violin? What does that mean? But, in fact, it's... it means... also

"to fiddle" can mean to... to fiddle about with something; to play around

with something. So, "fiddle" can mean a violin, but it has other meanings, too.

Like, if she's always fiddling — she's always fiddling with her clothes, or

with her hair, and so "to fiddle" can have other meanings. And in this

expression: "to be on the fiddle" — if you say: "I think he's on the fiddle",

and you say it suspiciously, it means the person is doing something wrong;

something illegal possibly. Maybe if they work for a company, and they work

in the accounts department, and they're... they're taking money and

covering it up while they're taking it, you know... so that nobody notices —

they're "on the fiddle"; they're... they're doing something bad. So, "to be

on the fiddle" is not a very good thing. So, you have to be careful if you say

you think somebody is on the fiddle — you have to be sure you... you're not

just making it up; if you have real evidence. Okay. So, okay. That's that

one. And the next one: If people talk about having a "harmonious relationship"

— maybe one country with another, their diplomatic communications are very good

— they have a "harmonious relationship". Or maybe if they're not very good, you

might say: "We... we don't have a very harmonious relationship with that

country. We're always having disputes to do with fishing rights, and things like

that." You know... ever since Brexit, there's been a little bit of trouble

over fishing in the sea between this country — the UK — and France. So, it's

not always a "harmonious relationship". "Harmony" in music, meaning sounds that

go well together. It's harmonious. It sounds nice. So, that's the meaning of

that one. So, okay.

What about this one? If you're "drumming up support"... "I need to drum up

support for my project." Or you're promoting a charity, and you need to

"drum up support" to get people to donate to the charity. So, it comes from

drums; drumming. You know... the percussion instrument that you... you

hit with a stick. And that kind of drumming in real life, in a literal

sense — it's noisy; it makes a lot of noise. And it makes people: "Oo, what's

going on here? Drums". It's sort of getting your attention. So, if you're

"drumming up support" for something, you're getting people's attention to get

them to, you know... contribute something; to help, to volunteer for a

project, or to donate some money, or to donate their time, and so on. So, that's

"drumming up support". This one, if you say to somebody: "Oh, please, change the

record." And you say it in that sort of tone of voice where you look a bit: "Oh,

I'm tired of this. Are you going to change the record soon?" It's from the

days when we had records, you know... sort of this black vinyl record;

gramophone record that goes on a turntable, and a needle plays, you

know... and the sound comes out. So, if you play a record on the gramophone; on

the record player — you might play one record, but then you take that record

off; you put a different one on. You don't play the same one over and over

again. So, if somebody's saying the same thing over and over again — they can't

get off one subject maybe for half an hour, an hour, and you get a bit tired

of hearing about the same thing, you might say: "Are you going to change the

record soon? I'm a bit tired of hearing about that subject. I think you've

exhausted that subject now. Can we change the record?" So, it comes from

putting a different record on the gramophone. Okay. And then this is a bit

similar: If somebody "sounds like a broken record", or they're beginning to

"sound like a broken record" — that's what happens when... if... if the record

— this black vinyl — is broken or there's a crack in it, and the needle is

going round on it; but because of the crack in the record, the needle keeps

going back into the same... the groove. So, these lines on the record are called

"grooves", and the needle is in a groove. And if there's nothing wrong

with the record, the needle will just go and play through the whole record from

the outside. It starts on the outside and goes into the middle. If the

record's broken, there's the possibility that the needle will keep slipping back,

and it never goes further on in the music. So, you start to hear a

repetition of just one little sound every sort of ten seconds or so. It just

goes back again, and repeats the same ten or fifteen seconds over and over

again, until you might just tap the gramophone and it... the needle might

jump, and then it can start playing properly again. But that's not a very

good thing to do, because you can damage the needle. So, if you're beginning to

"sound like a broken record" — that's what it means. Again, it's a bit like

this one — speaking in a repetitive way; saying the same thing over and over

again. Okay. And I will try to stop doing that right now, and move on to the

next one.

So, if you say: "Oh, that rings a bell. That name rings a bell. I've heard that

name before." So, if the name "rings a bell", it means in your head: "Ah,

that's familiar." So, if something, like a name of a person is familiar: "Oh,

that rings a bell. I've heard about that before." So, that's what that one is.

"Going for a song". If something is on sale in a shop, and it's "going for a

song", do you think it's expensive or not expensive? If it's "going for a

song". "Going" means being sold. So, "for a song" — is a song expensive? If

you just sing a song, it doesn't cost you anything, does it? So, if something

is "going for a song", it's on sale for a very small amount of money, like a

penny or something, or ten... ten pennies. Not very much at all. So,

"going for a song". I think the idea is you... you just sing... sing a song, and

they'll give it to you. So, that doesn't cost you anything, then. But it does

mean a little bit of money; it's not completely free, but it's a very small

amount of money. Okay, so, next one. Do you blow your own trumpet? Do you have a

trumpet that you blow? So, that's the literal "blowing a trumpet", like Louis

Armstrong, the famous jazz man. But in a metaphorical sense, "somebody who blows

their own trumpet" is someone who is always talking about themselves and the

great things that they're doing. They're sort of big-headed, egotistical. "Oh,

he's always blowing his own trumpet. He's always saying what brilliant things

he's been doing." You know... the opposite of being modest. Okay, so

that's that one.

"Someone who likes to call the tune". If... if you work with somebody in an

organization, and you say: "Oh, he likes to call the tune, you know... he always

wants to call the tune." Again, it sounds like a criticism — doesn't it? —

the way I'm saying it. And it does mean somebody who always wants to be in

charge; they want to run everything. They want to be the leader all the time;

"to call the tune". To sort of, in the musical sense, to say what tune... what

tune are we going to have next? You know... or "calling the tune" for people

to dance to. It's that idea of being an organizer of other people. Okay, right.

So, what about this one, then? If you "blow the whistle on somebody" or "blow

the whistle on" an organization, a company — does it sound like a good

thing or a bad thing, do you think? So, "a whistle"... whistling; a little

whistle that makes a... a sort of loud, high-pitch noise, which I can't do —

sorry. What would that be? Also, if you think of the whistle that they use in

sports, like in football, soccer — you have a referee who's there on the field

with the players, who... if they see somebody doing something wrong, they

blow the whistle, and they stop the game. So, that suggests something;

somebody did something wrong. I'm "blowing the whistle", we stop. We need

to sort this out. So, if you "blow the whistle" on somebody or on an

organization, it means you know that they've done something wrong. And often

people see that, and they... they don't say anything, because they know that if

they blow the whistle on that person, it could be a bad thing for them. It can,

you know... they could be victimized themselves for telling other people

about it. So, that's why often people keep quiet, because they don't want any

trouble themselves. So, to be "a whistleblower" — that's the... the noun

that comes from it — to blow the whistle on somebody or a company — to be "a

whistleblower". It's quite a... you know... a risky thing to be because you

can have trouble coming to you as a result of it. So, that's that one. Okay.

But this one, this is quite a different use of the word "whistle". If something

is "as clean as a whistle", or a person can be "as clean as a whistle", if... if

they never do anything wrong, you could say: "Oh, he's clean as a whistle. No

criminal record, never does anything wrong, is always nice to people, no

deceptions, no telling lies. No, he's clean as a whistle." Or a piece of

machinery you could say: "Oh, it's as clean as a whistle." This machine,

there's no dirt or oil in it, or anything — "clean as a whistle". Why a

whistle? I don't know. But perhaps whistles are usually clean, compared

with other things. I don't really know. So, that's that one anyway.

Oh, if you say to someone: "Oo, you've changed your tune." And, again, it has a

certain tone of voice. "Oo, you've changed your tune." For example, if...

if you thought: "Oh, I thought you didn't like chocolate. I thought you

didn't like chocolate, but now you're... you're eating a lot of it and you're

talking about it. You like it. I thought you didn't like chocolate. You've

changed your tune." Or you didn't like a person; always criticizing a particular

person, and... but then they start to praise that person and say how brilliant

they are. "Oo, you've changed your tune; I thought you didn't like them." So,

it's a little bit like "changing the record" — "to change your tune" in that

sort of context. Right. Next one: "to face the music". So, in this sense, the

music... I usually think of music as being something nice. But if you have to

"face the music", it means you have to face up to some trouble that you may

have caused yourself. If you've done something wrong, and then you have to

admit it to somebody and say: "It's time for me to face the music. I've got to

admit to that person I made a mistake, and that I'm very sorry." And they might

shout at me and tell me off, and criticize me and be angry with me. But

I've just got to stand there, or sit there and take it — I've got to "face

the music". And then maybe you get through that difficult experience, and

then you might make friends with the person again, and then everything

improves after that. But first of all, you have to face that person and admit

you did something wrong, and say you're sorry, and take whatever criticism they

might shout at you. But then just stay with it and hope things will get better.

So, that's "facing the music". And then, finally, to end with a nice one — if you

say: "Oh, that's music to my ears" it doesn't mean literally you're hearing

music playing, which you like the sound of. But if somebody says to you, for

example, in a company: -"We're all going to have a pay rise. Next month, we're

all having a pay rise. Ten percent pay rise." -"Oh, that's music to my ears.

That's good news." So, it's when you hear some good news, you can say:

So, I hope that's been a useful lesson on all these different musical

"That's music to my ears." Okay.

expressions — good and bad, and some perhaps neutral. And there will be a

quiz on... on this. So, if you'd like to go to www.engvid.com and do the quiz —

see how you do. And so, thank you for watching, and see you again soon. Bye

for now. Bye.