10 English Idioms You NEED to Know (Native Speakers Use These Daily!)

(hip-hop music)

♪ Even when you feel low, you can still go ♪

♪ Even when you feel slow you can still go ♪

- You know what?

This is a blessing in disguise, really,

because I knew that you were trouble when you walked in.

Oh, come on Becky.

So shame on me now.

Aren't they lyrics from Taylor Swift?

Yes, Kyle, of course it's Taylor Swift!

Everything I say is Taylor Swift!

Sorry, okay?

I put my foot in my mouth.

Shouldn't have said that you look like your mum

when you don't have your makeup on.

That was bad, all right?

No, I'm leaving, bye.

What, I don't get the benefit of the doubt?

That was a compliment.

Your mum's hot.

Oh my God, we are so broken up.

Oh, this is so all out of the blue.

What am I gonna do without you, Becky?

(host sighs)

Well, I guess you can think about what you did

and then call me when you're ready to actually apologize.

The ball's in your court now.

(upbeat music) ♪ All I need today ♪

♪ 'Cause all I want, and I pray ♪

(door slams)

♪ Live in our better days ♪

Hey, did you know that you sound really good in English?

But how can you sound great in English?

Well, you need idioms.

And today, I'm going to show you

10 of the best English idioms,

and you're going to learn the natural way.

You're going to learn idioms how we learn idioms.

So you just saw a story with these five idioms.

Stay till the end to find out what those mean.

But for right now, I'm going to show you another story

with another five idioms,

and you are going to learn

exactly what they mean the natural way.

Okay, I need you to imagine

that you just arrived at your office,

and your boss is so angry, but why?

Well, someone left a big poo in the toilets,

and your boss is looking at you.

He thinks you did it.

Was it you? Did you leave that big poo in the toilet?

You didn't flush it?

Gross.

But you wanna say, "Hey, the wrong person.

I am innocent.

You are accusing the wrong person."

How can you say that with an idiom?

You're barking up the wrong tree.

I don't poo in public places.

Now, was it actually you?

That's not important.

What is important, is you want to say,

"You accused me, and I'm innocent.

You have the wrong person.

It's not me.

You're barking up the wrong tree."

- If you're accusing me of larceny,

you're barking up the wrong tree.

- Now, what does this mean?

Well, to bark, that is the noise a dog makes.

(dog barks)

That one.

So imagine a dog is (imitates dog barking)

up a tree because-

Why would a dog bark up a tree?

That, this idiom's stupid.

It doesn't even make sense.

This idiom is actually more general

than just denying an accusation.

Whenever you want to say, "Look, you are mistaken.

You're barking up the wrong tree."

- So if you're looking for an investment from me,

you might be, well, you're barking up the wrong tree.

- You will definitely see this in movies and TV shows

when someone is trying to flirt with someone else,

and it's a big mistake.

Like-

- Oh honey, you're so barking up

the wrong tree right now, really.

- And then you start thinking, "Is my boss that perfect?"

No, he always acts so arrogant, so superior to everyone."

(host groans)

Get off your high horse, mate.

When you say, "Get off your high horse,"

you're telling someone, "Hey, you are acting really superior

and arrogant to everyone, and you should stop."

Literally, you are riding a horse

which is higher than everyone else.

You walk by my desk every day,

and you fart really loudly, and it smells so bad,

and everyone knows that your wife left you.

Jesus, did I say that or just think it?

One quick point about all of these idioms today,

they're not only American or only English

or only Australian.

No, everyone can use them and in every situation.

They're not too formal or too informal.

They're all fine.

However, comma, when you say,

"Hey, get off your high horse,"

obviously, that's an insult,

and they won't like that very much.

So if you want to tell someone,

"Hey, you're acting really superior and arrogant.

Please stop."

You need a strong idiom, and that's that one.

Get off your high horse, mate.

You suck.

Oh, you've really put your foot in it now.

Now you're in trouble.

To put your foot in it, that is an expression

to mean you did something

or you said something that you shouldn't have,

and now you've caused trouble

for yourself or for someone else.

(host groans)

Yeah, it's not a good thing.

Have you ever done anything

or said something that caused problems

for yourself or someone else?

When did you put your foot in it?

Let me know in the comments.

Practice this.

Oh, I put my foot in it now.

Now he knows what I really think.

The only way to save my job is to tell the truth.

Maria is the secret pooper.

Maria's the one who leaves poo in the toilet.

Ah, she'll hate me forever,

but I have to just bite the bullet

and tell the truth, no matter the consequences.

Yep, I have to bite the bullet and just tell the truth.

It's the only way to save my job.

To bite the bullet, it's a really good idiom,

and it means to do something unpleasant

or maybe painful in order to progress.

It's something you really should do or have to do.

But yeah, it's gonna be painful to do it.

Some examples could be,

you are in a bad relationship,

but you know breaking up is gonna be difficult.

But you have to do it, right?

So you could say, "Ugh, I just have to bite the bullet

and break up in order to be happy."

So you have to do that painful thing

in order for something good to happen.

Or maybe your job is very, very safe but very boring,

and you don't wanna stay there.

Again, leaving that job might be very unpleasant.

Not much money, not much security,

but you want to pursue your dream to become a YouTuber.

Yeah.

Tomorrow I'm gonna bite the bullet and quit my job.

This idiom comes from

when there was no anesthetic for surgery,

so the surgeon gave you a bullet to bite on.

Just use it when you want to say,

(host groans)

"I have to do this thing, and it's gonna be painful,

but I have to do it.

I'm just gonna bite the bullet and do it."

Here's Maria.

She's the mystery pooper.

Sorry.

She told me that she likes to leave the poo

in the toilet for the next person,

and she calls it a fancy surprise.

Maria, huh.

Okay, but let me just play devil's advocate

for one second because this is Maria's only joy in her day

because she's here all day in this really boring office.

No offense, and to be honest,

you are kind of a dick to everyone.

Again, no offense, but this is her way

of taking control of her life.

You know?

This gives her life meaning so please let her poo.

Hm?

So to play devil's advocate,

I'm sure you have this in your language,

but it means to argue from the other side

even if you don't necessarily agree with it.

This is just a great way

to understand both sides of any argument,

and it's very useful in helping

to find a solution in these cases.

Okay, not this case, unless this happens to you often,

but conflict resolution, it's very useful.

I see.

It's very brave,

but you're both definitely fired.

So have you ever been in a situation like this?

Okay, maybe not exactly like this,

but have you ever been in any situation

that has needed those idioms?

Let me know in the comments,

and again, writing your own examples,

using relevant examples to your life,

something that really happened to you

or something that might happen to you in the future.

This way, you'll be able to remember it

and use it in the future.

Okay, so that other story from before,

you need to learn those idioms.

So let's go.

You know what?

This is a blessing in disguise, really,

'cause I knew that you were in trouble when you walked in.

Okay, let's analyze everything, idiom by idiom.

The first idiom is a blessing in disguise.

When something bad happens to you, you feel rubbish, right?

You don't wanna go out, everything sucks.

But sometimes, something good happens

because of the bad situation.

We call that a blessing in disguise.

You don't know it yet because it sucks right now,

but in the future,

something amazing will happen because of this bad thing.

So yes, it feels bad now, but don't worry, Becky.

In the future, you're gonna be happier

'cause this relationship sucks.

Oh come on, Becky.

So shame on me now.

Oh my-

Aren't they lyrics from Taylor Swift?

Yes, Kyle, of course, it's Taylor Swift!

Everything I say is Taylor Swift!

Sorry, okay?

I put my foot in my mouth.

Shouldn't have said that you look like your mum

when you don't have your makeup on.

That was bad, all right?

(host groans)

To put your foot in your mouth.

That was stupid.

So this idiom talks about saying something embarrassing.

You should not have said this thing.

It was so stupid,

and now everyone feels uncomfortable and embarrassed.

For example, I've never done this, I promise,

but imagine that you meet a lady,

and you're like, "Oh wow, you're pregnant.

When is your baby due?

You're not pregnant?

Oh, cool."

That situation is putting your foot in your mouth.

Have you ever put your foot in your mouth?

Let me know in the comments.

No, I'm leaving, bye.

What, I don't get the benefit of the doubt?

That was a compliment.

Your mum's hot.

Innocent until proven guilty, am I right?

When you give someone the benefit of the doubt,

you're saying, "Huh, everything looks like

you did the bad thing,

but I am gonna give you the chance to prove

that you did not do the bad thing.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt."

What do you think?

Are you a big believer

in giving someone the benefit of the doubt?

Let me know.

We are so broken up.

Oh, this is so all out of the blue.

Look, what am I gonna do without you, Becky?

When something comes out of the blue or is out of the blue,

you're saying it happened unexpectedly, very suddenly.

I, but why out of the blue?

I have no idea.

English idioms are weird, but use this idiom,

and your life will be happier, I promise.

(host groans)

Well, I guess you can think about what you did

and then call me when you're ready to actually apologize.

Ball's in your court now, goodbye.

The ball's in your court now.

This idiom means, "Okay, I've said and done everything

in this situation between us.

Now it's your turn.

You have to make the next move."

This could be the next decision

or the next part in a conversation.

The other person or the other party

needs to do the next action in this situation.

For example, if you make some videos

about how amazing Santory Coffee is,

hoping to get a sponsorship from them,

and you're like, "Okay, I've said everything

about how amazing your coffee is.

(host claps)

The ball's in your court, Santory.

(host claps)

When are you gonna sponsor my channel?"

(host claps)

You can practice all of today's idioms

very easily in my ebook.

You can find it on my website

papateach me.com or patreon.com/papateachme.

This makes it super easy to learn and remember

all of the vocabulary that I teach.

So go get it, go study, and good luck studying.

I'll see you in the next class.

Bye.

(relaxing music)