Do you know these DAY & NIGHT idioms in English?

176,725 views ・ 2015-11-11

Learn English with Rebecca


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Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. In this lesson, you'll have a chance to learn 10 idioms that
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have to do with day and night. Okay? So let's get started.
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Number one: "He's getting stronger day by day." Okay? So you see the idiom is written
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in red, so the idiom is "day by day". So, what does that mean: "He's getting stronger
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day by day"? It means as each day passes, he is getting stronger. So, "day by day" means
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as each day passes. All right.
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Number two: "Thanks! You really made my day." So the idiom there is "made my day". Okay?
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So, what does it mean when you say to somebody: "Hey, you really made my day"? This is a very
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positive thing to say to somebody. It means you really made me very happy today, because
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you did something for me. Okay? So you can see the person is saying: "Thanks!" Thanks
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for calling, or thanks for your present, or thanks for that very kind thing you did for
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me, and as a result: "You really made my day." You made me very happy. Okay.
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Number three: "Okay, let's call it a day." All right?
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"Okay", or: "Okay, guys, let's call it a day."
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Now, this is often used at work. Okay? So when you say: "Let's call it
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a day", it means let's stop working for the day. Let's finish working for the day, or
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let's finish our work day. All right? "Let's call it a day" means let's not do any more
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work today. All right? Sometimes a slight variation on that is: "Let's call it a night."
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That also means let's not do anything more tonight. Okay? But if you finish... If you
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want to say to stop working and it's still daytime, then you will probably say:
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"Let's call it a day." Okay?
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Number four: "One of these days, I'll be rich!" Okay? Probably all of us say that. So,
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"one of these days", it means sometime in the future, someday, one day-I hope-I'll be rich. Okay?
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All right.
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Number five: "John's a night owl." Okay? So, what does that mean? How can John be an owl?
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Okay? What's a night owl? So, a night owl... Sometimes instead of "night owl", they also
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say "night person". Okay, so basically, in life we have day people and night people.
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And the day people like to get up early, and they like to do things in the day and they're
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very efficient in the day; and the night people really love the night, and they function better
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at night, and they enjoy the night, and they prefer the night. And that's what a night
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person is, and that's what a night owl is.
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A person like that who prefers the night is called a night owl. Okay?
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So, are you a day person or a night person? Are you a night owl? Okay.
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Number six: "The baby was crying all night long." So, if you've had a baby or you know
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any babies, you probably understand this anyway, and it means that the baby was crying the
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whole night; the entire night; all night long. It means through the whole night. Okay? Of
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course it's a bit of an exaggeration, but you know, probably those parents were very
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tired when they said that. Okay.
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Number seven: "They're a fly by night operation." Okay? So now here, when they're talking about
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"they", they're probably referring to a company. All right? And when you say they're a fly
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by night operation, it is not a compliment; it is not something good. It is, in fact,
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something very negative. It means that that company is a dishonest company, they are not
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trustworthy. Okay? You can't trust them. Don't do business with them. They're here today,
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they've gone tomorrow. Don't give them your money. Don't trust them. It's a fly by night
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operation. Okay? That's what it means. Okay.
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Number eight: "We enjoyed a night on the town." This is something positive. "A night on the
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town" is when people go out to celebrate something, they go out eating and drinking, and dancing
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maybe, listening to music. Having a lot of fun, going out at night. Okay? Have you had
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a night on the town lately? Okay.
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Number nine... Now we have expressions which have the words "day" and "night". The first
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four, in case you noticed, the first four idioms had the word "day", the next four idioms
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had the word "night", and the last two have both "day" and "night". Let's read them.
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Number nine: "She looks after her mother day and night.",
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"She looks after her mother day and night." It means
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around the clock; all the time. Okay? In the day, and also in the
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night. Day and night. It means around the clock. Okay?
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And the last one: "My sister and I are as different as night and day." So the idiom
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here is "as different as night and day", it means completely different. Just like the
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night is very different from the day, this expression means that you're talking about
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two people or two things which are as different as night and day, which are completely different.
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Okay?
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So, let's do a little review, see how well you remember them. What does it mean if I
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say: "Let's call it a day"?
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It means let's stop working. Okay? Good.
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If you enjoy a night on the town, what did you do?
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You went out celebrating, eating, drinking, dancing, having fun. Good.
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Okay. If you're getting stronger day by day, it means
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every day, one day after the other, as each day passes, you're getting stronger.
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Day by day. Or you're getting better day by day.
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Or sometimes if you meet a little child and you haven't seen him in a long time,
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and you think he's become very big now, you say:
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"Wow, you're just getting bigger day by day."
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Okay? Usually people say these kind of cute things to children.
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Okay, so if it's a... If somebody tells you: "That company is a fly by night operation",
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do you think you should do business with them?
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Nope, because it means that... "A fly by night operation" means that...
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What? It's a company you cannot trust. They are dishonest.
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All right. Now, if I say to you: "You made my day. Thanks so much." what does it mean?
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It means you made me very happy today. Okay.
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And if somebody looks after somebody else day and night...
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Or let's say something else: "He studies day and night."
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What does it mean, "He studies day and night"?
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It means he studies around the clock; all the time. Okay? Good.
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All right, if somebody's a night owl, what do they like? They like the night. They'd
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prefer the night to the day, and they probably function better at night. All right? And if
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somebody... If two people or two things are as different as night and day,
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it means they are what?
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Completely different. Good. What's left, here? Okay, so if you... So let's say
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you say people... They were partying all night long. It means? "All night long" means what?
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That it was... They were partying the entire night. The full night. And:
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"One of these days", what does that mean?
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"One of these days, I'll be rich. One of these days, I'll be famous."
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It means? Sometime in the future. Okay?
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So, there you go. Four ex-... Four idioms with "day", four idioms with "night", and
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two with "day" and "night". If you'd like to do some more practice on this, please go
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to our website: www.engvid.com. There you can do a quiz on this, and also watch over
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700 other videos on improving your English.
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And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
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Bye for now, and good luck with your English.
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