27 Words to Use EVERY DAY at HOME | Daily English

Hey, RealLifers! So, many of my students  ask me "Where's the best place to start  

learning new vocabulary?" My  answer? Probably right at home.

So today I'm going to teach you some  important vocabulary around the home  

as well as some interesting  idiomatic expressions related to  

objects in the home. For example, do you know the  difference between a photograph and a portrait?  

Well, a photograph can be an image of absolutely  anything, while a portrait, on the other hand,  

is usually an image of a person or animal  through sculpture, photograph or painting  

or even other artistic media. But before we  get started with today's lesson, if this is  

your first time joining us, welcome. Each week we  create lessons to help English learners go from  

feeling like lost and insecure English learners,  to being confident and natural English speakers.  

So if you would like to join our global  community of over 370 000, then why not  

hit that subscribe button and bell down below  so you never miss out on any of our new lessons.

All right. So the vocabulary we're going  to learn today is quite important because  

you're going to encounter these objects at some  point. For example, this is a sofa or a couch  

and a great expression with the  word couch is to be a couch potato,  

which means to lazily watch tv all day  instead of going out and getting exercise.  

For example, he had a busy week at work, so this  weekend he'll stay home and be a couch potato.

So this is a coffee table and you'll usually find  it in the middle of a lounge or living room area.  

And a great expression you can use related  to tables is to bring something to the table,  

which means to benefit or contribute to  a group. For example, during the meeting,  

he was nervous because he wasn't sure if he  could bring something valuable to the table. 

So down here we have a rug and you might be  wondering "What's the difference between a  

carpet and a rug?" Well, a carpet is similar,  but it covers the entire floor of a room while  

a rug is much smaller and it only covers a certain  area. A great expression you can learn related to  

rugs is to sweep something under the rug.  Which means to hide or ignore something.  

A similar expression might be "to cover something  up". For example, during the job interview,  

he tried to sweep his past mistakes under the rug. Over here we have the piano. And these black and  

white things right here are known as the piano  keys. So the black ones would be the ebony and  

the white ones would be ivory, like the famous  song by Stevie Wonder and Sir Paul McCartney. 

A great expression you could use related  to a piano is to tickle the ivories. Which  

means to play the piano. So I know  not everyone has a piano at home,  

but why not let me know down in the comments  what are some uncommon household items that  

you have in your home? And why not also add an  encouraging message to the rest of the community? 

So over here we have an easel, which is what holds  a canvas while you're painting. And, in this case,  

the easel is holding this beautiful painting  right here. A great expression you can learn  

related to paint is that "something is as exciting  as watching paint dry", which means that that  

activity is quite boring or dull. Another great  expression related to paint is that "a picture  

paints a thousand words", which means that a  picture can express something way more clearly  

than words can. For example, his boss told  him that a good presentation should contain  

more graphics and less text, since  the picture paints a thousand words.

So, over here we have a dining table and  it's where you would commonly have meals.  

Another great expression you can use  related to tables is "to turn the tables",  

which means to reverse the situation to your  benefit. For example, she played badly at first,  

but then she turned the tables on her opponent.  So another great expression related to tables is  

"to do something under the table", which doesn't  literally mean to do an activity under the table,  

but it does mean to do something in secret or to  do something unofficially. For example, the man  

might be arrested because he accepted payments  under the table. So I mentioned a couch earlier,  

but over here we have a chair and a nice  expression you could use related to a chair  

is "to nearly fall off your chair", which  means to react to something with great surprise  

or shock. So something that nearly always makes  me fall of my chair is how expensive it is to  

find a good app that allows you to practice with  speaking partners from around the world. Well, I  

found something amazing. Our RealLife English App.  This is the only place where anytime, anywhere, at  

the press of a button you can connect with other  English learners from around the world. You can  

have fascinating conversations about your life,  your passion, your home, absolutely anything.  

This will take you from feeling like a lost and  insecure English learner, to being a confident and  

natural English speaker. So what are you waiting  for? Download it now for free by clicking up here  

or down in the description below. Or simply search  for RealLife English in your favorite app store.

So this is a hand basin and  this is the tap or faucet.  

So an expression you could use is to "turn on  the waterworks", which means to start crying.  

For example, little kids often turn on the  waterworks whenever they want attention.  

Another cool expression is "to wash your hands  clean of something or someone", which means to no  

longer be involved with that person or that thing,  or to no longer want to take responsibility for it  

or them. For example, my neighbors are really  mean and I cannot wait to move to a new city  

so I can wash my hands clean of them. So here is  the bathtub and a nice idiomatic expression that  

you could use is "to throw the baby out with the  bath water", which means to get rid of something  

good or valuable along with something bad or  something that you no longer want or need.  

For example, just because you don't get what  you want from people, does not mean you should  

end communication with them, because that would  just be throwing the baby out with the bathtub". 

This right here is the toilet and of course you  guys know what this is used for, but this pot  

up here is used to flush the toilet, which means  to get rid of what is inside the toilet. So the  

expression I want to teach you today is "to watch  something go down the toilet", which means to  

watch that thing be wasted, spoiled or ruined. And  this expression is quite similar to another one  

which is "to watch something go down the drain" it  has exactly the same meaning. And for those of you  

who don't know what a drain is, it's the part  of a shower, bathtub or basin where the water  

is removed. For example, since the new CEO took  over, the company is going down the toilet. 

So, over here we have the shower. And a great  expression you could use related to showering  

is "to shower someone with something." So, you  could shower someone with praise or with gifts  

and this means to give that person  a lot of that particular thing.

So now we're in the bedroom and an expression  with the word bed would be "to make your bed",  

which literally means to tidy your bed after  you've been sleeping in it, but "to make your bed  

and lie in it" means to accept the consequences  of your actions. "He chose not to stop and ask  

for directions and now he's lost. He made his  bed and now he must lie in it." Another cool  

expression would be "to wake up on the wrong side  of the bed". Now, this doesn't literally mean to  

wake up on either side of the bed, it means to  wake up feeling grumpy and not really positive  

or yourself. For example, "You'd better avoid the  boss today, she got up on the wrong side of the  

bed this morning." So, these are blinds and they  control how light or dark it is in a room. And  

these are curtains, which basically do the same  thing. A nice expression to know about curtains is  

"to bring the curtain down", which means to bring  something to an end. For example, "After they  

had a fight, the couple decided to bring down the  curtain on their argument and go to bed instead."

So, right now I'm in the kitchen and  a common expression you might hear  

related to the kitchen is "if you can't  stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."  

And what this means is that if you cannot handle  the pressure and difficulties of a situation,  

it's probably better to  leave it to someone who can.

So over here we have the kitchen sink. And a  common expression you might hear is "to use  

everything but the kitchen sink", which means  to use everything imaginable. You could also say  

"to bring everything but the kitchen sink",  which means to bring a lot of things or to bring  

everything that you possibly can. For example,  they went away for only a few days, but they  

packed everything but the kitchen sink. And over  here we have water, which I will use to do the  

dishes and this water is called dishwater. Another  cool expression you could use is to say that  

"someone or something is as dull as dishwater",  which means that they are very boring or dull.  

So this part over here is called the stove and we  use it for cooking and this part right here is the  

oven and we usually use it for baking or roasting.  And a common expression you will hear for the  

oven is to have a bun in the oven, which means  that someone is pregnant or expecting a baby.  

So right here we have a kettle and then we have  a pot. And an expression that combines these two  

items is "the pot calling the kettle black" and  what that means is someone criticizing someone  

else for something they themselves are guilty  of. For example, "I can't believe that you are  

upset because I was late, when you were late last  night! That is the pot calling the kettle black".  

And then an expression related to the pot is to  "stir the pot", which means to cause trouble.  

So there you have it. Useful expressions related  to items in the home. Do you remember all of the  

expressions we went through today? Well, not to  worry, because we put together a free downloadable  

pdf worksheet that you can access by clicking on  the link in the description below. I hope that you  

learned something new today. And if you enjoyed  this lesson, then why not watch this one next: