How to Use English Idioms | Weather Idioms ☀️🌧⚡️🌤

Hello! I'm Emma from mmmEnglish!

In this video, I'm going to be sharing some of my

favourite English weather idioms.

Now, don't forget to turn on the subtitles right here,

once you've done that we're

ready to get started!

So what's an idiom?

Idioms are English expressions that are quite unique

because the meaning of the expression is

different to the individual meaning of

each word.

Now, idioms exist in lots of different languages

but the reason that they can be

so difficult to understand and also

to learn to use is because of the

different meaning that you need to understand.

It's also because most of the

time when you're trying to learn these idioms

you're looking in a book or

you're looking on a website that has a

list of hundreds and hundreds of idioms

and you just end up getting frustrated

and confused. Some of them I haven't even

heard of before! The secret to learning

English idioms is to focus on idioms

that are relevant and that are often

used in everyday conversation.

Like everything, idioms come in and out of

fashion.

Sometimes they're popular. Sometimes

they're not, they're really daggy.

and no-one uses them anymore. It depends on who

you are, where you are, your age and the

people that you hang out with.

Idioms are quite unique like that but there are a

group of really common idioms that are

used across native speaking countries

And to make it easier for you, I've

chosen all of the idioms that I teach in

these lessons specifically because they are

currently in use. They are used every

day. I hear them all the time! So you can

feel confident that they're worth

learning and it's worth spending your

time on these idioms. So, don't get your

knickers in a twist!

Don't get upset! I'm going to teach you a

few really common English idioms right

here, right now in this lesson. Let's get going!

When I say the word 'weather', what

kinds of ideas come into your head?

I think of sunshine, rain, clouds, storms,

lightning, thunder, wind, all sorts of words!

And all of the idioms that I'm

going to teach you today use weather

words in some way. OK the first one!

'Under the weather' To feel 'under the

weather'. Now if you feel under the weather,

you're not feeling very well at all,

you might be sick, like you might

have a cold or something like that.

You feel not as healthy as you usually do.

For example, "I said that I'd meet my

friends for dinner tonight but I'm

feeling a bit under the weather so I

don't think I'll go" Or, "You look a bit

under the weather today. Are you feeling OK?"

The second one. 'When it rains, it pours'.

So this idiom is used when

something goes wrong and a whole bunch

of things go wrong at the same time.

THAT is the time to use this idiom!

So, think about this situation. You're really busy

at work.You've got three projects that

are due by the end of the day and your

colleague has just called in sick

to say they're not coming to work today.

So they're not going to help you

complete the reports. And the power has

just gone off in your building which

means you don't, you're not able to use

your computer. So you decide to take your

laptop and go to the local library and

work there. So you go downstairs and you

go back to your car and you suddenly

realize that you've locked your keys

inside the car! 'When it rains, it pours'

This is the perfect example of 'When it

rains, it pours'. Lots of things went wrong

at the same time, so the problem felt

even bigger than it really was.

Number three!

'Every cloud has a silver lining'

OK so your friend is having some

problems, maybe they lost their job or

their boyfriend broke up with them, or

their girlfriend. You can use this idiom to

help comfort them, to help make them feel

better. It means that it's possible to

find a positive in a negative situation,

- no matter how difficult or how painful

it might feel at the time. Imagine if a

friend lost their job. You could comfort

them with this idiom. You could say "I'm

really sorry that you lost your job but

you know, every cloud has a silver lining.

Perhaps this will give you the

opportunity to work on your own business for a while."

'To get wind of something'.

'To get wind of something' means to hear

about something or to learn about

something, mostly when what you hear is

actually supposed to be a secret.

For example, your colleague might say,

"Did you hear the rumours about our CEO

resigning?!" It means he quit his job and

you might say, "Yeah! I did get wind of

that yesterday! Do you think the rumours are true?"

'Come rain or shine'

If I say that I'll be at a place 'come rain or shine',

it means that I will definitely be there, no matter what!

For example, my cousin said to me,

"Are you coming to my birthday

party on Saturday night?" And I told her

"Of course I am!

Come rain or shine, I'll be there, don't worry!"

So rain represents bad weather and

shine represents the sun, really good

weather, nice weather. So the idiom

suggests that it doesn't matter if it's

raining or if it's shining with sun, you

will be there no matter what the weather!

'To have your head in the clouds'

If someone has their head in the clouds it

means that they're not focused on what's

happening around them. They're not paying

attention to what's going on in the real world!

They're stuck inside their own heads,

they're thinking about their own

ideas, their own thoughts, their own

dreams, their own fantasies. Perhaps like

a daydream. For example, "You know, I'd

really like to visit Canada over summer this year!"

"Get your head out of the

clouds, Emma! We can't afford that, it's too expensive!"

"What's the answer to question three?"

"Huh? Oh, ummmm... I don't know."

"Get your head out of the clouds Emma, pay attention!"

'Lightning fast'. Now 'lightning fast' just

means really, really super fast and it

can be used with either time that

moves quickly or the speed of something

that physically moves quickly.

For example, "Did you see that car? It was

lightning fast!"

"I just couldn't believe how early you left the room!

You finished the exam lightning fast! I hadn't even

finished the second page!'

'To take a raincheck'

Now this idiom means that you would like

to accept an offer from someone but you

can't do it right now and you want to

accept the offer at a later time. So for

example, if your friend said to you "I've

got two spare tickets to the football

match tonight. Do you want to come?"

And I'd say "Yeah, that sounds awesome!

But it's my grandfather's birthday

tonight. I can't, can I take a raincheck

and come some other time?"

And lastly, to 'brighten up your day'. You know how good

it feels when you're outside in the

sunshine and it feels so warm on your

skin, you feel so happy? This is where

this idiom comes from. Something that

'brightens up your day' makes you feel

really positive and happy.

For example, you run into an old friend on the street

who you haven't seen in years. That would

brighten up your day! Or if you were sick

in hospital and a good friend came

to visit you, that would 'brighten up your day'.

You'd say "Thanks for visiting!

You really brightened up my day!"

So did you recognize any of those idioms?

Perhaps you've heard of a few of them before,

but I hope that you learned a few

new ones as well. If you want to keep

practicing English idioms then check out

this playlist up here and of course, if

you love this lesson please share it

with your friends and family! I would

love to meet them as well! Make sure they

subscribe to my channel by clicking this

red button here and of course if you

would like to keep watching more video

lessons then check out this one for

pronunciation. This one for imitation

where you can imitate a native English speaker.

That's all from me today but

I'm looking forward to seeing you in the

next lesson. Bye for now!