Learn 15 English idioms that make people laugh! I explain WHAT they mean, WHEN we use them and WHY we say them! 📝 *GET THE FREE LESSON PDF* _here_ 👉🏼 bit.ly/FunnyIdiomsPDF 📊 *FIND OUT YOUR ENGLISH LEVEL!* _Take my level test here_ 👉🏼 bit.ly/EnglishLevelTest12 👩🏼🏫 *JOIN MY ONLINE ENGLISH COURSES:* englishwithlucy.teachable.com/courses - _We have launched our B1 and B2 Complete English Programmes!_
When carpenters hammer a long nail through two pieces of wood they bend the pointed end down and hammer it flat. This makes a strong bond but the nail can never be pulled out and used again. The nail is therefore "dead". Doors used to be made this way with lots of nails, so "dead as a doornail" was a pun. The expression stayed in the language after its origin was forgotten.
A lovely lady who was my boss many years ago had a wonderful version of “put the feelers out” when assessing a new idea, she would say “we’ll hoist the flag up the flagpole and see who salutes”, which basically meant will put the idea about and see if people like it.
In Thai, we have an idiom that literally translation would be “ride on an elephen to catch a grasshopper” which means you put a huge investment just for a tiny return.
That's a good one. In Danish the similar translation would be "to shoot sparrows with cannons". It can be used in many situations where you take excessive measures to obtain a certain goal.
Ha ha, thank you, that explained a lot! Czech language has many idioms and most of them are hard to translate, but one funny one for you: “Mít dlouhé vedení” means “To have long wiring”...in the brain. It means that the person is slow in thinking, reactions, doesn’t get point quickly, etc. So if you tell a joke and the person takes some time to process it, you’d say about him “má dlouhé vedení” because the information has to travel through longer wires to reach the destination...😂😊
Loved this podcast. Here are some American South idioms for you: 1. That's the best thing since they came out with pockets on a shirt. 2. He'd drive a wooden man crazy. 3. She'd give a woodpecker a headache. 4. She wanted to know everything including the color of the mid-wife's dress. 5. He's happy as a pig in fresh mud. 6. That dog won't hunt. 7. Don't bet the trailer payment.
The happy as a pig in fresh mud must be the happy phrase to my mom's "as happy as a pig in a pot" I always thought was that he wouldn't like being cooked, but it might mean something different.
Alastair Dallas Right, before thermonuclear devices, there was no way to boil an ocean. We could have one boiling in a short time now, if we decided to do it.
My parents were both Swedish and we lived in Sweden so naturally Swedish was the language spoken in our home when I grew up BUT for some reason my mum would always use the English idiom “Everything but the kitchen sink” so that was one of my first english sentences 😊 I think you may have this one in English as well but in Sweden some would say: “Hjulet snurrar men hamsters är död” (The Wheel is spinning but the hamster is dead) and that would mean the same as “The lights are on but nobody is home”. 🙃 Thank you Lucy for a fun lesson!
Just after watching this lesson, I've watched a Friends episode when Joey said "I'll let myself out". So cool when you learn something that you can actually hear in real life (or in TV show in my case). Thank you, Lucy, you are an amazing teacher!
When I was in the Army I once heard a word used that I had never heard before. That word was "Unflappable". The funny thing about that was similar to what happened to you. Right after hearing someone use it, I then heard it again the next day, and then heard it several times after that. But up to that point had never heard it.
In Germany we say: "Aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten machen" wich literally translates to:" to make a mosquito into an elephant" 😂 It means that someone is making a big deal of a small thing, an example would be: "OMG I HATE HIM SO MUCH!" "Why?" "HE DIDN‘T GREET ME WHEN I SAW HIM IN THE BUS DRIVING BY!!!"
Here’s one from Turkish I find interesting: “İyi insan lafının üstüne gelir.” Which roughly translates to “a good person is one who appears when he is being talked about” which is said when two people are having a conversation and the third person appears suddenly out of nowhere. I find it interesting because the English equivalent said in such a situation is “speak of the devil” where the person is thought of as if having some cunning wit about him, whereas the Turkish logic is that if a third person appears at a place while the conversation is about him he is thought of as a pure-hearted man.
Speak of the devil is from old superstitions against accidentally calling the devil to you. Today it doesn’t have any negative connotations about the person arriving (unless it’s in your tone).
In Ukraine, we say: "when a crayfish whistles on the hill" meaning some situation which is of a low probability, never to happen. Comparable to English "when pigs fly" in 3 dimensions:in meaning, sarcasm level and animalistic layer. By the way: in Ukrainian it sounds like: " ko'ly rak na ho'ri 'svysne " 👌😊
I'm always surprized at how familiar your Brittish words and phrases are to us Americans, but I have never heard used: "Did a runner." Your beauty is breathtaking, your personality engaging, your information informative, and your overall production quite enjoyable.
Chiming in from the Deep South, "Did a runner," is a common expression in our area or perhaps I just know a significant number of bartenders and servers.😉
Not so much regionally , but only in specific context , or specific occupation . In general American usage could be He took off , made a getaway , went on the lam ( or he's on the lam ) .
Equivalents to "Lights on, nobody's home." "Wheel is turning but the hamster is dead." "His elevator doesn't reach the top floor" "He's a few sandwiches shy of a picnic." "He's not operating on all thrusters" or "firing on all cylinders." "He cut loose the sandbags but his balloon didn't go any higher." "Not the sharpest knife in the drawer", "sharpest tool in the shed" or "brightest bulb in the marquee."
In Swedish there's an idiom that both my best friend and I love to use. "Vara ute och cykla" = "To be out biking". In Swedish, this is an idiom you might use when you want to claim, say, ask or suggest something, but you're not sure if you're correct or when someone has misunderstood something and is confused. For example, "Were we supposed to hand in our essays yesterday or am I out biking?" or "What is she on about? She is out biking!".
In Russia its like to "drop the skates". "Skates" mean shoes on a criminal slang. The origin of the phrase: when car roadkills someone, if his shoes are off his foot, he's definetly dead. We have quite sad road accidents statistics
In Portuguese we say something like "to hit the boots". Apparently it came from war times, when the Dutch invaded the country. Some people would trip and fall, then become an easy target and die, or so they say. So people would say someone "hit the boots" and died. We don't use it just for accidental deaths, though. It's pretty generic.
I have lived in the Western part of the US my whole life, mostly California and Arizona, and I actually have never heard from someone in normal conversation "storm in a teacup" or the other phrase. Perhaps its equivalent to "making a mountain out of a molehill"? Also, since I had never heard it before I always thought it was just a phrase made up by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from their song Storm in a Teacup haha Also, with the last "show myself out" idiom, where I'm from in Arizona I've never heard it used in the way you describe. For me I've only said it or heard it said as a normal phrase when someone offers to show you the exit or walk you out of like a party or a building, as in - "Let me walk you to the door." "No thanks, I'll show myself out." Perhaps a regional usage
In Finnish, we have this saying: Emergency does not read the law. Means resolving a problem (or making a decision) in any means possible as a final option.
My mom was laughing at a joke said in Finnish and I asked her what was she laughing about. Can't translate it into English. Oh, well. Finn was my mother's1st language even though she was born in the U.S.
It really makes the most sense in the case that you're not going to be arranging for this person to meet your parents (as a prelude to becoming engaged).
Those earrings aren't a nuisance, Ms Earl but they've rather accentuated your beauty. I loved the beautiful background in your recent videos, but this isn't bad either. I really appreciate your effort to create PDF lessons from henceforth. They'll be extremely useful for those who watch your videos on the move. A lesson on idioms from your end is an absolute delight, Ms Earl. Thank you. :) Much love xxx
"Keep them peeled" relates to the first British police force, in London, founded by Sir Robert Peel. The policemen were nicknamed peelers. The phrase relates to policemen looking out for anything suspicious.
Really? Cop for police officer. "Call the Cops! Bad boy, bad boy, what you gonna do, what you gonna do when they come for you?" Cop comes from Copper, which was the first nickname for police officers, cuz they wore bright shiny copper buttons on their uniforms.
@@AutomaticDuck300 Really? When I was a kid I had one of those helmets. Oh, Flashback. When I was in High School, I wrote a story titled "Say Goodbye to Bobby for Me". It was set in London. It had nothing, well almost nothing to do with police, but police were in the story. Bobby was the name of a dog. The rest is a bit complicated and involved.
Whoever is reading this: Your skin isn’t paper don’t cut it Your body isn’t a book don’t judge it Your heart isn’t a door don’t lock it Your life isn’t a movie don’t end it you’re beautiful be you...stay safe (By the way I’m also a small RU-vidr looking for your support) I didn’t create this quote just wanna spread positivity❤️
Here are some peculiar Bulgarian idioms (Bulgaria's that small country in the Balkans west of the Black Sea). I have tried to come up with the best English equivalents; Come and hit me one shoulder - lend sb. a hand (help; I guess arms and hands have a lot to do with help) Throw an eye on that = have a look to pull out one's bread = to make a living be carried by the same wind = to be on the same wavelength I said my mother's milk! = I said absolutely everything I knew A stone is lying on my heart - some heavy burden is bothering me to be eating flies - to be doing nothing a bear's favour - used when sb. wants to help but doesn't realize it will do more harm than good to tear sb's skin - normally used for relatives; to be the same as a bakery shovel - a hypocritical person to split a hair in two - to be stingy PS: I love your videos!
"Throw an eye on", "a bear's favour", "to split a hair" - those exist exactly like that in German, too. The stone on the heart is slightly different though: "There falls a stone from my heart" (I am so relieved)
Back in the Seventies as a freshman in college I was assigned a new Yugoslav roommate. He had been recruited to play tennis for the school. He had a book on his shelf that contained English idioms in pictoral form. The one I remember best is "Catching the Bus" with a cartoon character standing in the middle of the street with arms wide with a bus approching.
Huh? How is "catching the bus" an idiom? What is that suppose to mean other than you want to catch the bus, to be on time to get onto the bus to take it somewhere?
In Slovakia, we say "good morning" when someone has a "lighbulb moment" and realizes something way too late compared to everyone else. Or "The goose that was shot honked", meaning that the person who is guilty revealed himself without realizing.
In germany we have something similar to the shot goose. It's "the dog that was hit barks". It means basically the same. You weren't even accused of anything yet but revealed yourself as the guilty one
some equivalents to your idioms in German 1. Sturm im Wasserglas - storm in a water glass 3. mausetot - dead as a mouse 4. ins Gras beißen . to bite into grass 6. nicht alle Tassen im Schrank haben - to not have all cups in the cupboard 7. ewig und 3 Tage - forever and 3 days 10. Holzauge, sei wachsam - wooden eye, be cautious
In German we have "Nur Bahnhof verstehen" In English you would say "To only understand train station" Meaning: To have no idea what the other person is talking about.
It is self-evident: When abroad, not having any of the local language and then asking where the station is ... you will only understand "station" in the locals' answers (the one word you learned to be able to ask the question)
In the US the idiom "balls to the wall" is used in circumstances in which the maximum amount of effort is exerted, or resources applied, to attaining an objective. This is often mistaken to be a vulgar phrase as the word "balls" is believed to be a reference to male genitalia. The reality is that the idiom originated in World War 2 aviation. American multi-engine bombers of the era had spherical throttle handles (balls). Positioning the throttle controls fully forward, such that they were nearest the firewall (balls to the wall), meant that the throttles were fully opened and the engines were producing maximum power. Thus, "balls to the wall" became an idiom meaning to exert maximum effort.
Another one that sounds ruder than it is: 'It's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!' The balls of a pawnbroker's sign were suspended from a bracket known as a monkey.
"Brass monkeys" indeed Is "to make a balls of something" a vulgarity I wonder? Might not be. A "cock up" similarly might not refer to nether parts either. "To make a hames of something" comes from a farming implement off the top of my head!
There is a chinese idom that goes: Every family has a book (sacred texts) that is difficult to read. which means everyone has a different circumstance that others don’t often understand completely.
Not just avoided , but further implication that either it was a narrow miss , or that your favorable outcome to potentially bad situation was either unlikely , or unexpected .
Hello Lucy, I am a native speaker of the southern California dialect of American English. I enjoy watching and listening to your lessons. I like learning the English idioms and pronunciation of our language. Plus, as a healthy adult male I have to say you have a lovely speaking voice, a lovely continence and your slight lisp is very endearing. My best Regards, Randall Ide.
"You did it with your hands, you solve it with your teeth", an algerian idiom, that means if you caused a problem yourself, you have to solve it yourself
I’ve always thought that the idiom, “to hit the road” would be very confusing if someone was learning English. I can picture the student imagining slapping the asphalt and wondering why this was necessary.
Wow love this 😂😂 but we have a similiar idiom in Turkish too and I can guess the meaning quite easily: "Yollara vurulmak" means "to be hit onto the roads" Wait a minute now I doubt my understanding of that English idiom you say😕 I'm going to check if it really means the way I understand it😅
"You are making an elephant from a mouse!" It means the same as a storm in a teacup Also, we have in Russian "Not everyone is at home" an equivalent to the lights are on but no one's home Thank you for your videos, they are always positive and energetic!
@@СетФамм Yeah we state the same, but I've noticed that someone pronounce it this way! I found it interesting, and thought it would be amusing to russian speakers
I word-to-word translate German idioms to English to confuse my colleagues. It's a fun thing to do. One of them is "I cannot dance at every wedding [Ich kann nicht auf jeder Hochzeit tanzen]" meaning "I cannot do everything".
Oh god! I love so much idioms because there's always cultural background to discover! I'm from Italy and about 10. we say, literally, "Let your eye dance" about being vigilant!
In the Southern states of the U.S, I use and others say "The Engine's running, but there's noone behind the wheel." Love that one! 😂🤣😂 Oh and I have a joke, but it's a good one, I think. *Clears throat* If people from Poland are called "Poles," why aren't people from Holland called "Holes!" Do you think I need to show myself out? 🤭🤭🤭
other variants of "the lights are on but nobody's home" used on the west coast of the US: "not the sharpest knife in the drawer" ("sharp" is also a statement about someone being quick-witted, so it's a double play on words) "not the sharpest tool in the shed" "not the brightest bulb" ("bright", likewise, being a statement of intelligence) "a can short of a six pack" (cans of soda or beer are sold in packs of 6, so not all of his reasoning faculties are present... one is missing) "not the sharpest bulb in the shed" (he is so bad off, only a mixed metaphor that makes no sense accurately describes him, because what exactly is a bulb doing in the shed, and why did someone try to sharpen it???) "he's a potato" (in elementary school science, a potato can be used to power a small light bulb, but not much else)
I so very hated learning idioms, and now you made me fall in love with'em. I have been sometimes trying to make up unnecessary sentences in recent conversations just to embed some cool idioms I learnt from your videos. That's something I myself find hard to belief, but yes! Thank you so much!
I just love how ''kick the bucket'' sounds. In Bulgarian, we say ''kick the bell'' (referring to a church bell). Another one, I'm not sure if you have it in English, it is ''from chicken to milk'' and it basically means there is plenty of everything you want. We tend to use it when a fridge is full, you could say ''it's got from chicken to milk''. I know it doesn't translate well in English, but i think it's a funny one. 😂
"Take the bull by the horns" means to take charge of something, to command something. Ex: The company was about to go bankrupt. But they brought in a new President, and he took the bull by the horns. He saved the company, now it is profitable.
One I remember from my grandmother (Scottish): As slow as molasses. The other thing she kept on telling me when she became exasperated was: Go fly a kite! (we did not have one)
Something similar in Spanish, ‘Anda a ver si estoy en la esquina’ : ‘Go see if I’m at the corner’ or ‘anda a ver si estoy afuera’ eGo see if I’m outside’
oh right! "He's as slow as molasses" meaning he is lazy, takes to long to do his work, etc. "Go fly a kite" means to get out of here, go outside and do something, fly a kite or something. Stop being lazy. You're bothering me. You're out of your mind so go do something basic, simple, and down to earth like flying a kite.
There's a best Chinese idioms "I'll run with my clogs if there ain't any shoe". It means can't wait to get away desperately form any situation. This is my all time favourite idioms, 😅😅😅
I'm a real cockney and rhyming slang has been part of my whole life. Many years ago I was a copper in South London and we were doing an obbo, (observation). The subject of our obbo came out of his house and I used the radio to inform my colleagues. It went something like this; " 'es out of 'is drum and 'eadin' your way. 'Es on 'is plates". Translated; He has left his house and going in your direction. He's walking. Everybody understood but there was nothing else to be said and that was the way we spoke to each other. Even now, I no longer live in London but I still include rhyming slang in my everyday spech. It's so natural to me.
No.16- A few bricks shy of a full load. No.17- Her or his elevator doesn't go to the top floor. No.18- There not playing with a full deck. No.19- There not running on all 8.( Refers to a V8 engine) . No.20- There not the sharpest tool in the shed. Interesting. Very nice video.
”Estar más cerca del arpa que de la guitarra" (to be closer to the harp than to the guitar). It means "to be close to death, due to old age or sickness"
Does the guitarra represent the serenade of the woman he loves, only to be humiliated in front of a mariachi band? Is this one country or basic Spanish.
@@bruces4515 The guitar represents hanging out with friends around a bonfire or a barbecue, singing and dancing; in short, it represents life. The idiom is used in Argentina, but I don't know whether it is also used in other countries or not.
In Romanian we say" se potrivește ca nuca în perete" = it fits like a nut in a wall.. for 2 things wich doesn't fit at all actually..Very good 👍 👍 video and final joke as well.Lots of love 💘 ❤ from Paris
Hello, Lucy. Thanks again for this amazing video. For me, Bob's your uncle is the most hilarious expression. I've recently heard another expression that made me laugh. It's bee's knees hahahahah
Never heard "donkey's years" before, but I'm American and a couple of these are very British. Say "Bob's your uncle!" to an American and they'd think you were "Off your rocker". :)
For N° 8, here in Chile we say: "Hacer perro muerto" (to do a dead dog), mening to order for something, and then go away without paying. For N° 1, we say "Tormenta en un vaso de agua" ( A storm in glass of water) Its the same meaning, but with no tea in it. And opposite, when something is very smooth, we say "Como una taza de leche" (Like cup of milk) We have lots of funny idioms in Chile, sometimes not even other spanish speakers can understan us!!! Cheers / Saludos
I work in the US but had a counterpart in the UK and he’s always be describing something and end with “and Bob’s your uncle” and I never knew what he meant until now. I didn’t want to ask as I felt it rude. And I don’t know what it is about a woman with a British accent…just melts my heart!!
In Tunisia we have a very weird language so here's some idioms: 1/To ruffle intestines on someone's head: We use it when someone is totally annoyed or angry with someone else so we would say "if he comes I swear I'd ruffle intestines on his head!!" 2/To wash and remove someone: to insult 3/To loose someone's eye in someone else: to insult or to repulse someone 4/ "they are like 'eat me I'll eat you'": when two persons or more are always fighting 5/ they are like "free my hand for your hair": same as the fourth 6/to invert someone's head: it can be like to pick your brain but we use it when you wanna know sth (sth happened for example) from someone by making them telling you subconsciously. 7/ your ear and nose: we use it like " you wish" when the request that will never be accepted. 8/will be late by the grade: same as the seventh 9/to push the pawn: to be irresponsible and lazy in doing sth or to make fun of a serious thing 10/the house owner is not here: means when the person that should get into the problem is ignoring it
In French, we say: "tu me casses les pieds" or "tu es casse-pieds". Translated literally, it is "you break my feet" or "you are a foot-breaker". It basically means: "you are annoying". I find the translation in English so funny as it makes no sense !
In Italian it's "rompi palle!" Tanslated "break my balls" which I always find amusing when it is said by a female. Same meaning someone or something annoying.
@@catinkernow The same vulgar expression exists in French, too! The meanings of "Tu es casse-couilles" and "Tu me casses les couilles" are the same as what you indicated. They mean "you're annoying". And yes, it is rather odd when said by a female, and they really don't work in English.
During Operation Market Garden Sept 17 , 1944 at the battle of Arnhem , a senior British officer of the 1st Airborne Division ( the Red Devils ) later wrote in his memoirs that of the Germans "threw everything at them except the kitchen sink " during the battle to secure the strategic bridge.
I also like the American General (at Bastogne), his response to the Germans request the he surrender. He wrote back "Nuts!". Germans couldn't understand it. How about "up your nose with a rubber hose".
My fave of these is “Bob’s your uncle”, you could never guess its meaning from the words themseves ;D It's funny (or not) how even TV subtitlers often don't get the English-language idioms in my country but translate them literally; being a qualified translator myself, I always squirm inside when I see them... As you asked, a funny Finnish (my native language) one would be e.g. "jo alkoi Lyyti kirjoittaa", literally meaning "now Lyyti began to write" (Lyyti being an old-fashioned female name, from Lydia), which means that something is finally succeeding and one can go on, or that finally one gets into the crux of the matter; in English everyday usage one might say "Now you're talking", etc.
As a six-decade old native English-speaking American, I have NEVER heard other Americans use these idioms: - Bob’s your uncle - donkey’s years - to do a runner
I am from Argentina , and here there is a funny expression that means to die: "cortar con 8"( to cut with eight) it must come from card games.I think it is similar to "snuff it " in English. It is regional from my area (Rosario, near Buenos Aires) we speak River Plate Spanish.
For the idiom "the lights are on, but no one's home", we use something similar in French which is "Il n'a pas la lumière à tous les étages" which literally means "Lights are not on on every floor of his home". We also have "OK, je sors" that is to say "OK, I'm leaving" that we use exactly as British people use "I'll show myself out". :)
@@gebrilmooy11 Me too, when I was a kid! Most hilarious moment was when my parents and my sister started searching for them too, until one of them noticed that I was wearing them...
In Chinese slang, a teacher is ‘one who eats chalk dust‘. There’s one chinese idiom that goes ‘the emperor isn’t anxious but his eunuchs are’, which means the observers/the less important ppl are more anxious than the person involved. Another chinese idiom equivalent to English’s ‘cross the bridge when you come to it’ is ‘the ship/boat will align itself once it comes to the bridge’ - no point fretting about the problem.
Thank you so much Lucy! The video is so useful I learnt new idioms! I really liked it! Keep going! 🍀 All of your videos are the best thing since sliced bread.
To learn American Idioms, you could see if Yakov Smirnoff's tv show "What a Country!" is available to you. Most of the humor was about him misinterpreting or misusing American idiom. So instead of "piece of cake" or "easy as pie", Yakov would make everyone laugh by saying "Easy as cake!" or "Piece of pie!".
In Poland if we want to say that is too late for something, we use an expression ''mustard after dinner''. To highlight somebody's ugliness we say ''As ugly as a November night''. And my favorite ''Don't be interested or you'll get a cat's mouth'' that means: Don't be so curious and mind your own business 😂😂😂
In indonesia, we said "mustard after dinner" as "the rice has became porridge". Simply means it's too late to fix anything. When you put too much water while cooking the rice, it'll become porridge and you won't get perfect cooked rice for meal. And you can't fix it 😅
My best friend Bob passed untimely. Due to his passing, I was thrust into a business obligation with his son. Several times, I found myself using, "Bob's your uncle." The business venture was soured by the young man. Talking to a close relative, it turned out, yes, Bob REALLY WAS his uncle.
