Bite Sized English » phrases and idioms

Thanksgiving: What’s Black about Friday?

Toby — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:00:10 +0000

This is a post in a series about Thanksgiving. It’s a good week to be thankful! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

It’s black Friday. Are you frightened? No, it’s not Friday the Thirteenth and it’s not the darkest day of the year (that’s in December.) What’s so black about today?

You might know about black Tuesday, and think that you’re supposed to jump out of a building today. You’re not. What are you supposed to do on black Friday? Well, if you’re crazy—and my mother and sister both are—you’ll shop today. Insanity.

Today is black Friday in the U.S., and if you still don’t know what black Friday is, don’t worry. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Is there a similar day to this in your country? Is there a ‘Christmas shopping season?’ When does it start? Do you like shopping during this season? Most people tell me that they hate shopping at Christmas. . . so, why do you think they don’t do their shopping earlier?

An Idiom: Count Your Blessings

Toby — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:32 +0000

This entry is part of a series about idioms. There will be more all the time! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

Did you ever have a day, or a week or even a year when everything seemed to go wrong? I’m sure that, if you did and you told a friend, they probably said something like “look on the bright side: you could be dead” or “think positively, at least you have your health.”

I will be honest and admit that, when I’m feeling sorry for myself, I can’t stand those people. I want other people to agree that my life really is the hardest that there ever was. That’s not what this idiom is about, though, it’s about looking on the bright side.

As you listen to this recording, try to catch the ‘original’ meaning of the word ‘blessing.’

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Is there a similar saying in your own language? What do you tell someone who’s having a bad day or week? Are you the kind of person who can count his blessings or do you—like me, sometimes—focus on the negative a lot?

Idioms: Two Sports Idioms

Toby — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:47 +0000

This entry is part of a series about idioms. There will be more all the time! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

Many of my students don’t like to discuss sports. . . because they don’t play sports. They don’t have the time, and don’t see a need to learn any ’sports’ vocabulary.

I also don’t play many sports, but I insist on my students learning some of the vocabulary.

The reason is that, in their native languages, they need sports vocabulary, but for more than just describing sports! A lot of our ‘figurative’ English comes from sports and—because people see both sports and business as win-or-lose ventures—a lot of business idioms are grounded in sports.

Today, I’ll talk to you about two sports phrases, what they mean in the sports they’re associated with, and how we use them as idioms.

Here are our two idioms for today:

Strike Out
Fumble

An Idiom: Old Dogs and New Tricks

Toby — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:19 +0000

This entry is part of a series about idioms. There will be more all the time! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

Do you have a dog? Did you train your dog? Our dog doesn’t do any tricks—nothing like getting a ball and bringing it to us, or bringing me my slippers in the morning—but we had to train her when she was a puppy.

In today’s recording, we’re going to talk about how training a dog and a person can be the same. (No, we’re not going to talk about Pavlov.)

Before you listen to the recording, think about a few questions: how old are you? Is it easy for you to learn new things? How old are your parents? Can they learn new things easily? At what age do you think it becomes difficult for a person to learn new things?

After You’ve Listened to the Recording
Do you agree with this idiom? Will you use this idiom? What’s one circumstance when you could use this idiom to describe yourself or another person as ‘the old dog?’

An Idiom: A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned

Toby — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:44 +0000

This entry is part of a series about idioms. There will be more all the time! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

I suppose it’s not possible to learn a language like English without learning a little history. After all, English developed in history, and you can’t really understand them without going a little way back in history.

Today, we’re going to talk about a common English phrase that’s pretty easily understood: “A penny saved is a penny earned.” But, this phrase came from one of my favorite historical Americans. And today’s recording is going to be about him as much as about his phrases.

After You’ve Heard the Recording
It’s amazing to me that Ben Franklin can be famous for so many different things. Is there someone in history that you respect that way? Is there someone who added a lot to your language the way Ben Franklin added to English? What did he or she say?

The Three Rs

Toby — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:27 +0000

This entry is part of a series about renewable energy. It’ll be a renewable week! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

When I went to school, we talked a lot about the “Three Rs” as a way to reduce our impact on the environment. Now, there are a lot of other ‘catchphrases,’ that is, there are a lot of popular terms, in the discussion about the environment and global warming. Still, I think the Three Rs will always be the best place to start.

In this recording, you’ll learn what the Three Rs are, and what those words mean. To help you, here are the Three Rs now:

Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Do you practice these three principles? What could you do better? Which one do you think is the most important? (I’m a big fan of the first one: reduce.)

An Idiom: A Needle in a Haystack

Toby — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:16 +0000

This is an entry about an idiom. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

Imagine you’re a company looking for a common job. . . a secretary, or even an English teacher. In Germany, I’ve heard that over three hundred people send applications to every job that’s announced. That means that companies don’t have trouble finding candidates for a job. . . they have trouble finding the right candidate! There are just too many applications!

Today, we’re going to learn an idiom that’s great for this situation. But it’s great for any situation where you’re trying to find one certain thing. . . and there’s a lot to check. We’re going to talk about looking for a needle in a haystack.

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Job applications were my example. So is trying to find a good book. Or even a good song on iTunes. . . It’s a great idiom for every circumstance where the problem isn’t that there aren’t enough options, but that there are too many options. When will you use this idiom? What will it describe for you?

The Military: Phrases

Toby — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:16 +0000

This is an entry in a series about the military. It’ll be a week of Army-Stuff. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

Any organization as huge as the military will have an impact on the language that it speaks. I know that, in Germany, there are a lot of German phrases that originally referred to military ideas, and now they’re part of standard German. And English is no different. There are a lot of military expressions in ‘everyday’ English. Here are some idioms that I use pretty often:

AWOL
Face the music
Hurry up and wait
Mandatory Fun

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Have you ever been AWOL from an English class? Or from work? Do you have any experience with hurry-up-and-wait? Have you ever had ‘mandatory’ fun? Was it really fun?

Poker: Bluffing

Toby — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:00:55 +0000

This is the first entry in a series about poker. We’ll be talking about cards this week! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

An important part of poker is bluffing. I don’t know if the English language had the word bluff before poker existed or not. But, bluffing has become and important part of the English language, and not only at the poker table!

An English learner should know the meaning of bluff as a noun and a verb. . . but also what it means to ‘call a bluff.’ That’s what we’re going to be talking about in the recording today.

After You’ve Listened to the Recording
Have you ever bluffed, not in a poker setting? Did anyone call your bluff? Or, have you ever called someone else’s bluff? What happened? (I think most people like talking about when they called someone else’s bluff, not when someone called theirs.)

Poker: Idioms

Toby — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:05 +0000

This is the first entry in a series about poker. We’ll be talking about cards this week! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

In According to Hoyle, a book of game rules, the author says that “poker has been called the national card game of the United States.” I don’t think that there is an official card game of the U.S., but I know that poker is a popular game in the U.S. (And a lot of other places, too.) Poker’s popularity means that it has added a lot to American English. And, if you’re learning English idioms, it’s a good idea to know a few of the more common idioms that come from poker.

Today, we’re going to talk about only some of the idioms that came from poker into American English. (And possibly—but I don’t know—into British English as well.) Do you know what it means to:

Play your cards well? Or poorly?
Have a poker face?
Stack the deck?
Hold your cards close to your chest?

Start the recording and learn the meaning of these idioms. When you’ve heard and understood the idioms, try to think of a non-poker occasion when you could use each of these idioms.