10 ESSENTIAL English Expressions

Today I'm at the cafe I've decided to escape the school for a while. it's not students - they're fantastic it's rather the red tape is not my cup of tea and yes I like mixing my metaphors anyway I've got my coffee that's a no-brainer and my croissant which in French they call a "croissant". You've probably guessed that this video is all about English expressions I hope you like it anyway I've got a note go now. Where am I going? I've got to see a man about a dog. See you later hello and welcome to LetThemTalk the channel that goes deeper into everything about the English language and today I've got ten expressions for you and these are my personal favourites or at least ones that I use all the time. All of them are useful and are suitable in a number of situations and where I know the history of the expression I'll explain that too. So let's get started and the first expression is "to have a whale of a time" yes "a whale of a time" you know a whale? the big fish in the ocean except it's not fish it's a mammal anyway all this means is to have a great time. To enjoy oneself very much so for example "my holiday in Vietnam was amazing I had a whale of a time" or "the party was great we had a whale of a time" why "a whale of a time" I'm not sure I think it's something to do with whalers in the 19th century enjoying themselves too much Anyway I like to use it because it makes me think of whales splashing and jumping around in the ocean enjoying themselves rather than being killed by a whaling harpoon which is much less funny anyway Also connected to having a good time is the next expression "to paint the town red" which means to go out and have an extravagant and crazy time let's look at an example "hey John what you want to do this evening?" "Well I thought I might stay in and defrost the freezer maybe watch the documentary on Channel 8 about mountain goat"" " No I don't do that I want to do something crazy I want to go out I want to party I wanna dance or to stay up all night I want to paint the town red". "okay please yourself" and the next expression is "wakey-wakey smell the coffee" and you can use this expression to someone who doesn't realize what's happening especially when it's obvious to everyone else of course coffee makes you wake up and fast and helps you see what's happening so let's look at some examples. "the light's green the light's green wakey-wakey smell the coffee" "this thing they call the Internet do you think that one day it will be important in people's lives". " it already is wakey-wakey smell the coffee" And the next expression is "mumbo-jumbo" and it simply means nonsense for example "it's a full moon tonight and you're a Sagittarius you shouldn't go out". ""What is this astrology mumbo-jumbo?" "OK this is my legal contract 'the party in the first part shall be known in this contract as a party in the first part the party in the second part shall be known in this contract as the party in the second part' what does it mean? this is just mumbo jumbo" and I did some research and apparently it comes from the Mandingan language and it's been in the English language for about 200 years And the next expression is "it's a no-brainer" that's right "it's a no-brainer" and this means that the answer to the question is so obvious that it doesn't require any thought that is that you hardly need to use your brain okay. So for example "the train takes eight hours and cost 400 euros and the plane takes one hour and costs 75 euros which one shall we take?". "It's a no-brainer we'll take the plane". "I've just been offered a new job double the salary and I get to travel around the world will I take it? yeah it's a no-brainer? And the next expression is "The world is my oyster "or the world is your oyster or somebody's oyster anyway an oyster is a sea creature you know which is inside a rocky shell and some people open it up and put a lemon juice and eat it but not my thing anyway what this means is that you have endless possibilities you can do whatever you want so for example "You're young you're beautiful you're qualified go out there the world is your oyster you can do anything" and the expression comes from Shakespeare actually the Merry Wives of Windsor and by the way if you know London you know that if you travel on public transport in London you need an Oyster card and I think that it might be related to this expression because with the oyster card you can go wherever you want and do whatever you want or it may be because it just looks a bit like an oyster And the next expression is "it's better than a kick in the teeth" that's right "it's better than a kick in the teeth" and all this means is it's better than nothing so for example "if I had one more number right I would have won ten million pounds in the lottery instead I've just won one hundred pounds well it's better than a kick in the teeth". "This year I have to work most of the summer I won't have a long summer holiday I've only got one week oh well! Better than a the kick in the teeth " The next expression is "I've got to see a man about a dog" and you use expression when you have to leave a place and you don't want to tell people where you are going either it's a secret or it's just not very interesting to explain. So for example "it's only 9:00 p.m. where are you going?" "Well I've got see man about a dog" "you're two hours late where have you been?" "Yeah I had to see a man about dog" The next expression is "To go dolally" which just means to go crazy so for example "You're giving up your job to become a monk have you gone dolally?" "What you want to swim across the Atlantic Ocean have you gone dolally?" Anyway the expression comes from when the British were in India and the soldiers who went crazy were sent to a sanatorium in the town of Deolali And the next expression is "red tape" look at all these forms I have to fill in all these rules and regulations that seem unnecessary and that's exactly what red tape means unnecessary administration and believe me there is a lot of that in France all these forms that you have to fill in that we don't really need is it the same in your country? Anyway the expression comes from Charles V of Spain at the beginning of the sixteenth century where they started tying important court documents with red tape That's it and if you have any favourite expressions in English or in your own language then let us know in the comments and thank your watching stay mellow don't go doolally and I'll see you in the next video

Channel: LetThemTalkTV

Views: 127,178

Keywords: yt:cc=on, English expressions, idioms, British, British pronunciation, Learn English, cours d'anglais, English teacher, Gideon, LetThemTalkTV

Id: 54ZuAc-qrXw

Length: 10min 47sec (647 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 08 2018