(gentle lively music) - Hello, lovely students. And welcome back to English with Lucy. Today, I am going to teach
you 30 advanced idioms. These are advanced
phrases that you can use in everyday conversations. This lesson is really going to help you sound more natural when you speak, and it's going to help you
understand native speakers. As always, I have a free PDF
that goes with today's lesson. It's got everything you're
going to learn today, all 30 idioms, and it contains
some exercise questions. So you can test your understanding and put what you've learned into practise. If you would like to
download that free PDF, just click on the link
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can unsubscribe at any time. Another thing I will
mention is that I now offer a 30 day idioms course. In 30 days, you will learn over 230 idioms and take over 600 exercises. You can take this at your own pace, but you receive 30 video lessons, along with 30 written lessons, and 20 daily exercise questions. So many students have
taken the idioms challenge, and had amazing results. It's been wonderful to
hear all their feedback. If you'd like to sign up,
you have lifetime access, so you can take it at any time, and go back the next year
and review the lessons, and retake the quizzes. If you'd like to sign up, click on the link in the
description box, and you will see that there is a special
discount code for you. It's a limited time offer, so don't miss out. I really hope you enjoy it. Right, let's get started with the lesson. The first idiom is, to eat one's words, to eat one's words. This means that you take
back what you've said. If you eat your words, you
take back what you've said. An example, she ate her words when she realised she'd been
talking badly about the boss right to his face. Number two is, to make a
splash, to make a splash. And this is to attract a lot of attention. You can imagine in a swimming
pool, you make a big splash, you attract a lot of attention. An example, Fred made a
splash in the meeting today when his phone started ringing. Number three is, to be on the safe side, to be on the safe side. And this is to minimise any possible risk and to create a feeling of security. An example, we recorded
a video of the incident just to be on the safe side. It's like saying, just
in case, just to be sure, just to make sure that
we're safe in the future. Number four is, as far as one can tell, as far as one can tell. And this is according to all
of the available information, you make a conclusion based on the information that's available. As far as I could tell,
the shop was closed today. Based on what I could see,
based on the information online, the shop was closed today. Number five is, to go down the drain, to go down the drain. And this means to be
completely wasted, lost. All of his efforts on the new
product went down the drain when the office caught fire. His efforts were wasted, they were lost. It's like you can imagine
dropping a coffee over a drain, it's all wasted, it's all lost. Number six is, to go down in history, to go down in history. And this means to be remembered forever. His speech will go down in
history as one of the greatest. It will be remembered forever. We can also use it with friends. If somebody did something
that was so crazy or so ridiculous or so amazing that your friendship group
will never forget about it. Your behaviour at that party
will go down in history, we'll never forget it. Number seven is, to go down a storm, to go down a storm. If something goes down a storm, it means it's well
received by an audience. The opening band went down a storm, it was their first concert. The audience loved them. They went down a storm. We do often use this sarcastically. We say, well, that went down a storm, if something actually was
really badly received. Number eight is, to take a rain check, to take a rain check. And this is to politely decline
an offer or an invitation, but with kind of the possibility
to do it another time at a later date. I can't go to the museum today, but I'm happy to take a rain check. How about next week? It comes from postponing
outdoor events because of rain. We just postpone it,
move it to a week later. Number nine is, to take the biscuit, to take the biscuit. I wonder if in American English they say, to take the cookie. This is to be the most foolish or remarkable part of something. Tara has done some pretty terrible things, but stealing Joe's cat took the biscuit. That was the most incredible or terrible thing she's
done out of everything. Number 10 is, to take advantage of, to take advantage of. And this means to make unfair
use of someone or something for your own gain or your own benefit. He took advantage of the boss by showing up late to work each day. We can use to take advantage of in a more positive or neutral way. I took advantage of the good weather by going on a walk in the sunshine. To make use of it, it doesn't
necessarily mean it's unfair in that sense, but in certain contexts, it means to make unfair use of something at someone's expense. Number 11 is, to call something off, to call something off. And if you call something
off, it means you cancel it. Focus on the pronunciation. To cool off is to make something colder, to call off is to cancel it. It's very similar in the RP accent. Cool, call, cool, call. It's all about my tongue
placement with all, it's further back in my throat. Sorry about that face, I just pulled off. We had to cool the festival off when we found out it was going to rain. That idiom is also a phrasal verb and it is separable, to call something off or
to cool off something. Number 12 is, to come to a head, to come to a head. And this means to reach a critical point. The situation came to her head when she showed up to
a family party drunk. Obviously there's lots
of history to this story, lots of bad behaviour, but
it reached a critical point. It came to her head when she
turned up to a party drunk. Number 13, this one's incredibly common, it is, to make a bee-line for, to make a bee-line for something. And this means to go directly
towards someone or something. Tommy made a bee-line for his mom when he saw her after school. Or I always make a
bee-line for the canopies whenever I'm at a party,
I just love canopies. Canopies are little individual appetisers, those small things that you can eat. I just love them. At our wedding, we had
eight types of canopies. I wanted to have the whole
wedding based on canopies, but it was denied, I
wasn't allowed to do that. Number 14 is, to draw a blank, to draw a blank. And this means to fail to remember, to not be able to remember something. I'm sorry, I'm drawing a blank, I can't remember her address. Number 15 is, to put it mildly,
to put something mildly. This is to express that something is worse than what is being said about it. To put it mildly, I
don't really like Mary. That means that I hate Mary, I am just not exaggerating. Or the boss said, he was
unhappy with her behaviour. I think he was putting it mildly. I think he was furious with her behaviour. Number 16 is, to have the upper hand, to have the upper hand. This is to have a superior
or more powerful position. Patrick has the upper hand
in receiving the promotion as he has been with the
company for over 10 years. He's in the more superior position. Number 17 is, to have one's work cut out, to have one's work cut out for them. This means to be faced with
a difficult or lengthy task. We have to paint the
entire house this weekend. We've got our work cut out for us. We have got a difficult
and lengthy task ahead. Number 18 is, to hit the ground running, to hit the ground running. And this is to start something
successfully or quickly. Miguel hit the ground running when he was promoted to manager. He made lots of amazing changes. He was immediately successful. Number 19 is, to keep your nose clean, to keep one's nose clean. And this is to stay out of trouble. It can also be used to stay out of gossip. Keep your nose clean
when you go out tonight. I don't want a phone call from the police in the middle of the night. Keep out of trouble. Number 20 is, to look
alive, to look alive. And this means to move more quickly or to engage in a more active way. For example, it's the
final half of the game, look alive out there. Come on, let's get moving. Number 21 is incredibly common, it is, to go out on a limb, to go out on a limb. And this means to put yourself in a vulnerable position
normally to benefit others. He went out on a limb when he proposed to his
girlfriend at the Beyonce concert. I'm relieved she said, yes. He put himself in a vulnerable position. Number 22 is, to go to the
dogs, to go to the dogs. This is to be ruined or to become worse. This TV show has really gone to the dogs. What were the writers thinking? Number 23 is, to run the gauntlet, to run the gauntlet. And this is to experience criticism or harsh treatment from others. Celebrities have to run
the gauntlet of journalists every single day. They have to experience that
harsh treatment and criticism. Number 24 is, to lie low, to lie low. And this means to avoid
attention or to hide. We are lying low for now until our neighbours forget
about the big party we had. We are not attracting any
attention to ourselves. Number 25 is, to bury the hatchet, to bury the hatchet. And this means to end an ongoing conflict. Tom and Greg buried the hatchet by drinking a few beers together and discussing their problems. Number 26 is, to go to
town, to go to town. And this means to do something
with great enthusiasm and sometimes with great expense as well. The production team really
went to town on the set design. It looks like we're actually in Rome. They've put in a lot of effort
and probably a lot of money. Number 27, this is one that my husband, Will uses all the time, to come in handy, to come in handy. And this means to be useful. That book about phrasal
verbs came in handy when I started my English course. It was useful. Number 28 is, to buy time, to buy time. This is to temporarily delay
something from happening, usually so that you can have more time to come up with a solution. He hadn't finished his project, so he tried to buy time by saying that he'd
been under the weather. Number 29 is, to be there for someone, to be there for someone. This means to be available
to provide support or comfort for somebody when they're having a difficult time. You are my best friend. I'm always going to be there
for you no matter what happens. And number 30, the final one is, to put
a dampener on something. Also, it could be, to put
a damper on something. In British English, I hear
dampener more frequently. And in American English, I
hear damper, but both are fine. This means to make something less exciting or less enjoyable. Sandy's bad attitude really put a dampener on
her surprise birthday party. Right, that is it for today's lesson. You have learned your 30 idioms. Now it's time to download that PDF and complete the exercise questions. Again, the link is in the description box. You just have to sign
up to the mailing list and it comes straight to you. Also, don't forget to check
out the idioms challenge where you can learn over
230 idioms in 30 days, you gain lifetime access. Click on that link for a special code. Don't forget to connect with
me on all of my social media. I've got my Facebook, I've got my Instagram,
my personal one, Lucy, my English page, EnglishwithLucy. I've also got my website
englishwithlucy.co.uk. And on there, I have got an awesome
interactive pronunciation tool. So you can click on the phonics and hear me say those phonics and say words that contain
those phonics, it's awesome. Finally, you can check
out my personal channel, Lucy Bella, where we've
vlogged our lives here in the English countryside. And all of the vlogs are fully subtitled, so you can use them
for vocabulary practise and to improve your listening skills. I will see you soon for another lesson. Bye. (gentle lively music) (gentle upbeat music)
