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!
