SUPER USEFUL IDIOMS | Talk about Friends & Family

hey everyone today i have a very fun idiom lesson for you about friends and family and idioms are great because we we use them quite often just in everyday conversation they're very casual they're very informal as you are learning these idioms i want you to think about your family i want you to think about your friends and your experiences because that's going to help you better remember the meaning so the first idiom that i have for you is a spitting image and you would say that someone is a spitting image of someone else and what this means is that a person closely resembles this other person so when you're talking about a family and i i think often you're talking about either the the father and the son or the father and the daughter or the mother in the son or the mother and the daughter you would say that that this person the child is a spitting image of their parent that is how it's most commonly used he's a spitting image of his father isn't he perfect you're the spinning image of your future son his blood runs in my veins this is a spitting image of old bootstrap bill the next idiom is runs in the family and this is talking about inheriting traits from other people in your family your your parents your grandparents and you would say that that this trait this characteristic it runs in the family for example i i have blue eyes and i can say well you know blue eyes it runs in the family or perhaps you're talking about somebody's hair color maybe they have red hair and you say well you know it runs in the family that this characteristic this trait is inherited from other family members it runs in the family it doesn't always have to be referring to a physical characteristic you could talk about somebody's behavior or their mannerisms as well perhaps maybe something that's not good perhaps somebody's a criminal and you'd say well yeah that that runs in the family the parents the grandparents they were also criminals so maybe it runs in the family don't get mad at her it's a couple little strokes runs in the family you have pandazma you that running family i guess stubbornness runs in the family then we have an idiom that i i think has become more popular in recent times and that is describing someone as a helicopter parrot and if somebody is a helicopter parent it means that they are giving way too much attention to the child and not attention i think in in a good way it's think about it it's like they're hovering over the child everything that they do they are not leaving the child side even as the the child gets older and becomes a teenager and they're still kind of controlling their lives you could refer to this parent as a helicopter parent it's not a it's not a compliment if somebody is being called a helicopter parent it may be to me it means they're a little overbearing they're too controlling they're too involved in their child's life a helicopter parent you have to hover over your kid's shoulder to force them to succeed it's called helicopter parenting gave me space kids love that didn't want to be a helicopter parent i think we should let the kids just work it out i'm not really into helicopter parenting like you are then you may hear somebody say a chip off the old block and i think this is more this is more of an older idiom so it's good for your comprehension you may hear it in a tv show or a movie but if you hear someone say a chip off the old block they're they're referring to the child is much like either the father or the mother in some way you would say they're they're a chip off the old block often i think a parent would be talking about their children to some other person and they say you know my son he's a he's a chip off the old block he's just like me or my daughter you know she is a chip off the old block she is just like uh her mother she likes to eat a variety of food just like her mother she's a chip off the old block she's by stick i love that she's a chip off the old block elroy you're a genius i am a regular chip off the old block the next idiom is like taking candy from a baby and this is just a simile you're comparing two things and you're saying that something is easy something is very easy it's like taking candy from a baby because if a baby had some candy well it would not be very difficult just to reach out and grab it and take it from them and you could say well this is easy it's like taking candy from a baby often i think it's used to describe some some situation in which you have to accomplish some kind of goal and you have to complete some tasks and you're like well you know it's gonna be easy it's gonna be like taking candy from a baby and that is how it's done like taking candy from a baby what do you think jackie i mean we got a case like taking candy from a baby speaking of candy the next idiom is like a kid in a candy store and this idiom is referring to the way that somebody is acting and it just means that they are very excited about something they're almost acting in a bit of a childish way they're so excited and usually i think people are describing themselves when they say this and they're like you know i i visited this place and i was like a kid in a candy store i was so excited i was running all around i couldn't believe my eyes i was like a kid in a candy store what corpse should we unearth i feel like a kid in a candy store it's college basketball and i'm like a kid in the cabin then we have to sleep like a baby this is again a simile comparing pro mostly yourself to a baby because when you sleep like a baby it just means that you are in some some deep sleep and you are getting a lot of rest and you'd say you know well last night i i was so comfortable i slept like a baby i think generally people use this when somebody would ask and they'd say you know oh how did you sleep how did you sleep last night you could say you know i slept like a baby i slept very well just like a baby would sleep so i slept like a baby yeah it's done i'm gonna sleep like a baby i've come a very long way to see you i couldn't sleep tonight usually i sleep like a baby he's probably sleeping like a baby right now i'm sure he's wide awake full of guilt do you ever feel that way no when i go home at night i sleep like a baby then we have to pop the question and this is an idiom that i think is very common many of you may already be familiar with it because to pop the question means to propose to someone to ask someone's hand in marriage and you in that case you are popping the question will you marry me you popped the question carl is about to pop the question you mean like marriage i cannot believe my son is gonna pop the question where did he bob the question what did you say said no can we drop it now it wasn't a real proposal the next idiom is breadwinner and you would say that someone is the breadwinner and this is referring to a person in the family who earns the money and and earns the money to support the family so you could be talking about the either the man or the woman and you could say well you know he he has a very good job he's the breadwinner or maybe she has a much better job and you say well well she's the breadwinner in the case that both the man and the woman work then typically you would be referring to the person who earns the most money who is supporting the family more financially that person is the breadwinner oh and i want to thank you for putting me under the added pressure of being the sole breadwinner now lindsay the bead business taken off is it actually i am the breadwinner michael as it turns out i am the sole breadwinner in my house there's no other source of income the next idiom which i i think is a great idiom even though the meaning is not that great and that is black sheep and if you're talking about a family and you say that someone is the black sheep it just means they are different than everybody else but typically different in a way that is that's not good perhaps they're even disrespected by the other family members and you say well that person you know they're a bit of a black sheep i i think it doesn't always have to be something bad but more just different perhaps even a little unusual that the way they're acting the way they're behaving the way they're conducting their life they're they're just different from the rest of the family someone is a black sheep everybody thinks i'm the black sheep i'll show them what a black sheep can do since before the dawn of time i have been designated the black sheep of miami this label is permanent i can't erase it and i can't trade it in for a new one do you know what's a black sheep no it's like when you're different to everyone else like me i look different so those were all idioms that were related to the family now i want to talk to you about idioms that deal with friends and talking about friends and the first one that i want to talk to you about is like two peas in a pod and if you say that two people two friends are like two peas in a pod it just means that they are very close they always do things together you you never find them apart and you would say well you know they're like two peas in a pod we should commemorate this one with a selfie oh look at us two peas in a pod he's awesome he's always up he's always happy i mean he and i are best buds we're like two peas in a pod next is the idiom to have friends in high places and when you say that you have friends in high places it just means that you have friends who are influential or friends who are powerful they have some kind of position in which they can wield influence or power you can say you know i have friends in high places i personally don't have friends in high places that's okay it's not very important to me but yeah i don't know anybody who's powerful or really influential so yeah i don't have any friends in high places waste of time deputy we have friends in very high places oh it's hurt me i'm not liked in washington i know that but i do have friends in high places i've made a lot of friends in high place in this case the costa rican government then we have the idiom a shoulder to cry on and this is just talking about a friend who is willing to listen to someone else's problem we often use it with the verb have or need you could say that hey you know tell your friend you know you have a shoulder to cry on if you need to talk to me i will listen to your problems or perhaps you want somebody else to listen and you say well i just need a shoulder to cry on i need someone to listen to my problems i need a shoulder to cry on you deserve better lizzy lizzy someone you can talk to a shoulder to cry on and starting to realize that she has to settle for less the moment she needs a shoulder to cry on bam i say you tell alex your heart belongs to penny i provide her a shoulder to cry on and then roughly half a year later i give it to her good then there's the idiom to bury the hatchet and when two people bury the hatchet it just means that they are ending some sort of conflict often i think of perhaps their two friends they get into an argument they're fighting each other and they need to make up they need to bury the hatchet they need to end this conflict you can use it when talking about friends but you could also use it when talking about maybe colleagues at work or even with your boss or somebody else that you know that there's some kind of conflict that exists and you need to end that conflict you need to bury the hatchet what the hell are you doing on my property look it's time we bury the hatchet seriously ari what about us would you like to talk about i'd like to bury the hatchet the animosity between the two of us has run its course you can pass that on to spencer too can you please bear the hatchet with her i'm sick of taking sides next is the idiom to hit it off and if you say that that two people hit it off it just means that they become friends quickly and they they really get along with each other and it's kind of like a sudden friendship and say wow you know they really hit it off you can use it to talk about friends or even perhaps if you're dating someone you go out on a date and you had a very nice connection you could say yeah we we really hit it off you and her hit it off define hit us off did she continue talking to you once you'd fixed her computer the whole night was amazing we totally hit it off and your mother she's been calling me all week she wants to go to a spinning class with me what is up with that i thought you two hit it off next is the idiom to build bridges and when you're talking about building bridges you're talking about trying to make a friendly relationship between two people or even groups of people that you you need to build some bridges and and have friendly relationships with with this person or with these people maybe you don't get along with your boss and it's just a problem and you need someone's shoulder to cry on and you're telling your friend about this problem and they give you some advice and they say you know you really need to build some bridges you need to build bridges with your boss so that so that you guys have a friendly relationship you can get along because you work together it's important to build bridges in times of crisis wise build bridges the foolish build barriers then we have to strike up a friendship and this is an idiom that just means to form a friendship to have a friendship so if two people become friends you could say yeah you know they they struck up a friendship or maybe you are going into some place where you want to meet new friends you say you know i really hope to strike up some new friendships i want to make friends with other people come on i spent five hours together maybe they struck up a friendship whatever you struck up she should be sick of it by now then there's the idiom to know someone inside out and if you say that you know someone inside out then it means that you know this person very well so you may be talking about your friend you say yeah you know i know my best friend inside out i know everything they like i know everything they dislike you could also use it when talking about a family member you're very close with your family you could say yeah i know my brother i know my sister i know them inside out we can also use this idiom when when not just talking about a person but perhaps even a topic a subject and you know something inside out so for example you could say i've been working on this presentation really hard i know it inside out or maybe if we're talking about traveling and say well i've been to this place a dozen times i know it inside out i know it really well actually going to go ahead and give her a call to views to date so i know we're inside now i think i can handle being a candidate's wife i know all the issues inside and out you know the product inside and out you are the horse that i would bet on so i just want you to know that if you have any problems learning english and trying to build your vocabulary let me know you always have a shoulder to cry on because you and me we're like two peas in a pod and especially let me know if you are a powerful and influential person because i would love to have some friends in high places all right so i i hope that you're now able to go out and and use some of these idioms in your everyday conversations especially when you're talking about friends and family they are so common they are so useful that's all for right now i hope you learned some new idioms and i will see you next time

Channel: Interactive English

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Keywords: interactive english, learn english, learn english idioms, common idioms in english, useful english idioms, family idioms, friend idioms, idioms about family and friends, talk about family and friends in english, build vocabulary idioms, learn vocabulary idioms, learn english vocabulary, english idioms and phrases, english idioms, talk about friends in english, talk about family in english, vocabulary to talk about family, vocabulary to talk about friends

Id: WLz83DJ5gtw

Length: 15min 49sec (949 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 01 2021