Let's Learn English! Topic: Body Part Idioms! 😛👣👁️
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Well, hello and welcome to this English lesson about body part idioms. It's kind of a funny title but I do know that people love to learn idioms. Idioms in English of course are little phrases we use that sometimes have a different meaning than the words that we actually have in them. So, if I was to give you one example, I would say that when people talk to me, I'm all ears and

basically means that I am willing and wanting to listen to them. So I have just over 30 idioms and they will all have a body part in them. The eye, the shoulder, feet, legs, and

it sounds stranger than it actually is but once again welcome to this English lesson about idioms where where we'll be specifically focusing on idioms that have you know one of the parts of your body in it. A hand um an ear, your feet, hair, elbows, and all those. So once again, welcome to this English lesson.

By a hair. So the first idiom I want to teach you is the idiom by a hair. So if you are in a race and you win by this much we might say that you won by a hair. If you're playing a game like tennis and if the ball is out you might say that it's out by a hair. So as you know a hair is very very thin.

So, sometimes we use this idiom to describe a situation where something, you know, it's just out. The ball was just out. It was out by a hair uh or we would say, oh, it's

he drove his race car just a little bit faster than the other guy and he won by a hair. So, whenever you're measuring a really really small distance, we might use the English idiom by a hair because hairs, you know, I don't know. I can't pull one out to show you but they're very very very thin. Play it by ear. When you play something by ear, it means you don't use a plan to

you kind of look at what's happening and you decide what to do in the moment. So, sometimes I have a plan. Most times I have a plan for my classes but sometimes maybe there's

half the students are missing and then I just play it by ear and I invent something to do with the students who are left. Maybe you're working on a project at work and you have a plan but maybe some materials or parts didn't show up and then you just have to play it by ear and you have to figure out what to do. So when you play something by ear it means that you kind of come up with a plan in the moment. And

So, you don't necessarily have a plan and you decide what to do in the moment as you are doing it. You play it by ear. Drag your feet. When you drag your feet, it means you are lazy. When you drag your feet, it means you're not working hard. You might have a coworker who

like this person who always drags their feet. They do not work very hard. If you are on a team with them, sometimes they slow the team down. It's very difficult to get work done if you have a coworker who decides to drag their feet. I don't often drag my feet but I will say this.

when I'm sick, I will drag my feet at work. So, I won't work as quickly as I normally work and I will drag my feet a little bit but some people will do it intentionally. They'll drag their feet and it's it can be a little bit frustrating. So, to drag your feet means to not work very hard. It means to be a little bit lazy.

someone a hand. Now you can give someone a hand. You can lend someone a hand. You can basically use your hands to help them do something. It looks like this guy needed to move his couch so it looks like that lady is going to give him a hand. You can't move a couch by yourself very easily. It's a little little bit tricky. So sometimes you need someone to give you a hand or to lend you a hand. Sometimes

This is probably one of the nicest things you can do in life. Sometimes people are moving and they might say, hey, does anyone have time to help me move? And you can say, oh, I can give you a hand or I can lend you a hand. So, when you help someone, we use the idiom to give someone a hand. It just simply means to help them do something.

ears. When you're all ears it means you are listening and you are paying attention to that person. This girl is talking to this group of people and they are all ears. So they are all listening. You can see how the idiom has the word ear in it. If I say to you I'm all ears. It means I'm listening to you. It

probably won't interrupt you. I am respecting what you're saying and trying to understand what you are saying. So sometimes a student will come to me and say I have a question and I might say okay I'm all ears. And I will not be distracted. I will focus on what the student is saying so that I can help them as best as I can. So when you say I'm all ears it means you're listening and

you're paying attention. It's a nice thing to do as well. To bite your tongue. So your tongue of course is in your mouth and sometimes when you're eating you do bite your tongue. It's not a nice feeling. But when we use the phrase bite your tongue we mean to try and not say anything. So sometimes something might happen where you want to say something but you know it would be bad so you bite your tongue. You you

try not to say it. You don't actually bite your tongue but you might have a boss who isn't a very good boss and whenever they announce something new that you know won't work. It's a bad idea. You might have to bite your tongue because you don't want to say out loud that the boss is making a bad decision. So, you will bite your tongue. When you bite your tongue, it means you don't

You try not to talk. It's it's usually a good thing to do in certain situations. Cold feet. So, when you have cold feet, it means you initially said you were going to do something but you've changed your mind. You change your mind. That's another idiom by the way. So, if let's say I said to you, I'm going to do a live stream and

every day this week and then later today I say no no I I changed my mind. You could say I had cold feet. Usually it means you're a little bit afraid or you're nervous about something. We often use this when if two people if you think they're going to get married and then one person decides not to you could say oh he got cold feet or she got cold feet. So it means you initially agreed to something.

But then for some reason later you changed your mind. The cold shoulder. So this is a little bit different. When you give someone the cold shoulder it means you intentionally ignore them or you intentionally leave them out. Okay? So let's say at work there's someone who no one really likes working with and

So when you are planning something, you might give them the cold shoulder. You don't tell them about the thing you are planning. It's not a nice thing to do. Um I'm trying to think of another example. Um let's say you play on a team and you guys are

the last game you were really mean to the other team. When you go to play again that team might give you the cold shoulder. They might not be very happy to see you. So it can mean to leave someone out or to intentionally ignore someone or a group of people. To give them the cold shoulder. Have an eye for when you have an eye for something it means you're good at it and it's usually a visual thing. So you

I'm an okay editor but some people really have an eye for editing. They really know how to put a video together so that it's interesting to watch.

always use this example. Jen really has an eye for putting flowers together in a bouquet. Some people have an eye for decorating a room. This lady is picking out colors using a color swatch. She probably has an eye for interior design. She's probably really really good at putting different colors together so they look really really good. So when you have an eye for something it means you're really good at

something visual. Like you could say he really has an eye for photography. He's really really good at it. Pain in the neck. So this is your neck of course. When you say someone is a pain in the neck it means that they are annoying. We have another phrase that instead of the word neck has the word for butt. Oh actually you can say pain in the butt.

but you can also say pain in the ASS. Um but this simply is used to refer to someone who is annoying. Sometimes children could be a pain in the neck. So, it looks like this lady is on the phone and this child is just yelling at her or doing something annoying. We would say that that child is a pain in the neck. It's not a very nice or kind thing to say but when you are

Certainly in a situation like this I would say that girl is being a pain in the neck to probably her mom or her sister. I can't tell actually. But yeah sometimes I'm a pain in the neck. When someone owes me money I will phone them a lot and I will become a pain in the neck. I will annoy them on purpose so that they pay me. I will become a pain in the neck. To get something off your chest. When you get something off your chest you

It means something was bothering you and you need to talk to someone about it. So let's say, I'm trying to think of an example. Let's say your parents want you to go to the University of Toronto.

but you really want to go to the University of Windsor. You have to get that off your chest. At some point, you have to sit down and talk to them and say, look, I know you want me to go to U of T, the University of Toronto but I would rather go somewhere else. If you're in a relationship, maybe you don't want to continue in the relationship and then we would say you need to get something off your chest. You will want to explain to the other person that you don't really want

enjoy being with them anymore and you might want to break up. So, when you get something off your chest, it means you talk. So, this is your chest of course but it means you talk about something that has been bothering you. Get on your nerves. When someone gets on your nerves, it means they are bothering you. It looks like in this situation, the guy has been talking too much and he's starting to get on her nerves. She is starting to become annoyed with him and

Usually, we use the phrase get on someone's nerves to talk about a repeated action. If I'm trying to work and if another teacher keeps talking to me and I'm on my computer trying to get worked on, I might say the teacher started to get on my nerves. So, it's a little different than being a pain in the neck. Um it's a little more like just light annoyance but certainly in this picture, he is starting to get on this lady's nerves.

in the clouds. So this could mean a couple of things. Um one of the things head in the clouds means is that you aren't thinking about what's actually happening. You're just dreaming or daydreaming about stuff. So someone with their head in the clouds might often forget things. They might often forget their keys or their phone and have to walk to their car twice. Um sometimes we use this phrase though to talk about someone who

This is a a slight usage. Someone who's really smart like oh he's not very good at taking out the garbage and buying groceries because he always has his head in the clouds which might mean he's thinking about complex math problems. This is a body idioms and I'm really using my hands today. Uh cost an A N arm and a leg. When something costs an arm and a leg it means it's really really expensive.

North America as the US and Canada start to put tariffs on each other's products things are going to start to cost an arm and a leg.

In fact, this isn't related to the tariffs but in the United States right now in some places, eggs cost an arm and a leg. They cost a lot more than they used to. So, when you say that something costs an arm and a leg, it definitely means it's very very expensive. Gas right now is really expensive. It costs an arm and a leg to fill your van up.

When you think of something off the top of your head, it means you just thought of it. If you're talking to someone and they say, hey, we should go to Toronto and see a show. Is there anything you want to see? You could say, just off the top of my head, I think there's a play that

that is closing in a week. We should go see it now or you're having an idea in the moment. You're thinking of something and it's just off the top of your head. So, you in that moment, you think of something. Um sometimes when I'm doing my other live streams, I have to think of things off the top of my head. Uh to see eye to eye. When you see eye to eye, it means you agree with someone. So, let's say um trying to think of an example here. Um

Let's say I voted for the current mayor. I would say I voted for the mayor because we see eye to eye on a lot of issues. It means that I like the mayor because I

think the same way. We agree on a lot of things. A lot of times when you vote, you vote for someone because you see eye to eye with them. Basically, it means that you agree with them on a lot of really important issues or topics. Um it's hard to work with people if you don't see eye to eye. It can be very very tricky. So, when you see eye to eye, it means that you agree with that person or you agree with a lot of

what that person thinks. Keep your chin up. So this is your chin. To keep your chin up means to stay positive. So let's say I'm I'm being more political than I normally would be but if you are a democrat and you live in the United States you just need to keep your chin up and maybe in three and a half years your person will win the next election. So when you tell someone to keep their chin up and

telling them to try and stay positive. You're telling them to to not be too stressed or worried about the current situation. Uh to maybe do things that will help them the next day or the day after. Um sometimes when a team loses the coach will say come on everyone keep your chins up or keep your chin up guy. Um we're going to do better in the next game.

Get off my back. So, of course, your back is back here. When you tell someone to get off your back, it means they keep telling you to do something and you want them to stop. Sometimes, people feel like saying this to their boss but then it's a good idea to bite your tongue but if you say, get off my back, basically, someone has been telling you to do something over and over again and

even nagging you a little bit. When you nag, it's the same thing. It's you tell someone to do something over and over again. Um so you might just say to them, hey, get off my back. I'm doing my best. Please stop annoying me and bothering me. Head over heels. I think we had this in a previous lesson on love. Uh when you are head over heels, you

usually means you are really really in love with someone. So much in love that you would go to some sort of parade where they throw paper hearts onto the street. In order for Bob to go to a parade like this he would need to be head over heels in love with Jen. So I guess that means I would go to that sort of event. But when you are head over heels it means you love someone very very much and in a romantic way. Okay? You would never be like head over heels for a

a friend or something. That doesn't make sense. Head over heels refers to romantic love. Um very very strong romantic love. So when something's on the tip of your tongue it means you can't quite think of the answer. This happens to me every once in a while in a live lesson.

be like I can't quite think of the word and then in the chat people usually find the answer for me or bring the answer forward. It's really really nice when that happens. But when something is on the tip of your tongue. How would I say this? It means you know you know that

the answer but you can't think of it. This probably happens a lot to you when you're speaking English. The word is just it's on the tip of your tongue. You you know what word you want to use um but you just can't think of it. You might even be able to picture the word like the let's say you're trying to think of the word for um fox. You can picture a fox in your mind and the word is just on the tip of your tongue but you can't quite think of it.

to pick someone's brain. When you pick someone's brain, it means you ask them um for some feedback or for some ideas. Um so, let's say I wanted to start a new business. I might actually go to my brother and say, hey, can I pick your brain for a bit? I'm thinking of selling watermelons at the road. What do you think? And then my brother might give me some ideas. So, when you pick someone's brain, it means you have ideas and

you want someone else to kind of tell you if it's a good idea or give you some suggestions. Uh another example would be when Brent and I meet uh during the summer. Often we will uh pick each other's brains. Like Brent might ask me a question about how I use my camera. And I might ask Brent about well how did that lesson go when you did this? So we might try to get ideas from each other um and to help each other.

Stick your neck out. So, here's a graph and the graph is going down. When you stick your neck out, it means you take a risk. You do something that is risky. So, if this is a guy planning to buy stocks, he's planning to invest in the stock market. He would be sticking his neck out if he bought that stock. Maybe.

Maybe because it's low, it might go up again but when you do something risky, we use that phrase to stick your neck out and of course, this is your neck. It has to relate probably to something with turkeys or birds that are going to be processed. I can't think of a better word but when you stick your neck out, it means you do something risky.

like pulling teeth. So, these are your teeth. Sometimes, you go to the dentist and the dentist has to take out a tooth that is bad and it hurts but in English, we use this phrase to describe trying to get someone or even a pet to do something they don't want to. Um I have a few students at my school who are always late for class and getting them to be on time is like pulling teeth. Um

dog doesn't want to go for a walk and so the owner is pulling it but it's like pulling teeth. So, if there's someone who you want that person to do something and they are stubborn and won't do it, trying to convince them to do it, uh we would say is like pulling teeth. It's never enjoyable when you're in that situation. Um

Sometimes when kids are little, getting them to brush their teeth at night is like pulling teeth. It's kind of funny. It has the word teeth in it as well. A sweet tooth. So, if you have a sweet tooth, it means you love eating sweet food. You probably like candies and you like chocolate and you like um try to think of other stuff that is sweet. You probably like soda. You probably just like

everything that has lots of sugar in it. You probably like donuts with lots of chocolate icing on the top. So, when you have a sweet tooth, it means you enjoy really really sweet food. You love it. You are a sweet tooth. Elbow room. When you fly, you

first class or business class, you have lots of elbow room. There's lots of room between you and the person beside you. We often, so this is your elbow. So, there's lots of room for your elbows. We often use this phrase in the negative though. We say, oh, I was on the train and there there wasn't very much elbow room. It was really crowded on the subway. I didn't have any elbow room. Um but certainly, someday,

I'm ever able to afford it and fly business class or first class, I would be excited because there would be lots of elbow room. I would be very comfortable. I wouldn't have my shoulder against the person beside me. By the way, I went to a Raptors game a few months ago and the person beside me was

was big. Let's just say that and I I had no elbow room. I couldn't put my arm on the armrest cuz because the person beside me was quite um to put it nicely quite quite large. Yes, eye catching. So, when something is eye catching, it means that it is beautiful. Sometimes when you go to a museum and you see paintings, it's

eye-catching. Like you see the colors and how they're put together. Sometimes when you see a bouquet of flowers it's eye-catching. You really enjoy the flowers that are in that bouquet. By the way that is not Jen's bouquet but we do grow all those types of flowers. So yes when something is eye-catching it means it is beautiful and you enjoy looking at it.

So we have keep an eye out and keep an eye on. When you keep an eye out it means you're watching for something to happen. I would imagine this person is waiting to get picked up by someone. So they're going to keep an eye out for that person. When I order something from Amazon I keep an eye out for the Amazon truck. I'm waiting for the Amazon truck to arrive. So when you keep an eye out for

something. It means you're expecting something to happen and you're waiting for it to happen. When you keep an eye on someone or something it means you're watching it. When I boil the kettle I might keep an eye on the kettle so I see when it's done boiling. Or when it starts boiling. When you watch children you will keep an eye on the children because you don't want them to leave the house or run away or whatever kids do when they're that little. Um if you go to the park or

you take your dog off the leash and let your dog run free you will want to keep an eye on your dog. So you can keep an eye out for someone if they are picking you up and if you are watching kids or if you have a pet you might keep an eye on them so that you know what they're doing at all times.

to pull someone's leg. When you pull someone's leg, it means you are usually this says lie kind of you're lying or joking with them. You're telling them something that isn't true.

because you think it's funny, okay? So, this is maybe not quite the best picture but if Brent said to me, hey, I'm I'm in Niagara Falls. I'm going to stop by in an hour. I'd be like, you must be pulling my leg. I know you're not in Niagara Falls. So, when you it's when you tell someone something that isn't true simply because you think it's funny to tell them that to pull someone's leg.

pay through the nose. So, again, we had the phrase, which phrase did we do? Um I'm looking back here. Why can't I? Oh, to cost an arm and a leg. Yeah, that was the other one and then to pay through the nose. When you pay through the nose, it means you pay a lot for something. In the US, in some places, people are paying through the nose for eggs right now. I think it's almost $10 a dozen or something crazy. Um and

I still feel like gas is too expensive. I feel like I'm paying through the nose. I don't know why we have this expression. You don't I don't know what it comes from where it comes from at all but when I buy gas I feel like I'm paying through the nose. It's so it's so it's so expensive. So when you pay through the nose it means you are buying something that's very very expensive and you're paying a lot of money for it.

Hi, Bob the Canadian here. Thank you for listening to this English podcast lesson. If you would like to support me in the work that I do as an online English teacher, please visit patreon.com slash bobthecanadian.