Learn 10 body and action-related idioms
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| Hi everybody and welcome back to Top Words. My name is Alisha and today, we're going to talk about 10 body and action-related idioms. So, let's go! |
| 1. to cost an arm and a leg |
| The first idiom is to cost an arm and a leg, to cost an arm and a leg, an arm and a leg. The nuance of this expression is…something is very expensive. It costs so much. The price of this item, a price of an item costs my arm and my leg, not even money. It's so expensive, I have to give part of my body to pay for this. So something costs an arm and a leg means something is very expensive. |
| In a sentence… |
| "My new TV cost an arm and a leg." |
| 2. the cold shoulder |
| The next expression is the cold shoulder, the cold shoulder. So this refers to a body part. This is when someone is ignoring another person, to give someone the cold shoulder. We usually say he or she is giving me the cold shoulder or you should give him the cold shoulder. So the nuance of this expression, like why do we say shoulder, it's sort of like, if you are, uhm… if you're across the room from someone and you don't want to talk to them, you might turn your body this way, like turn your shoulders towards them and kind of make this very cold posture, this very closed posture. So we say that this sort of ignoring someone, is giving them the cold shoulder. That's what we call this expression. |
| In a sentence… |
| "He's giving me the cold shoulder." |
| 3. stink eye |
| The next idiom is stink eye, stink eye. So stink eye means giving someone a bad look, so it's like this kind of evil or really, really unhappy look with someone. So, you see someone you don't, like, walk in the room or someone is...maybe, has come to a nice event and they're dressed, like very inappropriately or just some behavior is displeasing, you dislike some behavior and you give that person a bad look, an unhappy or very angry or displeased look. We say that's the stink eye, the stink eye. |
| So, in a sentence.. |
| "She gave her boyfriend the stink eye." |
| 4. eyes in the back of one's head |
| The next expression is eyes in the back of one's head, eyes in the back of your head. So, the image here, so of course, we have eyes on the front of our head, but the nuance of this expression is that someone has eyes in the back of their head. This means they can see everything that's happening around them. So this is often used for parents like my mother has eyes on the back of her head. So, she can see everything. It seems like they're not watching, but they are. So, to have eyes on the back of your head means you can see everything or you seem to be able to see everything around you. |
| So, in a sentence… |
| "My teacher has eyes in the back of his head." |
| 5. kick the bucket |
| The next expression is kick the bucket. Kick the bucket means to die, to pass away is to kick the bucket. This expression means to die, to pass away. It's a very casual expression. You might consider it rude, so we typically use it for people who we are not close to, or maybe people who we really dislike, but it's generally kind of a slightly disrespectful phrase. I suppose you could use it for very, very close friends who passed away, but, yeah, it's a rude expression that most of the time, we don't use. |
| So, in a sentence… |
| "I heard the old man down the street kicked the bucket." |
| 6. pull somebody's leg |
| Next expression is pull somebody's leg. To pull somebody's leg means to joke with them or to tell a lie, to tell a lie in a joking way. This is the nuance of to pull someone's leg. So, if someone gives you a surprising or shocking information, you can say, "No way, you're pulling my leg," meaning you're joking. You surely...you must be joking or that's a lie, that's a funny lie, but it's usually in kind of like a funny, happy situation where it's very light, a very light joke. Usually, we do not use the expression, pull someone's leg, in a serious situation. |
| So, in a sentence… |
| "No way! You're pulling my leg!" |
| 7. throw somebody under the bus |
| Oh, the next one, the next expression is throw somebody under the bus, throw somebody under the bus. You might hear this in politics and in news a lot. So, to throw somebody under the bus means to blame them for problems in a situation. So, to use them as the reason for problems in a situation. You might know the word scapegoat. A scapegoat is someone who takes the blame in a situation. Even if they are not the reason for the problem, they receive the blame, they receive, maybe, the negative feedback, the negative backlash of the situation. This is a similar expression. To throw somebody under the bus means you take the heat. Take the heat means you take the blame. That person receives the blame, receives the negative attention for a problem. So, you might hear it like in governmental adminis… like government-related news, like the president threw his chief of staff under the bus with that comment. So, blamed someone else for a problem or use someone else to deflect responsibility. So, it's generally not a good thing to throw somebody under the bus. It has the nuance of there being no reason. There's no reason in some cases to blame that person for doing that thing. |
| So, in a sentence… |
| "Wow, he really threw you under the bus in that meeting." |
| 8. to steal thunder |
| The next expression is to steal thunder, to steal thunder. This is such an interesting phrase to me. I really want to look up the history for this one, like the image like to steal thunder. By the way, thunder and lightning, just as a side note, thunder is that sound you hear in storms, yeah? Lightning is the light. So to steal thunder, thunder specifically is that sound, that loud sound you hear in storms. But to steal someone's thunder is to steal someone's credit for doing something or to steal attention from someone that should have attention. So in an example, let's say it's my birthday party and my friend only wants to talk about herself and she wants everybody to give attention to her, but it's my birthday party. That's stealing, she's stealing my thunder. So, I should get the attention, but she is trying to take the attention. So generally, it's not a good thing to steal someone's thunder. Generally, it's seen as sort of, let's see, it's not a good behavior really in social situations to steal thunder, to take someone else's credit, especially in work and business situations. To steal thunder in a work situation can really make things difficult around your co-workers in the future. So, in a sentence, my friends stole my thunder at my own event. |
| 9. to be under the weather |
| The next expression is to be under the weather. To be under the weather means to feel sick, to be feeling sick, to be...maybe very tired. You just don't feel well is to be under the weather. I feel under the weather today. So, we can use this usually for light sickness. If you feel very, very ill, it's too serious for this expression. To be under the weather is a light sickness or something that's just a little bit uncomfortable maybe, okay. |
| In a sentence… |
| "You look a bit under the weather today." |
| 10. hit the road |
| Next one is hit the road. Hit the road is a casual expression which means to leave, to depart, to go somewhere. It sounds like you're going on a road trip or you're going on a… you're… hmm, you're travelling somewhere. This is the nuance. Hit the road is like we're going to a different place, a different location and maybe it's going to take some time to get there. So we say hit the road, let's hit the road. |
| In a sentence… |
| "Time to hit the road!" |
| Okay, that is the end! So those are 10 body and action-related idioms. I hope that you found some that were interesting or useful for you. Thanks for watching this time and we'll see you again soon. Bye! |
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