DEF Idioms

Happy Friday nurses!

If you love idioms and want a way to learn more quickly, here are some ideas. On my last post I chose body parts with ABC. Here are 3 body parts with EF that are used in the following 6 idioms. It's a good way to learn new language quickly.

Eye
A blue-eyed boy is the favouite in any group or the pet of a group
To have an eye-opener is to have an enlightening experience
To have half and eye on something: to not give something your full attention

Face
To face the music is to face criticism/punishment as a result of one's own actions
To have a face as long as a fiddle is to look depressed
To stare one in the face is something that is obvious and clear to see

Try putting any of the above in a sentence that is meaningful to you to help you remember any one you like the look of. Always put a new word in a personal mental sentence to help you remember it. And, remember that if you don't use it, you lose it so start weaving some idioms into your language today.

Until next week,
Marie

ABC of Idioms with Body Parts

Hello world-class nurses!

Kamusta mga pogi =)

This week I’d like to write about idioms. The English language has thousands of idioms. By an “idiom” we mean a number of words which, when taken together, have a different meaning from that of each separate word. If at the end of a long day, a person tells you that they’re “on their knees”, they are using “knees” idiomatically to mean that they’re extremely tired and feel like collapsing. If someone talks about their money worries and in the same breath tells you that they’re just about “managing to keep their head above water”, they mean that they’re struggling to keep out of debt.

In English, words and phrases connected with parts of the body are extremely common in idioms. Here are a few idioms connected with body parts beginning with ABC. Should you enjoy them, let me know; there are lots more to follow.

Arm:

To keep someone at arm’s length: to avoid being friendly.

To give one’s right arm (usually with would): to be willing to make a sacrifice to get something.

Back:

To be on one’s back: to be ill in bed.

To have one’s back to the wall: to be struggling against great difficulty.

Blood:

Blood is thicker than water: one’s own relations come before all other people.

To get blood out of a stone: to achieve the impossible.

Bone:

To be all skin and bone: to be very thin

To make no bones about doing something: to have no hesitation in doing something (usually unpleasant).

Brain:

A scatter-brained person: a careless, forgetful person

To rack one’s brains: to think very hard; to solve a problem or remember something.

Cheek:

To have the cheek to do something: to be bold, rude enough to do something.

To turn the other cheek: to refuse to retaliate.

Chin:

To have a chin-wag: to chatter, talk with friends about unimportant matters.

To take something on the chin: to suffer severe difficulties with courage.

These idioms were shared from Everyday English for International Nurses. There are lots more to follow should you enjoy them. How many idioms do you know with body parts EARS, EYES and FACE?

Share the idioms you know with these body parts so that together you build your repertoire as a team of world-class English speaking nurses.

Warm hugs from Ireland.

Until Next Week,

Marie