Idioms are multi-word expressions whose meaning is different from the individual words in the idiom. One examples of a popular idiom is like clockwork, which means in a routine, completely predictable way. Listen to today’s episode for ten more idioms with examples.
Quality content as always, Tim. Learned something new. Keep up the good work!
I’m glad you liked it, Antti! Thanks for your support!
Thanks a bunch for this nice selection of idioms. The last one was new to me, though I remember the word barf because you told me once about your young student in Moscow who you teach this kind of words, or I got that wrong. Do you take orders by the way? I’d love to hear some slang words used by adults in every day life and non-specific in terms of community.
I did use that word to teach my youngest student (8 years old)! He just wasn’t interested in what was in the textbook, so I introduced barf into our talks- and not just any barf, but SMOKED barf. His mom’s first reaction was disapproving, but that quickly evaporated when she saw improved results flow from her son’s increased interest in our classes.
I can do episodes on request! About that specific one, though, I am not the right person: I have been out of circulation with local people for a long time, so I don’t know what specific things they say. I do have one friend who tends to use a fair amount of slang, maybe talking to him would be a good start for me.
Are there any other topics you’d like covered?
Gosh, smoked barf is so ingenious! How did you even come up with that? The student who’s an adult already might have a good recollection of it now as well. As for slang words, something you can use in an everyday conversation to say great, calm down, relax or whatever. And I’ve got (probably) another super clever idea of a podcast episode on the language from a sitcom like the Simpsons you menshioned with some pro tips from a teacher on how to choose good vocabulary from it (e.g. it should be applicable in different situations).
First things first: smoked barf. So, I grew up in the Midwest in the 80s and 90s, and I can say that the things people see in movies about kids’ and teens’ social life revolving around sports do correspond to reality (although now fortunately somewhat less so). The problem with this situation for me was that I had less than zero interest in sports. Few had any interest in what I had to say, and I found that people paid attention only if I said something extreme or revolting. So coming up with phrases like “smoked barf” is second nature to me.
Second- the idea about an episode about the language of the Simpsons is a great one! It may take me some time to get there, but I think I can do it.
That worked great, right? Do share some other attention grabbers please!
I missed all the great language in the Simpsons as a teenager, because it was all dubbed on TV. I could only caught Mr Burns saying excellent. And they turned Willie into some angry drunkard(. Looking forward!