hi this is Jan at learn English with be
Global and today we're going to learn 10
Common English
idioms the first idiom we will talk
about is to hit the books I'll spell
that out
to
hit the
books
so does it mean you're going to hit a
bunch of books are does it mean you're
angry or something no it just means
you're going to study you probably have
a big test tomorrow or a uh a tough
class uh tomorrow and you'll say I need
to go hit the the books I um I can't go
to a movie with you tonight because I
have to go hit the books okay it's very
uh very common and a good phrase for
someone like you that's a great
student the second phrase that we're
going to look at is to hit the sack
that's also another another hitting
thing right well what that really means
is to go to
sleep to
hit
the
sack sack is just another
word for
bed okay I'm going to hit the sack I'm
going to go to bed I am tired I have
been working and I am tired I'm going to
hit the sack and get some good
sleep sometimes you'll hear parents say
to their their kids time for you to hit
the sack that just means it's time for
you to go to bed so that is our second
common English idiom so the first one
was hit the books and the second one was
hit the sack hit the books to study hit
the sack to go to bed it's to twist
someone's arm kind of like
this you know to twist someone's
arm
now we're not actually twisting
someone's arm to hurt them uh it it
actually just means we're trying to
persuade them to do something uh maybe
we want them to take a class with us and
we say oh it will be really great you
will learn a lot all of our friends are
there so we're persuading them uh and uh
I might say okay okay I'll take the
class you twisted my arm you Pur
persuaded me you convinced me and so
that's what this phrase means it's very
very common because we like to
persuade so to review the first idiom
was to hit the
books the second idiom was to hit get
the sack go to sleep the third idiom was
to twist someone's arm to persuade
someone now let's talk about the fourth
idiom and that is to be up in the
air to be up in
the
air uh now does that mean you're
floating all over you're you're not on
the
ground no it
means plans are not solidified they're
not firm for example if you're planning
a trip and I ask
you are are you still going on Thursday
to
California and you might say no plants
are still up in the
air we're not certain yet I don't know
if my car will be fixed by then so it's
uncertain it's not
stable you can maybe imagine that as a a
way of speech many things are uncertain
so we say they're up in the air and they
talk we're talking about plans not
people you wouldn't say someone is up in
the air you would say our
plans are up in the air or a decision is
up in the air it's still
uncertain so that was our fourth idiom
our first one to hit the books to
study the second one to hit the sack to
go to
sleep the third one to twist someone's
arm to convince
them the fourth one to be up in the air
to have plans or decisions be up in the
air be
undecided now what about our fifth one
here it sounds a little bit violent as
well it's to stab someone in the back so
are we really stabbing them in the
back no just
stab
someone
in the
back well the picture here is is someone
can't see you and you stab them they're
totally
vulnerable uh and this
means to betray someone who who trusts
you so
betray
someone uh if you have two friends who
work at the same company and one of the
friends does not tell the other one that
there is a job opening a
promotion and they say oh uh I don't
know anything about that but they really
do and they actually took the job and
they were
friends well that person who took the
job they stabbed that person in the back
so to speak they betrayed them um they
they should have told them if they were
friends they would share
information uh unfortunately this is a
very common phrase that we we can use uh
it means uh
betrayal uh so to stab someone in the
back that is
another common English
idiom so what is our sixth common
English idiom today it's to lose your
touch now to lose your touch
doesn't mean oh I I can't feel anything
in my fingers anymore I don't have any
feeling that's not what it means it
means that you can no longer do
something that used to be easy for
you for example maybe you used to be
able to play the piano very well it was
easy you sat down you played it and then
maybe you didn't play it for a little
while maybe not but one day you sit down
you play it and it's not as good it's
harder it's not as simple and you say to
yourself I think I'm losing my touch I'm
think I'm losing my ability with this
skill someone else who hears you might
say I think you're losing your touch and
touch it just
means your your special skill you're
losing your special skill so that is the
sixth common English idiom we'll talk
about
today now you know we need your review
so going back to the first one hit the
books right that means to study
hard number two to hit the sack you hit
the sack you go to sleep right hit the
bed the third one is to twist someone's
arm not you're not physically twisting
their arm it's a verbal thing you're
convincing them persuading them to do
something they would not ordinarily want
to
do the fourth one is to have something
be up in the air right uh a plan that's
not certain that's up in the air the
fifth one to stab someone in the back to
betray a close
friend um it's very graphic but it it
describes
betrayal okay and then the sixth one to
lose your touch to not be able to do
something that used to be easy for
you uh the fifth or the seventh one
is to sit tight
to
sit
tight now that sounds really strange
it's kind of like H how do you sit tight
we have this image of sitting like this
and it's a little like that uh it really
just means to wait and don't take action
wait and
don't
take
action maybe you want to
uh find out your uh your test
score uh but your teacher said says well
they're not ready yet you're going to
just need to sit
tight and you you will know your teacher
means you're going to just have to wait
and not take any action you just need to
be still so sit tight seems a little
strange but it's very common in English
conversation we have to sit tight a lot
don't we
so this is our eth common English idiom
and what is it it's to be on the
ball now to be on the ball does that
mean you're you're standing on the ball
well no it means that you are someone
who is prepared always prepared
or someone who is able to act quickly
and correctly in a certain situation in
any situation or you're very quick to
understand certain things so this is a
very positive idiom as an example you
are on the ball you're working hard to
learn your English and you're on the
ball you can also think for example
you're planning a trip the the trip is a
year away but you have it all planned
out you are on the ball so that's our
eighth
idiom now our ninth common English idiom
is to ring a
bell like a a bell like an alarm that
you might hear on your phone or a bell
you might hear at
school uh what this means is that
somebody has mentioned something to you
that's familiar it sounds familiar uh
perhaps you've heard it before uh in
other words when someone says something
to you that you believe you've heard in
the
past alarm Bells start playing start
ringing and you try to remember how or
why that place sounds so familiar
so for example if I say uh you've heard
of my friend Mike Jones right and you
say
h i I don't know but that name it rings
a bell uh right it it uh reminds you of
something and so you start figuring out
how do I know Mike Jones or maybe I
don't so that is also a very common
English idiom to ring a
bell so here we are at our 10th common
English idiom which is to be under the
weather now can you literally be under
the weather uh I suppose you could we
Under the Sun or clouds or rain so if I
say I feel under the weather do I need
to have an
umbrella well
no it means you're feeling a little sick
if you say I feel under the weather I
feel a little sick uh nothing serious uh
but maybe extreme
tiredness from something some activity
or maybe you have a bad headache uh
because you're fighting off the flu
so another example of that might be say
you're with your friends at church and
one of your friends says Hey where's
Chris uh he's always here every week and
you say oh yeah uh he told me he's
feeling under the weather he'll be back
next week so you're feeling he's feeling
a little sick but nothing serious just a
temporary
just a temporary
situation so that is our
10th common English idiom to be under
the weather congratulations for making
it through so thanks for watching if you
like this video please like subscribe
and leave a comment below
[Music]