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Okay. Hi. James, from EngVid. I've just been shocked. And it's bringing out my animal nature.
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Today's video is on expressions -- some people say "idioms" -- but expressions using animals.
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Now, in English, you will find there are a lot of expressions and animals, and people never really think about it.
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In fact, I think in your own language, the same thing happens.
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You have expressions with animals, and you use them every day.
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What I want to do today is give you about six of them from different animals,
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and I want you to get the understanding because this will help you when we do other ones later or for ones you already know.
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Animals are usually used to show human behavior. Huh? Well, yeah. When we say, like, "crazy like a fox,"
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we mean really smart and intelligent, stealthlike. Not stealthlike, but you know, clever.
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"Clever" means to have good skill. So we're talking about human characteristics or things that human have.
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And we're showing animals that depict -- and "depict" is another way for saying "show"
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-- show how or in the best way to illustrate to other people.
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I must be a visual person because I like these visual words. Okay. But they show that in
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the best way for people to look at the animal and understand instantly.
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And that's one of the best reasons for using these kinds of idioms because what you really mean, people understand,
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even if you don't use it perfectly. I mean, like, "Smells like a rat."
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I said that today, and I meant "smell a rat," and that's one of them you're going to learn today.
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Because as soon as you know, you know, "Oh, that must be bad." Even though I didn't say it correctly,
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we'll get it better than some other idioms you might try to use to express yourself.
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So if you keep in mind that animals are used to show human behavior, then, you'll
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basically understand why we use animal idioms, and it will be easier for you to remember. Okay?
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You like that? Yeah. Because you're crazy like a fox. Okay.
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Where should we start? What the? Whoa. Okay. Apology time. Sorry. The EngVid art department is not here.
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Usually these would be drawn much better, but our monkey looks like something on LSD.
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Okay? The rat looks like it got rabies, which is a disease. And the pig looks like it's been going on, like -- I don't know.
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I don't want to say somebody's diet because somebody will get angry because it means the pig looks fat.
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Like it's been on the -- okay, whatever. Whoever's diet, okay?
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But let's get to the board and talk about the animal expressions, okay?
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I did two for each. And when you think about them, remember what I said.
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Animals show human characteristics or actions or behavior, okay?
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And this will help you remember.
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Well, I like this one, "Monkey see, monkey do." No. 1. What does that mean?
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It means to copy. If you watch monkeys or apes [makes monkey sounds], you know, Tarzan's ape,
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they copy humans all the time, and we love them, right? You see them walking and talking and trying to act like us.
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And because of that, we use the idiom, "Monkey see, monkey do,"
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to talk about a person who is copying you or copying someone else, especially babies and children.
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If you take up a cigarette and smoke, if you look down, a baby will pick up a pen or a pencil and pretend to smoke.
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And the mother might say, "Monkey see, monkey do." Okay?
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In a way, it's an insult. Remember this. Because monkeys are considered lesser humans -- well, less than humans.
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So if someone says "monkey see, monkey do," they're not really giving you a compliment.
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They're saying, "That person's an idiot, and so are you. Monkey see, monkey do."
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Okay? So don't use it on people unless you're using it in a funny way with a good friend --
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like he's copying you; you're like, "Monkey see, monkey do." --
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or you want to insult somebody, "Monkey see, monkey do." Understand? Cool. And that's why
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we use it for children, because children don't know any better, so we say they're not as smart as adults.
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All right. That's the first one.
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Now, monkeys are not only -- they are very intelligent. That's why they can copy humans.
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But our second one is "monkey business." If I say, "When I leave, Mr. E,
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I don't want no monkey business going on around here." It means I don't want any illegal --
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trust me on this -- illegal or unethical behavior. It seems monkeys aren't just eating bananas these days.
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They're running businesses. When we say "no monkey business," it's because people are playing around.
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Usually playing around with the rules or the law.
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And sometimes, it's unethical, even in relationships, or illegal, right? Stealing money from a company is monkey business.
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And even though it sounds funny, it's very serious. They're saying,
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"There's a lot of monkey business going on here. Things that are not right." Okay?
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Someone's playing in a bad way.
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So you notice using the monkey in many idioms is to show there's intelligence, but it's
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either in a negative way, or you're not intelligent. So watch when people use monkey idioms. All right?
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No. 2. As you can tell -- well, I didn't draw it. Mr. E, did you draw is? Somebody doesn't like rats.
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So, "I smell a rat" because this rat doesn't look as happy as the other animals.
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When you smell a rat, it means you smell something's wrong. Rats are dirty, disgusting animals.
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Rat lovers, hold up. "Hold up" means "wait," okay? Hold your peace. I'm not -- I have nothing against --
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well, I do. I don't want rats in my house, okay? But when we say, "I smell a rat,"
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it means (a) you think somebody who may be telling secrets, your secrets to someone else, right?
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But specifically, "smell a rat" is you smell something is wrong because rats are typically bad.
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Most people don't like rats. So if somebody is "ratting" --
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one we even use is "to rat you out," which is to tell your secrets to other people, your bad behavior.
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Smelling a rat is not good. So when someone calls you a rat or uses an idiom or an expression using a rat,
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they're saying something negative about you or the situation.
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I smell a rat. I smell E. I think E did that picture because that rat got a red eye.
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Look closely. Okay.
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"The rat race." Rats tend to run around because they've got no job. They just run around, run around.
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They have no job. They've got nothing to do. They're crazy. Well, not crazy.
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They're just running around your house eating everything. We refer to the "rat race" here
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as any behavior that keeps you very, very, very busy in activity, but not necessarily getting anywhere.
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It's called a "rat race." Get a job. Pay your bills. Die. That's it.
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That's the rat race. You go, "What is the significance -- 'significance' means 'importance' -- of my life?
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What am I trying to accomplish?" So when you're in the rat race, you don't have time for that.
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All the rats are running in the same direction, and so are you. We're out to get our cheese and get the heck out.
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We poop it out, and we die.
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The rat race is what you do with your life unless you take time to think about it.
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So once again, it's kind of negative because people you might -- sorry, I'm going fast.
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You might say the rat race is what everybody does, but people who, you know --
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it's not just reading, but take time to enjoy life go, "No. The rat race is getting caught up in money and business."
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And you should be careful about that. Okay? So that's the "rat race."
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We've got two more. And I love these two and so will you. "To pig out." Notice our svelte pig.
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"Svelte" means "skinny." Quite clearly, this pig is not skinny. "To pig out" means
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to eat a lot of food in a short period of time. Generally, we pig out on holidays.
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When you go home for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Thanksgiving, Valentine's, or family dinners,
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you might "pig out," which means to eat a lot of food in one sitting or at one time.
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I like to pig out when I go home to my mom's because she's a very good cook. You might
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pig out at McDonald's, right? And that means to eat a lot in one sitting. So don't try
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to pig out too much, or you'll get like this pig -- fat. It's not a pretty sight, is it? Okay.
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I've got one more to do, okay? I'll come back to a couple things, here. Okay. "To hog something."
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When you "hog something," it means to keep to yourself for a long time when you should share some with other people.
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You could "hog" the road, which means your car takes up two lanes.
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You know, if you've got two lanes of traffic, okay. If you "hog" the road, you drive here because nobody can move.
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But when you hog a pen, maybe everybody should use the pen for five minutes,
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and you keep the pen for 30 minutes. You're "hogging" it.
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Like all pigs, you keep too much for yourself. Okay? Cool?
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I just want to go over the "rat race" one more -- "smell a rat" one more time to make sure you understand, okay?
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"To smell a rat" means to know or think something is wrong.
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"I smell a rat. I smell someone has told my secrets out, right?" You're smelling a rat.
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If you watch many old gangster movies, they go, "I smell a rat. Someone's been talking. Someone in our group or organization." Right?
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Or -- you know, maybe you go into a negotiation, and
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you're like, "I smell a rat. Something's wrong. I don't like this. This doesn't seem right." Okay?
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Something doesn't seem right when you smell a rat.
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Usually, we use it for a person who is telling your secrets, right, to somebody else that you don't want told, okay? Cool?
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All right.
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To go over very quickly. Monkeys -- positive or negative? Yeah, I like monkeys, but nobody likes them.
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"Monkeying" is usually to do someone playing around when they shouldn't play around or someone of lower intelligence, right?
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"Monkey see, monkey do" -- you're not so smart, that's why you copy someone else. Right.
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"Monkey business" -- you're intelligent, and you're up to something you shouldn't be.
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Illegal activity or unethical activity. Okay? That's my ethical voice. You like that? Okay.
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"Smelling a rat" -- rats are dirty. Okay? If you smell a rat, something's wrong.
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Somebody has told your secret to someone else. Another word is "to leak." I didn't want to use that,
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but leaking your secrets. Leak -- think of this. You have a tap with water, okay?
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Here's the water. And if it's coming out -- a leak -- the water's coming out, and it shouldn't come out, okay?
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That's where your rat is. They're telling your secrets and letting them out.
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The "rat race" is what most of us engage in. "Engage" means "take part in."
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We are usually working and just basically eating, sleeping, working, and doing things that don't really make us better,
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and we don't have time to think about it. And when you're in the rat race,
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you have to keep working and working hard or you go nowhere. But the real funny thing --
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or the very funny thing about it is the rat race, you're not going anywhere.
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You're just running with the other rats.
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The pig looks in shock. Pigs usually look happy. This one is shocked, like, "This is what I look like on EngVid?" Okay. All right.
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Because he has pigged out, you can see the swelling.
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If I'm a doctor, "You can see the swelling of the big area here. It's just -- the food is accumulating here." All right?
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If he hadn't "hogged" the food, which means keep all the food to himself,
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he wouldn't have pigged out, and he wouldn't be in this state here. Okay?
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He looks like a pig. And pig here usually means ugly or disgusting, usually because you're overweight or -- grotesque.
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I don't want to go there. That's another word for another time. Anyway.
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Mr. E, that's why he was shocked, saying, "What the? What the?" With animal expressions, right?
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So we've got our animal expressions down. Rats, monkey, and pigs. You should know.
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They're in the Chinese zodiac, but they're no good, no-good animals.
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And I've got to get going because I'm almost over time. So time flies.
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And we'll talk about birdie games another time I'm sure.
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So where are we? www. "eng" as in "English," "vid" as in "video,".com,
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where myself, Mr. E, and seven, eight, twenty teachers by now are looking forward to helping you.
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And there's no monkey business there. I'm telling you right now because we don't hog the whole show.
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No, no, no, no I share with the other teachers.
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In fact, you won't smell a rat when you go there. Promise. Have a good one.