Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • Guys welcome, if you haven't met me before I'm Tom the English hipster and I

  • teach real natural British English. What do you think of my flags? Pretty cool

  • right? The reason why I've got them is because today I'm going to teach you

  • guys ten idioms that are going to make you sound totally British. I'm talking

  • like Emma Watson Harry Styles if you want to sound like them then you're in

  • the right place.

  • Possibly the most British idiom of all is not my cup of tea. So if something is not your cup of tea

  • it means that you don't like it or it's the kind of thing that you don't like

  • doing. So for example you might say swimming is not really my cup of tea

  • swimming is not really my cup of tea and that just means that you don't like

  • doing it. Maybe you prefer running or doing other things but swimming you

  • don't like doing it so it's not my cup of tea. We often use it in response to

  • the question 'do you like?' so 'do you like running?'

  • 'it's not really my cup of tea' and that just means I don't like doing it. So good

  • If something is a piece of cake it is easy to do not a problem not difficult

  • at all. So obviously for you guys learning English is a piece of cake

  • right okay maybe not learning English I know

  • it can be difficult but maybe you you did an exam and it was an easy

  • exam So you come out of it you tell your friend

  • ah that was a piece of cake and that just means that was really easy I might

  • say I I passed my driving test I it was a piece of cake it was really easy. So

  • something is a piece of cake it's really easy. I love love love this idiom this

  • one is to go pear-shaped and it means that if a plan goes pear-shaped it fails

  • it goes wrong it's a disaster. So for example

  • and maybe I planned to do a Facebook live lesson for you guys and then

  • there's no Wi-Fi, my phone breaks, someone calls on the phone then the Facebook

  • life lesson goes pear-shaped okay it goes wrong I wasn't successful okay so

  • to go pear-shaped is such a great British idiom. Maybe I'm planning a

  • weekend away with my family and then I get sick, I get ill, and maybe the car

  • breaks down it goes pear-shaped so the weekend went pear-shaped. Brilliant idiom

  • sounds so British see if you can use it in a sentence in the comments below. For

  • donkey years this is a great phrase now for donkey's

  • years means a very long time it doesn't specific time not exactly 20 years or a

  • hundred years or two weeks there's no set time it just means a long time so I

  • could say I haven't seen you in donkey's years and that means I haven't seen you

  • for a long time or I haven't been to the gym for donkey's years I haven't been to

  • the gym for donkey's years and again that just means I haven't been for a

  • long time again in your language what do you say do you have a similar idiom is

  • it for horses years or for four counties whatever it is let me know in the

  • comment below two idioms for one here the first one across the pond

  • now here the pond usually it's a small amount of water in this idiom

  • it means the Atlantic Ocean either side of the Atlantic Ocean we have Britain

  • and we have the United States so in Britain when we talk about across the

  • pond we are talking about in America in the United States and then if you're in

  • the United States and they're saying across the pond it means in Britain for

  • example if I was in Britain and I said Harry Styles is really popular across

  • the pond that means that Harry Styles is really popular in America

  • in addition we say down under to mean Australia because I guess we think that

  • they're the other side of the world so they're then down there somewhere

  • so if you're saying I it's really hot down under it means it's really hot in

  • Australia or Harry Styles is really popular down under

  • it means Harry Styles is popular in Australia I don't know what they say for

  • us I put up and over I don't know so nice idiom here cheap as

  • chips it just means something is really cheap okay so opposite of expensive

  • cheap and so on myself I love your jacket how much did it cost is that is

  • cheap as chips just means it's really cheap

  • I guess because chips are quite cheap here so it's just cheap as chips maybe

  • in other countries is cheaper something else let me know in the comments below

  • if you have a similar phrase it's as cheap as so cheap as I don't know

  • something else apples or cheap as mangoes or whatever it might be let me

  • know in the comments below I'd love to hear what your idiom is for the same

  • phrase so if something is really cheap what do you say in an India mastic form

  • this is a fun one pardon my french or excuse my french so if you say pardon my

  • french it's because you used or you are going to use a rude word now obviously I

  • know you guys don't use rude words and neither do i of course pardon my french

  • but that guy is a real and inside and in selling so you can have a lot of fun

  • with it but remember you know I don't use bad

  • language I hope you don't need to use bad language either we can we can

  • communicate without using bad words this next phrase to do a run so this means to

  • leave a place or a situation to avoid something unpleasant commonly it's used

  • maybe to describe leaving a restaurant without paying ok so maybe at the end of

  • the red at the end you get your bill and you

  • just leave without paying not very cool but this is to do a runner to avoid a

  • situation by leaving very quickly very hastily is not usually very cool to do a

  • runner but yes I think in a restaurant is probably the context that we do we

  • use it most so I've never done a runner there we are that's the example sentence

  • I've never done a runner from a restaurant means I've never left without

  • paying I promise I promise I love this idiom it she feeds so itchy is that

  • feeling that we get maybe when a mosquito bites us and then oh it's very

  • itchy you want to scratch it so that's the ceiling it she feet but it doesn't

  • have the same meaning each she feeds has a totally different meaning it means

  • that you want to do something different or go somewhere different than where you

  • are now so often we feel it maybe and when we are in one place and we want to

  • go somewhere different so for example when I when I'm in London I love being

  • here but I also want to go and travel somewhere else somewhere new go to a

  • beach in Thailand or go to walk around the city of Rome or Barcelona or Venice

  • or something so it's that feeling of wanting to go somewhere different or do

  • something different you can't do something to save your life can't do

  • something to save your life this is a great phrase really natural so if you

  • can't do something to save your life it's a very exaggerated way to say that

  • you are rubbish at doing it you're not very good at doing it let me give you an

  • example I am a terrible drawer I cannot draw it I when I try to draw fingers and

  • it looks like big potatoes it's a disaster so I would say I can't draw to

  • save my life I can't draw to save my life and that just means I'm rubbish at

  • drawing I'm not very good at drawing this is a great phrase

  • I can't do something to save my life so another example and I can't speak French

  • to say in my life I learned French for six years something like that and I'm

  • terrible it's embarrassing just read digitally which I think means

  • I'm sorry I think so I can't speak French to save my life just means I'm

  • terrible at speaking French guys have I left any British English idioms out

  • which ones have I forgotten please let me know in the comments below and you

  • can also teach your other EC dreamers as well thank you so much for hanging out

  • any guys remember to subscribe to my channel hit the like button share this

  • with anyone that you know that's learning English and let's help as many

  • people as we can learn English together thank you so much for hanging out with

  • me this is Tom the English hipster saying goodbye it's so good good cup of

  • tea honestly a good cup of tea you just

  • makes everything all right in the world you just feel calm relaxed all your

  • worries disappear so good kids

  • you

Guys welcome, if you haven't met me before I'm Tom the English hipster and I

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it