Welcome to ALC Idiom 100, where we learn 100 commonly used idioms by native English speakers.

All of the explanations are in English, but please listen carefully and imagine what the meanings might be.

It might be challenging, but if you study hard, soon you can use these idioms on your own.

Is everyone ready? Let's begin.

Hello again!

Today's idiom is: better half.

Better half.

Hmm, what's this mean?

Well, you know the meaning of half, right?

So, let's picture a circle and you're gonna cut in half, okay?

Then you have two halves.

Maybe they're equal or maybe one is better and one is not so good, hmm, maybe.

Okay, so let's listen to the examples and try to think about the meaning of better half.

The first example:

Do you think you'll be able to attend the couples party?

Well, I’m not sure if we can make it, let me check with my better half.

Alright, so they're talking about a couples party and he's going to check with his better half.

Maybe that's his wife?

Do you think?

Okay, let's listen to the second example.

Where is your better half today?

Oh! She's watching the kids today!

Ah, okay, so again with the half, two halves, maybe one is the husband, one is the wife.

Okay, so when we talk about better half, it means we're talking about a husband or a wife.

And you can use this to describe your husband or wife or the person you're speaking to, their husband or wife, okay?

So, it's a good way to use this expression, but be careful, you can't use this expression to describe yourself as the better half.

That sounds a little arrogant.

Okay, so only use it to describe the other person in the marriage, okay?

So, let's try talking about your better half sometime today.

See you next time! Good-bye!