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  • Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. In the next few minutes you will learn to understand and use

  • eight idioms which are used very commonly by native English speakers. Okay? Now, of

  • course, there are thousands of idioms in English. And just to remind you: What are idioms?

  • Idioms are expressions that have a different meaning when used... When the words are used together

  • than when they are used separately. But even though there are thousands - don't worry.

  • Today our goal, our mission is for you to know eight more idioms than when you woke

  • up this morning. Okay? So, let's get started.

  • Number one. Oh, by the way, I tried to make it a little bit easier for you by choosing

  • four that start with "in" and four that start with "on". Okay? I hope that helps. All right,

  • number one: "in the loop". What does it mean to be "in the loop"? It means to be... First

  • of all, a "loop" is like something round, a circle. Okay? Kind of like a circle or...

  • Or if I take this wire and I make it go around, I will loop it around. Okay? So, "loop" is

  • like a circle. So, if you are "in the loop", you're part of a group of people who know

  • what's happening. Okay? That's what it means. So, sometimes there are in... Let's say in

  • a company, there are some people who are lower down, and there's some people who are a little

  • bit higher up, and they know exactly what's going on, they are in the loop. Okay? They

  • know what's happening, or part of a group of people who know what's happening.

  • Okay. Now: "in two minds". What does it mean to be "in two minds"? What do you think it

  • means? In this is one mind, this is another mind - no. Okay. So, "in two minds" means

  • you're not sure what to do. You feel like doing this, then you feel like doing that,

  • so you are in two minds. It means you're undecided or unsure. Okay?

  • Next, number three: "in hot water". Okay. What do you think it means: "in hot water",

  • to be in hot water? I don't know. Maybe you have a similar expression in your language.

  • Well, in English, it's not good to be in hot water. In English, if you're in hot water

  • it means you are in trouble. Okay? So it's not a good thing. All right.

  • And number four: "in no time". What does that mean: "in no time"? It means very, very quickly.

  • All right? "In no time" means very quickly.

  • Let's review. "In the loop" means you're part of a circle of people or a group of people

  • who know what's going on. "In hot water" means you're in trouble. "In two minds" means you're

  • unsure, you're undecided. And "in no time" means very fast, very quickly. Okay? Let's

  • go on to the next four. Are you ready? Let's go.

  • Number five: "on a mission". If you are on a mission, which I believe you are, it means

  • you are determined to do something, you are very serious about achieving something, a

  • goal, a target. Okay? You are on a mission.

  • I think you are on a mission to improve your English, that's why you're watching this video.

  • Okay, number six: "on my own". Now, I've written: "on my own", but you can actually write anything;

  • "on my own", "on your own", "on his own", "on her own", "on our own", "on their own".

  • Okay? But what does it mean if I say: "I'm on my own"? It means I'm alone.

  • Or: "I did it on my own" means I did it by myself. Okay? So, what it means is just that person alone;

  • not with any help or not with anyone else there. Okay?

  • Number seven: "on good terms". What does it mean to be on good terms with somebody? Well,

  • I hope you're on good terms with your boss, with your colleagues, with your neighbours.

  • It means you have a good relationship with them. Okay? "On good terms" means a good relationship.

  • And the last one, here: "on second thought", okay? So, "on second thought" means on thinking

  • a little bit more, when I think a little bit further, then I think this. So what this suggests

  • is that first you made one decision, but then after thinking some more, then on second thought

  • you decided something different. Okay? So, whenever you say: "on second thought", you're

  • going to say that that new thing is different from whatever you had decided earlier. Okay?

  • So, just to review: if you are alone, you could say you are "on your own". If you change

  • your mind and you thought something first and now you think something else, so then

  • what expression could you use? "On second thought", good. If you are determined to do

  • something and nothing's going to stop you, you could use which idiom? You could use the idiom:

  • "on a mission". And if you get along very well with people, you can say you are

  • "on good terms" with them, very nice. Let's use them now, okay?

  • Number one. So, the first four you have to choose from here. Okay? I'll make it easier

  • for you. And the last four from there. So: "Who are you going to vote for? I'm __________."

  • Somebody asks you. But you don't know yet, so you say: "I'm not sure. I'm...

  • I'm

  • in two minds." Okay? Let's say you're not sure whether to vote for this person or that person, then

  • you can say: "I'm in two minds. I'm not sure." Good. So, we'll take that out. Okay.

  • Number two: "The boss found out he lied. He's __________."

  • Okay? So, this person lied, the boss found out. Now, what is the situation of that person?

  • He's... Is he in the loop, is he in hot water, was he in no time? I think he's

  • in hot water.

  • Okay? He's in trouble. Good.

  • Number three: "I won't be long. I'll be back __________."

  • Very quickly. How do we say very quickly? "I'll be back

  • in no time." Very good.

  • So you probably know the last one: "Ask John what happened. He'll know. He's __________."

  • "in the loop", right? He's part of that group

  • of people who know what's going on. Okay?

  • Let's try the last four. Okay.

  • "Will someone be joining you? No, I'm __________."

  • Let's say you go into a restaurant, the waiter asks you: "Ma'am, will someone be joining

  • you?" And you say: "No, I'm"...

  • I'm what? How do we say I'm alone? I'm... The nice way

  • to say it, actually. It's much nicer than saying: "I'm alone." We can say:

  • "I'm on my own." All right? "I'm on my own." It means I'm by myself.

  • Number six: "He's __________ to change the world."

  • Okay? "He's __________ to change the world." He's determined, he's very serious about it.

  • He wants to achieve this goal. So, what can we say?

  • "He's on a mission to change the world."

  • Very nice.

  • Number seven: "We're __________ with our neighbours."

  • They're really nice. We like them, they like us. We're all

  • on good terms. So: "We're on good terms with our neighbours."

  • Good.

  • And the last one: "__________, I decided not to go out tonight."

  • After thinking some more, I decided not to go out, so:

  • "On second thought, I decided not to go out tonight." Okay?

  • I hope you understood those well. But just to make sure, we're going to do one last really

  • quick review, which I think you'll enjoy.

  • All right. So, now let's see how these idioms can be used in real life. Read with me.

  • "Now that you're in the loop about the meanings of these idioms, you won't be in hot water

  • on your next English exam." What did that mean? "Now that you're in the loop", now that

  • you are among the people in the world who know the meanings of these idioms, you won't

  • be in hot water, you won't be in trouble on your next English exam. Isn't that great?

  • Let's continue. "In fact, I'm sure you'll soon start using them on your own." What does

  • that mean? You'll soon start using them by yourself. Okay. "On second thought,

  • if you do a quiz at www.engvid.com

  • you'll learn them even faster." "On second thought" means on

  • thinking some more, on thinking about it some more. "And since you're on a mission to transform

  • your English"-since you are determined, since you have this goal in mind

  • -"subscribe to my YouTube channel, so you can reach your goal in no time."

  • "In no time", very quickly. All right? Thanks for watching.

  • Good luck with your English. Bye for now.

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. In the next few minutes you will learn to understand and use

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