Add More Fun! Teaching Idioms #2
Teaching idioms can be a fun way to incorporate something useful and native into your ESL lesson. You could have an idiom segment each week where you teach a new idiom, or teach several at a time. Here’s a second go-to list for some great idioms if you want to give students a break from the serious pressure of studying and add a little interest to your lesson!
Money Idioms:
Like a million bucks
“Wow, Mary, you look like a million bucks this evening. I love your dress!”
Bucks = USD
= Look amazing, handsome, beautiful
Costs an arm and a leg
“The price of chocolate has doubled. I nearly paid an arm and a leg for a small candy bar.”
= so expensive
Break the bank
“Taking a week-long vacation would break the bank. There’s no way I could afford to do it.”
= so expensive
Shelling out
“I wish I didn’t buy that new car now that I’m shelling out $1,000 a month in payments.”
= paying a lot
Fork over
“She had to fork over a lot of money for traffic fines last month.”
= paying a lot
Went Dutch
“We had a date last night and we went Dutch. I paid for my coffee and she paid for her salad.”
= each pay for our own meal
Loaded
Billy paid his Harvard Law School tuition with cash. His family is loaded.”
= has a lot of money
Make Ends Meet
“I don’t make much from my job as a cashier, but I’m able to make ends meet. I always have enough money for rent and groceries.”
= have just enough money to live
Nature Idioms:
Under the weather
“She’s feeling a little under the weather so be quiet and let her rest.”
= feeling a little sick
Calm Before the Storm
“Everything with her boyfriend was going well, but she didn’t know it was just the calm before the storm.”
= calm moments before something bad happens
When it rains, it pours
“First he was laid off, then his wife got into a car accident. When it rains, it pours.“
= When one thing bad happens, everything bad happens.
Once in a blue moon
“He used to calls his parents once in a blue moon.”
= rarely
Beating around the bush
“I don’t have much time, so stop beating around the bush and tell me what actually happened.”
= to not be direct while speaking
Go with the flow
“Just go with the flow and see what happens!”
= be flexible, see what happens
Break the ice
“He made a weather joke to break the ice.”
= to stop awkwardness of not knowing someone, to start becoming friends
Cold as stone
“Men are often told to hide their feelings and thus, appear as cold as stone.”
= unfeeling, hard, emotionless
Every cloud has a silver lining
“Don’t worry about losing your job. It’ll be okay. Every cloud has a silver lining!“
= every bad thing has a good part if you look hard enough