Education
Would you like to help support better English around the world? You can support this podcast and more with a small contribution at https://ko-fi.com/billgreen54 American English grammar review with Billgreen54. Idioms! Remember idioms can be both literal and idiomatic, meaning you can't see it as something that people use to describe a situation or something that has happened in the past. Black sheep, an outcast, I have an example for you. I haven't seen my own goals since I was a child because he isn't in contact with my parents. He's the black sheep of the family. In other words, we don't talk to him much. He's the one that people don't speak with very often. Another example might be, hey, all the girls in that family except Mary grew up to become respected members of the community. She was the black sheep of the family. So black sheep obviously has a negative connotation. The expression probably originates from the fact that most sheep are white, and only the very different ones are black, black tie, formal dress, in which men wear black bow ties and dinner jackets or tuxedos and women wear formal, usually floor length dresses. Here's an example. The dinner was black tie, so all the men wore black bow ties and dinner jackets. Another example The film stars wedding was black tie, it was a glamorous affair that I'll never forget. So when we talk about the dinner was black tie, it means a very special event where we're going to dress up maybe with a tuxedo, and of course, the expression originates from the black bow tie that is part of a man's formal dress. Blow one's own horn, it means to most or brag to blow one's own horn. An example: Hey, Keith lets everyone know that the boss is going to make him the new assistant manager. He likes to blow his own horn. In other words, to brag or to tell everybody what's going to happen when he gets promoted. Another example, hey, Ruth won't make many friends if she keeps blowing her own horn about her accomplishments. There's an example where somebody likes telling everybody about all the good things they have done. Blowing one's horn has a little history to it. It dates back to at least the 16th century. This phrase is a reference to the practice of blowing horns to announce the arrival of important officials, such as kings to blow one's own horn to most or claim a position of superiority over others. Here's one where someone gets a little bit angry, blow one stack to become suddenly very angry. When Emily's father saw the damage she had done to the family car, he blew his stack. In other words, he got very angry. Another example: Hey, I hope the boss doesn't blow his stack. When he finds out. I didn't finish this work on time. You could compare this expression or this idiom blow one's stack to raise Cain. He raised Cain and he was so angry. He flew off the handle. He got his dander up, he blew off steam. All of those could be compared to blow one's stack. Here's another interesting idiom to run hot and cold to have mixed or inconsistent feelings about something. An example: Hey, I don't understand jack. One day he's really nice to me and the next day. He couldn't care less. He runs hot and cold. Pam runs hot in gold about studying nursing. Sometimes she says she would enjoy it and sometimes she says it would be too much work. Hey, I hope you enjoyed today's lesson American English grammar review with Billgreen54. Thanks for listening! Would you like to help support better English around the world? You can support this podcast with a small contribution at https://ko-fi.com/billgreen54 ESL Teacher Billgreen54 shares American English at its best! Pronunciation, Intonation, Spelling, Grammar Rules! It's all here in this special podcast! Our English lessons are easy to understand! Our podcast is created for Native English speakers as well as ESL students! Whether you are studying English as a second language or as a refresher! Have fun with English! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/english-grammar-review/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/english-grammar-review/support