Idioms! Butter Someone Up & Word Of Mouth! English with Billgreen54

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American English Grammar Review

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American English grammar review with Billgreen54. Idioms another fun part of English. Hey today let's start out with the idiom butter someone up. It means to flatter someone, usually excessively in order to gain a fever. An example is Hey, my wife bought me candy and sent flowers. And now she's telling me how good my cooking is. I think she wants something and is trying to butter me up. So that I'll agree. Another example, if you want the professor to do a favor, just ask her, don't butter her up. This idiom is in reference to the act of covering someone in praise or flattery, like covering us slice of bread with butter. Next up is buy something for a song or just a buy for a song Hey, to buy something very cheaply. Here's an example. Sue and Dennis found an antique painting in that shop. But the salesman didn't know its true value, it must be worth a small fortune, and they bought it for a song. So they paid very little money for it. Here's another example. The man was desperate to get rid of his car, so I was able to buy it for a song. In other words, I bought it for very little money. Next up is by hook or by crook, by one way or another or by any means possible. Here's an example. Margaret was determined to lose 25 pounds before summer, by hook or by crook. In other words, she was very, very determined. Another example, hey, Bruce would be such an asset to this company. But there aren't any positions open right now. by hook or by crook, we'll have to get him a job in this office, by the book also go by the bog. It's when we operate according to the rules, doing something that is by the rules, and not ignoring the way we're supposed to do something maybe with a policy, something like that. An example is Hey, the pilot might have carried out some pre flight procedures more quickly. But because he was training a new pilot, he did everything by the book. So the trainee would learn the procedures the right way. Another example, as a parent raising children, you can't always go by the book and follow the rules. Sometime you have to use your intuition. The expression probably originates from the idea that the procedure or accepted rules of an established game are set down in a book. In other words, it is something that you're supposed to do correctly by the seat of one's pants, to do something to accomplish something by luck and instinct rather than skill. Here's an example. at the last minute the boss was taken ill and Kate had to give the sales presentation. She was not sure the best way to proceed. But she used the notes that the boss had prepared and followed her instincts, she managed the presentation by the seat of her bands. In other words, she did a good job right. Another example, the children had never cooked a whole meal or use a washing machine before when their mother left in an emergency. They kept things going at the house by the seat of their pants, hey, there are two synonyms that can be used in the same way to wing it. And to play it by ear by the skin of one's teeth to be a very narrow margin. In other words, something happened and it was very, very close. Here's an example. The thief leaped from one building to another to escape the police. He almost missed the second building, but he made it by the skin of his teeth. I have another example for you. Hey, Dan and Mark were swimming in the ocean and spotted a shark coming toward them. They swam to their boat and pulled themselves out of the water just in time they made it out of the water by the skin of their teeth. You could compare skin of one's teeth to the term or the idiom, close shave. Next up is by word of mouth the informal verbal passing of information from one person to another. Here's an example. Walter heard about it from one of the company's employees even though it had not been advertised in the newspaper. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/english-grammar-review/message