I guess you would have come across this idiom sometime as it is one of many common idioms that are used everyday. Do you know what it means? Perhaps if you can see it in a conversation you might know what it means.

James: Riku won a million dollars the other day.  Did you hear about it?

Jane: What? Riku won a million dollars?! Come on, you must be pulling my leg.

We’ll continue the conversation below but first can you guess the meaning of the idiom from these sentences?

The meaning to deceive someone or joke with someone about something to make the other person think that something is true when it is not, mostly for fun.

Let’s continue the conversation…

James: Why would I pull your leg anyway? It’s true.  I heard it from Tom just this morning.

Jane: Ah! That makes sense, he was pulling your leg.  I’m sure of it.

James: Well, then there’s only one thing left to do.

Jane: What is it?

James: Call Tom and find out the truth, of course!

Jane: I’ll call him myself.

Jane (calling Tom): Hi Tom, just a quick word. I want to ask you a simple question.  Were you pulling James’s leg when you said that Riku has won a million dollars? You did.  Didn’t you?

Tom: Why would I pull James’ s leg? I’m not that mean.  Riku did win a million dollars.

Jane: Oh! I just couldn’t believe it.  That’s all.  Sorry.

Tom: Never mind.  Now you know.

Jane: Yeah.  Thanks.

James: So, what did Tom say?

Jane: You’re right.  Riku did become a millionaire.  Fancy that! I never thought that he’ll become a millionaire.

Well, there you are.  Now it is your turn to practice.  Practise as much as possible in your conversations.  You can start by adding your own conversation example in the comment section below! Go for it!

Photo Credit: Tinou Bao

Let’s say that someone says, “The name Barcelona rings a bell but I can’t remember where it is”, would you understand what they mean? Stay around if you do not know what it means. Another way of saying this idiom is to use it with the word ‘any’ in it. Such as, “Does it ring any bells?”

Let’s look at a longer example and see if you can guess the meaning of the expression by reading around it.

Henry: Mary, Tom is off on holidays. Isn’t he? Rita was telling me that Tom told her that he might be going somewhere sunny. Do you know anything more about it?
Mary: Now that you bring it up, Tom saying that he wanted go somewhere warm does ring a bell. He was speaking fondly of Copacabana. I have a feeling that that’s where he went.
Henry: Lucky guy! I would love to be there with him right this instant. Ipanema would be lovely too.
Mary: I know I’ve heard of Copacabana but Ipanema doesn’t ring any bells though.
Henry: Doesn’t it? It’s another famous tourist destination in Brazil.

Can you guess its meaning now? It simply means that something reminds you of something or is familiar. In other words, when someone tells you something or you see something, it reminds you of something or it is familiar to you.

Here’s another example:

Phil: Cherry, are you familiar with these travel procedures?
Cherry: I’m afraid they don’t ring any bells at all. I might have to ask Karen to show me how to do it.

Well, it’s now your turn to add some examples below…

The full version of this idiom is ‘being all ears‘ and it is often used in conversation. Have you come across it before?

See if you can guess the meaning from the following dialogue…

Tim: Mike, I’ve got some good news to tell you.
Mike: Go on. I’m all ears.
Tim: I just heard that we’ll have a holiday tomorrow.
Mike: That’s great news!

In this situation, Mike is telling Tim that he’s ready to listen to what Tim is going to tell him. In other words, you can use it to express the idea that you have now started to pay attention to what the other person is going to say.

Photo Credit: Agastecheg

We’ll now look at some examples for using the ‘all ears’ idiom.

1. Children, I want you to be all ears to what I’m about to say, because it’s really important.
2. When it comes to money, Jerry is all ears.

Conversation example
Sandy: Toni, I’ve got some news about Mary.
Toni: About Mary? Tell me, I’m all ears.
Sandy: When Mary came running yesterday with a big grin on her face, I was all ears. You know, I could tell she was about to tell us something big.  Then she surprised us all by saying that she’s getting married!
Toni: Wow! It’s fantastic news, but I still can’t believe it. Is she getting married soon?
Sandy: Yes.  Next month in Hawaii!
Toni: Oh, I’m so happy for her.

Now it’s your turn to think of some examples for this idiom…good luck!

Students of spoken English often wish for a more complex vocabulary, believing that by using long words in their conversation, others might consider them as being ‘well educated’, and perhaps even a little ‘intelligent’.

Maybe this is true with certain people, but we would like you to consider the argument for striving for ‘simplicity’ and ‘ease of understanding’.

Getting others to understand your ideas, thoughts and feelings is not an easy thing to do; even for native speakers.  By keeping things simple, clear and precise, we encourage greater understanding.

Here’s a quote from the chapter ‘The Case for Short Words’ from Richard Lederer’s book ‘The Miracle of Language’ (page 34).  It gives us some good advice:
“Here is a sound rule: Use small, old words where you can.  If a long word says just what you want to say, do not fear to use it.  But know that our tongue (spoken English) is rich in crisp, brisk, swift, short words.  Make them the spine and the heart of what you speak and write.  Short words are like fast friends.  They will not let you down.”

When considering ‘keywords’ that best express your ideas, thoughts and feelings, try giving preference to ‘small, old words (well known and commonly used words)’, and strive for better understanding.

Photo Credit:  Sebastian Fissore

Conversation practice is the single most important exercise for the student of spoken English.

If you are not having regular conversation practice, then you are seriously hindering your progress.

Prepare subjects for conversation and then make ‘appointments’ with other students for conversation practise on those subjects: at least 3 conversations, with 3 different people, on each subject.

Spoken English is a ‘practical’ skill; like playing basketball or playing the guitar.  Unless there is practical application there will be no progress!

TAKE ACTION!  DO IT NOW!

Photo Credit:  Claudia Veja

Students of English often have problems with their pronunciation in relation to word endings (suffixes).

In this article we are going to look at how to pronounce some words that end with the letters ‘ge‘.

Can you think of a few words with this ending (suffix)?

There must be many words that come to mind…

We’re not going to look at the pronunciation of all of them because as you may know, they don’t all have the same pronunciation.  In this post we’ll focus on just one kind of ‘ge‘ pronunciation.

Here’s the list of the words that we are looking at – ‘message‘, ‘passage‘, ‘college‘, ‘manage‘,  ‘damage‘, ‘salvage‘, ‘bandage‘ and ‘large‘.

Listen carefully to the recording… and practise!  Each word will be pronounced once slowly and twice at the normal speed.

Listen and practise until you can get it right! Perhaps you can also think of other words with the same kind of ending!!

This idiom is a commonly used one.  Perhaps you have heard it before.  Do you know its meaning? If someone told you the sentence, “Oh, I’m over the moon today”, what would they mean?

For those of you who are not sure about the meaning, it means that that person is so happy (very happy, overjoyed).

Here are some examples…

I got my exam result this morning.  You know, I’m simply over the moon about it.  I can’t wait to tell my parents the good news.

Vincent is over the moon these days.  He just bought a new house.

Here’s a conversation example…

Photo Credit: A. Feldmann

Sheila: Jane, I’ve got some good news to tell you.

Jane: Really? I can’t wait.

Sheila: I’ve just been promoted! I’m now the head of the Sales Department at our headquarters.

Jane: Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.  You must be over the moon!

Sheila: Thanks.  Yes.   I guess I am over the moon.  You know, I’ve waited for this to happen for so long.  I still can’t believe that it’s finally happened.

Extra idiom practice…

There is a similar idiom which can be substituted for this one in sentences.  Can you guess it?

It’s ‘on cloud nine‘.  In fact, you can put ‘on cloud nine‘ in all of the above examples and still keep the original meaning.

Well, it’s now your turn to add some examples.  You’ve got two idioms to practise this time.  Keep them coming!

If you want to ask somebody about their opinion on a particular subject,  how would you ask the question?

Let’s imagine that you want to ask someone’s opinion about  ‘surfing’… how would you ask their opinion?

We’re sure that you can think of at least one way to put forward the question…

Can you think of a few different ways?  How did you go?

Maybe we can help you out -

Here are a few ways you can ask the question.

The usual ways…

1. What’s your opinion on surfing?
2. What are your views on surfing?
3. What’s your perspective on surfing?
4. How do you consider surfing?

More casual ways…

1. What do you think about surfing?
2. How do you feel about surfing?
3. What would you say about surfing?
4. What’s your take on surfing?
5. How do you see surfing?

Particular kind of opinion…

1. What’s your honest opinion about surfing?
2. Would you tell me your informed opinions on surfing?
3. Please tell me your personal opinions about surfing…

As you can see,  there are so many ways to ask someone about their opinion.

Can you think of any other way to ask someone for their opinion on a subject?

It’s possible that you’ve heard this idiom in the news in recent times… Have you heard it before? If you have heard it before, do you know what it means?

Photo Credit: Sanja Gjenero

We’ll give you an example… see if you can work out the meaning.

“The President elect, Mr. Obama and his new administration team, would have to hit the ground running when he takes office this month, in order to tackle the enormous challenges facing the US right now.”

Have you guessed the meaning now? For those who are not sure, ‘hit the ground running’ means, to start working on something (activity, task, project) immediately and successfully.

Let’s look at some examples…

“Tom, I’m going to have to hit the ground running when I start the new term at school.  We have so many important exams coming up in this term.”

“If you want to do well in your new job, you need to hit the ground running, from the first day at work.”

Conversation example

Jill: Mum, would you like to go shopping with me this moring?

Mum: I’d love to, Jill, but I’m afraid I can’t.  I’m going to have to hit the ground running on this project this weekend, to have any chance of finishing it by Monday.

Jill: What a pity! I was really hoping that you’ll go with me.

Mum: I’m really sorry.  I’ll try and make it up to you next week.

Well, it’s now your turn…  See if you can make your own examples and add them to the comments section below!

Out of the blue is a commonly used idiom. Do you know it?
It’s used to describe an event that happened (or is happening) unexpectedly, without warning or preparation.

Photo Credit: Christian Sherratt

Here are some examples:

“Out of the blue, my parents decided to buy me a brand new car for my birthday.  I’m so happy.”

“I hate it when out of the blue, things start going wrong.”

Conversation example

Jim: Melissa, you’ve been a good secretary at our company for two years now.  Unfortunately, I have to let you go. We’ll pay you 2 months salary.

Melissa: Do you mean that you’re firing me?

Jim: Yeah, I’m afraid so. Out of the blue, our company lost millions of dollars this week in the global financial crisis.  This has forced us to fire most of the staff.

Melissa: This is terrible! You know I really love this job.  This whole thing is out of the blue for me. I still can’t believe it.

Jim: I know…I’m really sorry.

See if YOU can create some examples like these…  after you have created them, you can write them in the comments section below!