#209: 12 Beautiful English Idioms to Help you Understand Natives

If you have a soft spot for idioms, this podcast will take your breath away! Ethan and Andrea teach you 12 beautiful idioms so that you can understand their meaning and start using them in conversation. Plus, they answer the question we so often get asked: what’s the difference between an idiom and an expression?

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Words You’ll Learn:

  • Spell-check
  • Debunk
  • Corridor
  • A means to an end
  • Get one’s elbows dirty
  • Build rapport

Quick Definitions:

  • Give credit where credit is due: this is an expression that means that you should praise someone who deserves it
  • “Psychological trigger: something that causes someone to feel in a certain way or to do something.
  • “Some people believe that natives are a magic bullet: something that works as a magic solution to a problem, often involving little or no effort at all.
  • “…give you the English language spoon-fed”: If something is spoon-fed to you, it’s given to you and you don’t have to make an effort to get it, earn it, learn it, etc.
  • Take something with a grain of salt: to regard something as exaggerated; believe only part of something.
  • “That’s something that kind of sours people to learning with non-natives”: to become, or cause to become, less pleasant, friendly, or successful.
  • “Do they light up when they’re telling that story?”: to look happy.
  • “It boils down to what you want to achieve?”: to reduce information, usually so that it contains only its most important parts.

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  • Lourdes says:

    It’s a great podcast. The softness and calm in Andrea’s voice makes them together with Ethan an excellent duo!

    Keep it up 🙂

  • Piotr says:

    Hi, it seems that words and quick definitions above are the same as in the episode #208, is it possible to fix it?
    By the way, this is great podcast and you do really good job 🙂

    • Agnieszka from RealLife English says:

      Thank you for pointing this out! We will fix it ASAP. Thank you for your support, Piotr! Happy New Year!