Lesson 4 | Idioms 10 - 12

Welcome to episode four of the weekly idiom series with me, Teacher Tiffany. All right, today we're gonna talk about three different very useful English idioms. So let's jump right in. All right, I'm gonna go back to my screen and I want to show you guys the first idiom. The first idiom is get the upper hand. One more time, get the upper hand. Now, this means to get into a stronger position than someone else so that you are controlling a situation. Okay, get the upper hand. So the first example is government troops are gradually gaining the upper hand over the rebels, okay? So let me explain this situation. So again, if you're in a war situation, there are two sides. So right now we have the government and the rebels, okay? Those who are going against the law, okay? We call them rebels, all right? So the government and the rebels and right now they are fighting against each other. However, the rebels are in a swamp area, an area with a lot of water that is hard to travel in. But the government finds a way to get to a higher point and they are now above the rebels. So they're at an advantage or they have the upper hand, okay? So again, upper hand. All right, so let's go back and look at that example one more time. Government troops are gradually gaining the upper hand over the rebels, okay? All right, example number two. He got the upper hand in his fight with his friend. So again, we have another battle between two people and it says he got the upper hand, okay? He got an advantage or a stronger position. And finally, the team got the upper hand when their opponent's star quarterback went out with an injury, okay? All right, so again, when we say star, that means the best player on that team. And again, quarterback. So in American football, the one who has the football and throws it to another player is called the quarterback. So their best player, their best quarterback had an injury. Now what happens? That means the other team can now start to win because the other team's quarterback or best player is now injured. They have a weakness, okay? So the other team gets the upper hand, okay? So think about in your own personal life or in your work environment or school environment, when do you get the upper hand or an advantage or a stronger position, okay? All right, now we're gonna move on to number two. The second idiom is give him a hand. One more time, give him a hand. Now, this just means to help, aid or assist. It can also mean to applaud or clap. Now, we're gonna focus on the first part of this definition, to help, aid or assist, okay? So could you please give me a hand carrying this mattress? Again, could you please give me a hand carrying this mattress? All right, now very quickly, I want us to look at this and let's think about this for a second. Hands, we use our hands to pick up things and to move things. So if someone needs our help, we usually use our hands to help them. We give them a hand. That's the easiest way for you to remember this actual idiom, okay? All right, now back to our second example. Could you give me a hand with this box? One more time, could you give me a hand with this box? Or you could say, could you help me with this box? All right, and finally, the little boy gave the old woman a hand with her groceries, okay? So again, the little boy saw that the old woman wasn't strong enough to lift her groceries. So he wanted to help using his hands. He wanted to help her with her groceries. So he gave her a hand, okay? All right, now our third idiom. The third idiom we have today is give the cold shoulder. Again, give the cold shoulder. Now this means to ignore someone deliberately. Now this is an idiom we use all of the time. So our first example is, at the party, Carl tried to talk to Suzanne, but she gave him the cold shoulder. So again, there's a party. And Carl and Suzanne are at the party. Now Carl really likes Suzanne, but Suzanne does not like Carl. So as Carl comes to approach her, she ignores him. She gives him the cold shoulder. A very useful idiom, okay? Whenever someone is ignoring another person, they are giving them the cold shoulder, all right? Okay, and next we have, stop giving him the cold shoulder. Again, you can say, stop ignoring him. Stop ignoring her. Stop giving him or her the cold shoulder, okay? All right, and the last example for this one is, the kids all gave her the cold shoulder. It means the kids ignored her. You know how sometimes little children can be a little bit mean, you know, kids are kids. So if you're in elementary school, sometimes kids tease other kids. And they can also ignore other kids or give them the cold shoulder, okay? So again, the last idiom was, give the cold shoulder, okay, to ignore someone deliberately. All right, I hope you enjoyed this episode and I hope you learned a lot. Remember, these three idioms, I want you to try to use them at least one time this week. Okay, have a great day and I'll talk to you in our next episode.