Name: 5 British Idioms I Use EVERY DAY! (Modern RP) + FREE PDF
Uploaded: 2024-06-17T04:14:27.000Z
Duration: 12 min 19 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hello everyone, my name is Dylan and welcome to another video.

If you are new here, hi there. I post fun and entertaining English lessons every single Friday.

Today, I'm going to be sharing five everyday expressions that will help you to sound more like a native British speaker.

As always, everything we cover in today's lesson will be included in a free PDF.

You don't need to enter your email address, just hit the link in the top comment and press download.

So, the first expression does sound a bit weird.

It sounds like it probably isn't that commonly used but I promise you, this is an everyday expression and it's one that I personally use a lot as well.

So, the expression is, "I'll eat my hat." I'll eat my hat.

Well, this is used when you think that something is very unlikely to happen.

So, you're kind of saying, if this thing happens, I will be so surprised that I'll eat my hat.

It's almost like you're making a bet with someone.

Now that you know what it means, you are probably wondering to yourself, "Well, that sounds cool but how do I use that in my daily life?"

So, there are two main ways that this expression is used.

The first way and the most common way, in my opinion, is to say, "I'll eat my hat if... (unlikely thing happens)."

So," I'll eat my hat if pigs start flying."

You know, you don't think it's going to happen.

If it does, you'll be so surprised you will actually eat your hat.

Well, you might not actually do it but, you know, you might.

Who knows? We don't really have very good food here so it's always an option.

So, I was with my friends the other day and we were sat in a bar having a drink.

We were waiting on one of our other friends to join us and he was saying that he was going to be with us in 20 minutes.

He is a dear friend but I must admit he is a little bit of a sloth in general.

Like, this guy is always late to everything.

I'm hardly one to talk but this guy is even worse than me, right?

So, he said, "I'll be there in 20 minutes." and I said, "Yeah, right. I'll eat my hat if you're here in 20 minutes."

So, it just shows that this thing is so unlikely to happen.

So, the second way that you can use this expression is to play the old Uno reverse card, switch it up and actually start by saying the unlikely thing.

So, if you're here in 20 minutes, I'll eat my hat.

As mentioned, I personally prefer the first method.

But you can use whichever one you prefer.

By the way, this expression actually originates from Charles Dickens himself.

Number two and I really like this one because I can fully visualize it in my mind whilst I'm saying it.

So, the expression is, "nothing is set in stone."

So, this expression sounds really cool but what does it actually mean?

Right, let's start by looking at the opposite of this expression.

If something is set in stone, it means that it has already been decided, right?

It's going to be very hard, if not, impossible to change.

Let me just show you this picture right here, okay?

So, this picture shows a message that is literally set in stone.

You know, unless you are an extremely skilled stone carver.

In which case, you know, fair play, mate.

Therefore, when we say that "nothing is set in stone," this just means that it can be changed, right?

So, let me just show you some examples of how we might use this in an everyday situation.

So, the first thing you need to know is that this is most commonly used when you are making plans with someone.

Just to let them know there is an element of flexibility.

You know, we can change these plans if we need to.

For example, I was speaking to one of my students the other day and I said something like, "So I've got you booked in for next Tuesday at 6 p.m. But, you know, nothing's set in stone. We can change it if you want."

"So, basically mate, the plan for your party is to meet at 6, go for some dinner at 7 and play some darts at 8. But, you know, nothing's set in stone."

"Um, okay, cool. But, wasn't this supposed to be a surprise party?"

So, in this example, it just means that these plans can be changed.

Well, you would normally just say "(Whatever the plan is), but nothing's set in stone."

We're going to play some football at two o'clock tomorrow but nothing's set in stone.

Expression number three is used to say that something is good but in the most British way possible.

Well, British people are intrinsically reserved in most areas of life.

So, we don't like to be too loud, too outgoing, and most notably, we don't like to be too optimistic either.

I'm not just saying we're all a bunch of negative Nancys.

However, we are just quite reserved in our praise.

We don't like getting too excited about things.

And I think that this next expression kind of epitomizes that.

"So, what is this magical, depressing, pessimistic British way of expressing joy?" I hear you ask.

Well, let's say that something good happens.

Instead of us getting all excited and saying, "Oh, wow, this thing is incredible, it's brilliant, it's amazing, it's fantastic."

We might instead say, "Oh, all right, okay, yeah, not too shabby."

So, the third expression is "not too shabby."

And if something is not too shabby, it just means that it's pretty good, right?

It's not amazing, but it's pretty good, you know, it's not bad.

It can even mean that something is bad, more specifically in bad condition.

And it can also mean that something is unfair as well.

So, when we say that something is not too shabby, we are just saying that this thing isn't bad and it isn't unfair either.

Therefore, it's pretty good, you know, it's not too shabby.

So, this is just our reserved way of saying that something is good without showing too much emotion, right, without giving too much praise.

"All right, mate, how's the new job going?"

"I get paid a million pounds a month and, oh, guess what? I get 20 days of holiday as well."

"What? Really? 20 days of holiday? Wow, that's not too shabby."

So, in this example, 20 days of holiday is not unfair.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

5 British Idioms I Use EVERY DAY! (Modern RP) + FREE PDF

struggle

incredible

genuinely

expression