Name: Phrases with Unexpected Meanings
Uploaded: 2018-03-04T14:27:15.000Z
Duration: 5 min 15 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.  I'm George.  Today, let's
talk about phrases with unexpected meanings.

Okay.  In English, there are
certain phrases, when you see them, you

don't get the meaning right away.  And
today, we're going to cover six of those

phrases, that you might not know the
meaning of when you just look at the

words.  Here we go.  Number One.  Big Break.
Big Break.  In English, when you say big

break, it does not have anything to do
with breaking your legs or your arms.

In English, we do use the word "break" a lot.
For example, if you want to wish somebody

good luck, you would say "Break a leg!"  It
means I wish you good luck.  Here, "Big

Break" means your big chance.  The chance
for you to become more famous or more

successful.  Then we would say, "It's your
big break!"  Let's take a look at this

sentence.  This is your big break.
Hold on to it.  This is your big break.

hold on to it.  And Number Two.  Walk on
thin ice.  Walk on thin ice.  In Chinese, we

have very similar saying, but when you
say this in Chinese, it means you are a

careful person.  You are doing something
cautiously.  However, in English, when I say

"You are walking on thin ice," that is a
warning.  It is to warn you that you're

doing something dangerous.  You are going
to get yourself into trouble.  Let's take

a look at the example sentence.  You're
walking on thin ice.  Don't make another

mistake.
You're walking on thin ice.  Don't make

another mistake.  And Number Three. Luck out.
Luck out.  If you interpret this phrase

literally, you might think it means you
are out of luck.  You are not very lucky.

However, it is totally different.  When you
say somebody "lucked out," it means that

person has very good luck.
The word "luck" here is used as a verb.

Let's take a look at the sentence here.
Our team just lucked out in last night's

game.  Our team just lucked out in last
night's game.  And let's move on.

Number Four.
Hold a candle to.  Hold a candle to.

Literally, when you hold a candle to
someone.

In English when you say to "hold a candle to" it means to be as good as.

to be performing very well.  Usually, this

phrase is used with a "not" in the front,
so you would say "can't hold a candle to"

Let's take a look at the sentence here.
Don't worry.  He can't even hold a candle

to you.  You are still going to win.  Don't
worry.  He can't even hold a candle to

you.  You are still going to win.  And
Number Five.

Catch wind of.  Catch wind of.  To catch
wind of something means something is

spreading over the wind.  Not something
smelly.  In Chinese, there is actually a

very similar phrase to "catch wind of."  It
means to hear of something, to hear

about something that happened to someone
else.  This phrase is most of the time

used on something you're not supposed to know.

So when you say "catch wind of something"
it means you learn something you're not

supposed to know.  It's a secret.
Let's take a look at the example

sentence.  They tried very hard to cover
the secret, but their parents still

caught wind of it.  They tried very hard
to cover the secret, but their parents

still caught wind of it.  And Number Six. Get
a kick out of.  Get a kick out of.  To get a

kick out of something does not really
mean that you're supposed to kick

someone.  It means something that is
totally different.  To get a kick out of

something means you had a lot of fun in
it, for example, your reading, your

studying, your learning English.  Let's
take a look at example sentence.  I get a

kick out of learning English.  I get a
kick out of learning English.  These are

the six phrases that I teach today that
do not show their meanings right away.  Do

you have any phrases that you see and
you don't get right away?  Share them down

below at the comment area,  Tell us, and if
you like this video, make sure you click

the like button down below, or you can
subscribe to this channel.  I'll see you