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Tutor EmilyGL 's Column

Idioms

Aug 1, 2022

By Gerd Leibrock - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15701840

Idioms are ways of speaking and writing in English which are colourful and expressive, but do not mean what they say literally. There isn't a way around this! If you would like to make your language more varied, or to understand native speakers better, it is best to learn idioms one by one. Of course, nobody needs to know them all, but it can be helpful to be familiar with the common ones.

The idiom illustrated by the picture in the post is, love is blind, that is, being in love stops us seeing the faults of the other person, whatever anybody else thinks.

Here are two musical idioms:
Play it by ear. This expression means to play music which is not written down, by using listening and musical skills. The musical notes written down are called a "score".
But there is a non literal meaning too. It also means to respond according to the situation, to work out what to do as a situation develops without preparing a plan. People often mean, we'll make it up as it goes along! This idiom is used a lot.
 
Face the music. This idiom means to face the unpleasant consequences of something that you have done. The consequences are usually other people's reactions.
Maybe you have done something wrong, or simply made an unpopular choice, but if you face the music, you accept and meet the consequences.

For more practice with idioms, or with vocabulary in a special area, or with grammar that is puzzling you, try my Personalised help lesson. I look forward to seeing you.



 

This column was published by the author in their personal capacity.
The opinions expressed in this column are the author's own and do not reflect the view of Cafetalk.

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