English Study

Idioms, slang & phrasal verbs for English learners — daily. Teaching English on X since 2009. 🇬🇧 #ESL #TEFL

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Idiom of the day 🕯️

“Make your hair stand on end”: to frighten you so much that you shiver all over.

“I was fine with the ghost story until the lights flickered. It made my hair stand on end.”

Bonus word: hair-raising = very frightening.

#LearnEnglish

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Quick one: what does “under the weather” mean?

A) in the rain without an umbrella
B) feeling slightly ill
C) very cheap

Got it? Try 10 more in our free idiom quiz (different every time) and post your score👇

https://t.co/MOIZmlrlRF

#LearnEnglish #ESL #TEFL

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Quick one: what does “under the weather” mean?

A) in the rain without an umbrella
B) feeling slightly ill
C) very cheap

Got it? Try 10 more in our free idiom quiz (different every time) and post your score👇

https://t.co/MOIZmlrlRF

#LearnEnglish #ESL #TEFL

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Idiom of the day 🐱

“Have kittens”: to be extremely worried, upset or angry.

“I said I’d borrowed Dad’s car. He was having kittens before I finished the sentence.”

Always “kittens”, never “kitten”: “she had a kitten” sounds like she got a new pet.

#LearnEnglish

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Phrasal verb of the day 🎃

“Dress up”: to put on special clothes to look like someone or something else.

“I dressed up as a ghost with a bedsheet. Everyone thought I was the sofa.”

It also means wearing smarter clothes than usual.

#LearnEnglish #ESL

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Idiom of the day 👻

“Jump out of your skin”: to get a sudden, big fright.

“My phone buzzed with a reminder to ‘relax’. I nearly jumped out of my skin.”

Scared stiff: you freeze.
Jump out of your skin: you leap.

#LearnEnglish

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Idiom of the day 🎃

“Give someone the creeps”: to make someone feel uneasy for no clear reason.

“The self-checkout machine said ‘Thank you, Michael’ and I never told it my name. It gives me the creeps.”

One word only: what gives YOU the creeps? 👇

#LearnEnglish

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

🎃 Halloween vocabulary (UK edition)

Haunted: visited by ghosts
Fancy dress: costumes worn to a party
Trick or treat: what tiny witches shout at your door
13 more words, plus a quiz 👇

https://t.co/RLSLDTSluQ

#LearnEnglish #ESL

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

🎃 Halloween vocabulary (UK edition)

Haunted: visited by ghosts
Fancy dress: costumes worn to a party
Trick or treat: what tiny witches shout at your door
13 more words, plus a quiz 👇

https://t.co/RLSLDTSluQ

#LearnEnglish #ESL

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Jobs and careers vocabulary 🔧

Ten jobs, each with a labelled photo: fuse box, stethoscope, wrench, pitchfork, dipstick.

(In Britain, "dipstick" is also an insult. Bonus vocabulary.)

Check out all ten 👇

https://t.co/3eddm1IbxH
#LearnEnglish

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Idiom of the day 🎃

“A skeleton in the cupboard”: an embarrassing secret from the past.

“Everyone trusts the fete committee. Nobody mentions the skeleton in the cupboard: the great jam scandal of 2009.”

Cupboard (UK) or closet (US)? Which do you say? 👇

#LearnEnglish

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

British slang of the day 😮

“Gobsmacked”: so shocked you can’t speak.

“My teenager tidied their room without being asked. I was absolutely gobsmacked.”

Still waiting for the catch. 😅

#LearnEnglish #BritishSlang

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

🧔 How’s your cold?
🤧 I'm right as rain, thanks.
🧔 You sounded dreadful yesterday.
🤧 Right as rain. Never felt better.
🧔 You’re holding a tissue.
🤧 ...Right as rain.

🌧️ “Right as rain” = feeling fit and healthy. Or claiming to be.

#LearnEnglish

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

British slang of the day 🤦

“Plonker”: a silly or foolish person.

“I waved back at someone who was waving at the person behind me. Absolute plonker.”

Usually said with affection. Mostly. 😅

#LearnEnglish #BritishSlang

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

British slang of the day 👨

"Bloke" - an informal word for a man.

"Ask Steve. He's a really nice bloke."

High praise, British-style. 🇬🇧

#LearnEnglish #BritishSlang

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Idiom of the day 🔧

“Throw a spanner in the works”: to do something that prevents a plan from succeeding.

“The holiday was booked and packed. Then I found my passport had expired in March. That threw a spanner in the works.”

Always check the passport first. 🙃

#LearnEnglish

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Idiom of the day ☕

“A storm in a teacup”: a lot of fuss about something small and unimportant.

“Half the office stopped speaking to each other over a missing teaspoon. Total storm in a teacup. It was in the dishwasher.”

Every workplace has one. 😅

#LearnEnglish

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

British slang you’ll actually hear in the UK 🇬🇧

Skint: having no money
Gobsmacked: too shocked to speak
Codswallop: nonsense
Argy-bargy: a noisy argument

46 more, with meanings, examples and a quiz 👇

https://t.co/HYjJQ7dUbF

#LearnEnglish #BritishSlang

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

Idiom of the day 🐑

"The black sheep of the family": the person a family or group disapproves of.

"I told everyone I prefer coffee to tea. I'm now officially the black sheep of the family."

Some things are never forgiven. 🙃

#LearnEnglish

[English Study @EnglishStudy]

British slang you’ll actually hear in the UK 🇬🇧

Skint: having no money
Gobsmacked: too shocked to speak
Codswallop: nonsense
Argy-bargy: a noisy argument

46 more, with meanings, examples and a quiz 👇

https://t.co/HYjJQ7dUbF

#LearnEnglish #BritishSlang