Learning Highlights:
- An idiom is a phrase or group of words where the real meaning is different to the literal meaning.
- Slang is informal language that is often only used by a particular group of people.
- This lesson is designed for intermediate (or medium) level learners.
Transcript:
(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.)
Hi everyone… and welcome to the BAD ENGLISH MADE BETTER podcast.
If you’ve just landed here for the first time, you’ve come to the right place for tips and tricks for learning English. The show is designed for intermediate (or medium) level learners. But, if you are a beginner, challenge yourself and keep listening.
And be sure not to miss the other six episodes in this series. They cover all sorts of good stuff on the building blocks of English, like nouns, verbs, phrasal verbs, stress (in words and in sentences, that is).. oh, and the mysterious things called homonyms.
I’m Ai-Lin, your podcast English teacher. And it’s been my pleasure to be helping with your English language learning journey throughout this series… and hopefully making BAD ENGLISH BETTER for you.
EPISODE 7: IDIOMS
Sad to say, but this is the final episode of our season. And, today’s lesson is a bit different… we’re going to look at some special kinds of phrases.
They’re called “idioms,” and there are more than 25,000 of them in the English language.
So, what exactly is an idiom?
An idiom is a phrase or group of words that has what we call a “figurative meaning” that’s different from the literal meaning of those words.
So, what does all that really mean??
It’s simple: even if you know the meaning of each word in the phrase, you might not work out the meaning of the idiom.
Take an example like this: if something is a piece of cake – it doesn’t mean “something is a dessert or that it is sweet.”
What is ‘a piece of cake’? Well, it means it’s ‘easy.’
For example, Today’s test was a piece of cake!
Idioms give you a creative way to express yourself. They add colour and emotion to things you are talking about. Idioms paint humourous mental pictures that make a language richer.
And, in Australia, we really, really love them. Maybe too much!
Here are some other examples.
Here are 3 idioms you might use when going out for drinks or a meal with a friend. See if you can guess the meaning…
- No worries, my shout – it’s my turn to pay for it
- Let’s go Dutch – let’s pay for ourselves
- Sorry, I can’t come…I’m under the weather – I’m sick
So, the best way to learn idioms is to notice them when you read or when you listen to people around you. Try writing them down and look them up, or ask someone what the phrase means.
Learn the idioms that you can use in everyday conversations, and when you use them, you will then remember them.
Another category of words and phrases we hear a lot of in Australia is ‘slang’.
Slang is an informal language that is often only used by a particular group of people.
So, if you know the slang, you are in the group. So, let’s take a look…
In Australia, we have a few common ways that we ‘make’ words into slang.
One thing that we do is shorten long words… usually to the shortest sound possible, and then add a “Y” at the end. For example…
- Australian becomes Aussie
- University becomes uni
- Umbrella becomes brolly
Wanna guess some slang?
So, if I give you the slang, see if you can guess what the full word is.
- Barbie – Barbeque
- Mozzie – Mosquito
- Brekky – Breakfast
- Cuppa – A cup of tea
- Sunnies – Sunglasses
- Tracky dacks – Tracksuit pants
Another thing Aussies like to do is add ‘o’ to the end of a shortened word
For example:
- A bottle shop becomes a bottle-o
- Afternoon becomes arvo
Guessing game time again.
I’ll say a word, you shorten it and add ‘o’
- Documentary - Doco
- Ambulance driver - Ambo
- Registration - Rego
- relatives - Rellos
How did you go?
And finally, we have some slang that’s become very Australian, whether it is originally British or we’ve adopted it from America.
Here are some common slang phrases…
Have you heard of these? Can you work out what they mean?
- Havin' a whinge – to complain
- You bewdy – that’s excellent
- Good on ya – well done
- It’s chockers (it’s chockablock) – it’s crowded
- Budgie smugglers – men’s swimwear that’s tight
- Togs – any other type of swimwear, male or female
- Loo - Toilet
- Mate’s rates - Cheaper than usual for a friend
- Veg out – Relax in front of the TV
- No drama / no worries – no problem, it’s ok
Again, with slang, just learn what you hear most in conversations around you and use what you are comfortable with. Even if you don’t want to use slang, it’s handy to know what these strange words and phrases mean.
Really, both idioms and slang are just fun to use… and if you keep trying, you’ll find it’s a piece of cake.
Aye, Ai Lin! You’re a tough chick.
You bewdy.
No worries.
Thanks for listening to BAD ENGLISH MADE BETTER. I hope you’ve had as good a time hearing it as we had making it.
This show was recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung people of the Kulin nation.
SBS acknowledges the traditional owners and pays our respects to the elders past, present and emerging.
I’m your host and teacher Ai-Lin Bhugun. Bye!
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Credits:
Host: Ai-lin Bhugun
Voices: Dory Wang, Luke James
Executive Producer: Ian Walker
Producer: Beź Zewdie
Sound design and edit: Tiffany Dimmack
