Learn English Through Listening
2 English Idioms You Need To Be Careful With Literally And Figuratively Ep 443
English Idioms Can Be Tricky ✔Lesson transcript: https://adeptenglish.com/lessons/english-idioms-9/
We often use English idioms in a way that needs more imagination to get the meaning than you might expect. Today we cover 2 idioms that could not be more different in their meaning, however they both can be dangerous to us if used improperly. Idioms are fun really, it’s handy to know what the most common ones mean as it would surprise you just how often you will hear them in everyday English conversations.
You many not have come across the words figuratively and literally before so I’ve provided links to the meaning of these words. Literally means translating the words one by one and not pulling them together to create a greater meaning. Figuratively means you are being asked to take the English words and phrases and comprehend their meaning and then use them to imagine a more involved meaning.
So I might say “It was a low blow”, if you were to take this literally you might think about wind a breeze or something happening low to the ground. What I’m actually figuratively saying is that an action took place that was unfair. Tricky stuff for new English language learners.
Unless you learn to spot these metaphorical phrases, you will probably get tripped up by them every now and again. The good news is any Native English speaker probably won’t even notice. This type of conversation using idioms and figurative speech is often just thrown in to speed up the conversation or make it more colourful. You either get it or you don’t, but it probably won’t stop you from communication with an English speaker in any meaningful way.Learn more about our courses here: https://adeptenglish.com/language-courses/
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