online-english-lessons.eu

An Indian summer is a period of warm sunny weather in late autumn or early winter in the Northern Hemisphere, usually occurring after a period of cold frosty weather.

An alternative definition is that an Indian summer is a time of great happiness that happens late in a person's life.

There are various explanations of this idiom's origin, including:

• late summers are not unusual in parts of the USA which were mostly settled by Red Indians, and the phrase originated there;
• at one time the word 'Indian' was used to refer to things that were imitations or not genuine – a period of warm sunny weather in autumn is a not a real summer,  so it became known as an Indian summer;
• it was the time of year when the Native Americans harvested their crops.

Examples of use:

1. July and August have been cold and wet. Perhaps we'll have an Indian summer.

2. The once-famous actor enjoyed an Indian summer to his career.

Image by mlwalker

If someone has a heart of gold they are a very kind and generous person.

Examples of use:

1. My grandmother's neighbour has a heart of gold. She helps my grandmother with her shopping and visits her every day.

2. He looks and acts like a very grumpy old man, but he has a heart of gold.

Can you write a sentence with the idiom 'heart of gold'?

Do you know someone who has a heart of gold?

Further reading and listening for more advanced learners:

An article about a lady who has been nominated for an award for her work helping others in her community, and who is described as having a heart of gold

Some facts about gold

And an article and audio file interview about a vending machine in Abu Dabi which dispenses small gold bars in exchange for cash! – from the BBC World Service

Image by Smath.

To burn the candle at both ends is to get very little sleep or rest because you are working or studying (or celebrating) late into the night, and then starting again very early in the morning. Your night is shortened like a candle burned at both ends.

Examples of use:

1. I'm so tired. I've been burning the candle at both ends trying to finish my thesis.

2. We used to burn the candle at both ends when we were young. Now we go to bed at 9pm every night!

3. If you want to be a successful athlete you can't burn the candle at both ends.

Image by ecram1

If something is on tap it is freely or immediately available, like water from a tap .

Of course, in many countries of the world water is definitely not always available 'on tap' so this idiom would not be relevant to people from these countries.

Examples of use:

1. Information is always on tap on the internet.

2. Drugs are available on tap in some major cities in the world.

3. The football team has many substitutes on tap.

Image by stevoarnold

Not a sausage means nothing, zero or nil.

This idiom derives from the Cockney rhyming slang 'sausage and mash' which means 'cash'. Not a sausage originally meant to have no cash (money).

Examples of use:

1. Do you have any money left for a taxi?

    No, not a sausage.

2. Is there any rice in the cupboard?

    Nope. Not a sausage. I forgot to buy some.

A cockney is a native of the East End of London – especially someone born within the sound of Bow Bells, the bells of St Mary-le-Bow church in Cheapside, London.

Cockney is also a London dialect – especially of the East End of London.

In Cockney rhyming slang a pair of associated words, or sometimes one word, is used in place of the word you want to say.  The Cockney rhyming slang expression rhymes with the word it has replaced. 

Here are some common examples of Cockney rhyming slang:

• would you Adam and Eve it? – would you believe it?
• apples and pears – stairs
• they had a bull and cow – they had a row (argument)
• macaroni cheese – keys
• giraffe – laugh
• mickey mouse – house

In 2009, a cash machine operator in east London introduced Cockney rhyming slang to some of its cash machines. Customers were asked for their Huckleberry Finn (PIN) and how much sausage and mash (cash) they wanted!

Some people say that Cockney rhyming slang may have originated among market traders or thieves as a type of code: a way of speaking without customers or the police understanding what was being said.

Can you make up (invent) your own examples of rhyming slang?

Choose a word, think of word which rhymes with it, and see what you get

Image by RUD66

To be led by the nose is to be dominated or controlled by someone or something. To lead someone by the nose is to dominate or control them.

led (verb) – past tense and past participle of 'lead'

Examples of use:

1. He was led by the nose by his father for years.

2. Should politicians lead the way, or should they be led by the nose by the voters?

This phrase probably originates from the practice of leading horses by a bridle, and bulls and bears by a ring through the nose.

The nose is one of the most sensitive parts of an animal and a nose ring helps handlers to control powerful and potentially dangerous animals.

The phrase 'led by the nose' appears in Shakespeare's play, Othello, in Act 1 Scene 3 line 395.*

The character Iago declares that he will use Othello's (The Moor's) trusting and honest character to easily lead him to believe that his wife has been unfaithful:

The Moor is of a free and open nature,
That thinks men honest but that seem to be so,             
And will as tenderly be led by th'nose
As asses are.

In 1603-4 when this play was first written / performed, 'tenderly' meant willingly or without much difficulty.

Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet. He was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon in England.

For more advanced learners

The PlayShakespeare.com website has a complete list of Shakespeare's plays, with outlines of the plays, lists of characters and the full texts of the plays.

Some play texts are also available in languages other than English.

You have to register on the site to download the files but this is easy to do, and the site is easy to use.

The site also has podcasts on related Shakespeare topics and interesting biographical information about Shakespeare.

Thank you to @NitaJoy and @Essex_courier on Twitter for suggesting this idiom

*Ref: Othello (Penguin Shakespeare)

Image by andy_carter

The phrase nineteen to the dozen refers to something that is happening very fast, or moving very quickly.

If someone is talking nineteen to the dozen they are talking very quickly, so quickly that they say 19 words where normally only 12 would be spoken.

Examples of use:

1. She was so excited about passing her exam. She was talking nineteen to the dozen and I could hardly understand a word!

2. The car accident gave me such a shock. My heart was going nineteen to the dozen.

Some people believe that this phrase has its origins in eighteenth century Cornish tin mining. (Cornwall is a county in the south-west of England)

Cornish beam engines were introduced to reduce flooding in the mines, and they pumped out 19,000 gallons of water for every 12 bushels of coal needed to operate the engines – a much faster and more efficient way of pumping water than the hand pumps they replaced.

If you would like to learn more about Cornish tin mining, the BBC Nation on Film site has some clips of archive film about Cornish tin mines, including interviews with Cornish tin miners.

If someone has bats in the belfry (or is bats, or batty) it means they are behaving erratically, or they are slightly mad (crazy).

A belfry is the top of a tower, where bells hang (especially on a church).

This idiom implies that the person with bats in the belfry is behaving as though they have bats flying aorund wildly in their head.

Bats are known to fly erratically, and bats roosting in a belfry are likely to be disturbed by the bells ringing and to fly around even more wildly!

Example of use:

Our neighbour has bats in the belfry. Last week we saw him digging the garden while wearing a top hat and a wet suit.

Other English idioms meaning 'slightly mad' are to have a screw loose, to be as mad as a March Hare, and to be as mad as a hatter.

I recently found a small second-hand book, 'Idioms From Around The World' (Readers Digest), which lists a few idioms relating to madness from other countries:

• Spanish – hear footsteps on the roof
• Greek – for the festivals
• Swedish – gnomes in the loft
• Australian – a kangaroo loose in the paddock
• American – out to lunch
• Dutch – hit by a windmill
• German – all the cups are not in the cupboard

I love the way these idioms relate so vividly to the culture in their country of origin

Can you think of any idioms to add to this list? Is there anything similar in your language?

Image by andy_tyler

A nosy parker is someone who is very inquisitive and excessively interested in other people's private lives and business. British English. Informal.

This idiom can also be written as 'nosey parker'.

It is used to show that you disapprove of, or find annoying, a person who is asking too many questions.

The origins of this idiom aren't clear but Eric Partridge, in his Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, suggests that this saying might have its origins in the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, London, when the park was full of people, and there would have been many opportunities for 'nosy parkers' to secretly listen to other people's private conversations, and to spy on courting couples. The word 'parker' means 'park-keeper' (a person officially in charge of a public park) so perhaps the nosy parkers were the actual park-keepers.

Examples of use:

1. You ask too many questions. Don't be such a nosy parker.

2. Her neighbours are a couple of nosy parkers. They want to know everything about her and her family.

Image by Noël Zia Lee

Mud in your eye is something people say when they toast somebody or something.

This idiom might have its origins in horse racing. Horses kick up mud when they are racing, and if a horse kicks mud into the eyes of the jockey behind they will not be able to see well and they will lose the race.

So this idiom might actually mean 'I hope you get mud in your eye and I win the race'. 

Example of use:

1. Here's mud in your eye!

A toast is usually said in honour of somebody or something.

toast (noun) – a toast is a drink in honour of somebody or something

toast (verb) to toast is to have a drink in honour of somebody or something.

Example of use:

1. Everybody, please toast the bride and groom.

Image by Paolo Camera