Easy Money

Example 1: I thought my new job would be easy money, but I was wrong! I was working many hours and had to do a lot of hard work!

Example 2: I received an email from someone I didn't know. They offered to pay me $5,000 to help them transfer money into the United States from an overseas account. This was really easy money, so I didn't think I could trust it. I marked the email as spam and ignored it.

Explanation: Easy money is money you earn without doing much work, usually in large amounts. Often, easy money is too good to be true or doesn't actually exist.

This idiom is from LSI's  "Reading Transitions," which is used in the Level 4 Reading classes. For more information, please visithttp://www.languagesystems.com/

Open-minded

Example 1: Before David lived overseas, he believed that Americans had the best ideas; now he has become more open-minded and listens to people from different countries.

Example 2: These days, people are more open-minded about things like tattoos, gay marriage, and mental illness than they were in the past. Before, people didn't like to talk about them. Nowadays, more people are willing to discuss these topics.

Explanation: when a person is open-minded, they are able to accept different ideas. The opposite is true for closed-minded people, they don't like to learn about and accept new ideas.

This idiom is from LSI's Reading Transistions, which is used in the Level 4 Reading classes. For more information, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/

To Be Better Off

Idiom: To be better off

 

Context #1:

 

Jim: How are we going to get to the beach tomorrow morning?  The morning traffic on the 5 freeway is horrible!

Sam:  I know!  We will be better off taking the 55 because that freeway is not that bad.

Jim:  Good idea! 

 

Context #2:

 

Sara: Last month my husband and I finally moved out of our little one-bedroom apartment.  Now we have two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Jenny: That's great because you really need more room, especially with a baby on the way.

Sara:  Yeah, we are much better off now.

 

Meaning: to be better off is an idiom that is commonly used in American English.  It is used when you want to compare two things/situations/options and you want to say that one is better than the other.  Practical idioms like this can be found in LSI Speaking books like Speaking Savvy, which is used in Level 5 Speaking classes at LSI.  For more information please visit: www.languagesystems.com.

Throw in The Towel

Idiom of the day: Throw in the towel

Meaning: To quit

 

Hiro and Mari are two friends working on homework together

 

Hiro: This grammar homework is so difficult

Mari: It's not that tough.

Hiro: I'm throwing in the towel.

Mari: No! Don't throw in the towel. I'll help you.

http://www.languagesystems.com

To Slip Out

Idiom: to slip out; used as a verb

First Example:

Randy: Why did you leave class early?

Henry: I felt my phone vibrate.

Randy: Why wasn't it off?

Henry: My sister went into labor this morning, so I left it on vibrate in case she had the baby while I was in class. 

Randy: Did she?

Henry: Yeah.  My mom called to tell me the good news.  I tried to slip out quietly.

Randy: Oh, the teacher noticed.  As soon as you left, he gave us a pop quiz, saying that you'd miss points for answering your phone during class.

Henry: Oh no!

Meaning: The phrase “slip out” means to leave a place quietly without being noticed.  It has a similar meaning to "sneak out," although "sneak out" implies you are doing something wrong ("slip out" is neutral). In the example, Randy tried to slip out of the classroom to answer his phone; however, he wasn't successful at being unnoticed.   Look at another example:

Maria: Where do you want to sit?

Anthony: I like to sit on the aisle at movies.

Maria: Really?  I normally try to sit in the middle so I can see the center or the screen.

Anthony: Yeah, I think most people do, but I prefer the aisle so I can slip out if I need to go to the restroom.                                                       

Maria: That's a good idea.  I hate having to walk past people during the movie.

In this case, Anthony sits on the aisle during movies so he can quietly leave, or "slip out", of the theater to use the restroom.   Notice that in this example, Anthony isn't doing anything wrong, so you probably wouldn't "sneak out" in this situation.

This idiom is from LSI's new edition of "Reading Horizons," which will be used in the Level 6 Reading classes. For more information, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/

Run-of-the-mill

Idiom: run-of-the-mill; used as an adjective

First Example:

Lance: Did you do anything special this weekend

Nancy: Not really. Just relaxed at home.  Oh, I went and saw that big blockbuster this weekend.

Lance: How was it?

Nancy: Not great.  It's your typical, run-of-the-mill action movie. 

Lance: Oh that's too bad. I really like the lead actor.

Nancy: He was OK, but the movie itself is nothing special.  I'd say wait for the DVD to watch it; it's not worth a trip to the movie theater.

Meaning: The expression “run-of-the-mill” means that something is ordinary, with no special features or characteristics.  It has a similar meaning to the word "mediocre," which means that something is not special (this usually has a negative connotation, as it is usually used to describe things that are supposed to be special). In the example, Nancy describes the new blockbuster as being "run-of-the-mill,” suggesting that Lance wait for the movie to come out on DVD to watch it.  Also, notice that “run-of-the-mill” uses hyphens; they should always be used with this expression.  Look at another example:

Mark: Did you see Tania's engagement ring?

Brianna: No.  Did you.

Mark: It's huge!

Brianna: Really?                          

Mark: We're not talking about some run-of-the-mill 1 carat diamond engagement ring.  The center diamond is over 2 carats, and there are smaller diamonds along the band.  I asked Jim how much he spent on it, and he said it cost almost $10,000!

Brianna: Wow!  His business must be doing well!   

In this case, Mark uses the expression "run-of-the-mill" with a negative to emphasize that Tania's engagement ring is not ordinary; due to the size of the diamond and cost of the ring, it an extraordinary ring that is not “run-of-the-mill." Using the expression in this way (with a negative to emphasize that something isn't ordinary) is fairly common.

This idiom is from LSI's new edition of "Reading Horizons," which will be used in the Level 6 Reading classes. For more information, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/

Down-To-Earth

Idiom:  Down-To-Earth; used as an adjective.

First Example:  

“All the boys in Judy’s class love the new girl, Sabrina.  Unlike the other girls who only think about celebrity news and gossip, Sabrina is a very friendly and down-to-earth girl who often values true friendship with others.”

Meaning:  Down-To-Earth refers to people who have a sensible and practical character and/or personality.  In the example above, Sabrina is very popular amongst the boys in her class because she has a very sensible personality and values friendship above celebrity gossip.  This idiom can apply to any person who has a very practical and sensible personality.  This idiom is most often used as an adjective when describing sensible people.

Here is another example:

Second Example:

“Everybody in the company admires the new General Manager, Henry.  Thanks to his leadership and down-to-earth approach to solving problems, every employee was able to get a bonus this year.”

Meaning: In this case, the idiom, Down-To-Earth, serves to describe Henry’s practical and sensible decision-making ability.  Because Henry has a very practical approach to solving problems, the company was able to provide their employees with a bonus for the year.  In this example, the idiom is being used as an adjective.

This idiom is from the book "The Idiom Adventure – Fluency in Speaking and Listening," which is used as supplementary material in LSI’s Intermediate Conversation classes.

For more information, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/