To be scared stiff

Idiom: "To be scared stiff"

Meaning: To be really frightened of something; when something frightens you so much, you cannot even move any part of your body.

Example #1:

Jill: Trevor, you look a little pale. What's wrong?

Trevor: I just went to Knott's Scary Farm last night and I still haven't recovered.

Jill: What do you mean? Isn't that supposed to be fun?

Trevor: Well, it wasn't fun for me. All these crazy looking people and monsters kept jumping out to grab me when I was walking or going on the rides. At one point, I was scared stiff and I couldn't even move a muscle.

Jill: You know that those monsters are just people dressed up in costumes to look scary, right?

Trevor: Yes, I do. But once I arrived there in the dark, they seemed real! Then, when I got home I had the worst nightmare I've ever had and I woke up scared stiff. I couldn't even get up to turn on the light!

Jill: Wow! Maybe you shouldn't go out on Halloween anymore!

   

Example #2:

Sarah: You are not going to believe what happened to me last night!

Jackie: What?

Sarah: Well, I was spending the night at Jennifer's house and I was sleeping on her sofa. For some reason, I woke up in the middle of the night, sensing that I wasn't alone. I heard heavy breathing and saw the shadow of something coming toward me. I was scared stiff! I actually thought it was a monster or something!

Jackie: Really? What happened after that?

Sarah: It came closer and closer. I was still scared stiff and could not move at all. Then, all of a sudden, a cute little puppy jumped up on the sofa and started licking my face! It was Jennifer's new dog, Cuddles. He is so cute and playful!

Jackie: At least you had a happy ending!

Meaning: To be scared stiff means to be so afraid or frightened of something that a person cannot move any part of the body. In the first example, Trevor went to Knott's Scary Farm on Halloween and became frightened when he was there, even though he knew it was all fake.  In the second example, Sarah thought a strange creature was going to attack her in the middle of the night, but it ended up being a cute, little puppy. This idiom is especially useful around Halloween! For more information, please visit:www.languagesystems.com. 

Weird Out

Idiom: "Weird Out"

Meaning: To make someone feel very uncomfortable or uneasy.

Example #1:

Jan: Oh, no! It's October and that means it's almost time for Halloween!

Steve: That's a good thing, right? I mean, all the parties and candy make Halloween the best holiday of the year!

Jan: No way! All those scary costumes weird me out. 

Steve: That's one of the best things about Halloween, dressing up in scary costumes to weird out your family and friends.

Jan: Why would you want to weird anyone out? That's just strange.

Steve: Don't worry! It's all just for fun.

Jan: Well, I guess so.

   

Example #2:

Selena: Jackie, don't talk like that! It really weirds me out!

Jackie: I can't help it! I'm just recovering from the flu.

Selena: Well, then don't talk. You sound like a demon.

Jackie: O come on! It's not that bad.

Selena: Yes it is. How does Bobby feel about it? It must weird him out. Poor guy!

Jackie: Hey! You could be a little more supportive!

Selena: OK, sorry. Do you know sign language?

Meaning: To weird someone out means to make someone feel really uncomfortable. In the first example, Jan doesn't like Halloween because the scary costumes really weird her out. In the second example, Jackie's voice sounds strange because she just recovered from the flu, so her voice really weirds out Selena.  This idiom is especially useful around Halloween! For more information, please visit:www.languagesystems.com. 

To Put Out

Idiom: “to put out”

Meaning:  To stop from burning; to publish; to inconvenience

Example #1:

Jenny: Hey, Johnny! No smoking is allowed in this building. You need to put out your cigarette now!

Johnny: It’s OK. No one will know. I’ll just blow the smoke out the window.

Jenny: Are you serious? The fire alarm might even go off any minute!

Johnny: Oh, all right. I’ll put it out.

Example #2:

Sarah: I’m so excited! My sister just put out a new crime novel!

Jacob: Wow! That’s great. What’s her name?

Sarah: Tammy J. Janison.

Jacob: Hmmm, I haven’t heard of her. Has she put out any other novels?

Sarah: Yes, she has already put out two novels in the past four years. I can’t wait to read her new one.

Example #3:

Sam: Megan, thank you so much for letting me and my family stay at your house last weekend. When the electricity went out at my house, I really didn’t know what to do.

Megan: No problem.

Sam: Well, I hope I didn’t put you out too much. My three-year old is really active and is always playing!

Megan: Well, since we don’t have any kids, it was fun having your family around. You didn’t put us out at all.

Meaning: In example #1 “to put out” means to stop something from burning. In this example, Johnny needs to put out his cigarette. In example #2, “to put out” means to publish a book. In this example, Sarah’s sister has put out a crime novel. In example #3, “to put out” means to inconvenience someone or trouble them in some way. In this example, Sam’s family stayed with Megan over the weekend because Sam’s electricity went out. Sam has a small child and he is worried that he put Megan out or inconvenienced her. This idiom can be found in Speaking Horizons, which is used in level 6 Listening/Speaking class. For more information, please visit: www.languagesystems.com. 

To Be Up For

Idiom: “To Be Up for”

Meaning: To be interested in doing something; to be one of a group of people that might get an award or win an election; to be awake for a period of time

Example #1:

Jan: Hey, Steve! I’m planning on going surfing this weekend at Huntington Beach. I heard you know how to surf really well. Are you up for it?

Steve: That sounds like a lot of fun! I’m always up for surfing!

Jan: OK. Then let’s meet at 6:00 AM on Saturday at the beach.

Steve: I’ll see you then!

 

Example #2:

Selena: Did you hear the news about Paul?

Jackie: No, what happened?

Selena: He is up for an award.

Jackie: Really? Which award?

Selena: He is up for “Father of the Year.”  

 

Example #3:

Bob: I’m so tired!!!! I was up for 24 hours and I haven’t slept at all!

Maggie: Why were you up for so long?

Bob: I had to study for my final exams and I didn’t have time to sleep.

Maggie: Oh. I hope you did well after all that work!

Meaning: In example #1 “to be up for” means to have in interest in doing something. In this example, Steve has an interest in going surfing on Saturday. In example #2, “to be up for” means to maybe get an award. In this example, Paul is up for the “Father of the Year” award. In example #3, “to be up for” means to be awake for a period of time. In this example, Bob has been up for 24 hours because he really needed to study for his final exams.  This idiom can be found in Speaking Horizons, which is used in level 6 Listening/Speaking class. For more information, please visit: www.languagesystems.com. 

To Put on Weight

Idiom:  To Put on Weight; used as a verb.

First Example:  During the holidays, it is customary for many Americans to have to a big family dinner that includes a big turkey and numerous rich desserts.  Because of all of this rich food, a lot of Americans tend to put on some weight during the holiday season.

Meaning:  To Put on Weight means to gain weight or to get fat.  In this example, it is common for a lot of Americans to eat big family dinners especially during Christmas and Thanksgiving.  Because they eat so much food at this time, it is common for a lot of people to gain weight during the holidays.  This idiom can apply to any situation where someone wants to point out that someone has gained weight in a non-offensive manner.  The idiom is most commonly used as a verb.

Here is another example:

Second Example:  I haven’t seen Elizabeth for a long time.  I heard that she had really put on weight after she gave birth to her first son.

Meaning:  In this case, the idiom, To Put on Weight, is used to point out that Elizabeth had gained weight after her first pregnancy.  It is common for most women to gain weight after they have had their first child.  In this example, the idiom is being used as a verb.

This idiom is from the book "Everyday Idioms – Book One" which is used in the LSI Intermediate Conversation Class.

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

Agree to Disagree

Idiom:  Agree to Disagree; used as a verb.

Example:  

Sam and Mary just had an argument on the topic of which came first, the chicken or the egg.  According to Sam, since eggs come from chickens, it is natural to assume that the chicken came first.  However, Mary pointed out that all chickens are born from eggs so she believes that eggs came first!  Both Sam and Mary refused to agree in this particular topic.  In the end, they both agreed to disagree with one another.

Meaning:  Agree to Disagree means to calmly agree not to come to an agreement in a dispute.  In this example, Sam completely believes that the chicken first appeared before the egg.  However, Mary strongly felt that the egg came first.  Because they were both unable to convince one another, they both agreed that they could not ultimately come to an agreement.  This idiom can apply to any situation where two individuals are unable to agree on a particular point.  This idiom is used as a verb in this example.

This idiom is from the LSI book "Speaking Transitions," which is used as the primary textbook in LSI’s Level 4 ESL Listening/Speaking classes.

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

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/