Использование идиом в английском языке (часть 2)

Мэтт Дрю, преподаватель British Council, рассказывает об особенностях использования идиом в английском языке
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Деловой портал  delo.ua  совместно с  British Council  реализует проект "Английский язык on-line". В рамках проекта на портале появляются видеоинтервью с преподавателями British Council.

Тематика видеоинтервью — новые методики и подходы в изучении английского языка, интересные факты и практические советы по улучшению произношения и увеличения словарного запаса.

Тема сегодняшнего интервью — использование идиоматических выражений в английском языке. Интервью дает преподаватель British Council Мэтт Дрю(Matt Drew). Это вторая часть видео, посвященной этой теме.

Первое видео можно посмотреть здесь.

Во второй часть видео обсуждаются идиоматические выражения, которые имеют отношение к спорту:  

throw in the towel — прекращать

doesn't pull any punches — говорить все напрямую

a bit below the belt — нечестный, несправедливый комментарий

par for the course — в порядке вещей

Текст интервью

Video 2 about idioms and idiomatic expressions.

We often take phrases from one part of the English language and we apply them to a different part. And by doing this we are in fact then making these phrases idiomatic. I'll give you some examples, don't worry, I'll explain this to you.

One of the richest sources of this is the world of sport. So we often take a phrase from the world of sport and apply it elsewhere, the general life.

So for example from the world of boxing, if you 'throw in the towel' you basically give up what you're doing. You say 'I can't continue, I give up'. This comes from boxing because the corner man of the boxer, if they see the boxer is being defeated and maybe his life is in danger, they can throw in the towel and the referee will stop the match. So this is basically where we get the expression from. To give up — 'to throw in the towel'.

Also from the world of boxing, if somebody 'doesn't pull any punches' it means that they are very direct. If you pull a punch in boxing you put you hand and you pull it back before you really hit. If you don't pull your punches, you connect with your strikes, and we say it's being direct.

Again, from the world of boxing. If something is 'a bit below the belt' you can say it is an unfair comment. So maybe somebody is talking about business, "your business never delivers on time', you say 'hey, that's a bit below the belt', that's an unfair comment.

When talking about negotiations there's a term you can use from the world of tennis. If you are for example having a negotiation and you offer your side and you're waiting for the other side to decide whether they want to accept your offer or not. You can say 'the ball is in their court'. From the world of tennis, in a tennis court you serve the ball, it's in their court, it's up to them to return the service or not.

Okay and finally from the world of golf. I know golf isn't very popular sport in Ukraine, but if something is 'par for the course' it means it's common and normal and expected. In the world of golf a hole will have a par which means the number of shorts that the normal person is expected to make to get from the tee to the hole. It's normal, okay? So I don't know maybe 400 meter hole may have a par 5 — it takes five shots to get there. So if something is 'par for the course' it's normal.

That is the end of the idioms presentation for you. I hope you've enjoyed it, probably found it useful. Thanks a lot.