By Robby
If you are new here please read this first.
Hello all YearOfEnglish.com members and just about anyone else reading this article right now!
Today I’m bringing you a bunch of English idiomatic expressions originating from and also directly related to cars, driving and commuting in general.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but driving is something we’re all directly connected to in some way, shape or form. If you don’t drive yourself, there’s a very good chance you’re being driven to and from work by some colleague of yours.
Even if you commute by public transport, you’re definitely seeing cars on the road performing all different sorts of maneuver, and I’m pretty sure you’ve sometimes wondered how this or that particular driving related activity is called.
Now, you have a great opportunity to spice up your English by adding on a few driving related English idioms to your active vocabulary! 😉
Just watch the video above (also repeat everything I say to ingrain those speech patterns into your brain!), read its transcript below, repeat and memorize the highlighted expressions, and don’t forget to do some spoken practice on your own!
Remember – in order to learn to USE these phrases in your own conversations, you have to SPEAK them out loud many times over until it becomes your second nature!
TRANSCRIPT OF THE ABOVE VIDEO:
Idiom #1: He cut me off!
Idiom #2: Hold your horses!
Idiom #3: I gave him the slip!
Idiom #4: Bear bait behind us!
Idiom #5: We’re out of juice!
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Passenger: Why are you angry with that other driver?
Driver: He cut me off!!
Passenger: Did you have a fight with him before?
Driver: No it’s not that. He just drove up beside me and blocked my turn off!
TO CUT SOMEONE OFF is a general term used to describe someone’s aggressive driving style. It is used when another driver stops you from performing a maneuver.
Driver: I’m in a hurry!
Passenger: Hold your horses!
Driver: Are you dreaming? It’s 2012, not 1812!
Passenger: I’m just asking you to slow down.
HOLD YOUR HORSES is an expression used to tell someone to stop or slow down. It applies not just to driving but to walking, working, decision making and many other situations.
Passenger: Is that other car still following us?
Driver: I gave him the fall.
Passenger: Don’t you mean ‘slip’?
Driver: Yes. I gave him the slip!
TO GIVE THE SLIP means to get away from someone so that they don’t know your whereabouts. Popular in movies when criminals give cops the slip, or popular with men who give their ladies the slip!
Passenger: There’s a car approaching very quickly!
Driver: Bear bait behind us!
Passenger: You see a bear? Where?!
Driver: There’s a guy speeding behind us!
BEAR BAIT is a trucker term for a speeding driver.
Driver: We need to pull in (drive into) to the next station.
Passenger: Are we out of fluid?
Driver: Fluid? NO! We’re out of juice!
Passenger: I hope there’s a station soon.
JUICE is the right word to use when referring to GASOLINE. In motoring terms, when we refer to fluids, it usually means engine oil or transmission oil.
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Thanks for dropping by guys, and remember – do some spoken practice involving the highlighted idioms/slang expressions. Come up with some situations on your own, and maybe even record yourself doing a role play just like I did! You can’t do too much when improving your English fluency, I can tell you that for sure!
Chat soon,
Robby 😉
P.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out the English Harmony System HERE!
