Learn 7 easy English idioms for giving advice

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Hi, I'm Rebecca from www.engvid.com . In this lesson, you'll learn seven idioms that you

can use to give advice to other people, okay?

Let's get started.

So, the first one is: Save your breath.

Do you have any idea what that might mean?

Save your breath?

Well, "save your breath" means don't waste your time talking, because there is no point.

For example, let's say that a colleague of yours is trying to ask a supplier to lower

his prices, but he won't do it and you know that he's not going to lower his prices anymore,

so you tell your colleague, "Don't waste your time.

Save your breath.

He's not going to lower his prices."

So, "save your breath" means don't bother talking because it's no use, alright?

Next: Watch your back.

Now, when do we say this, "watch your back"?

We say this when we're telling someone be careful of other people he's around, or he

or she is around, or that maybe they're considering working with or something like that, because

you want to tell that person that he or she has to be careful of those people.

That maybe they might trick him or they might cheat her or something like that.

So, you're telling them to be careful because they can't trust the people around them, okay?

That's "watch your back".

Be careful of other people around you.

Next: Hold your horses!

So, "hold your horses" simply means wait, slow down, don't go so fast, okay?

For example, let's say that someone went for a job interview and she thinks it went fantastically,

and now she's planning to - she's sure she's going to get the job and she's like "As soon

as I go home, I'm going to order that car that I've been waiting to order!"

And you tell her "Wait a minute, wait a minute, I'm so glad it went well, but hold your horses.

Why don't you make sure that you really get the job?

Why don't you wait until they get in touch with you?"

So, that's an example of how you can use or when you can use the expression "Hold your

Okay, the next one: Count your blessings.

Okay, so what does that mean?

"Count your blessings" means think of all the good things, alright?

Think of all the good things that are happening in your life.

And usually we say this to someone when something has happened and maybe they're thinking of

the bad aspect of it, but actually there are a lot of other good things happening their

So, for example, let's say that somebody that has a good job wanted to get a promotion,

but she didn't get it.

So, what do you say to her?

"Okay, never mind, count your blessings, you still have a really good job and maybe a few

months from now, you'll get that promotion, okay?"

So, "Count your blessings."

Next: Keep your chin up.

Okay, what does it mean to keep your chin up?

Think about it.

You can actually figure it out a little bit.

Often, when people are depressed or sad or not feeling very confident, they look down,

and people who are more confident look up.

They keep their chin up.

So, when you're telling somebody to keep their chin up, you're telling them "Be strong, be

confident, don't give up!"

And usually we say this in a situation where something difficult has happened.

The situation is difficult, or there was a problem and they faced some difficulty, but

you're telling them not to give up and to stay strong and happy and optimistic.

Let's say that a friend failed an exam, but you know that he's really smart, okay?

So you tell him, "Never mind, keep your chin up, I'm sure you're going to pass the next

Let's look at the next one: Pull your socks up.

Okay, this is a bit of a British expression.

So, to pull your socks up means to work a little bit harder.

That means somebody's not really doing well enough and you're telling them that they need

to work harder, okay?

So, you tell them "Pull your socks up."

For example, in this case, somebody, let's say, wants to get into medical college, but

his grades are really not very good.

So, you tell him, "If you're really serious about getting into medical college, you need

to pull your socks up.

You need to work harder, you need to put in more effort."

So, that was "Pull your socks up."

And the last one: Give it your best shot.

That's a little more positive again.

Give it your best shot means try your best, okay?

It doesn't matter, whatever.

I know you're feeling a little bit unsure, but try your best, I'm sure you can succeed.

Try your best, okay?

That's "give it your best shot."

For example, let's say somebody's going for a job interview, but he's not sure.

Should he go for it, are they going to like him?

Is he good enough?

He's feeling really nervous and you encourage him and you say "No, come on, give it your

You never know what can happen."

So, it's something that you do to encourage people.

So, those were the seven idioms.

I know I went through them a little fast, so let's review now in this way.

I've got some meanings there.

Those meanings are not the same as what's written at the side.

We're going to try to match them up, okay?

Are you with me?

So, if you want to say to somebody "You need to work harder."

So, which expression are you going to use?

Which idiom would you say to tell them to work harder?

What would you say?

Okay, so it would be "Pull your socks up", okay?

You need to work harder in order to get into medical college, remember?

Pull your socks up, okay.

The next one: Try your best.

Which one is that?

Okay, yeah, it's the last one: Give it your best shot.

Which one is that?

Check through them.

Keep your chin up, okay?

Don't give up, be strong, keep your chin up, okay?

Next: Be careful of others.

Because there's some people who might be trying to cheat you or lie to you or fool you, so

be careful of others.

Which one is that?

You're right, I heard you, yeah, number two, right.

Watch your back, okay?

The next one: Think of the good things.

You have some many good things happening in your life, think about those.

So, which one is that?

One, three, or four?

What should it be?

"Count your blessings", right, you're getting it!

The next one is: Don't bother talking.

It's a waste of time, really, don't, just don't!

So, which one is that?

Save your breath, or hold your horses?

Okay, yes, good, "Save your breath".

No use talking, it's already decided.

And the last one: Wait, slow down, is "Hold your horses".

So, I'm glad that you got those and, of course, you need to practice a little bit even just

to remember them.

What did we say?

Save your, what?

Hold your what?

Things like that.

Keep your what up?

Things like that.

You need to learn the expressions, not just the meaning but also the actual words, okay?

Not count your socks, but count your blessings, that kind of thing, okay?

So, how do you that?

So, go to our website at www.engvid.com . There, you can do a quiz on all of these and really,

really learn them.

Learn them well, practice them, use them, and then maybe in the comments there on www.engvid.com

, you could use one of these and give me an example of a situation where you used it,

because that's the best way to really make these idioms and expressions your own, okay?

And also, don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you can keep on getting

lots of other good lessons to help you learn English faster and faster.

Okay, thanks very much for watching.