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This podcast is designed to give English students extra practice by discussing events, history, culture and language.
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the VivaLing Podcast, the podcast where you learn English in a friendly and fun way. Today, we’re talking about autumn idioms—expressions that sound like they’re about fall, but they actually are not. Idioms always have special meanings. So grab a warm drink, maybe something with cinnamon or pumpkin spice, and let’s get started!
Let’s begin with a popular idiom: “To turn over a new leaf.” Trees turn over their leaves each year, and it begins or maybe ends each autumn when the leaves begin to fall. When trees turn over their leaves, they are new and fresh and different. So when people “turn over a new leaf,” it means they start a better way of living or behaving. For example: “After moving to a new city, Jake turned over a new leaf and started cooking more at home. No more take out for him.”
Our second idiom is “to squirrel something away.” You know how squirrels collect nuts in autumn and hide them for later? That’s exactly the idea! To “squirrel something away” means to save something secretly or carefully for the future. For example: “Anna squirrels away a little money every month for her holiday.” What a smart gal. Are you able to do the same?
Number three is “to get wind of something.”
Autumn is full of wind, and wind, especially heavy wind, picks things up and carries them, kind of like traveling.
So when you “get wind of something,” you hear a secret or find out information that was supposed to stay hidden. The information accidentally traveled and got to you.
For example: “I got wind of the new café opening, but it hasn’t been officially announced yet .
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Now, he next idiom is perfect for the autumn mood: “a ghost town.”
It certainly doesn’t means a town full of ghosts and it doesn’t always mean a real empty or abandoned town. You can also use it to talk about a place that is very quiet or almost empty, maybe because it isn’t usually that way.
For example:“The library is a ghost town during sunny weekends.
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And our last idiom today is “to be nuts about something.”
In autumn, we see lots of nuts falling from the trees. (In fact, it’s the time many nuts are ready to harvest, and people like me really look forward to going out and collecting them. So this idiom means you love or really enjoy something.
For example for me: “I am nuts about baking bread. I make a loaf almost every weekend.”
So, lets put our autumn idioms into use. Which idiom could you use…to talk about a shopping center on Christmas Day?
It’s a ghost town.
... to talk about your friend who’s wild about origami?
She’s nuts about origami.
... to talk about the secret your heard from your neighbor that the local pub is closing?
You got wind that it’s closing. What a shame.
... to talk about putting a bit of each paycheck to the side for that ski trip you want to take?
You squirrel away a bit each paycheck.
... to talk about your partner who began to go to the gym three times a week because he or she wants to lose weight?
He has turned over a new leaf.
So today we talked about five autumn idioms that had nothing to do with autumn. Try using one of them this week to make your English sound more natural. Thanks for listening! Stay cozy, enjoy the cool breeze and keep learning.