Well, hello and welcome to this English lesson about words and phrases with the word kick.
This lesson idea was sent by Mode Ags a couple of weeks ago actually, maybe even a couple of months ago.
And I didn't realize until I saw the list how many words and phrases have the word kick in them.
And it ended up being quite fun to put the lesson together.
So once again, thank you for the lesson plan idea, Mode Eggs.
That was very kind of you.
And I look forward to teaching you all of these words and phrases.
So once again, welcome to this English lesson about words and phrases with the word kick.
Let's start with to kick.
The verb to kick means to strike something with your foot.
I think this is probably a verb that all of you already know.
You can slap with your hand.
You can punch with your hand.
You can hit with your hand.
But with your foot, we usually say kick.
You kick a soccer ball.
Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but when I was younger, one of the ways my parents disciplined me is my dad would kick me in the butt.
So I know that these days that would probably not be considered a good way to do it, but I'm old and I'm sure many of you in the chat who are old remember that era as well.
In fact, I will say this.
Sometimes, when you are bad as a kid, no, I'm not going to go into it.
Let me just leave it at that.
To strike something with your foot.
Don't kick people.
It's bad to kick people.
If you like kicking a soccer ball, that's fine.
Maybe you're in a sport though like kickboxing and then maybe it's okay to do that.
But to kick, to strike something with your foot.
To get a kick out of something.
This is a pretty long phrase and it simply means to enjoy something.
These two people are getting a kick out of riding a bike together.
I get a kick out of thinking about new things.
I get a kick out of archery but I can't do that right now because of my collarbone.
If there's something you really enjoy, we often say that we get a kick out of it.
I think what we mean is we get a little boost of energy when we do that thing.
So, to get a kick out of something, to really enjoy doing something.
I hope that you get a kick out of my English lessons.
To kick the habit is to stop a bad habit.
You might know someone who maybe they smoked cigarettes when they were younger, but eventually they kicked the habit.
Past tense.
When you kick the habit, it means you stop doing that bad thing.
I really like eating things with sugar in them, but I need to kick the habit.
I need to stop eating stuff that has lots of added sugar.
And do from time to time succeed, but right now I've been eating too many cookies and other sweet things.
So to kick the habit, to stop a bad habit, alive and kicking means healthy and active.
So you might be wondering why I have a picture of President Donald Trump, and one of the reasons is because recently he wasn't in the news for two days And then there were rumors going around that maybe he had passed away, that he had died.
But no, he is alive and kicking.
I actually saw a news article that said Donald Trump is alive and kicking, which means that they're healthy, they're alive, they're active.
It means that something or someone isn't dead.
They are alive and kicking.
And I think you understand this is informal information. it's used in a joking or sarcastic way.
Like if someone said to me hey Bob how you doing?
I could say oh you know I'm alive and kicking.
Which means that I'm healthy and active.
To kick back means to relax.
This is something I like to do on the weekend.
I like to kick back.
Sometimes we even add the verb to relax.
We say I'm going to kick back and relax this weekend.
Or I
I get home, I'm just gonna take off my shoes, put on some comfortable clothes and kick back.
Uh maybe watch a movie on Netflix.
So, to kick back, to relax.
To kick the bucket.
So, I want to make sure I explain this one really well.
It means to die.
It's an informal phrase meaning to die.
And even though death is a very serious thing, this phrase is used to in a sarcastic or joking way.
So, even though it wouldn't be very kind to say this, someone might say, how's your old uncle Joe?
And you might say, oh, he kicked the bucket.
Now, you wouldn't say this in every situation.
The common phrase would be to nicely say, he passed away or my uncle Joe died last year.
But if you're with friends and kind of a crude kind of humor.
You might actually describe it that way.
So be careful with this one.
I think in every language the conversations about death are very serious, but for some reason we do have lighter, more joking phrases to refer to death.
So to kick the bucket it simply means to die.
To be kicked out.
This is what my students don't want to hear happen.
When you are kicked out, it's to be asked to leave a place or forced to leave a place.
If you go to a restaurant with your friends and if you're loud and you start throwing food, you will be kicked out, okay?
They'll come and they'll say, you can't stay here.
You must leave.
You will be kicked out, but I do wanna point out that this is different than to get a kick out of something.
I get a kick out of doing these lessons and let me change the phrase here.
If someone spams the chat, they will be kicked out, okay?
So, to get a kick out of something means to enjoy it.
To be kicked out of something means to be forced to leave.
Hopefully, I explained that well.
It sounded good in my mind as I was explaining it.
So, hopefully, it made some sense. to have a kick to it.
This is used mostly to describe hot, spicy food.
And when I mean hot, I mean like food that has spices, like peppers or ghost peppers used to describe hot, spicy food.
I could take a bite of that chicken sandwich and I could say, that really has a kick to it.
When you say something has a kick to it, it's just hot.
Sometimes we use it to talk about hot food that doesn't burn or isn't hot right away.
So you're like, you take a bite, you chew it, you swallow it, and you say, oh, that's not too hot.
And then about 10 seconds later, you're like, oh, it does have a bit of a kick to it.
And basically what you're saying is that it's hot, it's burning your mouth a little bit.
And then just so you know, food can be hot like the opposite of cold and it can burn your mouth.
Food can also be spicy hot and the spices make it feel like your mouth is on fire.
To kick butt.
So I will tell you the more informal phrase in just a moment.
But it means to do something really well or to beat an opponent by a large margin.
So at work, maybe you guys work on a project and you just kick butt.
It's everything goes well.
It's done on time.
Everyone loves the work that you've done.
You could say that you kicked butt, okay?
Again, it is an informal phrase.
You maybe might not use it with your boss.
Although if your boss said hey, you really kicked butt on that last project, that would be a nice compliment.
And then here is the other version of it that's a little more vulgar.
And it's to kick ass.
So the word ass, A-S-S, is not a word you use a lot in English in formal settings.
But with a friend, you might say something like that.
So A-S-S, I'm not going to say the word again, is the same as butt.
And by the way, the butt is down there, right?
It's like between your back and the top of your legs.
That part of your body is your butt.
Kick someone's butt.
This is basically the same phrase but we use this mostly to talk about sports or fighting.
So I could say the Blue Jays kicked the Orioles butts the other day.
So basically I'm saying they played them and they beat them by a large margin.
To kick someone's butt to beat an opponent by a large margin.
So eight to two That's a pretty good score.
They did a good job in that game and they did outperform their opponent by a large margin.
So it's essentially the same phrase.
So this one doesn't require that you declare what you're talking about.
Like the other day he went for a run and he kicked butt.
But in this one you're actually saying who you're talking about.
The other day he went for a run and he kicked his friend's butt.
Basically meaning he beat his friend up. a large margin.
To kick yourself.
Now this would be a funny one to act out but it simply means to feel regret.
Let's say at the grocery store someone said oh no that's a bad example.
Let me think of a way, of a time when I oh, let's say, there's free food at work and you end up talking in the hallway with a colleague and then, when you get to the lunchroom, all the food's gone.
You would kick yourself because you're regretting that you didn't just walk to that room to get the free food.
So anytime life doesn't go the way you want because of a decision you made, you might kick yourself.
You might feel regret in that situation.
So, to kick yourself to feel regret.
Kicking and screaming to protest loudly and strongly to resist doing something.
I always think of children when I see this phrase, because often children are kicking and screaming like really, really young children.
Sometimes at the grocery store you'll see a mom or dad with a young child.
The child is literally kicking and screaming because they don't want to do something.
We also use this to describe humans or sorry, adults.
Even if they're not actually kicking or screaming.
So, it's like, I'll go and see a romantic movie with Jen but I'm gonna go kicking and screaming.
Basically, that means I'm gonna be like, I don't wanna see this movie.
Uh I don't wanna go.
I'm resisting doing something because I don't. want to do it or I'm not interested.
So I'm kicking and screaming.
To be on a kick is to be really interested in something for a while.
So you might be on a reading kick.
You might be on a science fiction movie kick.
You might be on a health kick.
So when you're on a kick, it means you're really interested in that.
Sometimes I get on a walking kick where I walk for every day And I just love doing it.
So when you're on a kick, it means you're really interested in something for a while.
It does usually mean that eventually you're not as interested.
Like if you're on a health food kick, it means you're eating really healthy food every day.
But eventually you might stop or you might eat some less healthy food.
But to be on a kick, to be really interested in something for a while.
To kick in means to begin working or having an effect.
So if you take ibuprofen because you have a headache, it takes a while for it to kick in.
It takes a while.
Like if you take the painkiller and drink some water, the headache doesn't go away right away.
It takes a while for the medicine to kick in.
It takes a while for the ibuprofen to kick in.
And this isn't just used with drugs.
Like I'm trying to think of another example.
Like if you start walking every day, it takes a while for the health benefits to kick in.
Like you don't go for a walk one day and then feel like you could run a marathon.
But if you walk every other day for two months, you might feel the effects start to kick in.
You'll start to feel healthier and sleep better and all of those things.
So to kick in, to begin working or having an effect, to kick start, to give something energy or a strong beginning if my son wanted to start a business, i could give him money to help kick start that business.
If my daughter was going to go and take a course at a university, i could give her all the books she needs to help kick start her education.
There's also a website called Kickstarter.
So that kind of helps you understand.
When you kickstart something, you're basically committing to give money so the person can do that thing.
So to kickstart, to give something energy or a strong beginning.
Now, what I forgot to add was the noun kickstart.
So, sorry, Kickstarter.
A Kickstarter is a little lever on a motorcycle that you can kick with your foot to start the engine.
I should have found a slide for that but I forgot to.
So, I think that's where the phrase or the word term comes from to kickstart.
Sometimes you do something just for kicks which means you do it just for fun.
You decide that it might be enjoyable to do that thing.
Know that at New Year's Eve sometimes people wear these funny glasses just for kicks.
It's because they're enjoying the evening.
They're enjoying the party.
Um, they're having a good time, and so they decide to wear silly hats just for kicks and glasses just for kicks.
So, when you do something just for kicks, you do it just for fun.
Um, some of you might come here to learn English uh, during my livestream, but some of you might come just for kicks.
You might enjoy the chat.
You might enjoy the way I explain things.
Maybe you already know all of these phrases that I'm teaching.
Let me point the right way but you come just for kicks.
You come to enjoy the company, the people in the chat, and maybe you just enjoy listening to my voice.
So, just for kicks, just for fun.
To kick something off is to begin or start something.
So, the baseball season is winding down.
It will be done by mid October.
I think end of October but the professional basketball season is going to kick off soon.
They're going to start.
They're going to begin.
I put basketball as the example, because you don't actually kick the ball in basketball, but we still use that word.
When does the season kick off?
Oh, it kicks off in two weeks or it kicks off in three weeks. or apparently October 21st.
But this phrase does come from sporting events where the game starts by kicking the ball.
So in American football, there's a kickoff.
In soccer, I think it's called a kickoff.
Don't you have to pass to one of your teammates for the game to begin?
I have to check.
I don't watch a lot of soccer, but to kick something off means to begin or start something.
A sidekick.
A sidekick is a close friend or helper.
And then I, the second part I thought was sad, often less important than the main person.
If you watch Batman movies or movies where Batman has a sidekick named Robin, that is the classic definition of a sidekick.
So Batman's sidekick is Robin, a close friend or helper. and less important than Batman.
I feel bad for Robin when I say that but yes, Robin is a sidekick.
Robin is less important than Batman.
I'm glad Robin's not a real person watching this video.
I think that might uh that's kind of a sad thing.
Isn't it like to be someone's sidekick?
Yeah, I think we use it in a lighter way as well.
Um, you might introduce a friend by saying yeah, this is my sidekick Joe, if it's someone you hang out with, but normally it's used in this type of situation uh, like Batman and Robin.
A kickback.
So, these are illegal.
It's money given secretly for helping someone.
So, here's a great example of a kickback.
Let's say my company needed to hire someone to fix things and my cousin fixes things, could say to my cousin, I'll get you the contract and then I make it so that my cousin gets hired and then when my cousin comes over he gives me 500 to thank me for helping him get the job.
We would call that a kickback.
So, money given secretly for helping someone.
This is illegal in most parts of the world but I think it still happens.
It's not the same as a bribe.
A bribe is when you pay someone So that they, let me just get this straight.
A bribe is when you kind of get someone to do something because yeah, you can pay someone to do something as a bribe.
Let me get this.
It's such a simple definition and I'm stumbling on it.
Meaning of bribe.
Before I teach you something wrong, persuade someone to act in one's favor, illegal or dishonestly, by gifting money.
Yes, there we go.
So, I I had it.
So, this is different than a bribe.
This is money that you give later to thank someone.
And then I don't have a picture for this one.
This is what phrase could I teach here?
Failure.
This is a failure.
I have failed as a teacher.
To kick someone when they're down means to treat someone badly.
Um I'll at least make it bigger.
To treat someone badly when they are already in a difficult situation.
So a good example of this would be you're sick and you can't work, and then your bank says they want you to repay your loan in full.
So, you're already experiencing something bad.
You're already sick and you can't work and now your bank is saying they want their money back.
That would be an example of kicking someone when they're down.
Kick the can.
A child's game like hide and seek.
Now, my understanding is that there are a lot of versions of this game.
The version I played was like hide and seek.
If you were it, then you would stand by the can and close your eyes and count to 100.
And everyone else would go and hide.
And then you would need to find them.
And if you saw someone, you had to run and touch the can and say their name.
And then they were caught.
And they had to stand by the can then.
But if someone who wasn't caught ran up and kicked the can, everyone who you had already caught was allowed to run away and you would have to set the can back up.
I know there's different versions of this, but definitely that's the version I played as a child.
To kick up a fuss, to complain loudly or make a scene about something.
If I give a student a low grade, sometimes they kick up a fuss.
Sometimes their parents kick up a fuss.
Sometimes they get a little bit annoyed.
So when you kick up a fuss, it means to complain loudly or make a big scene about something.
As you can see, this person is kicking up a fuss in this picture right now.
A kick in the teeth.
We use this to describe something very disappointing or unfair or a painful setback.
So if you drop your phone and the screen breaks, that's a kick in the teeth.
If you can imagine, getting kicked in the teeth would really hurt, so we use that image to describe something bad happening.
So that would be a kick in the teeth.
Um let's see what would be another example.
Buying a new car and then getting in a car accident the same day.
That would be a kick in the teeth.
It would be this event or thing that happened that's really really annoying.
To kick the tires means to inspect something before buying it.
So if you are buying a car, you might actually kick the tires and to make sure the tires are all good and have air in them.
But if you're buying a used computer, you might turn it on and try a few things with it, because you want to kick the tires a bit to make sure it is working properly.
So, to kick the tires to inspect something before buying it.
And then a kick at the can is an opportunity to try something.
So this one or two pictures in every lesson is generated by AI, because I can't find a good photo and this one just cracked me up.
This is an AI generated photo obviously, because you can see the kid is playing with his Nintendo switch, but the screen is on the back instead of the front.
So, I was at first, I wasn't going to use this but I thought, why not?
It's kind of funny.
So, yes, AI does make mistakes.
Um So this kid is playing a game.
His sister is waiting for her turn because she wants a kick at the can.
She wants to be able to try it as well.
So when you take turns, when you're waiting to have your turn, you're waiting for your kick at the can.
