Well, hello, listeners, and welcome to the Learn Every Day English podcast, Your Roadway to English Proficiency.
Hey, you've come to the right place to improve your listening comprehension skills and mastery of the English language.
My name is Gary, and I will be your host today.
I'm a native English speaker, born and raised in the United States, and also I'm a retired engineer living in a small Texas town, about one hour north of Houston, Texas.
I'm also a language learner like you, I'm studying Spanish, so I know what it is like to learn a new and different language.
So now, let's jump right in to today's episode.
Hey, what's up, everybody?
Hope you're having a good day, a good week, and welcome to episode 18 of the Learn Every Day English podcast.
Glad to have you with me.
Today we're, this is part two of a two -part series, we're going to be talking about English idioms or expressions that have people's names in them.
But before we get started, I just want to remind you, you can follow me at my webpage.
Just go to www .learneverydayenglish .com.
And there you can find and listen to the podcast directly from the webpage, but you can also find them on all of the major podcast sites, especially like Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts.
Also on the webpage, there's a link where you can access the Learn Every Day English YouTube channel, and there you'll find a lot of interesting and engaging videos that will help you learn and improve your English, and also learn a little bit more about life here in the United States.
I must confess, though, and apologize, I haven't been able to put up or load videos very frequently or as often as I would have liked.
I was very busy over the holiday, we had some relatives in town, I had to go out of town for a while, so I just didn't have time to do the videos and the podcast.
So I hope to be able to jump back in and start doing and putting up some more videos.
So please bear with me, as we say in English, or kind of work with me, give me some time.
And I hope to get that back on track, as we say in English, or back on a routine time schedule.
So that's enough for now, let's jump right in to talking about English expressions with people's names.
Well hello, we're going to be talking about English expressions that have people's names in them, and we're going to be going over 11 expressions.
And the first expression is, Johnny come lately.
So Johnny is a man's name.
Come lately means just to arrive late.
So Johnny come lately is an expression used to describe like a newcomer, we say in English, somebody that has just arrived, say at a job, just started a job, or just arrived at a function or meeting.
So either a newcomer, we say in English, or someone who has just joined a group.
An example sentence is this, she may be a Johnny come lately in the office, but she's doing really well.
She may be a Johnny come lately in the office, but she's doing really well.
So that means she is a new employee.
She is a new worker.
She may have just joined the company.
But she is learning very quickly and is doing a very good job.
So that's why they say, but she's doing really well for a Johnny come lately, for a new person.
The second example phrase is called Johnny on the spot, Johnny on the spot.
And this is a person who is always available or ready, we say ready and willing and able to do what needs to be done, or a person who has everything ready and prepared.
And this is a type of person you really want to have working for you or helping you with something.
An example sentence is this, when I went to pick up my car at the repair shop, John had everything ready and prepared, and even washed my car, he's Johnny on the spot.
When I went to pick up my car at the repair shop, John had everything ready and prepared, and even washed my car, he's Johnny on the spot.
That means he was he did a very good job.
He had everything ready to go.
The third expression is keep up with the Joneses.
And the Joneses is a typical and common last name here in the United States like Mary Jones or John Jones.
But when we use Jones in the plural form, oftentimes we'll say Joneses.
So the expression is keep up with the Joneses or keep up with the people who have the last name of Jones.
And this means to try to be as good as the neighbors by getting what they have and matching their lifestyle.
Again this means to try to be as good as your neighbors by always trying to get or compete maybe with them and have what they have.
And we say to match their lifestyle.
So maybe you're jealous and you see your neighbor get something new so you have to get it too.
You have to keep up with them.
An example sentence is this, her neighbor bought a new Mercedes so Mary went out and bought one too.
She's always trying to keep up with the Joneses.
Her neighbor bought a new Mercedes so Mary went out and bought one too.
She's always trying to keep up with the Joneses.
And of course a Mercedes is an expensive type of car or vehicle.
The fourth expression is to live the life of Riley or lead the life of Riley.
And this means to live a really good life with few problems.
For example, Tom's wife is a doctor and makes a lot of money so he doesn't have to work.
He's living the life of Riley.
Tom's wife is a doctor and makes a lot of money so he doesn't have to work.
He's living the life of Riley.
That means he's living a very good life, a stress free life, maybe a life free of many problems that most people have to deal with.
Number five is the expression Midas Touch or the Midas Touch.
And Midas comes from a king called King Midas, M -I -D -A -S.
So to have the Midas touch means that someone makes a lot of money or is very successful from anything that they try to do.
They are always successful with it.
For example, Mark has opened up three businesses and they have all been very successful.
He really has the Midas touch.
Mark has opened up three businesses and they have all been very successful.
He really has the Midas touch.
And this means like also, I think King Midas, when he touched something, it turned to gold.
So that's why we say someone has the Midas touch, so everything that they touch, it turns to gold.
You know, and gold is a very expensive metal.
The sixth example phrase is Nervous Nellie.
So Nellie is a woman's name, it's not very common name, but it is a woman's name.
So Nervous Nellie or to be a Nervous Nellie means to be someone that worries excessively or worries too much.
Example sentence, Jenny can never relax and rest.
She is always worrying about something.
She's such a Nervous Nellie.
Jenny and Jenny is a woman's name.
Jenny can never rest and relax.
She is always worrying about something.
She's such a Nervous Nellie.
She's just a very worrisome person, a person that worries a lot about everything.
The seventh expression is Open Pandora's Box.
This comes from a story, I think, in history called Pandora's Box, where you open up the box and you let out a lot of bad things or cause a lot of bad things or trouble to happen.
So again, it means something you do that causes all sorts of trouble or a lot of trouble that you hadn't or didn't anticipate that would happen.
For example, I can say, Steve and Sue are having marriage problems.
Maybe I should talk with them and see if I can help.
And my friend tells me and says, I wouldn't do that if I were you.
You're opening up a Pandora's Box if you get involved in their affairs or their situation or their life.
Again, it's kind of a long sentence, so it's a two -part sentence.
Steve and Sue are having marriage problems.
Maybe I should talk with them and see if I can help.
I wouldn't do that if I were you.
You're opening up a Pandora's Box if you get involved in their affairs.
And this is typical of trying to help or we say interfere in another person's or maybe a marriage relationship.
Sometimes you're opening up a lot of problems for yourself, so you're opening up a Pandora's Box.
The eighth expression is raise Cain or to raise Cain, and Cain is a name of a man.
And it means to cause a lot of trouble about or over something.
Usually the person shows or involves a lot of anger and involves a lot of anger and sometimes shouting.
So again, to raise Cain means to cause a lot of trouble over something that has happened, something that maybe you don't like or don't agree with, and you may yell and be angry about something.
An example sentence is this.
John found out he is being fired and has been raising Cain all day.
John found out he is being fired or losing his job and has been raising Cain all day, so he has been causing a lot of trouble all day long.
The ninth expression is Rob Peter to pay Paul.
Rob Peter to pay Paul.
This means to take or borrow money from someone in order to pay a debt to someone else or another person.
Example sentence. If you take money from a credit card to pay off another credit card, that's just robbing Peter to pay Paul.
If you take money from a credit card to pay off another credit card, that's just robbing Peter to pay Paul.
So in essence, you are not really solving the problem.
You're just using one form of payment, like one credit card, to pay off another credit card, but you still have the same debt.
The tenth expression is called Uncle Sam, and Sam is a male's name or name of a man in the U .S., but Uncle Sam refers to the United States government, and by extension, we can say it also refers to the American people.
So the name is actually an expression of the abbreviation U .S., Uncle Sam.
I got two example sentences here.
The first one is this.
He is a member of the Army.
He works for Uncle Sam.
He is a member of the Army.
He works for Uncle Sam.
That means he works for the U .S.
government. The second example sentence is this.
There is no way to get around, Uncle Sam.
You have to pay your taxes, or they will fine you and throw you in jail.
There is no way to get around, Uncle Sam.
You have to pay your taxes, or they will fine you and throw you in jail.
This means there is no way to get around the United States government and their rules and regulations, so you have to or you must pay your taxes, or something bad will happen, like they will fine you.
Like a fine is to give you a penalty where you have to pay some money and throw you in jail or put you in jail.
The last expression, number 11, is we are even Steven.
And Steven is a name of a man.
So the expression is we are even Steven, which means it's an expression used when someone has repaid a debt or to indicate that everything is equal between people.
Everything is equal now, or everything has been settled and the situation is okay.
The example sentence is this.
Now that you have given me back the money I lent you, we are even Steven.
Now that you have given me back the money I lent you or returned the money I lent you, we are even Steven.
That means now everything is okay.
You don't owe me any money, so everything is fine.
It's kind of everything is back to normal.
So we say, hey, we are even Steven.
So I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Learn Every Day English podcast.
These expressions are very common in English.
They're used a lot between people in informal speech and conversation.
You might hear these a lot used on American TV programs or shows and movies.
So I think it will benefit you to know these and to study these.
And again, I've said this before, it would be of help to you if you want to study these expressions and try to write them out in a sentence of your own.
If you want to, you can send them to me, email them through the contact form list, and I can take a look at them and let you know what I think.
Well, again, I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Learn Every Day English podcast.
Again, I'd love to hear from you and what you thought of this episode.
If you have any questions for me or if you have any suggestions for specific topics you would like me to discuss on this program.
Hey, just go to the Learn Every Day English web page, go to the home page.
And at the bottom, there'll be a contact form.
You just fill that out, send me a message, I'll get an email and I can respond back to you and read your message.
See what you would like me to do.
Just want to send me a message and say hello that you like the program.
Or anything, any other comments that you may have.
Well, that's it for now, listeners.
Hey, be sure to check out our upcoming episodes.
We try to put out an episode once a week on every Monday.
And I've been pretty regular with that.
And I'll do my best to maintain or keep that schedule.
So again, hey, thanks for listening.
And goodbye.
