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Hey A -Z listeners, this is Jack here.
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Welcome to the A -Z English Podcast.
My name is Jack and I'm here with my co -host social and today we are in the vocabulary spotlight and we are going to talk about 3 idioms or expressions which use the word dead.
So I know this sounds like a little bit morbid, it sounds a little bit dark.
But we do have some expressions that do use the word dead.
And so the first one is dead on.
So social how would you describe the expression dead on if something is dead on?
Gee, Jack it's kind of like if someone's dead on then you're usually saying they're right, correct?
Or accurate or precise.
Yeah, something is like dead on.
Yeah, especially like I use it a lot when we're talking about like when you're asking someone about their opinion and their opinion is their advice is so perfect.
And I know that like, I know they're right.
I'm like, yeah, you're dead on, you're dead on.
Like that's, you really hit the target, you know, as far as the advice goes.
So yeah, to be dead on just means to be right, then correct, precise or accurate.
I think that's the best definition.
Pretty easy one. And we would use it in this kind of construction.
We say you are dead on, you are dead on.
So just for our listeners out there.
What about dead to rights?
I actually don't know this one, Jack, dead to right?
Yeah, so this one is usually we use it when you're like, when you get caught doing something wrong.
So and another expression we use is to be caught red handed.
So this expression refers to being caught in an unmistakably guilty situation or position.
And so you know, your hand is in the cookie jar and mom sees you with your hand in the cookie jar, you are caught dead to rights.
You were caught dead to rights.
And I don't know, it's kind of an old, maybe it's an older expression because I've heard it used, but I only really hear it used by like older people.
I don't hear it used so often.
Yeah, I'll be honest.
I've never used that expression myself.
And I think we should try to stop using the expression red handed because that's actually.
Yeah, it's racist, isn't it?
It's racist. This, this the it goes back to the the assumption that Native Native Americans, American Indians are thieves.
And so, you know, they would steal.
Europeans stole their land and like ruined their lives and stole their culture and everything.
Somehow, they're the ones that are red handed.
Right. I mean, it's the ultimate, it's offensive in so many ways, because first off, American Indians had darker skin, darker complexion.
And so they would often be called in a negative way, red, red people or red men or something like that.
And so, yeah, so it's actually quite disgusting in the way that they're describing the physical appearance of Native Americans.
And then also on top of that, it's kind of the ultimate story of gaslighting where one side does all the bad things and then accuses the other side of being of doing the exact same thing, except they haven't.
And they haven't. They're the victims.
They're the victims in this situation.
So anyway, so I would say being caught, use the expression caught dead to rights instead of using red handed.
That's a much more politically correct expression to use.
Okay, good. That was a little digression there, but it was an interesting little historical fact or tidbit.
The last one is dead as a doornail.
What is, if someone's dead as a doornail, what does that mean?
They're very dead. Like very, just cold corpse dead, basically, not to give anyone a gruesome image.
But yeah, I don't really know why, like where that comes from, though, either the etymology.
That's a good question.
I don't actually know either.
I can kind of make some like guesses, but I'm not going to because I'm sure there is an explanation for it.
But we could also use it to talk about like things.
So for example, after the accident, the engine was dead as a doornail.
So you could say like your car is as dead as a doornail.
And maybe it means like as useful as a doornail or moveable as a doornail.
Like a doornail is not going anywhere.
It's totally stuck.
And so, yeah, if someone or something is dead as a doornail, it is very, very, very dead.
Yeah. So that's our last one.
All right. Those are expressions for today.
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See you guys next time.
Bye -bye. Bye -bye. Bye -bye.
Elevate your shopping experience with a shop to the top campaign at Bookit Pun Jump Plaza, Love One, IMM and Westgate.
From now till October 13th, fix your shopping skills and complete missions via our Capita Star app to unlock up to $30 the Capita voucher and exclusive invites to themed activities.
Special bonuses await when you conquer all the missions.
So enjoy endless fun and rewards at Capital Land malls in the West.
Let's shop to the top.
