SPEAKING EXERCISE - QUESTIONS USING BODY IDIOMS

EAR

To play music by ear: to play it from memory.
To have a good ear for sthg: (e.g. music, pronunciation of foreign languages) to be able to discriminate sounds and tones accurately.
To be all ears: to listen eagerly or curiously.
To  be up to the ears in sthg: (e.g. work, problems) to be very busy or to have a lot of trouble with it.

EYE

To see eye to eye with  sby on sthg: to have the same opinion as sby about sthg.
To have an eye for sthg: (e.g. fashion, colour, beauty) to be a good judge of it or to have a good sense of appreciation for it.
To keep an eye on sthg / sby: to observe it / him continually and carefully. It also means to look after it / him when sby else is not there.

HAND

To be at hand: to be very near, close to one.
To have sthg in hand: (e.g. a job, a problem, a situation) to have it under one’s control and to be working on it.
To take sthg in hand: to deal with it, to take control of it.
To  be / get out of hand: to become out of control
To live from hand to mouth: to live without saving money, spending it as soon as it is earned.

HEAD

To  have a good head for  sthg: (e.g. figures) to be naturally good at sthg which requires logic and precise thinking.
To lose one’s head: to panic, lose control or act in a confused way.
To  keep one’s head: to remain calm, not to panic.
One can’t make head or tail of sthg: one cannot understand it at all, i.e. the matter is unclear or too difficult to understand.
To  put an idea into sby’s head: to give him an idea or suggestion to think about.
To talk over sby’s head: to talk about things which are too difficult or specialised for him to understand.

NOSE

To pay through the nose: to pay more money for sthg than it is worth.
To poke one’s nose into sby’s / sby else’s business: to interfere with matters which do not concern one.
To be as plain as the nose on your face: to be very clear to see or guess; to be very obvious.

 

USING THE PREVIOUS EXPRESIONS ANSWER THIS QUESTIONS

    1. Do you have a good ear for music?
    2. On what dates are you up to your ears with work / studies?
    3. Do you usually see eye to eye with people? What kind of people do you see eye to eye with?
    4. Do you have an eye for fashion?
    5. Have you ever kept an eye on someone? Does anyone keep an eye on you? If so, how do you feel about it?
    6. Have you ever lived a situation that eventually got out of hand?
    7. A recent survey concluded that the Spanish live hand to mouth? Do you agree? What is the reason for this. What kind of things do Spanish people spend their money on?
    8. Do you have a good head for numbers?
    9. Have you ever lost your head? What happened?
    10. Is there a situation / problem / political matter... you can’t make head or tail of?
    11. Do you know anyone who usually talks over his / her head?
    12. Have you ever paid through the nose for something? What was it? How did you feel later on?

     

This website has been designed and is maintained by Alfonso Hinojosa, teacher of English at E.O.I. Santander