I'm not trying to let the cat out of the bag, but I have
to tell you I am dog tired. Now I'm gonna guess that you're going
to want to know why, but keep in mind curiosity killed the cat.
Yep, today is all about cats and dogs. Let's discuss. Welcome to
another Happy English podcast, coming to you from New York City, and here's
your English teacher, Michael. All right, thank you John, and thanks
everyone. It's Michael here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast Episode seven fifteen, Cats and Dogs.
For today's English lesson, let's have a look at idioms that deal with cats
and dogs. Being a dog person myself, I'm not exactly sure why we
always put cats first when we talk about cats and dogs, but hey,
that's English. I really love helping you learn idioms because they do tend to
make your English conversation and writing more colorful and more natural sounding. Next,
listen to a conversation between two friends at a coffee shop. See if you
can catch all of the cat and dog idioms. Hey, Jenny, how's
it going? Hey Karen, Well, to be honest, I'm dog tired.
They've had me working overtime every day this week. Oh that stinks.
You've got such a stressful job. You look like a cat on a hot
tin roof. You can say that again. And ever since the company announced
the merger, everyone has been on edge. Who knows what's going to happen
next. You know, everyone's competing. Yeah, I get that, especially
the way the economy is going these days. It's a dog eat dog world
out there. I've been working like a dog too. I can't wait for
the weekend. Speaking of which, I'm so glad nobody let the cat out
of the bag about our surprise party for Tom. It's going to be a
great party, and I'm sure he's going to be so surprised. And you
know, he's been acting so curious about his birthday too. You know what
they say, curiosity killed the cat too, funny. Let's hope him and
Sarah keep things chill. You know how they fight like cats and dogs sometimes.
Yeah, we don't want any drama, for sure. They've been together
for a dog's age, but they still argue like crazy. I guess they
just don't know how to let sleeping dogs lie totally. And now let's take
a look at these cat and dog idioms. When you are dog tired,
you are both physically and mentally exhausted from doing something. Here are some examples.
After a long day at work, I'm dog tired. I think I'll
just go home and veg on the sofa. I was so dog tired last
night that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The
kids were dog tired after their soccer game and fell asleep on the way home.
Can you imagine how a cat would feel if it were walking on a
hot roof in the summertime? Now, what if that roof were made of
metal like tin, Probably the cat would be very anxious or nervous. Well,
when you feel like a cat on a hot tin roof, you are
feeling extremely agitated or nervous. Keep in mind this is a little bit of
an old fashioned sounding idiom. You might not hear it in conversations these days,
but there's probably a good chance that you're going to hear this idiom in
old movies or in music. Here are some examples. I can't sit still.
I'm so worried about the presentation tomorrow. I feel like a cat on
a hot tin roof. Kenny is like a cat on a hot tin roof
about his performance review. With the boss waiting for the client's answer about the
contract is making me feel like a cat on a hot tin roof. Next,
when a dog gets together with another dog, they could be quite competitive
or even aggressive toward each other, especially if there is food around. With
that image in mind, we have the phrase dog eat dog or a dog
eat dog world, which means a very competitive situation. For example, the
business world, especially in finance, tends to be quite dog eat dog.
It's usually rather dog eat dog in the world of politics. At the college
graduation speech, the head of the law department reminded the graduates that it's a
dog eat dog world out there, so they have to be willing to do
whatever it takes to get ahead. Next, we have to let sleeping dogs
lie, which means to not disturb a situation or not to bring attention to
something bad that happened. Here are some examples. Don't remind the boss about
the trouble you had with that client last month. Just let sleeping dogs lie
and don't bring it up. Let's try to let sleeping dogs lie and move
on from the incident. I wouldn't ask jen about her ex boyfriend. If
I were you, just let sleeping dogs lie. It's pretty well known that
cats and dogs generally don't get along with each other. With this in mind,
when people argue or fight constantly, we can say that they fight like
cats and dogs. Here are some examples. I don't know how they work
together. They always seem to fight like cats and dogs. The boss and
his assistant are often fighting like cats and dogs. When we were younger,
my sister and I always fought like cats and dogs. The last one is
a dog's age. One year for a dog is like six or seven years
for a human, so a dog's age is a very long time. We
usually use a dog's age when we talk about something we haven't done in a
long time. For example, I haven't seen my old college roommate in a
dog's age. I haven't eaten at that restaurant in a dog's age. It
feels like it's been a dog's age since I last went on vacation. Keep
in mind, the best way to remember this and any other word or phrase
in English is to take that word or phrase, write it in a sentence
that's true for you or true in your world, and then memorize your sentences.
By the way, can you imagine getting the chance to practice this kind
of English with me directly. You can get more practice using your English when
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podcast lesson seven point fifteen. Remember, learning another language is not easy,
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