There's nothing better than a summer barbecue. You can pig out on burgers and
hot dogs, even make a total pig of yourself, and everyone there is
as happy as a pig in mud. This is funny. One of my
friends asked me when I was going to stop eating meat when, well,
when pigs fly, that's when let's discuss. Welcome to another Happy English podcast
coming to you from New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael
Alry. Thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here from Happy
English and I help people speak English better. This is Happy English Podcast,
Episode seven point thirty two. Pig idioms. In the last few episodes of
the Half English podcast, I talked about hot and heat idioms. After all,
it is the middle of the summer now, and summer brings us to
barbecues and picnics, two kinds of events where you can enjoy good food and
nice company outside in the park or by the beach. I'm thinking about that
reminded me of this set of pig idioms. Let's dive in. Next,
listen to a conversation between two friends at lunch. Pay attention to the pig
idioms they use. Hey, Jordan, how was your weekend? Oh?
It was great. I went to the company picnic and totally pigged out.
I don't think I've ever had so much food in one sitting. That sounds
amazing. I'd been wanting to go, but I've been so busy. Maybe
one day, when pigs fly, I'll get to join you. Yeah,
well, the next time I go, I'll definitely let you know. I
was as happy as a pig in mud that day. Everything was just perfect.
Oh yeah, that reminds me when you saw your grandmother last month.
Did she give you any of her recipes to try or did she just sit
and watch you make a pig of yourself? Make a pig of myself in
a pig's eye. But seriously, I did get a couple of good ideas
from her. I'm planning on cooking this weekend. You should come over.
Just don't make a pig of yourself, all right, I'll do my best.
By the way, how's your new job going. I heard you were
really pushing yourself to bring home the bacon. It's been pretty hectic, but
I'm managing. Sometimes I feel like a guinea pig with all the new tasks.
But it's all part of the learning process. I hear you, and
hey, don't let it stress you out too much. Just remember, don't
sweat like a pig. Take it easy. Definitely, thanks for the support.
I'll see you this weekend and we can pig out together. I'm looking
forward to it. Can't wait. Catch you later. Probably, compared to
people, pigs don't have such good table manners, so when someone eats like
a pig, they eat a lot of food in a messy or greedy way.
At the burger joint there was a group of teenagers eating like a pig.
I'm so hungry I could eat like a pig right now. In a
similar way, when you make a pig of yourself, you eat too much.
I felt like I had made a pig of myself while having dinner at
the hotel buffet. Jen made a pig of herself at the barbecue and ate
too many hot dogs. Have you ever seen a pig fly outside of a
Pink Floyd concert? And I don't think it's possible. In fact, it's
impossible. So when someone says when pigs fly, they mean that something will
never happen or it is very unlikely. Recently, someone asked me if I
was planning to retire soon, and I told him yeah, when pigs fly,
I wonder if she'll ever go out on a date with me. You
haha, when pigs fly, You're not her type. They say that pigs
are very intelligent animals, and as such, it's not easy to convince them
to do something if they don't want to. That's why when a person is
being stubborn or obstinate, we say that they are being pigheaded. The boss
is so pig headed and never listens to anyone's advice. My roommate Jack can
be quite pigheaded about what he likes to watch on TV. Sometimes in a
laboratory, small animals are used in experiments. One of these animals is a
guinea pig, and when a person is being used to try or do something
for the first time, we said that they are a guinea pig. We
were guinea pigs for the new recipe my friend Donna wanted to try. The
hospital selected several volunteers to be guinea pigs for a clinical trial. Compared to
humans, the eyes of a pig are relatively small. The space in a
pig's eye is a pretty small space. So there is a small chance that
something will fit there. I doubt much of anything could fit there. And
so we have the idiom in a pig's eye, which means I doubt that
or I don't believe that. Fred says he can run a marathon without training.
Yeah, in a pig's I, Jack's going to finish building that fence
in one day. In a pigs, I on a farm. Pigs like
to hang out in the mud to stay cool. That makes them happy.
So when you are happy as a pig in mud, you are very happy
and content. After spending a day at the beach, I was as happy
as a pig in mud. Alice was as happy as a pig in mud
when she got the promotion she wanted at work. Speaking of pigs on a
farm, at meal time, pigs eat a lot. That's why when someone
eats a lot of food, or even a lot of food quickly, we
say that they pig out. We totally pigged out on pizza last night.
Every time I go to my grandma's house, I end up pigging out on
her famous cookies. The idiom to sweat like a pig means to sweat a
lot, usually because of heat or heavy physical activity. Well. In fact,
humans can't sweat like a pig because pigs actually sweat differently than people.
But regardless of biology, when someone is sweating like a pig, they are
sweating a lot. After the workout, I was sweating like a pig.
We were all sweating like a pig while hiking up that steep hill. And
finally related to pigs is bacon. When you bring home the bacon, you
earn enough money to support a household or family. Mark's wife is the one
who brings home the bacon in the family while he stays home to take care
of the kids. Paul and his wife both work full time to bring home
the bacon and pay the bills. 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
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