1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:04,919 Let me ask you something. How did you ring in the new year? 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:11,320 Have you decided to turn over a new leaf? Are you planning to take 3 00:00:11,439 --> 00:00:16,000 up a new hobby or a sport? Do you need to kick the habit 4 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:26,120 from something you did last year? Let's discuss. Welcome to another Happy English 5 00:00:26,199 --> 00:00:31,000 podcast, coming to you from New York City, and here's your English teacher, 6 00:00:31,399 --> 00:00:36,799 Michael. All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's 7 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:42,799 Michael here from Happy English and I help people speak English better. And this 8 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:51,359 is Happy English Podcast, Episode seven oh three. New Year Idioms. Learning 9 00:00:51,439 --> 00:00:57,479 idioms can make your English conversation sound more natural, and today we're going to 10 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:03,840 look at five idioms you might use in your English conversations at the beginning of 11 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:08,200 the year. By the end of this podcast, you'll learn these idioms and 12 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:15,799 the history behind how we started saying them. Now listen to a conversation between 13 00:01:15,799 --> 00:01:19,840 two co workers and be sure to focus on the idioms. Hey, Rachel, 14 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:23,040 how did you ring in the New Year? It was fantastic. I 15 00:01:23,079 --> 00:01:26,040 spent a quiet evening at home with my family. We rang in the new 16 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,280 year by having a cozy dinner and then watching the countdown on TV. Sounds 17 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,959 nice, my friends, and I hit the town, partied until midnight, 18 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:36,959 and really rang in the new year with a bang. Wow, Joe, 19 00:01:37,239 --> 00:01:40,239 that must have been fun. By the way, did you make any New 20 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:44,319 Year's resolutions? Absolutely? You know how I'm often late, right, uh 21 00:01:44,439 --> 00:01:47,480 huh. Well, I've decided to turn over a new leaf and kick the 22 00:01:47,519 --> 00:01:51,879 habit of procrastination this year. You'll see me here by eight thirty every morning. 23 00:01:52,079 --> 00:01:53,719 Good for you, Joe. As for me, I've decided to go 24 00:01:53,799 --> 00:01:57,719 cold turkey on using social media. It's been taking too much of my time. 25 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,159 Instead, I'm going to take up the piano. That's awesome, Rachel. 26 00:02:01,319 --> 00:02:05,640 I also want to stick to a regular exercise routine this year. It's 27 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:07,159 a tough one, but I'm going to go for it. Sounds good. 28 00:02:07,439 --> 00:02:10,879 We can encourage each other to stick to our resolutions and make this year a 29 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:15,599 great one. Well, it sounds like their new year is off to a 30 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:21,759 good start. Let's have a look at the idioms they used in the conversation. 31 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:27,800 First of all, Joe asked Rachel how she rang in the new year. 32 00:02:28,759 --> 00:02:32,280 Back in the old days, ringing bells was used to celebrate the new 33 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:39,159 year. So to ring in the new year means to celebrate the moment when 34 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:46,439 the new year arrives at midnight on December thirty first. Here are some examples. 35 00:02:46,759 --> 00:02:52,240 Every year, John and Mary liked her ring in the new Year with 36 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:58,240 a big family party and a countdown to midnight. Tom and Lisa decided to 37 00:02:58,319 --> 00:03:04,120 stay home and watch movies to ring in the new year. New York has 38 00:03:04,159 --> 00:03:08,199 a big event in Times Square to ring in the new Year with live music 39 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:16,439 and a spectacular fireworks display. The next one is to turn over a new 40 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:22,800 leaf. It seems that back in the sixteenth century, a page of a 41 00:03:22,879 --> 00:03:28,400 book was known as a leaf, so in those days, when you turned 42 00:03:28,599 --> 00:03:32,159 over a new leaf, it meant that you were going to have something new 43 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:38,120 to read. Well as an idiom, when you turn over a new leaf, 44 00:03:38,479 --> 00:03:45,840 you change your life completely by doing something new or different than you've done 45 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:52,639 before. For example, Susan decided to turn over a new leaf in the 46 00:03:52,680 --> 00:04:00,560 new year by eating healthier and exercising regularly. After years of strug ruggling with 47 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,319 waking up late and not being on time, David decided to turn over a 48 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:12,759 new leaf by going to bed earlier and waking up on time. Karen realized 49 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:17,120 she needed to turn over a new leaf about her spending habits, so she 50 00:04:17,319 --> 00:04:25,120 created a budget and plans to stick to it in the new year. Next, 51 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:30,319 we have kick the habit. When you kick a ball, you send 52 00:04:30,399 --> 00:04:36,360 it away, right, so when you kick a bad habit, you send 53 00:04:36,519 --> 00:04:44,680 that bad habit away. With this image, kick the habit means to stop 54 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:50,480 a bad habit, like something addictive. Here are some examples. Richard has 55 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:56,279 been trying to kick the habit of smoking for years, but it's not easy. 56 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,160 Linda knew she needed to kick the habit of constantly checking her phone, 57 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:08,079 so she started leaving it in another room. For Kevin, the new year 58 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:12,959 was a good time to kick the habit of eating junk food and start eating 59 00:05:13,079 --> 00:05:20,319 more nutritiously. The next one is to go cold turkey. According to Wikipedia, 60 00:05:20,639 --> 00:05:27,079 there was a story in a nineteenth century British magazine about a guy who 61 00:05:27,439 --> 00:05:32,160 stayed at his cousin's house for Christmas but was kind of an unwanted guest. 62 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:39,680 Instead of a hot meal, his cousin served him slices of cold turkey for 63 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:46,639 dinner for several days until he suddenly left the house in disgust. So cold 64 00:05:46,959 --> 00:05:54,000 turkey became related to the idea of suddenly going away. When you go cold 65 00:05:54,120 --> 00:06:00,199 turkey, you stop doing something like a bad habit, suddenly and gradually. 66 00:06:00,879 --> 00:06:05,720 For example, Lisa knew it was time to quit caffeine, so she went 67 00:06:05,879 --> 00:06:12,639 cold turkey and switched to drinking dcaf tea in the mornings. Mike decided to 68 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:17,519 go cold turkey on his sugar intake, which meant no more desserts or sugary 69 00:06:17,639 --> 00:06:24,800 snacks. After years of smoking, James chose to quit smoking cold turkey on 70 00:06:24,959 --> 00:06:30,480 January first. The last one is to stick to something. We use the 71 00:06:30,519 --> 00:06:36,959 word stick as a verb to mean attached to something. You use glue to 72 00:06:38,079 --> 00:06:43,560 stick two pieces of paper together. Well, when you stick to something, 73 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:49,839 you follow a plan or habit faithfully. In other words, you attach yourself 74 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:56,000 to that plan or habit. Here are some examples. Paul made a resolution 75 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:00,720 to stick to his workout routine this year, no matter how how how busy 76 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:06,879 he gets. Mary promised herself she would stick to her budget and not overspend 77 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:14,519 on unnecessary items. John encouraged his friend Mark to stick to their plan of 78 00:07:14,639 --> 00:07:19,279 eating healthier by cooking meals at home. Keep in mind, the best way 79 00:07:19,319 --> 00:07:26,600 to remember this and any vocabulary is to take the word or phrase, write 80 00:07:26,639 --> 00:07:30,000 it in a sentence that's true for you or true in your world, and 81 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:36,519 then memorize your sentences. Well that's it for today's English lesson. Thanks for 82 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:42,079 sticking to this podcast. By the way, if you'd like to get more 83 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:47,040 practice using your English, why don't you join my podcast Learner's Study Group. 84 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:53,839 There you can make new friends, join me and those friends for live group 85 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:59,800 coaching every week. Plus, get the pdf, transcript and audio download for 86 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:07,240 every Happy English podcast in the past and in the future, and each episode 87 00:08:07,279 --> 00:08:13,240 has exercises where you can practice this English point with speaking and writing checked by 88 00:08:13,319 --> 00:08:16,839 me. To learn more or to see some of the example sentences from this 89 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:24,160 lesson, just visit Myhappy English dot com and choose podcast lesson seven oh three. 90 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:30,199 Remember, learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible, 91 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:35,720 and I'm here to help you on your journey. This podcast is brought to 92 00:08:35,759 --> 00:08:41,720 you by Happy English. Please visit Myhappy English dot com show your support for 93 00:08:41,799 --> 00:08:58,440 Happy English by leaving us a review. Get English, Get Happy, Happy English.