Idioms Advanced | Similes

Episode 240 Idioms Simile

Disclaimer

I am using an automatic transcript service as it is not possible for me to do it on my own and I cannot afford human transcription at the moment. The service claims to have about 95% accuracy, which means there will still be some mistakes, so my apologies for having a less than perfect transcript, but I hope I can afford human transcription soon and I will solve this problem. However, the service is pretty good, and the transcript is almost perfect.

Transcript

Welcome to a new episode from English plus podcast. This episode will be about ATM’s advanced and we will talk about similes today. Now you might not know what similes are, but you will know everything you need to know about similes. And we will learn some very interesting and commonly used similes we can use in our everyday language.

[00:00:25] But before we do that, let me remind that you can find the transcript of this episode in a link. I will leave in the description. You will also find a link that will take you to Patreon. If you like the content we’re creating support our show, support English plus podcasts by becoming a patron of the show on Patreon.

[00:00:41] And there’s also a link to our mailing list and description of the episode that you can take and subscribe to our mailing list. And then you will get updates on our schedule every two weeks. Now, with that being said, let’s start writing. Let’s dig in deep and talk about similes. Now, what are similes? You might’ve heard of them before?

[00:00:59] You might not might have heard the word, but I’m pretty sure that you’ve heard similes or you hear similes all the time. People use those a lot. They’re not exactly like Proverbs. But they are a thing of their own. And that, especially when you compare two things to each other, but the special thing about similes, they always include the word as oral.

[00:01:20] Like you have to use the word as, or like to say that this is a simile and by the way, similarly might be a little bit difficult to spell. So I will have to mention the spelling of that. Even this is idioms advanced similarly. S I M I L E similarly. And that’s how we pronounce it. Similarly, S I M I L E so similes, as we said, our expressions, which compare two things.

[00:01:45] They always include the words as, or like you can use similes to make your spoken and written English more colorful. And your comparisons is more powerful. Now, of course, with that being said, you know what? Similes are. Let’s dig in deep and talk about some very commonly used similes. What if you want to describe somebody who is extremely thin?

[00:02:07] You can say, for example, my brother’s as thin as a rake, you know, the rake we use for gardening, you can say my brother’s as thin as a rake. As, as you see, we use as here, that’s a similarly, if you want to talk about something that is extremely smooth, you can say the baby’s skin is as smooth as silk.

[00:02:28] You’re describing the baby skin to silk. That is how smooth the baby’s skin is as smooth as silk. That is a similar, you can use to talk about things that are extremely smooth, or you might want to talk about somebody who’s extremely clever. Of course, as I’m saying here, extremely clever, you can say this person is extremely clever period, that’s it.

[00:02:52] But as I said, we can use similes to make your spoken and written English more colorful and your comparisons more powerful. So here extremely clever. How can we say that? We can say, for example, John is as bright as a button. Now you might find that a little bit weird, but it is the common similarly we use in English to say that somebody is extremely clever.

[00:03:15] So John is as bright as a button. And what if you want to describe a feeling, especially if you want to say extremely fresh and full of energy. If you will feel like that, can you use a simile to describe this kind of feeling? Of course you can. You can say, for example, I slept really well. So I feel as fresh as a Daisy this morning, as fresh as a Daisy, which is the kind of flowers, of course, as fresh as a Daisy this morning, extremely fresh and full of energy.

[00:03:45] Now, what if we want to say somebody ran very fast, extremely fast. We can say George ran like the wind. Ran like the wind. That’s a similarly you’ve got here. Like we don’t always use as we can use, like as well. So George ran like the wind to get the message to pull up before she left, ran extremely fast.

[00:04:03] But if we want to say drive fast and badly, it’s not only fast, fast and badly. We can use drive like a maniac. For example, we say, I don’t want to go in the car with Peter. He drives like a maniac. He drives fast and badly. So that is another similarly. What if you want to say something about clothes? Of course, we’re describing clothes and we say something fits extremely well.

[00:04:27] What’s the simile. We can say my sweater, my new sweater obviously fits like a glove fit. Like a glove fits like a glove fits extremely well. I’m so pleased with it. It fits like a glove. Perfect. And that’s another similarly, what if we want to say very clearly? What is the simile that we use to say very clearly we can say as clear as crystal, as clear as crystal, for example, the two men were in the next room, but I could hear every word they said, as clear as crystal.

[00:04:59] That is another simile to mean very clearly. What if you want to describe somebody and say that he or she is very poor? You can use a similarly for that. And this is a funny, similarly, by the way, you can say as poor as a church mouse, as poor as a church mouse, very poor. Like when we say Ben claimed to be as poor as a church mouse, but we knew he was rich.

[00:05:24] He was lying. So that is another similarly, what if we want to say something is totally silent, it can be something. And here I didn’t make a mistake about that because it can be a person or something. So here, for example, we can say he was as silent as the grave. He was totally silent, but we can also use that to talk about a place.

[00:05:45] For example, as Beth walked in, the house was as silent as the grave, as silent as the grave. Totally silent. These are all very interesting similes, of course. But before we learn more similes in this episode, let me tell you something very important. You should learn similes as whole phrases because it’s usually not possible to change the individual words.

[00:06:09] We do not say, for example, as thin as a stick or as thin as a pole. It’s not up to you. You can just change it. We use rake. So it is rake as thin as a rake. That’s how it is used as a fixed expression. When you want to learn similes, learn them the way they are used, because if you use another word, maybe the simile works in your mind, but it is not natural.

[00:06:34] People don’t say it this way. And these things are just like, Proverbs are like idioms in general, idioms in general are fixed expressions. They cannot be used the way you want it. You can change a couple of things sometimes, but not in this one, especially in similes, you have to use them the way they are now, where it is possible to change the individual words.

[00:06:54] The meaning of the similarly often changes. For example, I needed a drink of water. My mouth was as dry as a bone. Now here, when I say as dry as a bone, that means extremely dry and thirsty. So here I said, I need a drink of water. My mouth was as dry as a bone. If you want to change, there’s another expression.

[00:07:14] There’s another similarly as dry as dust, but that has a different meaning. If you say his lecture was as dry as dust and everyone was bored. That means extremely boring. Well, I hope this episode is not as dry as dust. I hope you’re enjoying yourselves. And if you’re still here, that means I’m lucky.

[00:07:31] You’re still enjoying the episode. Now we won’t take much longer, but let’s talk a little bit more about everyday similes. Now I will read excerpts to you from things people use in their everyday language, in their everyday texts and messages. And we will see how people can use similes in their everyday language here.

[00:07:49] They’re all text messages. So here one person is saying to the other, it’s so obvious. You like Anna, you went as red as a beetroot when Stephen was talking about her. So it must be true. And you were all over her, like a rash at the party last week, too. Ask her out. So here, one person is talking to his friend.

[00:08:08] Obviously this friend has a crush on Anna and maybe hasn’t asked her out yet. It doesn’t matter. But what we care about here, we care about the two similes this person used in his text. He said, you went as red as a beetroot. When Stephen was talking about her, it’s obvious that you like her. So here as red as a beetroot, That means having a very red face, for example, because you are very hot or very embarrassed.

[00:08:34] Now in this context here, it obviously means very embarrassed or very because you are very shy as red as a beetroot. And then also he continued on and said, and you were all over her, like a rash all over somebody like a rash. Now, what does that mean? That means showering this person with romantic attention.

[00:08:54] So that was our first text message. We learned two new similes in this text message as red as a beetroot and. All over somebody like a rash. Now hear what I’m saying? Somebody, because it can be her or him. Of course. It doesn’t have to be her all the time. There are a couple of things you can change, but not the original.

[00:09:13] Similarly we cannot say like something else, like a rash, like a rash all the time. And now let’s move to talk about the second text message. Have you noticed how Kiarra and Rita are as thick as thieves lately? Rita said she needed some help. And as quick as a flash key or a volunteer, you know, as keen as mustard and just think they used to hate each other.

[00:09:37] And we’re always fighting like cat and dog over the most stupid things. Any idea what’s happened here in this text? We have four new similes. First thing, have you noticed Kiarra and Rita are as thick as thieves when two or more people are as thick as thieves. They are very friendly with each other, as thick as thieves.

[00:09:59] That’s a simile. The other one here, when Rita said she needed some help. And as quick as a flash PR a volunteer. Now this is obvious, quick flash. We’re talking about very fast here. So Kiarra volunteered as quick as a flash and then as keen as mustard now here, when we use this expression as keen as mustard, if you are as keen as mustard, or we can say mustard keen.

[00:10:25] That means you are very eager or enthusiastic, but here, let me mention that this is a more British expression than it is an American expression, but anyway, that’s another commonly used simile and she also continued and said, remember, they used to hate each other. And we’re always fighting like cat and dog.

[00:10:43] Well, this is self-explanatory fight like cat and dog. It makes sense. Right? So you can find like cat and dogs. That means you always argue. You always fight for good reason or for no reason at all fight like cat and dog. So these are the symbolism. This message. Now let’s move to the last one and talk about three more similes before we finish this episode.

[00:11:04] I’ll be late for the restaurant tonight, having a bad day at work, I’ve been working like a dog. But the boss just came in with a face like thunder and said, I’ve made a mess of some sales figures. I’ve tried to argue with him, but he’s as stubborn as a mule and you can never convince him that he’s wrong.

[00:11:24] Time to change my job. So that is obviously something that a lot of people can relate to. It happens when the boss comes with a face like thunder, there’s usually not much you can do about it, but anyway, before a face like thunder, This person used, I’ve been working like a dog when you work like a dog, that means you work very hard, work like a dog.

[00:11:48] That’s our first simile. And then the boss came in with a face like thunder. Now, when you have a face like thunder, that means you’re extremely angry. And finally, this person said, you can’t argue with this boss as much as you can argue with. Most bosses, unfortunately, but he’s as stubborn as a mule. Now the mule is famous for being stubborn and here the similes obvious to be stubborn, but here as stubborn as a mule, remember, we use similes to make our written English or spoken English more colorful and your comparisons more powerful.

[00:12:24] So these are the similes, but I want you to pay attention to one specific thing. Be careful how to use similes, because they’re not always used in the way you think they should be used sometimes. We have strong similes and they’re often used in a humorous or sarcastic way. I’ll give you an example. My teacher’s explanations are as clear as mud.

[00:12:46] So you see here, it’s kind of strange, clear as mud, not like not as crystal. We used as clear as crystal is very clear, but here as clear as mud and mud is not clear at all. So what does that mean? Not clear at all. And we use that to talk about something in a humorous or sarcastic way, and people do that a lot.

[00:13:05] So pay attention, make sure you really understand what the simile means before you use it. Now that being said, that’ll be all I want to talk about in this episode. Let me remind you that you can find the transcript of this episode in a link. I will leave in the description. You will also find a link that will take you to Patreon, where you can decide to become a patron of the show.

[00:13:25] If you like the content we create. And do you want us to create more content like that, please support us and become a patron of the show on Patreon. And you will also find another link in the description that will take you to our mailing list. Subscribe to our mailing list. And get updates on our schedule every two weeks with some other useful things that we share with you.

[00:13:44] Now, that being said, I want to thank you very much for listening to another episode from English plus podcast. This is your host, Danny. I will see you next time.