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Answer the questions and then watch the video to see if you’re right.

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If you need to read the script of the video, click on the line below.

Become a vocab expert!

Do the quiz and learn 20 idioms connected with fashion!

Buckle down and have them learnt!

Read the table and make your own sentences with the idioms.

Idiom	Meaning	Example Sentence
1. At the drop of a hat	Without needing any advance notice	My Grandma will babysit for anyone at the drop of a hat.
2. (Have a) bee in one’s bonnet	Something that is annoying someone	Milan has had a bee in his bonnet all day, but he won’t tell me what’s wrong.
3. Below the belt	Beyond what is fair or socially acceptable	His comment about Manfred’s handicap was below the belt.
4. Bursting at the seams	Not fitting anymore	I ate too much. I’m bursting at the seams in these jeans.
5. Caught with one’s pants down	Unprepared	My students caught me with my pants down on Monday. I forgot about the field trip.
6. (Have a) card up one’s sleeve	Have a secret or reserve plan	I think Josh has a card up his sleeve cause he wants me to wear a dress to the fast-food restaurant.
7. Buckle down	Work extra hard	It’s almost exam time, so I need to buckle down this weekend.
8. Burn a hole in one’s pocket	Money that one is tempted to spend	Let’s go to the mall after school. There’s a hundred-dollar bill burning a hole in my pocket.
9. Dress to kill, dress to the nines	Dress in nice or sexy clothes	My cousin was dressed to kill on her birthday.
10. Fit like a glove	Fit perfectly (tight to one’s body)	Anita’s prom dress fits me like a glove.
11. Fine-tooth comb	In great detail, extremely carefully	The police looked for fingerprints with a fine-tooth comb.
12. Fly by the seat of one’s pants	Do by instinct, not by plan	I had never taught art to kids before. I had to fly by the seat of my pants.
13. Handle with kid gloves	Treat delicately	Please handle my grandmother’s tea set with kid gloves.
14. Hand-me-down	Used clothing	We buy hand-me-down skates because the kids’ feet grow so quickly.
15. Hat trick	Three goals scored by one person	The fans cheered when the hockey player got a hat trick.
16. In one’s birthday suit	In the nude	The swimmers in the lake were in their birthday suits.
17. Keep one’s shirt on	Try to stay calm	I know you’re in a hurry, but please keep your shirt on.
18. Keep something zipped	Keep something a secret	We know we’re having a boy, but we’re keeping it zipped from the grandparents.
19. Off the cuff	Said without planning	I didn’t have a speech prepared. Everything I said was off the cuff.
20. Pull up one’s socks	Try harder	Marco will have to pull up his socks if he wants to make the football team.
21. Put a sock in it	Stop talking	Put a sock in it! I’m trying to tell a story.
22. Put one’s thinking cap on	Think hard to solve a problem	I can’t remember where the Christmas decorations are. I’ll have to put my thinking cap on.
23. Put oneself in someone else’s shoes	Imagine what it would be like to be in someone else’s situation	Put yourself in Amber’s shoes. She doesn’t even have a car to drive.
24. Ride one’s coattails	Let someone else do all the work	It was a group project, but everyone rode Andrew’s coattails.
25. Roll up one’s sleeves	Get down to hard work	The celebrities rolled up their sleeves and washed cars for charity.
26. Take one’s hat off to someone	Recognize or honor someone for something	I take my hat off to Jim. The doctors said he’d never walk, and he just ran a marathon.
27. Wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve	Display emotions openly	My Dad’s not afraid to cry. He always wears his heart on his sleeve.
28. Wear the trousers	Be in charge, make the rules	By the looks of things, the kids wear the trousers in this household.

Homework: Make them yours!

Practicing the idioms makes you use them more naturally. So let’s do it! There are three exercises. Do them one by one and in the end you’ll feel more confident about the idioms.

Exercise 1

The most difficult idioms from the table are likely:

1. Have a bee in one’s bonnet (because they are not very intuitive)
2. Handle with kid gloves (the word “kid” might be confusing)
3. Ride one’s coattails (not commonly heard outside specific contexts)
4. Pull up one’s socks (the meaning isn’t obvious from the words)
5. Keep something zipped (you might think it’s about clothes instead of keeping a secret)

Here’s a replacement task to practice these idioms:

Replace the underlined words with the correct idiom.

Choose from: have a bee in one’s bonnet, handle with kid gloves, ride one’s coattails, pull up one’s socks, keep something zipped

1. Lily has been complaining non-stop about the new office rules, and she just won’t let it go! → __
2. If you want to pass your final exams, you need to start working harder. → __
3. I don’t know why everyone is treating him like he’s so fragile. He doesn’t need to be treated so delicately! → __
4. Ben always lets others do all the work in group projects, but he still takes credit for it. He loves to benefit from someone else’s efforts. → __
5. We know the gender of our baby, but we have to keep it a secret from the grandparents! → __

Correct answers

1. Have a bee in one’s bonnet
2. Pull up one’s socks
3. Handle with kid gloves
4. Ride one’s coattails
5. Keep something zipped

Exercise 2

Here are 10 questions using the most common and popular idioms from the list:

1. When was the last time you had to buckle down and work really hard on something?
2. Have you ever been caught with your pants down in an embarrassing or unprepared situation?
3. Do you know someone who always wears their heart on their sleeve? How does it affect their relationships?
4. Have you ever spent money too quickly because it was burning a hole in your pocket? What did you buy?
5. Have you ever had to fly by the seat of your pants and figure things out as you go? How did it turn out?
6. Do you know someone who always tries to pull up their socks to improve at something? What are they working on?
7. What kind of event would make you want to dress to kill or dress to the nines?
8. Have you ever had to put yourself in someone else’s shoes to understand their situation better? What happened?
9. When was the last time you had to roll up your sleeves and get to work? What was the task?
10. Have you ever made an off-the-cuff speech or comment that surprised people? How did they react?

Exercise 3

Now read the dialogue. Pay attention to the idioms, then do the task.

The Fashion Disaster

Scene: Two friends, Jake and Oliver, are sitting in a café, discussing Oliver’s recent attempt to impress a girl at a party.

Jake: So, Oliver… how did your big date go? You were so excited about it!

Oliver: (Sighs) Let’s just say I completely embarrassed myself.

Jake: Oh no. What happened?

Oliver: Well, I decided to dress to kill, you know? Really impress her. I put on my tightest jeans, thinking I looked amazing. But the moment I sat down—RIP! My jeans literally burst at the seams!

Jake: (laughing) Oh man, that’s rough! Did she notice?

Oliver: Oh, she noticed. Everyone noticed. It didn’t help that my cousin had given me hand-me-down underwear with superheroes on them. I had to spend the rest of the evening holding my jacket around my waist.

Jake: Classic. But hey, at least you weren’t in your birthday suit! That would’ve been worse.

Oliver: True. But then I tried to act cool and make a joke off the cuff. I said, “Well, at least now my jeans fit like a glove!” But instead of laughing, she just gave me a weird look.

Jake: Oof. Tough crowd.

Oliver: And then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, some guy at the party made fun of my “vintage” shoes. That was totally below the belt. I mean, I was already suffering!

Jake: That’s brutal. Did you keep your shirt on at least?

Oliver: Barely! I wanted to tell him to put a sock in it, but I remembered my mom always says, “Oliver, handle things with kid gloves.” So I just smiled and walked away… while still clutching my jacket around my waist.

Jake: (laughing) I gotta say, I take my hat off to you. It takes courage to survive a disaster like that.

Oliver: Yeah, yeah. Next time, I’m just wearing sweatpants.

Say if the statements are true or false.

Here are some True/False statements based on the dialogue, along with the correct answers:

1. Oliver wanted to impress a girl, so he dressed in very casual clothes.
2. Oliver’s jeans ripped when he sat down at the party.
3. Oliver was wearing brand-new underwear.
4. Oliver made a joke off the cuff about his jeans ripping.
5. The girl Oliver was trying to impress laughed at his joke.
6. Someone at the party made fun of Oliver’s shoes.
7. Oliver reacted aggressively when the guy made fun of his shoes.
8. Jake told Oliver to put a sock in it because he was talking too much.
9. Jake admired Oliver’s ability to stay calm and told him he took his hat off to him.
10. Oliver decided to dress even fancier next time.

Correct answers

1. Oliver wanted to impress a girl, so he dressed in very casual clothes. (False)
   Correction: He wanted to impress her, so he dressed to kill.
2. Oliver’s jeans ripped when he sat down at the party. (True)
3. Oliver was wearing brand-new underwear. (False)
   Correction: He was wearing hand-me-down underwear with superheroes on them.
4. Oliver made a joke off the cuff about his jeans ripping. (True)
5. The girl Oliver was trying to impress laughed at his joke. (False)
   Correction: She gave him a weird look instead of laughing.
6. Someone at the party made fun of Oliver’s shoes. (True)
7. Oliver reacted aggressively when the guy made fun of his shoes. (False)
   Correction: He handled it with kid gloves and just smiled and walked away.
8. Jake told Oliver to put a sock in it because he was talking too much. (False)
   Correction: Oliver wanted to tell the rude guy to put a sock in it but didn’t.
9. Jake admired Oliver’s ability to stay calm and told him he took his hat off to him. (True)
10. Oliver decided to dress even fancier next time. (False)
    Correction: He decided to just wear sweatpants next time.