Spotlight - 14.2019

56 Spotlight 14/2019 SPOKEN ENGLISH

Many expressions in English refer to parts of the body, such

as arms, legs, hands and feet. Some of these expressions have a

literal meaning, but most of them are idioms.

Nouns and verbs

In their basic meaning, words for parts of the body are nouns.

Sometimes, though, they can also be used as verbs. If someone

hands you something, for example, the person gives it to you by

putting it into your hand:

⋅ He handed me an envelope containing the money.

The verb foot is nearly always used in the phrase foot the bill,

meaning to “pay an (often large) amount of money”:

⋅ His parents had to foot the bill for the wedding.

The verb elbow can be found in the phrase elbow your way,

which means to “push yourself forward”:

⋅ She elbowed her way to the front of the queue.

Hands, arms, shoulders and fingers

With your boyfriend or girlfriend, you may walk hand in hand

(= holding hands) or arm in arm (= with your arms linked). You

may also put your arm round the other person or take him or

her in your arms (= hold the person close to you). On the other

hand, if you keep someone at arm’s length, it means you don’t

want to get too close to them:

⋅ I prefer to keep my relatives at arm’s length. We don’t really

get on very well.

SPOKEN ENGLISH

I got cold feet

In conversational English, how does one use

phrases related to parts of the body? Look at

the examples below and read the explanations

to learn how to use your hands and feet.

By ADRIAN DOFF

MEDIUM PLUS

If people give you the cold shoulder, they’re unfriendly towards

you:

⋅ She always gives me the cold shoulder when I speak to her.^

I don’t think she likes me much.

If you have a chip on your shoulder (ifml.), you feel resentful

about something:

⋅ He has a real chip on his shoulder because he didn’t go to

university like all his colleagues.

If someone needs your help, you could lend (or give) that person

a hand:

⋅ Could you lend me a hand with this suitcase? It’s too heavy

for me.

And if you think people are lazy or too slow, you might tell them

to pull their finger out (UK ifml.):

⋅ The report has to be finished by tomorrow, so you must pull

your finger out and get on with it.

Legs and feet

If your brother tells you something untrue as a joke, he is pulling

your leg:

⋅ Do you really drive a Porsche, or are you pulling my leg?

If something is very expensive (and probably not worth the

money), you could say it costs an arm and a leg (ifml.):

⋅ We stayed two nights at the Ritz. It cost an arm and a leg!

If your son is still living at home at the age of 30, it’s probably

time for him to stand on his own two feet (= be independent).

If you get cold feet, you change your mind and decide not to do

something (maybe because you’re afraid):

⋅ She was about to go off travelling in Africa, but then she got

cold feet and carried on working instead.

Finally, to drag your feet means to “act slowly because you don’t

want to do something”:

⋅ We want to open a new branch,^

but the manager’s dragging his

feet. (= “He’s hesitant about doing

it.”)

Don’t drag your feet — practise

the idioms you’ve learned on this

page! You’ll find corresponding

exercises in Spotlight plus:

spotlight-online.de/

spotlight-plus

Exercise

Match the idiomatic expressions (A–D) to their mean-

ings (1–4).

A. Pull your finger out. 1. help someone

B. They’re dragging their feet. 2. stop being lazy

C. Shall I give you a hand? 3. pay for it

D. They’ll foot the bill. 4. slow to act

Answers

A–

2

B–

4

C–

1

D–

3

branch [brA:ntS]

, Filiale, Nieder­

lassung

hesitant [(hezItEnt]

, zögerlich, un­

schlüssig

literal [(lIt&rEl]

, buchstäblich,

wörtlich

resentful [ri(zentf&l]

, nachtragend,

verärgert