1. Paco's got an old head on young shoulders

Important

In the expression appearing in the title of this section there is a figurative meaning far from that of its real one as you will see in the listening activity underneath. These language features are called 'idioms' and they are quite common in everyday English.

According to the Wikipedia, an idiom (Latin: idioma, 'special property', f. Greek: ἰδίωμα - idiōma, 'special feature, special phrasing', f. Greek: ἴδιος - idios, 'one’s own') is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made. There are estimated to be at least 25,000 idiomatic expressions in English.

Click here to have a look at a list of them. As you will notice they belong to all word categories.

Listening activity

Watch this funny video from the BBC about idioms related to the word 'head'.

 

 

Listen to the teacher's explanations and write the three idioms related to head
Self-Assessment activity
The expression 'It's like banging your head against a brick wall' means...
    
It is an easy situation to be solved.
It is a difficult to understand situation.
It is a very difficult and frustrating experience.

The expression 'He's got his head in the clouds' means...
He's got ideas or plans that are realistic.
He's not fully aware of the situation.
He knows widely the situation.

The expression 'He's got an old head on young shoulders' means...
He seems to be older than he is because he thinks and speaks like an older person.
He is an insensible person.
He behaves as a young person.

Further knowledge

The list of idioms in English is endless and grows continuously due to the different varieties of English spoken in the World. Thus, we may find idioms from Australia, USA or Ireland, for example. The BBC shows and explains a great deal of them in a funny way. Click on the logo below, choose the ones you are interested in, according to theme (sports, colours, ...)  and enjoy!

BBC Logo
By BBC Worldwide- Public Domain

 

Idioms are funny when we translate them literally, aren't they? In the next section you will study about phrasal verbs and you will learn some easily and commonly used ones in everyday English.