PRACTICAL ENGLISH

  "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Meaning It is used to say that a person who is old or is used to doing things in a certain way cannot learn or does not want to learn a new way. ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ means that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to change the way a person does something when they have been doing it the same way for many years. In other words, you can’t change someone’s long-established ways, especially as people grow older. The expression can relate to a person’s habits, traits or mindset.  Example Sentences There's no way to teach your grandpa to read his news on the phone. You can't teach an old dog new tricks! My secretary has been using that old manual typewriter for more than twenty years and I cannot get to change to a word processor; it seems you can't teach an old dog new tricks. My mom is 75 years old now and I’ve been trying to teach her how to surf the Internet for ages but she just doesn’t seem to...

  "Don't count your chickens before they hatch" Meaning “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch” is an old saying that means you shouldn’t get your hopes up or make plans based only on assumptions because that can lead to disappointment. It's usually used in negative statements. Don’t be too confident that all your plans for the future will work out as you hope they will. If you have a bunch of chicken eggs and want them to hatch into chickens, you might be tempted to assume that all your eggs will hatch into healthy chickens. You might be tempted to count each egg as one chicken. But don’t forget that some of the eggs might not hatch, and so you might not get some of the chickens you expect. Synonym: Don't make assumptions Example Dialogs A: My boss will definitely give me a rise. B: Maybe he won't. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

  "You're barking up the wrong tree." Meaning We use the expression “barking up the wrong tree” as a metaphor to describe when someone is trying to achieve something but they're doing it in the wrong way (or they are trying to get something but they will not be successful). To be wrong about the reason for something. To make the wrong choice;  To ask the wrong person; To follow the wrong course. Doing something that will not get you the result you want;  Example Sentences I have been trying to solve this math problem for 30 minutes, but I think I’ve been barking up the wrong tree. I tried to get information from the receptionist about the director but she was just a temporary employee, so I think I was barking up the wrong tree. My roommate has been flattering her professor to try to become a teaching assistant but s he's barking up the wrong tree since the department chair makes those decisions. My brother keeps bugging my sister for money but he's barking...

  "In case you missed it." Meaning  You use the phrase "in case you missed it" to alert someone to something that they might  haven't seen or heard about. The word " miss " here means to fail to notice, see, hear, or understand. The phrase "In case you missed it" , has a new abbreviation:  ICYMI . It's what people say – or type, rather – when they want to point you in the direction of something interesting or enlightening that's available for your perusal online – in case you missed it. Example Sentences In case you missed it, these are the five biggest fashion trends for summer. I will say that again in case you missed it. In case you missed it, we actually have a whole other episode on this topic called How to Keep Coming Up With Ideas for Content. In case you missed it, Crash Course Mythology, which I am hosting, got started last week. So if you want to check out the first episode of that, we'll put a link in the descripti...

  "It occurred to me that..." Meaning If an idea or a thought occurs to you , it suddenly comes into your mind. The word ' occurred ' informs someone that something has come to mind or has been found. You are letting someone know that you suddenly have thought or remembered about something. Synonym: come to mind, cross someone's mind Example Sentences It occurred to me that I forgot something at the grocery store. It never even occurred to us that he hadn't been invited. One day, he noticed he could see the TV just a little bit more clearly than he had before. And suddenly it occurred to him , maybe the damage done to his eyesight wasn't permanent. Does it ever occur to you that I might want to be on my own sometimes? Didn’t it occur to you to phone the police? It never occurred to her that her parents might be worried. One day, it occurred to me that we enjoy a lot of the same things. It occurred to her that eating healthy makes her feel better. It...

  "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." Meaning To put all your eggs in one basket means to depend for your success on a single person or plan of action. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is an idiom that means “don’t risk everything by committing to one plan or idea”. If someone puts all their eggs in one basket , they put all their effort or resources into doing one thing that, if it fails, they have no alternatives left. Keywords: diversify, alternative, options Example Sentences Investors should diversify their investments instead of putting all their eggs in one basket. I'm applying for several jobs because I don't really want to put all my eggs in one basket. Don't put your eggs in one basket; study hard at school and always keep an alternative job in mind. He was depending heavily on the success of his venture, but when it failed, he was ruined. He realized that he should not have put all his eggs in one basket. It would be better if you ap...

  "If you will" Meaning If you will, meaning if you will allow me to use this phrase , is a hedge phrase, and it could usually be removed.  You can say " If you will " when politely inviting a listener or reader to do something or when using an unusual or fanciful term. Used to say that a particular expression is one way of saying something, especially to suggest that some people may not choose to say it that way. It basically means that you are asking for the person to accept your use of a term, a word, an image, etc. Similar Expression : If you like, so to speak, as you might say Note:  Used to suggest that some people may not think this is a good way to say something.  Will here means want , desire , wish and the idiom if you will means "If you want" . It's like saying "if you want to call it that"....