Weather | Online English Lessons

Here in the UK we have a reputation for being obsessed with the weather – and it’s true, we do love to talk about the weather 🙂 One of the reasons for this is that our weather is unpredictable and it changes frequently. So perhaps it’s not surprising that we have so many idioms and idiomatic expressions relating to the weather! Here are some examples of … [Read more…]

To bucket down is to rain very heavily. British/UK informal English. Examples of use: 1. It’s bucketing down – don’t forget your umbrella. 2. Just look at those black clouds – it’s going to bucket down in a minute. 3. It bucketed down on my way home from work. 4. It’s absolutely bucketing down out there!   infinitive bucket … [Read more…]

To spring-clean a place is to thoroughly clean it, especially in spring. The four seasons are: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In the northern hemisphere, spring is the months of March, April and May. In many countries (especially those with a cold climate in winter) people spring-clean their homes at the end of the winter. They clean their home and furnishings very … [Read more…]

A storm in a teacup is a big fuss made about something of little importance. Examples of use: 1. My brother and sister had a big argument about the television yesterday, but it was just a storm in a teacup. 2. News items: a) In a case of a legal storm in a teacup, police forced a stunned magistrate to deal with a man accused of damaging a $3 plastic cup. b) Gordon … [Read more…]

An Indian summer is a period of warm sunny weather in late autumn or early winter in the Northern Hemisphere, usually occurring after a period of cold or frosty weather. An alternative definition is that an Indian summer is a time of great happiness or success that happens late in a person’s life or career. There are various explanations of this idiom’s origin, … [Read more…]