Neck and chest

Ex: It's uncomfortable, at home at the moment because my two flat mates, Tom and Dick, are at each other's throats¹ all the time. It started when Tom used Dick's computer and managed to destroy some files. Tom decided to make a clean breast of it². Now Dick won't let him use the computer without breathing down his neck³ all the time and he's always going on about how stupid Tom was. Tom finds this a real pain in the neck ⁴and he wishes he had never got it off his chest⁵, but had just let Dick think it was a computer virus that had destroyed his files. Tom knows he is in the wrong, but he wishes Dick wouldn't keep ramming it down his throat⁶ all the time and would just show his annoyance by giving him the cold shoulder⁷.

⁵told him what he was feeling guilty about. ⁶forcing him to listen to his opinions. ⁷ignoring him in a deliberate way.

¹arguing in a very angry way.

²tell the truth about what he had done so

that he did not feel guilty any more.

³paying close attention to what he is doing

in an annoying or threatening way.

⁴really annoying.

* Note how idioms with throator neckoften describe someone behaving in a way that the speaker finds aggressive or intrusive. Note also how the idea of a guilty secret being a weight on your chest is reflected in two idioms - make a clean breast of and get it off your chest.

Eyes

The eyes are the basis of a large number of idioms. Note the idioms and their meanings in these paragraphs.

eyelid

eyebrow

Ex: I couldn't believe, my eyes¹ when I first saw her. She was so beautiful, I just couldn't keep my eyes off² her. I tried to catch her eye³ to say hello. As a teacher myself, I know that teaching is not easy. You always have to keep an eye on⁴ the students, but sometimes you just have to turn a blind eye⁵ if they behave badly. If you want to be a teacher, you have to go into the profession with your eyes open⁶. Jenny and I were good friends at first, but now we don't see eye to eye⁷. I know the fact that we stopped being friends raised a few eyebrows⁸ at the time. Could you run/cast your eye over⁹ this report and see if there are any spelling mistakes? My computer's on the blink¹⁰ and the spell-checker refuses to work. These reports are important, and I always have to have/keep one eye on¹¹ how the boss will react to them if they look untidy. It all happened in the blink of an eye¹² and no one could doanything to prevent it. It was horrible. But the police officer standing nearby didn't bat an eyelid¹³. Then something caught my eye¹⁴ which shocked me even more. Working insuch a poor country opened my eyes to¹⁵how unjustthe world is. It was indeed a real eye-opener¹⁶.

¹couldn't believe what I was seeing ¹¹ observe carefully

² couldn't stop looking at her ¹² extremely short time

³ get her attention; make her look at me ¹³ didn't react at all

⁴ keep your attention on ¹⁴ made me look

⁵ignore behavior, which you know is wrong ¹⁵ made me understand for the

first time

⁶ aware of all the problems there could be ¹⁶ an event or situation that I un-

expectedly learnt something from

⁷ agree with each other

⁸surprised/shocked people

⁹have a quick look at

¹⁰ is beginning to break down and go wrong,

probably because it is old (to blinkmeans

to close and open your eyes very quickly)

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ADVANCED LEVEL	\|	Observing others: appearance and mannerisms

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