Sports Idioms in English + Examples + QUIZ

hi students sports are a huge part of American culture and we even have a lot of sports idioms in English informal Expressions that come from baseball football tennis and more today you'll learn 12 Sports idioms what they mean and how to use them I recommend you download the PDF guide to this lesson because it includes a quiz to help you practice these Expressions you can do that by clicking on the link under this video to get that PDF by email okay let's kick kick off this lesson kick off means to start and it's from soccer since the game starts with the player kicking the ball that's a little bonus expression for you from baseball we have the expression drop the ball this means to make a mistake especially when you didn't complete one of your responsibilities it comes from the fact that in baseball dropping the ball is an error in the game for example I was counting on Pete to finish his part of the project but he completely dropped the the ball so I was depending on Pete but he didn't do it he didn't finish his part turning to football that's American football not soccer we have the phrase run interference meaning to help someone by resolving problems for them football players run interference by stopping players from the other team from getting the player with the ball for example it's difficult to rent an apartment in Stockholm it's probably best to have a real estate agent run inter ference for you when it comes to basketball we have the Expressions take a shot and give it your best shot take a shot means to try something often something difficult and to give it your best shot means to try your best in basketball as well as soccer and several other sports a shot is an attempt to put the ball into the basket or into the goal for example I can't solve this math problem do you want to take a shot at it I'm not sure if I passed the test but at least I gave it my best shot from the sport of sailing we have the expression show someone the ropes which means to teach someone how to do something such as a job or a process in sailing it is essential to know how to use the ropes in order to control the boat for example it's my first week on the job so the manager is showing me the ropes from track and field there's the idiom jump the gun meaning to do something too early or too soon before for the correct time this expression comes from the fact that a gun was used to give the starting signal for races so a person who started before the signal was given was said to jump the gun an example of this idiom would be they jumped the gun and started selling products before receiving their business license from horse racing there's the phrase hit your stride this means to achieve a good continuous level of performance stride is a word that refers to the steps taken while walking or running when a horse hits its stride in a race it maintains a good speed in a comfortable way for example our company's sales were weak in the beginning but we really hit our stride after we launched our fourth product the sport of archery gives us the idioms Off the Mark and wide of the mark these both mean not accurate and are often used to describe predictions or estimates in archery arrows that fall far away from the target are said to be wide of the mark for example his sales estimates for the month of January were Way Off the Mark they were completely inaccurate not accurate from the sport of hunting we have the phrase a Sitting Duck meaning an easy target for an attack in hunting it is very easy to shoot and kill a duck that is sitting because it's not moving or flying the idiom sitting duck can be used to describe the targets of literal physical attacks like in a war or other types of attacks like verbal or social attacks so an example from war the soldiers in the camp were sitting ducks for the enemy's Air Attack and an example outside War would be this Ralph messed up four major projects recently so when it came time to make cuts to the staff he was a Sitting Duck meaning he was an easy target to lose his job the sport of fishing gives us the IDI can of worms meaning a difficult complex or unpredictable problem or could be multiple problems Wiggly Worms are often used as bait to help attract the fish to the hook and catch them a whole can of worms is pretty messy so we can say for example the political situation in that country is a real can of worms meaning it's messy and problematic from the sport of boxing there's the idiom a onew punch meaning a combination of two things that are especially powerful or effective so in boxing if you hit your opponent twice with one punch and then another that's a very powerful Attack One Two punch is typically used for negative situations but occasionally it can be positive too so a positive example would be this the one two punch of excellent food and top quality drinks make this the best restaurant in town and a negative example this is more common is losing his job and his house in the same month was the onew punch that sent him into depression from the sport of golf we have the idiom par for the course which means something normal and expected the area where golf is played is called a course and the term par refers to the average number of tries that are necessary to complete each part of the course so par for the course means typical normal what you would expect in that situation for example of course the classes in your math master's degree are difficult that's par for the course it's an advanced degree so you would expect that the classes would be difficult finally from the sport of tennis comes the idiom the balls in your court this expression means you have the responsibility for the next action so the area where tennis is played is called a court and if the ball is on your side of the Court it means you need to hit it to continue the game for example I've offered her $115,000 for her car the balls in her court now meaning she needs to make the decision whether or not she will sell the car for that amount of money I hope you enjoyed these Sports idioms and now the balls in your court your next action is to download the PDF and try the quiz give it your best shot and if you'd like to continue learning idioms come join my 300 plus idioms course available at espresso english. net [Music]