Why Should You Learn About Idioms

You need to know about Idioms- Here's why!

One day a little girl named Sarah decided that she wanted to have a bike. She went to her mom and asked her if she would buy her a bike. Her mom said that she couldn't affort to buy her a new bike but she might be able to buy her a used bike for her birthday. Sarah said to her mom, "I want you to buy me a bike now. I don't want to wait for my birthday!" Her mother was mad at her and said, "You'll have to wait for your birthday, and anyway I don't have time to find you a used bike, I don't want to buy a pig in a poke!" Sarah realized that her mom must be very busy right now, because she didn't want a pig, she wanted a bike! Moms can be weird sometimes. Sarah phoned her friend Morgan to tell her about her bike and Morgan agreed that moms can be weird. After talking about it for a while Morgan said to Sarah,"Was your mom busy when you were asking her about the bike?" Sarah told her friend that her mom had been trying to cook dinner and also cleaning up the dishes from lunch and that the dog had just thrown up on the floor. Morgan told Sarah,"Your mom had a full plate when you were talking to her. You have to talk to her again when she's not so busy." Sarah couldn't understand why her mom could have a full plate, when she hadn't even finished making dinner. Everyone was talking weird!

Sarah said good bye to Morgan and phoned Madison. She told all the story to Madison who just laughed and said, "Your mom was just too busy when you asked her for a bike and she just wanted to look at a bike before she bought it?" Sarah said, "I don't get it Madison, how come you and Morgan know what my Mom was saying about the bike and I don't? Morgan even got mixed up when she said that my mom had a full plate, dinner wasn't even ready and mom never starts eating before everyone else!" Madison laughed again and said that her mom and Morgan were just using expressions called idioms to say what they meant. Sarah got mad at Madison and said that she was just weird! Madison replied to Sarah by saying, "Sarah, you have been a good friend, but our friendship will be on thin ice if you don't take that back!" Sarah couldn't stand it any longer, she wanted a bike not a pig, her mom better not be eating dinner without calling her, and her friend Madison had some weird idea that it was cold enough for her to be outside walking on thin ice. She hung up on Madison, went downstairs and told her mom that she wanted a bike not a pig and it wasn't fair that she was having dinner when nobody else was. Her mom took one look at her, paused and said in a very quiet voice, "Sarah, you are walking on thin ice!" Sarah couldn't take it anymore and went back to her room thinking that everyone she knew were just weird. All she wanted was a bike! After dinner her mom explained that a pig in a poke, full plate and walking on thin ice are just expressions that don't mean want you think they might mean. Sarah still wasn't sure when or if she was going to get a bike! She decided that she would go to her room and start learning about idioms.

Idioms in the Story:

a pig in a poke full plate walking on thin ice