12 Expressions of TIME in English

One o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock, rock! In this lesson, we will look at 12 expressions that have to do with time, one for each hour of the clock. I will teach you commonly used expressions like “at the 11th hour”, “seven-year itch”, “third time’s the charm”, “around the clock”, “do time”, and more. This kind of lesson comes once in a blue moon. So after an eight-hour day, why not take five and watch this useful video? And just like clockwork, there will be a quiz after the video to help you practice what you’ve learned: https://www.engvid.com/12-expr....essions-of-time-in-e

TRANSCRIPT

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo. Damn it! E, where's the lights? Oh, God. Oh: "Thank you Aputure. It was dark, you brought the light"? Oh, yeah. Before I get started, E's correct, we actually... We... Our lights weren't working and they went out, and I'm actually doing... I don't do this often. Okay? But I want to give a shout out to Aputure because they brought us lights. Let there be lights. Our lights were actually failing, and Aputure kindly... and this is really cool. They actually asked if they could help us out. They actually gave us... Yeah, they gave us some free lights. They said: "Would you like lights?"

Here's the funny thing, straight up: They didn't know we needed lights. Ours were starting to go. Maybe they were watching a video or something. They offered free lights to us, and we took them, and they've been working beautifully. So, in any of the videos you've seen and you liked with Ronnie, myself, or Jade, or anyone - these are the ones we're using.

Anyway, done with that because I'm not doing an infomercial for anybody. I'm a free man! But you got to give it out. So, and yeah, if any other company, if you... If you're ever interested in helping out, feel free to do so. Okay? So I'm not a pitch man, so I'm going to move on, but thanks Aputure. E, thank you.

Now, moving on because I want to talk about time. And I brought with the... Aputure with this particular video because in Canada we have what's called Daylight Savings Time, and the time shifts. And I want to give you some idioms on time, and you know, it's me, it's James, so I'm not going to give you just idioms; I have a plan.

So, in this case, we're going to go around the clock; and as we go around the clock, I'm going to give you an idiom for each hour. And what I mean by that is: Each hour has a number. Right? There's 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock, 5 - and I'm going to give you an idiom that will go with, like, the number 1, for instance, like: "Once in a lifetime." Right? Number 1, and then you have: "Once in a lifetime", so you remember: "Ah, it happens once." And let's go to the board. Are you ready? All right.

So, I'm going to start at... Where should I start? Where should I start? Number 1; first one: "Once in a blue moon". True fact: Blue moons happen every two to three years. A blue moon will happen every two to three years because it happens rarely; it's not very often. If you think about that, if it's every two to three years, that's every 40... 24 to 36 months - that is not very often that it happens. But in the year 2018, it's happening every two to three months; it's a rarity that almost never happens, so that's even bigger being rare. Yes, I researched it because I read. You should, too. All right? So we're... That's what's happening in 2018 in case you ever see this 20 years later, and go: "Liar! It's every two to three years." I told you it was rare; go check it out. So that means it rarely happens.

Hour number 2: "Two shakes of a lamb's tail." Maa-maa. This is an oldie, but a goodie. Old people who speak English will know what it is; some younger punks - yeah, you punks, you don't know what it means. A lamb has a little tail and it moves quickly. So... Maybe that's a goat. I think I'm doing a goat. I don't know. But it means very quickly because a lamb's tail is very quick, so it flicks very quickly. All right? So: "Two shakes of a lamb's tail" meaning I will do it quickly or it will be done quickly.

Ah, I forgot something here. I'm going to use my brown marker because that means I've done something bad. There's another word for "bad", it starts with "s", but I'm not going to go there.

Okay: "3rd time's the charm". "3rd time's the charm" means you've tried something one time, it didn't work; the second time it didn't work; but we're saying lucky number three - if you try it the third time, then it works. "Charm" means luck. If you're charmed, you've got luck. Okay? So: "A 3rd time the char-... 3rd time's the charm" is: The third time it will work. Cool?

So, we're at number 4. Yes, I know you can read; you're very smart individuals. Okay? You notice I put "40", okay? And they're going: "James, that's the number 4. There's no 40 on a clock. Not even in military time." I know. But when we speak in English, we don't say: "40", we usually say "4T". […]