ESL Podcast 593 - Staying Home from School
to play hooky - to not go to school when one is supposed to; to skip classes
Did you ever play hooky when you were in high school?
to put one over on (someone) - to trick someone; to fool someone; to hide what one is doing from someone
Michele tried to put one over on her boss by saying she had to go to a funeral, but he knew she was really taking the day off to go to the beach.
to fake - to pretend that something is happening, especially to pretend to be sick when one really isn't
Clarisse says she loves him, but I think she's faking it and is really just interested in his money.
to give (someone) such a hard time - to be difficult on someone; to insist that someone follow the rules; to bother someone about what he or she is doing
I don't know why they're giving Xavier such a hard time about getting in a car accident. Even the police and the insurance company agree that it wasn't his fault.
to cut class - to skip class; to not go to a class when one is supposed to
Rick got in a lot of trouble when he cut class to go see a movie.
foolproof - something that cannot fail or create problems; something that will definitely be successful and have the intended results
If this hair dye is so foolproof, how did I end up with green hair?
to get caught - for one's actions to be discovered when one was trying to secretly break the rules; to not be able to hide one's bad behavior
Oscar got caught reading his sister's diary.
to forge - to create a false document, especially signing someone else's name
Wynona forged a copy of her birth certificate to make it look like she had been born in another state.
to keep (one's) eyes and ears open - to observe through listening and seeing; to try to find information by being very attentive and observant
If you keep your eyes and ears open, you'll learn a lot about how this company works.
to pick (something) up - to begin to understand something without having it explained to oneself, usually because one is observing and paying attention to that thing
Nobody ever taught Mathias how to dress well. He just picked it up over the years.
to pretend - to act like something is true; to use one's imagination, even though one knows that something is not possible or real
When Ethan was a little boy, he spent a lot of time pretending to be an astronaut.
excused absence - a period of time when one is not in school or at work, but one has permission to be away, usually because one is sick or has another obligation
Brisah had a lot of excused absences last month, because she had a lot of health problems and needed to see her doctor often.
to get out of (something) - to find a way to avoid doing something that one is supposed to do but does not want to do
How did Liam get out of mowing the lawn again? Isn't he supposed to do that every week?
out of the goodness of (one's) heart - in a selfless way; because one is a good person and wants to help, not because one will receive any benefit, often used sarcastically
Did you really believe that he was going to help you out of the goodness of his own heart? I'm sure the only reason he offered to help was because he thought he'd make some money somehow.
to owe (someone) one - to be indebted to someone; to owe someone a favor; to need to do something nice for another person because he or she has done something nice for oneself
If you help me write this report, I'll really owe you one. I promise to help you with your report next month.
You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours - a phrase used to show that if Person A does something nice or helpful for Person B, Person B will do something equally nice or helpful for Person A
Sure, I can help you move this weekend, but you'll need to help me the next time I move. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.