Hi there. My name is Emma and in today's lesson we are going to look at
common expressions that use the word "book". So here's my little picture
of a book with a smiley face. I love to read, so I'm very excited to do
this lesson because I love books. So let's look at the first expression.
In total we're going to look at 13 expressions.
So the first expression: "bookworm". I don't know if you can see it here,
but I've drawn a little worm with glasses and a book. This sort of gives
you a hint, maybe, as to what a bookworm is; a bookworm isn't actually a
worm. It's a person who loves to read. Okay, so I am a bookworm. Here's
my example sentence: "Einstein was a bookworm. He loved to read."
How many of you out there are bookworms?
So let's look at a second expression, a common expression: "hit the books".
So what do I mean when I say "hit the books"? I don't mean physically hit
a book. I mean study, okay? So even though the verb is "to hit" we're
So let's look at an example sentence. Now of course, I use "gotta" which
isn't grammatically correct. You never write this. This is more for
speech. I might say to a friend, "I gotta hit the books tonight." So what
does this mean? I have to study tonight. I have to spend time studying
tonight. So "hit the books" means to study.
Our third expression: "Don't judge a book by its cover." This is a common
idiom we use in the English language. "Don't judge a book by its cover."
So what does it mean? Well, first of all, "judge" means to criticize
something. And cover just in case you're not familiar with this word, this
So if I judge a "book by its cover" it means I look at the front of the
book and I say, "Oh, I don't like the look of this cover, even though
there's a smiley face, I'm not going to read this book." So we often say
in English, "don't judge a book by its cover" meaning, just because the
cover might be nice or ugly, it doesn't mean the book is a good book or a
So we don't just use this expression with books. We use it when we're
talking about food, when we're talking about people, when we're talking
about pretty much anything. So for example, snails... which is a type of
slug, look too gross (ick!) to eat. So in a lot of countries people eat
snails. When I look at a snail I think, "Euuagh, I don't want to eat a snail.
But somebody might say to me, "Emma, don't judge a book by its cover."
Meaning, even though the snail might look disgusting, don't judge it based
on the fact it looks disgusting. Maybe it tastes really, really good. I
don't know. I've never had snail before. If any of you have, please leave
a comment, and let me know if snails taste good or not. Okay, so now let's
look at some more expressions.
So our fourth expression is "to be in someone's good books." So what does
this mean? Well, you'll notice I drew a smiley face here. If you're "in
someone's good books" it means they're very happy with you. They're
pleased with you. So here's an example sentence: "Mulan is in the
teacher's good books." Meaning, Mulan has done something good. The
teacher is really happy with her.
Our fifth expression, "by the book". This means to follow the rules closely
or to follow instructions closely. So let me give you an example. Okay
police officers, I've written "Police officers should do things by the
book." What does this mean? Well, in Canada and in the United States, and
in some other countries as well, if a police officer wants to search your
house they need something called a "warrant".
So they need to talk to a judge. They need to get a piece of paper called
a warrant. They can't search your house without a warrant. Now maybe
there are some bad police officers, I don't know, but maybe there are, who
search your house without a warrant. These police officers are not doing
things "by the book." They're not following the rules.
Police officers should do things "by the book", and get a warrant before
they search your house. Okay just an example, another example with soccer.
Maybe when you play soccer you should "play by the book." Meaning you
shouldn't cheat. You shouldn't break the rules. You should follow the
rules of the game. Okay, so "by the book" -- follow the rules closely.
Okay number six: "to book". So this is a verb we use commonly in English,
especially for doctors' appointments, dentist appointments. And so it can
mean to make an appointment, or also to reserve something, so to make some
sort of reservation. So for example, "I booked the meeting room for 3 pm."
What does this mean? It means I have reserved the meeting room for 3 pm.
At 3 pm, only I, or whoever is in my group ,can use the meeting room.
"I booked an appointment with the doctor for Thursday." So we use "book" a
lot for appointments or to reserve something. "I booked the TV for next
Okay, so now let's look at some more expressions.
expression number seven: "to read someone like a book". "To read someone
like a book." Can you guess what that means? Well, if you can "read
someone like a book", it means it's easy to tell what they are thinking and
feeling, so you have no trouble, very easy to see what someone is thinking
So for example, "My students know I'm angry, because I'm an open book." So
maybe my face when I'm angry it looks really angry. Maybe my voice, I
can't hide how I feel in my voice. So some of you might "read like a book".
Meaning, it's easy to tell what you are thinking.
This is similar to expression number eight, "an open book". So for
example, "Your thoughts are an open book," meaning people can easily tell
what you are thinking. "It's easy to read you" is another expression. So
what's the opposite of this? What if it's not easy to tell what you are
Well, you would be a "closed book" then. So an "open book" -- you're easy to
understand, easy to know what you are thinking. "A closed book" -- nobody can
tell what you're thinking. So I could say, "My boss is a very closed book.
I can never tell what he's thinking."
Okay, expression number nine, this is actually one of my favorite
expressions because it just seems so dramatic, "to throw the book at
someone". So you have a book, you throw it at someone; not literally. What
this expression means, it's a legal term. So we use it when we're talking
about the law, when we're talking about going to court.
If you break the law and you have to go see a judge, if the judge doesn't
like you and thinks you're guilty, and they want to punish you for the
crime you did they "throw the book at you". So usually judges are the
people who do the throwing of the book.
So, for example, there's a TV show, on I think it's on FOX, called "Judge
Judy". And in this TV show there's an angry judge who always -- well, not
always -- but often punishes the people in her court. So if somebody is
there, maybe they stole money, they didn't pay back a loan, Judge Judy will
throw the book at them. Okay, so again it's used with legal situations.
Okay so here is our tenth expression: "every trick in the book". So what
does this mean? It means if you try "every trick in the book" it means you
do everything possible to achieve something, to achieve some goal. So I'm
a teacher, my goal is to get my students to do their homework.
"I've tried every trick in the book to get my students to do their
homework." I've offered them candy. I've threatened to fail them, if they
don't do their homework. I've given them high marks if they do it, low
marks if they don't. I've tried everything to get them to do their
homework. I've tried "every trick in the book".
Okay, number 11, similar to number 10: instead of having "every trick in
the book" we're using "the oldest trick in the book". Okay? So let me
give you an example, to give you sort of an understanding of this. I don't
know if you've ever had an exam or a test, and you were really nervous
about it, and maybe you tried to cheat.
What a lot of students do is they lift up their sleeve and they write the
answers on their arm or they write notes on their arm. Writing the answers
on your arm before a test is "the oldest trick in the book". So what does
this mean? It means so many people have done it before. So a lot of
people have done it, and they've been doing it for a very, very long time.
So if you do "the oldest trick in the book" it means it's very obvious what
you're doing. Everyone's done it before, or most people have done it, and
it's done too often. So you probably won't be successful if you try "the
oldest trick in the book". And I hope none of you have done this, although
when I was a kid I did that. So don't do this one, because it's the
Okay, number 12: "in my book". So what's "in my book"? It just means in my
opinion. So, for example, "She's very kind, in my book". So this means
she's very kind, in my opinion. Okay so I said that there were going to be
13 expressions, we did reach 13.
I know it says 12 here, but "closed book" was actually the thirteenth
expression, okay? So in my book, you are all great students, and I look
forward to teaching you in these videos. If you want to be in my good
books, come visit us at our website, at www.engvid.com. We have a quiz
there. I advise you to hit the books in order to do the quiz, so study
before you do the quiz, study this video. And until next time, take care.