If you want to communicate with confidence, you need to speak like a native does. Today I will show you 5 common British phrases that you can use to speak more like a native. They will also help you understand native speakers in more situations so it is a win-win.

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IN THIS LESSON:

• Put your foot in it
• See eye to eye
• Take a shine to someone
• As quiet as a mouse
• Foot the bill

5 British Phrases for Confident Communication

Put your foot in it

This means to say something that accidentally upsets, hurts or embarrasses someone. You don’t even realise you are saying something wrong until after you have said it, and by that point, it’s too late mate. The damage has been done.

For example:

• I really put my foot in it when I asked about his wife. I didn’t know they got divorced last month.
• He put his foot in it when he congratulated her on being pregnant. It turned out she had just put some weight on.

See Eye to Eye

This phrase means that you agree with someone. The opposite phrases is also true, if you don’t see eye to eye with someone, it means that you don’t agree with them. We don’t usually use it as a phrase to agree with someone directly though. We usually use it to talk in general. 

For example:

• Me and my boss never seem to see eye to eye about how to fix problems.
• They used to fight all the time as kids, but now they seem to see eye to eye about most stuff.

Take a shine to someone

This one basically means to really like someone in a short amount of time, usually when you first meet someone. It doesn’t have to mean in a romantic way, just like you like someone, you know? We sometimes at “a bit of” in the middle.

You can say things like:

• It looks like he has really taken a shine to his new host family. They do everything together.
• I think he has taken a bit of a shine to you.

As Quiet as a mouse

This is great when you want to talk about someone who is proper quiet or even silent. It can be used to talk about someones behaviour or their reaction to something.

For example:

• I got home at 2am so I tried to be as quiet as a mouse, but I woke everyone in the house up when I fell down the stairs.
• He was as quiet as a mouse after his girlfriend shouted at him for forgetting their anniversary.

Foot the bill

This one is related to paying for something, usually expensive. The idea here is that the person who foots the bill is paying for something for someone else’s benefit, not their own.

Like:

• Her father footed the bill for the entire wedding ceremony, which must have cost an arm and a leg.
• I’m working part time because my parents can’t afford to foot the bill for my university course.

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