[Music]
hello I'm Emma from English idioms are a
very common part of the English language
and I'm sure I don't need to tell you
that they're challenging to learn and
use and that's because the meaning of
the whole idiom is often different to
the individual meaning of each word in
it but that's no reason to jump ship in
this lesson I'm going to share some
fantastic idioms that are all about
sailing and of course they're idioms so
just because the word sail or sailing or
ship or boat appear in them doesn't mean
that you have to be on the water while
using them they're all commonly used in
everyday situations that have got
nothing to do with sailing or boating at
all in fact many of the idioms that I'll
be sharing in this lesson are frequently
used when talking about work or
colleagues often in professional context
or even if you're talking casually about
work so let's dive in starting with to
get someone on board or to be on board
now usually the term on board is used
when you're travelling on a ship or on a
plane when you're on board you're on the
ship or you're on the plane but this
concept is also used to say that someone
agrees with an idea an opinion or a plan
to get something done it's to get
approval or support for something it's a
great idea but you need to get Simon on
board if you want to make it happen it's
often used in business contexts but it
can be used informally when you're
trying to convince a friend to do
something we're thinking about hiring a
car for the weekend and driving down the
coast you aren't bored
that means do you agree with this or do
you want to be involved to jump ship now
traditionally this expression was used
on a boat when a sailor left a ship
without permission but these days this
idiom is often used when someone leaves
a difficult situation when really they
should stay and deal with it it can also
be used when a person deserts someone or
a group of people leaving them to deal
with a problem if I got offered the same
job but with a higher salary of course
I'd jump ship so I'd leave my current
job and work for a company that paid me
more of course I would I think that you
should jump ship now before the funding
cuts are made in this context the
speaker is considering leaving the
company that they work for and looking
for another job we need to offer our
employees a competitive salary otherwise
they'll jump ship and they'll be working
for our competitors smooth sailing now
this phrase is used as an adjective to
say that something is easy or manageable
progress is being made everything is
happening according to plan we have some
problems early on but it's been smooth
sailing since we hired a project manager
great work everyone but it's not smooth
sailing yet we've still got two
truckloads to unload before 9 o'clock
that ship sailed
now this idiom is used when an
opportunity has been missed and it's too
late to change the situation
imagine that you bought tickets on an
amazing cruise a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity and as you arrived at the
port to get on the ship you see it
sailing off into the sunset you've
missed it
and there is no chance that you're
getting on that boat now that ship has
sailed
and this context can be used or applied
to any situation where an opportunity is
missed more often than not the words
ship and has are contracted together so
it sounds like that ship sailed it's
disappointing but we just need to accept
that ship sailed and move on since your
ex-girlfriend has just got engaged it's
safe to say that ship sailed a sinking
ship oh that's not a good thing a
sinking ship
jump off before you go down with it a
sinking ship is a company or an
organization that is failing the future
is not looking good it's doomed as he
left the management meeting he realized
he was on board a sinking ship the
company was in trouble and there were
serious problems that could affect the
company's operation so it's a sinking
ship it sounds like you're on a sinking
ship I'd start looking for a new job if
I was you to run a tight ship this idiom
is used to describe the way that a
company or a team is run managed by
someone with very strict but very
effective rules a person who runs a
tight ship doesn't allow mistakes to be
made our boss runs a tight ship and she
expects everyone to work very hard
now that Sue's left it's become really
obvious that she ran a tight ship it's
been absolute chaos without her and
lastly enough to sink a ship can you
imagine how much weight it takes to sink
a ship
a lot so this idiom is used when you
have more than the amount that you need
at our family gatherings there's always
enough food to sink a ship a lot way
more than we ever need look at all that
luggage that's enough to sink a ship
well who would have thought that there
were so many useful idioms about sailing
and I want to know aren't any of these
idioms similar to ones that you use in
your own language because often there
are similarities and that can make them
a little easier to remember of course if
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thanks for watching and I will see you
next week bye for now