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Spooky Halloween Idioms and Expressions -English with Harry 👴

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🔴Here you will learn 10 Halloween idioms and expressions. Great for improving your English speaking skills. Detailed explanations. Video.

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Daily News é um serviço gratuito direcionado a estudantes de inglês e oferecido pela Engoo. Novos artigos são adicionados todos os dias, cobrindo uma variedade de tópicos e níveis de dificuldade. Apesar de poderem ser usados para que você estude sozinho, os artigos têm como objetivo o uso em aula com um professor. Para agendar uma aula com um de nossos professores, por favor visite Engoo.

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Halloween Idioms: Scary Expressions and Ghostly Phrases | Engoo Daily News

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Daily News é um serviço gratuito direcionado a estudantes de inglês e oferecido pela Engoo. Novos artigos são adicionados todos os dias, cobrindo uma variedade de tópicos e níveis de dificuldade. Apesar de poderem ser usados para que você estude sozinho, os artigos têm como objetivo o uso em aula com um professor.

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Happy Halloween everyone - we hope you're having a spooky day! Read on (if you dare) to find out our top 10 favourite spook-tacular idioms and their meanings. We hope they don't give you a scare!

Suggested activities for using idioms in the classroom

How Idioms Work by Yvonne Clarke, with illustrations by Martin Jones

Picture match
- Copy and cut up picture idioms and their corresponding written idioms.
- Students match the idioms with the pictures.

Find the definition
- Copy and cut up a selection of written idioms and definitions.
- Students match each written idiom to its definition.

Memory game
- Copy and cut up pictures and the corresponding written idioms.
- Shuffle the cards and place them face down (five rows of three cards).
- Students take turns to flip over two cards and see if they match.
- If they match, the students keep them! If they don't match, students replace the cards face down.
- The winner is the student with the most pairs of matching cards.

Mime
- In pairs, small groups or as a class.
- A student takes one picture idiom from the pile and mimes what it depicts, while the other students guess what the idiom is.

Happy families
- Copy and cut out picture idioms, their corresponding written idioms and their definitions.
- Shuffle all the cards and deal half to students.
- Put the remaining cards face down on the table.
- Students look at the cards and try to make as many 'families of three' (i.e., picture, idiom, definition), as possible.
- Students get rid of unwanted cards, and pick up new cards from the top of the pile.

You can find more suggested activities in How Idioms Work by Yvonne Clarke and Martin Jones.

And now, it's time for some spooky idioms! As well as the idiom, meaning, and origin, there is also a list of useful websites and articles at the end of this blog, so be sure to check them out.

1. SKELETON IN THE CLOSET

Meaning: an embarrassing fact or scandal that someone wants to keep secret
Example: Wherever he goes, he is worried that someone will find out about his skeleton in the closet.
Origin: The Phrase Finder had a lot of information about the etymology of this idiom. It was first referenced in 19th century England by journalist William Hendry Stowell. "The dread of being the cause of misery to posterity has prevailed over men to conceal the skeleton in the closet..." ( The Eclectic Review, 1816).

The phrase was then more widely adopted into English thanks to William Makepeace Thackeray, a Victorian author who frequently used the phrase in his writing: " ... which will show us that they have a skeleton or two in their closets." ( The Newcomes; Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, 1845). The Phrase Finder further suggests: " What isn't clear is whether the origin of the phrase lies in fiction, or with real life, so to speak, skeletons."

2. GHOST TOWN

Meaning: a deserted place where there are few or no people
Example: I woke up at 5 a.m. to go for a run. It felt like a ghost town, I didn't see anyone!
Origin: This phrase can refer to an actual town that used to thrive, but now has little to no population. However, it can also frequently be used with a simile to describe somewhere as 'like a ghost town', as in the example above.

However, in terms of the origin - it's a little tricky. Merriam-Webster states that the first known use of 'ghost town ' was in 1931, but I can't find any information to support this. Author Lambert Florin defines 'ghost town' as " a shadowy semblance of a former self" (source), which could suggest why the word ghost was originally used to describe such a town. To use another idiom - the jury is still out on this one!

3. SCAREDY CAT

Meaning: someone who is easily frightened
Example: Don't be such a scaredy cat ... skydiving is fun!
Origin: There are a lot of different suggestions for the origins of this phrase online. Know Your Phrase say that it most likely comes from the fact that cats are easily scared by things. The same source, and the Online Etymology Dictionary suggest that the first use of the word 'scaredy-cat' occured in 1906. It was used in the book Billy Bounce by W.W. Denslow: " That is scaredy cat, and she will never come back". However, Merriam-Webster states that its first known use was in 1948, which may be a reference to the short cartoon Scaredy Cat which was published in 1948. Source.

It's also worth nothing that the phrase 'fraidy-cat' can also be used to mean the same thing, and is said to have first appeared in print in 1897.

4. SCARED STIFF

Meaning: very afraid, to the point where they are incapable of movement Aza didn't want to go on stage; she was scared stiff.
Origin: The use of the word 'stiff' most likely refers to the idea that if something is stiff, it cannot be moved. However, it could also be a reference to another use of the word 'stiff', meaning a dead body.

This was a hard phrase to find any sort of solid information for. The Online Etymology Dictionary suggests that the first recorded instance of this phrase occurred in 1900. However, I couldn't find the significance of this date on any other website. The Phrase Finder loosely references this phrase when talking about the origin of 'scared out of my wits'.

5. WOULDN'T SAY BOO TO A GOOSE

Meaning: shy or nervous I don't think James would do that; he wouldn't say boo to a goose.
Origin: As with lots of words, it seems that this phrase has changed slightly over time. Word Histories clarifies that 'boo' refers to a later form of 'bo ' - an exclamation meaning to frighten, as opposed to an expression of disapproval.

The first instance of it being used in this context is: " To be able to say Bo! to a goose is to be not quite destitute of courage ..." (Notes and Queries, 1870). The website also states that the earliest printed version uses 'shoo': " who can scarse say shue to a goose." ( A Seconde Admonition to the Parliament, 1572).

6. DROP DEAD GORGEOUS

Meaning: very good looking Friend 1: Do I look alright in this?
Friend 2: Are you kidding? You look drop 👏 dead 👏 gorgeous!👏
Origin: In English, there are a lot of phrases which use the word 'dead' idiomatically! Drop-dead gorgeous is just one of those. In this phrase, 'drop-dead' is used as an intensifier, to exclaim astonishment about just how gorgeous someone is. The Phrase Finder references a report that was printed in the Shreveport Times in 1972. "Cher, drop-dead gorgeous in a second skin of silver, pink, purple and red sequins."

7. NIGHT OWL

Meaning: a person who tends to stay up late; an evening person He didn't go to bed until 3 a.m. - he's such a night owl.
Origin: This was originally simply a synonym for 'owl', as owls are nocturnal animals, meaning they are awake at night. However, the use of the term, when not simply talking about owls, was first used by William Shakespeare in a poem: " The dove sleeps fast that this night-owl will catch". Source.

8. DIG YOUR OWN GRAVE

Meaning: to do something that will cause you harm or problems in the future Student 1: I think I'm going to skip this lecture again.
Student 2: Alright, but you're digging your own grave.
Origin: A research paper written by Arvo Krikmann suggests that this phrase could originate in a proverb: " Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein." (Proverb 26:27). However Dictionary.com suggests it originated in the first half of the 1900s but gives no further information. Bit of a tricky one, and still up in the air!

9. GRAVEYARD SHIFT

Meaning: a work shift that happens overnight I have to work the graveyard shift tonight; I'm really not looking forward to it.
Origin: The Phrase Finder talks about the questionable origin of this phrase so take the following origin story with a pinch of salt ...

In the olden days in England, it is said that they were running out of places to bury bodies. They therefore started digging up coffins and moving the bones to 'bone-houses'. Whilst doing this, they discovered scratch marks on the inside of the coffins, signalling that people had been accidentally buried alive (yikes). To stop this from happening, they attached a string around the wrist of corpses which was then attached to a bell. It is said it was someone's job to sit in the graveyard all night (a 'graveyard shift') and see if the bell rang. Spooky stuff.

However, the first instance of this idiom appearing in print was in the US newspaper The Salt Lake Tribune in 1897: "... This month Sergeant Ware takes the morning relief. Sergeant Matt Rhodes the middle and Sergeant John Burbidge the graveyard shift."

10. OVER MY DEAD BODY

Meaning: used to express that you strongly oppose something, or won't allow it to happen Person 1: I thought we were going to split the money if we won.
Person 2: Ha, over my dead body.
Origin: Not much is known about the origin of this phrase. However, it has been suggested that it was in use during the 1800s as a "common hyperbolic expression" used in jokes. 'Hyperbolic' means that is is used in an exaggerated way for effect. Source.

Special thanks to our talented illustrator, Doug, for creating these spooky illustrations. You can find out more about Doug's illustration process here.
Resources, websites & articles:

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Top 10 Halloween idioms and expressions | Garnet Education

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Happy Halloween everyone - we hope you're having a spooky day! Read on (if you dare) to find out our top 10 favourite spook-tacular idioms and their meanings. We hope they don't give you a scare!

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Halloween is a great time to be creepily creative! Whether you're helping your kids write a spooky story or looking for some inspiration while scrapbooking Halloween memories, we put together a list of spook-tacular Halloween quotes, sayings and riddles!
Halloween Quotes:
Double, double toil and trouble;
fire burn and cauldron bubble.
- William Shakespeare - "Macbeth"

Where there is no imagination
there is no horror
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.
- Edgar Allan Poe, "The Raven"

The blood is life.
- Bram Stoker "Dracula"

Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen,
Voices whisper in the trees, "Tonight is Halloween!"
- Dexter Kozen

When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam,
May luck be yours on Halloween.
- Author Unknown
Halloween Sayings:

Eat, drink and be scary!

Ghostly Greetings!

Halloween is a real treat

Have a fang-tastic night

Happy Haunting!

Have a bootiful Halloween

Don't be a scaredy cat

I witch you a Happy Halloween

Stop in for a spell

Please park all brooms at the door

Caution! Witch Crossing

Boo to you from our crew

If you want a tasty sweet...

Be sure to holler trick or treat!

Halloween Jokes and Riddles:
What do you get when you divide the circumference
of your jack-o'-lantern by its diameter?
- Pumpkin Pi

Knock! Knock!
Who's there?
Wanda Witch!
Wanda Witch who?
- Wanda Witch you a Happy Halloween!

What is a ghost's favorite dessert?
- Boo-berry pie with ice scream!

Why didn't the skeleton go to the Halloween party?
- Because he had no-body to go with!

Why do demons and ghouls always hang out together?
- Because demons are a ghoul's best friend.

Know why mummies never reveal their true age?
- 'Cause they like to keep it under wraps.

How can you tell if a vampire has a cold?
- Because of the coffin!

What do spiders do for fun on Halloween?
- Surf the web!

Know how Frankenstein likes his potatoes?
- Monster-mashed!

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Fun Halloween Quotes & Sayings - American Greetings Blog

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Halloween is a great time to be creepily creative! Whether you're helping your kids write a spooky story or looking for some inspiration while scrapbooking Halloween memories, we put together a list of spook-tacular Halloween quotes, sayings and riddles! Halloween Quotes: Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.

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Halloween - vocabulary exercises - intermediate level

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Halloween - vocabulary exercises - intermediate level

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Zombies in Plain English (Vocab Booster B2-C2 Level)

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A vocab booster: students will master a bunch of useful words in this 3-minute video through 9 questions (7 multiple choice and 2 matching tasks). The lesson is complete with a lesson plan including a recommendation for a follow-up zombie prank video, discussion questions and a vocab list. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXFhTXSLjco

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Practicing connectors of: time, purpose, reason, contrast/contradiction, and conditions.

Two friends try to scare their friend by hiding in her car, and she decides to scare them instead!

Comedy talk shows & comedy skits

The above lesson is a great teaching resource for: Upper-intermediate (B2)

This resource is intended for:

Quality not yet verified by the community.

This resource does not contain any images, words or ideas that would upset a reasonable person in any culture.

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Practicing connectors of: time, purpose, reason, contrast/contradiction, and conditions. Two friends try to scare their friend by hiding in her car, and she decides to scare them instead! Comedy talk shows & comedy skits The above lesson is a great teaching resource for: Upper-intermediate (B2) This resource is intended for: Quality not yet verified by the community.

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1) What are the bags for?

Answer the question using your own words

2) Who do you think they are?

Answer the question using your own words

3) Why did they refuse an invitation?

Answer the question using your own words

4) On second thought, we'll take you up on your offer... Why did he change his mind?

Answer the question using your own words

5) That's quite an outfit you've got on, lady

he is surprised

he pays her a compliment

he doesn't like it

6) "You, folks, don't hold back on Halloween" means...

Answer the question using your own words

7) Why does Martisha say that there's nothing to be ashamed of?

Answer the question using your own words

8) Why are they so reluctant let go of their bag?

Answer the question using your own words

9) What do you think is going to happen next?

Answer the question using your own words

10) What do they want to have next time they pull a job?

Answer the question using your own words

11) Are they all for real?)))

Answer the question using your own words

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Addams Family - Halloween trick-or-treaters - English ESL video lesson

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ESL video lesson with an interactive quiz: Deep listening comprehension . A Halloween video. There are mostly qustions based on the challenging language items. Students are asked to answer some questions about what is going on and predict what is going to happen next.

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The origins of Halloween

If you think of Halloween, you probably think of scary carved pumpkins, all kinds of fancy dress and children asking for sweets. And if you think of a country that celebrates Halloween, you probably think of the United States first. Americans and Canadians have adopted Halloween in a big way, but Halloween traditions actually come from 16th-century Ireland, Scotland and England.

The tradition of Halloween on 31 October comes from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain was the Celtic New Year and they celebrated it on 1 November because that was the end of summer and harvest time (life) and the beginning of winter (death). It was also the time for ghosts to return to earth for a day. People lit a big fire, wore special clothes made of animal skin and hoped to be safe from the ghosts and the winter. In AD 609, the Catholic Church put the Christian celebration of All Saints Day on 1 November. In AD 1000, the church added All Souls Day on 2 November, and All Hallows Eve - or Halloween - moved to the night of the 31st.

Pumpkins

The Celts carved faces into vegetables like turnips, potatoes and squash (a pumpkin is a kind of squash) to scare the ghosts and other spirits and make them go away. It was sometimes called a jack-o'-lantern because of an Irish story about a man, Jack. He played a trick on the devil and then had to walk the earth for all time as a punishment. Irish people who came to live in the United States in the 1800s found pumpkins much easier to carve, and the tradition became the one we see today.

Fancy dress

The Celts were afraid of the ghosts that came on Samhain. If they went outside after dark, they covered their faces with masks. They hoped any ghosts they met would think they were ghosts too and would leave them alone. In early America, the Native Americans and the first Europeans celebrated the end of the harvest, but not Halloween. When Irish people arrived, the harvest festival started to look more like Halloween and it became popular across the country. In the late 19th century, people tried to make Halloween less about ghosts and religion and more about celebrating the season with a party for neighbours and family. That's why Americans today wear all kinds of Halloween costumes and not just scary things like witches and ghosts like in other countries.

Trick or treat

This is another tradition that began in Europe, this time in England. When the church introduced All Souls Day, rich people gave poor people 'soul cakes', a small cake made with spices and raisins. It replaced the Celtic tradition of leaving food outside houses for the ghosts. 'Going a-souling' was popular in England for hundreds of years until about the 1930s. The Americans kept the tradition, but today children knock on people's doors and ask for sweets. Going trick or treating is so popular that a quarter of the sweets for the year in the United States are sold for this one day.

The rest of the world

Halloween has become the United States' second-biggest commercial festival after Christmas. Halloween is also celebrated in other countries, but it's not as big as in the United States, even in the countries where the traditions began. Mexico celebrates the Day of the Dead from 31 October to 2 November and some of its traditions, like giving gifts of sugar skulls, are starting to mix with Halloween. In this way, the celebration of Halloween continues to change as new traditions join the oldest of the Celtic ones.

Discussion

Language level

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October 31 is Halloween and is now celebrated in many countries around the world, but do you know anything about the origins of this scary special day? Read the article and find out.