body vocabulary/ body idioms/ connotation/ appearance/ body language and gestures/ cultural training
Inside Out Upper Intermediate Unit 4
Body idioms good, bad or neutral
Without looking below, listen to some idioms and show if you think they are positive, negative or neutral by pointing your finger or an arrow up, down or sideways.
When your teacher stops the listening game, label the sections below with plus, minus or a question mark. Ones in the same section have the same connotation.
Slip of the tongue
Pay through the nose
Look down your nose at someone/ something
Makes my blood boil
Head over heels
Give someone a hand
Head and shoulders above the others
Can’t make head or tail of it
Have cold feet
On its last legs
One foot in the grave
Take everything to heart
Put words in my mouth
Under her thumb
Lost his nerve
Feet on the ground
Get it off my chest
Give someone a big hand
See eye to eye
Head in the clouds
Put my foot in it
Get off on the wrong foot
Pull the wool over your eyes
Caught with his fingers in the till
Caught red handed
Up to my eyes in work
Brought to his/ its knees
Check as a class, then test each other in the same way.
Body and culture good, bad or neutral
Choose one thing below and say how acceptable or unacceptable you think it is in your own and other countries with phrases like those in the box, continuing until your partner guesses which you chose. See if they agree, then take turns doing the same. Ones on the same line are related but not always the same, so choose one specific think each time.
| It’s completely taboo It’s the kind of thing my mother told me not to do It’s a little rude It’s disrespectful (to elders) Traditionally people didn’t do this (but nowadays/ young people…) People generally approve of/ disapprove of/ don’t care about this It’s okay in some circumstances (for example…) I think this is only okay in… |
- A light handshake – A long and/ or strong handshake
- A man crossing his legs – A woman crossing her legs
- A man sitting with the ankle of one leg on the knee of the other
- Bare shoulders
- Blowing your nose in public
- Brushing against someone’s shoulder when you get on or off a train
- Clapping when you are the one being given a big hand
- Commenting on a colleague’s weight
- Covering your mouth when laughing
- Cuddling in a park or on the beach
- Eating with your arms on the table
- Eating with your hands/ Eating with your left hand
- Giving your same sex friends a hug/ a kiss on the cheek
- Grasping someone by the elbow or shoulder as you shake their hand
- Holding hands with a same sex friend/ with your boyfriend or girlfriend
- Listening with your eyes closed
- Lots of eye contact
- Passing something with your left hand
- Pointing at someone with your index finger
- Putting up two fingers (your index middle fingers with your palm towards you)
- Putting up your middle finger (= giving someone the bird)
- Putting your thumb up
- Raising your eyebrows to greet someone
- Showing cleavage (= a low cut top)
- Sniffing so you don’t need to blow your nose
- Speaking with your mouth full
- Touching someone’s head
- Using a toothpick in a restaurant
- Walking arm in arm
Can you think of any other things that might cause offence in other countries (especially physical things)?
Appearance good, bad or neutral
Choose one of the things below and say what people think about that thing, including any differences depending on gender, age, time in history, etc. Continue until your partner guesses which you chose, see if they agree that people feel that way, then take turns doing the same.
- Big muscles
- Big nose
- Broad shoulders
- Bushy eyebrows/ Thick eyebrows
- Dimples
- Dyed hair
- Freckles
- Good muscle definition
- Greying hair/ Hair flecked with grey
- Hairy armpits
- High cheek bones
- Laughter lines
- Long eyelashes
- Neck length hair
- Perm
- Plucked eyebrows
- Ponytail
- Receding hairline/ Balding
- Suntan/ Tan
- Shaved armpits
- Shaved head
- Shaved legs
- Square chin
- Tattoos
- Wide hips/ Curvy hips
When your teacher stops you, share an opinion you agreed on and see what the class thinks.
Ask about any vocabulary above you aren’t sure about, working together to describe how people feel about that thing each time.
Do the same with other kinds of appearance not above.
Discussion questions
- What present trends are there in men and women’s personal appearance in your country? How is it different from the past and from other countries? How do you think that will change in the future?
- How popular are diets for men and women in your country? What kinds of diets?
- How many different kinds of diets do you know?
Arrows to point up, down or sideways
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PDF with the arrows for easy saving and printing:
Related pages
Body idioms page (with links to body vocabulary and idioms more generally)
Positive and negative connotations page
