This episode our idiom is “to get under someone’s skin.” This means to bother or annoy someone. We give tons of examples of how you can use it and look at similar expressions, like “to rub someone the wrong way” and “to drive someone crazy”. To find out what drives Harp crazy, start listening to this episode!
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Expressions included in the learning materials
- To get under someone’s skin
- Know-it-alls
- To have the last word
- A rant
- To drive someone crazy / mad / insane
- A big deal
- Nervous tics
- To rub someone the wrong way
- To rub someone the right way
Sample transcript
Maura: Right, the first one that we have is “to get under someone’s skin.”
Harp: Yeah, it’s a weird one if you think about the actual visual image.
Maura: Yeah, it doesn’t really make sense.
Harp: “Getting under someone’s skin.” But, right. So, now can you explain
this?
Maura: Sure, “to get under someone’s skin.” If someone gets under your skin,
it means that they are bothering you. Something that they’re doing is
bothering you: you don’t like some behaviour, something that they did.
Harp: Yeah, it doesn’t mean you don’t like them as a person, but it’s usually
something specific that they do, maybe they talk about how they’re too rich
all the time or something about them.
Maura: Well, what is something that gets under your skin?
Harp: When people think that they know everything. That really gets under my
skin. If you’re a doctor in something and you know everything there is to
know, then fine, OK, you’re smarter than me. I get it. But most of us know a
little bit about everything, but those people that always have to be right, they
always have to finish the conversation and they always have the last
word. Those people always get under my skin. What about you? That was
a little bit of a rant, I’m sorry.