Do You Know These DAY & NIGHT Idioms In English?

English idioms help you speak naturally and understand more! Learn what it means to 'call it a day', to be 'a night owl', to 'make someone's day', and more. Native speakers use these phrases every day; you will too after watching this lesson on common idioms related to day and night!
Take the quiz, then call it a day: http://www.engvid.com/day-night-idioms-english/

TRANSCRIPT

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. In this lesson, you'll have a chance to learn 10 idioms that have to do with day and night. Okay? So let's get started.

Number one: "He's getting stronger day by day." Okay? So you see the idiom is written in red, so the idiom is "day by day". So, what does that mean: "He's getting stronger day by day"? It means as each day passes, he is getting stronger. So, "day by day" means as each day passes. All right.

Number two: "Thanks! You really made my day." So the idiom there is "made my day". Okay? So, what does it mean when you say to somebody: "Hey, you really made my day"? This is a very positive thing to say to somebody. It means you really made me very happy today, because you did something for me. Okay? So you can see the person is saying: "Thanks!" Thanks for calling, or thanks for your present, or thanks for that very kind thing you did for me, and as a result: "You really made my day." You made me very happy. Okay.

Number three: "Okay, let's call it a day." All right? "Okay", or: "Okay, guys, let's call it a day." Now, this is often used at work. Okay? So when you say: "Let's call it a day", it means let's stop working for the day. Let's finish working for the day, or let's finish our work day. All right? "Let's call it a day" means let's not do any more work today. All right? Sometimes a slight variation on that is: "Let's call it a night." That also means let's not do anything more tonight. Okay? But if you finish... If you want to say to stop working and it's still daytime, then you will probably say: "Let's call it a day." Okay?

Number four: "One of these days, I'll be rich!" Okay? Probably all of us say that. So, "one of these days", it means sometime in the future, someday, one day-I hope-I'll be rich. Okay? All right.

Number five: "John's a night owl." Okay? So, what does that mean? How can John be an owl? Okay? What's a night owl? So, a night owl... Sometimes instead of "night owl", they also say "night person". Okay, so basically, in life we have day people and night people. And the day people like to get up early, and they like to do things in the day and they're very efficient in the day; and the night people really love the night, and they function better at night, and they enjoy the night, and they prefer the night. And that's what a night person is, and that's what a night owl is. A person like that who prefers the night is called a night owl. Okay? So, are you a day person or a night person? Are you a night owl? Okay.

Number six: "The baby was crying all night long." So, if you've had a baby or you know any babies, you probably understand this anyway, and it means that the baby was crying the whole night; the entire night; all night long. It means through the whole night. Okay? Of course it's a bit of an exaggeration, but you know, probably those parents were very tired when they said that. Okay.

Number seven: "They're a fly by night operation." Okay? So now here, when they're talking about "they", they're probably referring to a company. All right? And when you say they're a fly by night operation, it is not a compliment; it is not something good. It is, in fact, something very negative. It means that that company is a dishonest company, they are not trustworthy. Okay? You can't trust them. Don't do business with them. They're here today, they've gone tomorrow. Don't give them your money. Don't trust them. It's a fly by night operation. Okay? That's what it means. Okay.

Number eight: "We enjoyed a night on the town." This is something positive. "A night on the town" is when people go out to celebrate something, they go out eating and drinking, and dancing maybe, listening to music. Having a lot of fun, going out at night. Okay? Have you had a night on the town lately? Okay.

Number nine... Now we have expressions which have the words "day" and "night". The first four, in case you noticed, the first four idioms had the word "day", the next four idioms had the word "night", and the last two have both "day" and "night". Let's read them.

Number nine: "She looks after her mother day and night.", "She looks after her mother day and night." It means around the clock; all the time. Okay? In the day, and also in the night. Day and night. It means around the clock. Okay?