Question 1
"It cost an arm and a leg."
💡 This idiom means something was extremely costly, not a literal injury.
Year 5 — Vocabulary
Nuance and figurative language
Understand IDIOMS (phrases that don't mean what they literally say) and use figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification) with growing precision and subtlety.
Understand
An IDIOM is a phrase whose meaning isn't literal — you have to know what it means as a whole (e.g. 'it's raining cats and dogs' means it's raining heavily, not literally). Figurative language should be chosen with NUANCE — precise, deliberate choices, not just any comparison.
“"Break a leg" doesn't mean to literally injure yourself — it's an idiom meaning 'good luck', especially before a performance.”
Understanding idioms requires learning the phrase's actual meaning as a whole unit, since the individual words ('break', 'a', 'leg') give no clue to the real meaning of encouragement.
Spot it
What does this idiom actually mean?
Question 2
"She let the cat out of the bag."
💡 This idiom means accidentally or deliberately revealing a secret.
Question 3
"He's under the weather today."
💡 This idiom means feeling slightly ill, unrelated to actual weather.
Think about it
Why might choosing a more precise or unusual metaphor (rather than an overused one like 'time flies') create a stronger effect on the reader?
Try it
Identify the idiom's meaning.
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch," my grandmother warned before the results were announced.
Question 1
What does this idiom mean?
💡 Think about what the grandmother is warning against, given the context of awaiting results.
Practise
Identify the idiom's meaning, or the effect of the figurative language.
Question 1
"It's a piece of cake."
Question 2
"Time flies when you're having fun" is an example of...
Question 3
"Once in a blue moon" means...
Question 4
In one word, what do we call a phrase whose meaning isn't literal, like 'break a leg'?
💡 It's the key term introduced in this lesson.
Question 5
Why might a writer avoid clichés like 'as brave as a lion'?
Question 6
"Hit the books" means...
Apply
Read the passage, then answer the questions below.
Grandad always said I had a chip on my shoulder about losing the race, but honestly, I think he was just trying to butter me up before asking for a favour. The fresh metaphor I'd use instead: my disappointment sat like a stone in my chest, heavy and impossible to ignore.
Question 1
What does "a chip on my shoulder" mean here?
💡 This is a common idiom about holding onto a grievance.
Question 2
What does "butter me up" mean here?
Question 3
Why does the writer describe their own fresh metaphor as more effective than the idioms?
Challenge
Write two sentences describing a strong feeling: one using a common idiom, and one using a fresh, original metaphor for the same feeling. Explain which is more effective and why.
Review
A quick mastery check — 3 questions.
Question 1
"Spill the beans" means...
Question 2
A cliché is...
Question 3
"Bite the bullet" means...
Want to practise building words from prefixes, suffixes and roots? Try the word-family builder →