#️⃣#️⃣#️⃣ Idioms and stable expressions. “By the Skin of Your Teeth” — What This Curious Idiom Really Means 😅🦷✨
#️⃣ Today we’ll explore a wonderfully strange English idiom — “by the skin of your teeth.” It sounds funny 😄, it looks odd 🤨, and it’s extremely common in real spoken English. Let’s break it down clearly and in a fun way. 😉
#️⃣ Meaning of the idiom 📘
The phrase “by the skin of your teeth” means to succeed or survive something by a very narrow margin, almost failing, but just barely making it.
Фраза «by the skin of your teeth» означает добиться успеха или пережить что-то с огромным трудом, едва не потерпев неудачу, — буквально «еле-еле», «в последний момент», «на волосок от провала».
#️⃣ Where did this idiom come from? 📜✨
This expression originally comes from the Book of Job in the Bible. The text says that Job escaped “with the skin of my teeth.” Of course, teeth don’t actually have skin — and that’s the whole point 😅. The phrase expresses something so thin and so minimal that it’s practically nothing.
Это выражение берёт начало из Книги Иова в Библии. В тексте сказано, что Иов спасся «с кожей моих зубов». Конечно, у зубов нет кожи — и в этом вся суть: фраза передаёт идею чего-то минимального и чудом спасённого.
#️⃣ How we use it today 🚆⏳😬
People say it when:
1️⃣ They barely catch a train.
2️⃣ They almost fail an exam but pass.
3️⃣ They narrowly avoid trouble.
4️⃣ They succeed only thanks to luck 🍀.
#️⃣ Examples with the O’Connor family 👨👩👧👦💬
1️⃣ Alex almost missed his medical exam because he overslept 😴⏰, but he arrived by the skin of his teeth.
Алекс чуть не опоздал на экзамен, потому что проспал, но чудом успел.
2
️⃣ Tom went to wrestling practice 🥋💦 and realized he had forgotten to check the start time. He made it into the gym by the skin of his teeth, just seconds before warm-up began.
Том чуть не опоздал на тренировку по борьбе, так как перепутал время, но чудом успел к началу разминки.
3️⃣ Sarah nearly burned dinner again 🍳🔥 while watching shopping videos 💄📱, but she saved it by the skin of her teeth.
Сара едва не сожгла ужин, засмотревшись на шопинг-видео, но чудом спасла блюдо.
4️⃣ John nearly lost his old moonshine recipe notebook 🥃📒 during a garage clean-up, but he found it by the skin of his teeth.
Джон чуть не потерял тетрадь с рецептами самогона, но чудом её нашёл.
5️⃣ Lily and Tom started their homework at the last minute again 🙈📚 and finished it by the skin of their teeth before bedtime.
Лили и Том начали делать уроки в последний момент и еле-еле успели закончить до отбоя.
#️⃣ When not to use this idiom 🙅♀️❌
1️⃣ Don’t use it for big successes — you wouldn’t say someone won a gold medal “by the skin of their teeth” unless they won by 0.01 seconds 🥇⏱️.
2️⃣ Don’t use it if there was no real difficulty or risk at all.
#️⃣ Final thought 💭🌟
This idiom is perfect for all those “close call” moments in life 😅 — and if there’s anyone who knows how to get into those situations regularly, it’s definitely the O’Connor family. 😄💛
❕❕❕Now also on other social media platforms.
https://dzen.ru/id/5f5248405bef7c0b8eef8d13
https://max.ru/join/xOe15CQ-etxrdTNEwVFRP6dmSxzMQK9hVoWFX1tsTUk
https://t.me/myenglis
hgrammarinuse
https://vk.com/myenglishwithoconnors