Summary
Highlights
This video is part 70 of the American Idioms series, introducing five new idioms numbered 346 to 350. Viewers are encouraged to pause the video to guess the meanings before the answers and additional examples are provided.
The idiom "to give someone the cold shoulder" means to ignore or reject someone. An example is given where Kim is giving someone the cold shoulder, and another example involves a wife giving her husband the cold shoulder after he lost money gambling.
"To claw back" means to regain or recover something with great effort. An example illustrates a company trying to claw back profitability after a bad year in sales, and another describes a union trying to claw back health benefits for its members.
The idiom "to make a living" refers to earning enough money to financially support oneself. The video provides an example of someone working three jobs to make a living when they were younger, and another about someone quitting their job to make a living as a farmer.
"To wash one's hands of something" signifies abandoning or distancing oneself from the responsibility of something. An example is the mayor losing reelection because she couldn't wash her hands of failed policies, and another describes a family washing their hands of a relative with a drug problem.
The final idiom, "to keep someone or something at arm's length," means to maintain a distance, avoiding familiarity. An example is Earl keeping his friends at arm's length, and another illustrates a family keeping a re-arrested relative at arm's length due to mistrust.