English Idioms - To Get Out Of Hand

Hi this is Teacher Fred. Welcome to my classroom! I'm here in Vietnam, teaching English online. I'm an English teacher.

I have a bunch of cards here, and on each card is a separate phrasal verb or idiom.

So I'm just going to cut the cards, I'm going to choose one card and we'll see what phrasal verb or idiom it has and what it means. Are you ready? Here we go.

What is it? It says: "to get out of hand."

It's getting out of hand! What does it mean?

To get out of hand is the same as getting out of control. It's out of control!

I'm an English teacher, so the example that I can think of easily is an example from my English class. That's my job. I'm in English classes all day. Sometimes, when I have a bunch of really noisy students, especially children- or adults who are acting like children- sometimes they get out of hand. They get out of control. The class goes crazy, and I have to tell them: "Stop! Pay attention! Things are getting out of hand here!"

It's getting out of hand: out of control. It's getting crazy.

So, in your life, what gets out of hand sometimes?

It can be used for just about anything. Like maybe your money. "My finances are just out of hand. It's getting out of hand!" It means I can't control my money; I don't know how much I have.

Or maybe you're having trouble with your children or your friend or your spouse, and it's just getting out of hand, you know? It's getting too crazy.

It's getting out of hand! Okay? I hope that short explanation can help you understand what this idiom means.

Speaking with idioms and phrasal verbs is very important to understand native speakers and speak like a native speaker. Because native speakers use idioms and phrasal verbs all the time, in any language.

That's all for now. Come by my website! It's called Learn English With Fred dot Blogspot dot com, and we can study English together online.

I'm an American; I've been teaching English in Vietnam since 2001. Hope to see you soon. Give me a call on Skype or Yahoo chat. Come by the website, okay? Bye-bye!

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englishteacherfred@yahoo.com