Transcript:

Welcome to another edition of Ethan’s English cafe dot com’s Fantastic Phrases! In today’s video we look at four idioms involving Art! This is created to go along with our longer video lesson “Art at 798″, so watch both, learn some new words and don’t stop practicing!

Today we look at four English Idioms about art, the four we’ll look at today are:
– A work of art
– State of the art
– To have something down to a fine art
– A picture is worth a thousand words

To say something is a work of art means that is is really amazing in some way. If your friend makes a really good sandwich and it has everything you’ve ever wanted in a sandwich on it, when they show it to you you can say “Wow, that sandwich is a work of art! Please make me one like it too!”

If your TV is a real work of art, it’s probably also state of the art. This means it is the best quality and uses all the newest technology. If I say this stereo has state of the art sound, it means the sound is the clearest, best sound available to anyone right now. If your friend tells you your TV isn’t very good you can say “What do you mean? This is a state of the art high defition TV!”

If you make a product that is state of the art, you must have the production of the object down to a fine art. To have something down to a fine art means you are so good at doing something that, though it was originally hard, it’s become an easy task for you to complete. If your friend can very easily make new friends but you find it very difficult you can say “I’m very jealous of them, they have making new friends down to a fine art!”

If you have trouble making new friends, maybe try drawing them a picture because everyone knows, a picture is worth a thousand words! What this means is that sometimes a picture can clear show people or help people to understand an idea or situation, when words can’t. If you’re friend’s boyfriend is cheating on her and you tell her, she might not believe you becuase she really loves her boyfriend and no one wants to believe bad things about those they love, but if you can show a picture of her boyfriend kissing the other girl, she’s sure to believe what you have said. So if one day someone wants you to believe something they are saying and they ask you how they can make you believe them, you can say “A picture’s worth a thousand words.” Meaning show me evidence of what you say.

So if you see a new car which is a real work of art, be sure to ask the company if it just looks good or if it’s also state of the art! If the car is too powerful though I hope you have driving down to a fine art so you don’t get in an accident, but if you do and it’s not your fault, always remember, for the police a picture is worth a thousand words so photograph everything so they can know for sure whose fault it is.

That’s it for today’s Fantastic Phrase, hope you enjoyed the video and learned a little about some new idioms involving art in some way! Don’t forget to watch our newest video lesson “Art at 798″ and practice your words everyday! If you have any questions please let me know in the comments or in the forum! For all of us here at Ethan’s English Cafe dot com, see you next time!