English Idioms

All Greek to Me

Meaning:

• Something that you don’t understand or comprehend

Frequency of Use: Medium

1. English is all Greek to me.
2. I can’t understand this computer program because it is so complicated to use. It’s all Greek to me.
3. I tried to answer the questions on the TOEFL Test, but many were all Greek to me.
4. I wanted to play the game with my friends, but the rules were all Greek to me.
5. When my roommate talks with his friends in Japanese, I don’t understand a thing. It’s all Greek to me.

1. Your best friend always talks about economics, and it is all Greek to you. You want to talk about other things, but you don’t want to hurt your friend’s feelings. What can you say or do in this situation?
2. When your boss asks you to speak to a client in English, and you are afraid you won’t understand some technical words about a product, how can you prepare?

You are a new student at an English program in California, but you realize that everyone understands the lessons much better than you do in your class. You were happy when you told your parents that you were in the intermediate level in your school, but you are afraid to tell them that you are now not passing the class. Last night, you called your best friend and said, “Hey, I’m thinking about dropping out of school. Everything is all Greek to me.” So, what can you do to improve your situation so you don’t feel like a failure?

Possible Answer: 

“I guess I could study with some other students in the class, but I’m not sure what they will say.”

Sometimes, learners know the meaning of an idiom, but they don’t know how to use it correctly in conversation or writing. Thus, this activity checks your grammatical accuracy with the idiom so you become more confident in using it.