1 / 8

IDIOMS POWER POINT

BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH AND TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE

Nicole95
Download Presentation

IDIOMS POWER POINT

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. IDIOMS BEAT AROUND THE BUSH TASTE OF OWN MEDICINE 

  2. IDIOM 1: BEAT AROUND THE BUSH If you beat about the bush, you spend a long time getting to the main point of something for some reason, often because you are embarrassed or reluctant to offend the other person. Used when someone doesn’t want to discuss something directly or give a straight answer. People might ‘beat about the bush ‘ to avoid confrontations or uncomfortable topics. It’s an informal idiom/phrase , more likely to be used in personal conversations than formal writing

  3. ORIGIN The expression appears to have its origins in hunting in medieval times. Rich noblemen who enjoyed the hunt would employ young men to do the dangerous work of flushing animals out of the undergrowth so that the noblemen could kill them. This was often done by beating a wooden board with a stick to make a noise that would frighten the animal. However, the beaters knew that some animals were dangerous and, in particular, wild boar. Often they would be reluctant to enter bushes or areas of dense undergrowth in case they disturbed a boar that would attack them. In such cases, instead of going into the bush, they would beat around it, thus remaining safe but essentially avoiding the main point of their activity.

  4. EXAMPLE Imagine someone is trying to break up with their partner but keeps talking about how "things have been weird lately" or "they need some space" without saying what they really mean. That’s beating around the bush. A friend might even say, "Stop beating around the bush and just tell them it’s over."

  5. IDIOM 2: TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE The term "to get a taste of your own medicine" means "to be mistreated just as you have mistreated others." This idiom means being treated the same way you treat others, especially when the treatment is unpleasant or unfair. It usually implies poetic justice—when someone who’s been acting badly finally faces the consequences of their own behavior.

  6. ORIGIN This phrase traces back to Aesop’s fables, particularly the story of a doctor who sold fake medicine but refused to take it himself when he got sick. People then gave him a taste of his own medicine—literally—and he realized how bad it really was. The idiom first appeared in English in the 1800s and has been used ever since to describe someone getting what they deserve, often in a slightly ironic or satisfying way.

  7. EXAMPLE Let’s say a boss constantly gives their employees last-minute work and expects them to stay late. Then one day, their own boss gives them a surprise project and expects it finished overnight. The employees might laugh and say, "Well, that’s a taste of your own medicine!"

  8. CONCLUSION Both idioms reflect human behavior—how we avoid difficult conversations or how we sometimes end up on the receiving end of our own actions. “Beat around the bush” reminds us to be direct and honest, while “a taste of your own medicine” teaches a lesson about fairness and consequences. So next time you’re tempted to avoid the truth, or when you see someone facing the results of their own bad behavior, you’ll know exactly which idiom fits. Thank you!

More Related