Road Trip Idioms - Jessicadold | Learn English at EnglishCafe

I'm glad this was helpful for you.

Michael looked up the meaning of shotgun for us. He’s the second post on this video. I learn so much from others here : )

I don’t think we have an idiom using the gears, but brakes sounds familiar…

We use these idioms in common speech, but informal.

That is very informative, thank you. We have very similar idioms related to driving in our language. They are mostly slang and used by professional drivers or normally for fun. Like if some one is doing something too fast we would say he is going on fourth gear and if someone doesn't stop talking we would say that his beaks are failed, and similar. I like the idiom shotgun, it sounds cool.. Why is it used for this meaning? Is shooting easier on the passenger seat.. I wonder. :D

I'm just discovering this great video today, Jessica!

You (and so many others here at EC) are inspiration for me.

Tonight, I finish a brutal six-week graduate course, and now I have a three-week break before my next (and final!) grad course. So, I hope to be using some of my extra time these next few weeks to create a few more videos. I'm going to explore using Vimeo, because JimStroud and MrTESOL (Rob) have indicated that Vimeo videos appear to be viewable for all EC users.

*brutal (as used in the sentence above) = extremely challenging, emphasizing the amount of work involved

Thanks again,

Holly

I think it is a great exercise. Thank you for posting it.

Thank you for the explanation.

zoom around = this is a very informal word; it means to speed by, to go somewhere(in this case around my car) very quickly, the sound one makes when they go really fast

Hi Jessica, It was really really nice to hear you.I could almost imagine the beautiful landscapes you were passing by. I've learned a lot , thank you.

I have one question. What's mean to zoom around? Is it like ' to overtake'?

Additional Information
I want to expand on these idioms.
Floor it, which means to go as fast as you can with your foot pressed down hard on the gas pedal, can also be said in these ways:
Punch it
Put the pedal to the metal
Gun it

Since many of you won’t be talking about taking a road trip everyday, let me share how these idioms can be used in other situations:

Hit the open road: is talking about taking a road trip, but “hit the road” just means to leave
-At a party, I need to hit the road and head home.
-To an ex-boyfriend, I want him to get out of my life so I tell him to hit the road.

Cruising: can be used for any constant, comfortable speed.
-In the plane, after take-off is finished, the plane reaches cruising altitude.
-In the car, many young people like to drive slowly around the downtown to show off their car and flirt with others.
-In life, if you taking it easy and not stressing about anything nor doing anything special, you are just cruising through life.

Tailgating: the tailgate is the back of a truck that opens.
-It is a popular activity to sit behind your car in the parking lot of a football or baseball game and have a bar-b-q in the United States. This is called a tailgate party.

Road rage: the word “rage” can be used for any extreme anger.
-The mother was in a rage when she saw the children’s muddy footprints on her recently cleaned floor.
-The storm was raging outside last night. There were strong winds, lots of pouring rain, and several trees blew over.

Cut off: anytime something is stopped when I don’t want it to
-On the phone, when cell phone reception is bad your call might get cut off.
-At work, if the project runs out of money before it is finished, it will be cut off.
-At home, if you don’t pay your water bill, the city will cut off the water.
-When talking, during an argument, the man rudely cut off the woman and didn’t let her finish her sentence.

Cross roads: since the metaphor that life is a journey is so popular, we often use other road words to describe times in our life
-After graduating college, I came to a cross road in my life. I was no longer a child and had to decide which direction I wanted to go in.

fill ‘er up: can also be said as “top ‘er off” when we are not starting from empty of any liquid. Using “it” instead of “’er” makes it more formal.
-My beer glass is empty, so I tell the barkeeper to “fill ‘er up”.
-My coffee cup is half empty, so I ask the waiter to “top it off” and add enough to make it full again.

Hello Jessica.
I really love your lesson. I can find a new way to teach vocabulary and idioms to my students after watching your video.Thanks a lots. Where are you now? Have a nice time.

Hi Jessica,

I could hear your voice but I could not view the video. All I can see is a blank screen!
I remember driving from Saskatchwan, Canada to California and back. It was an adventure! Do continue on your road trip! Great fun!