What happens when someone upsets us? We think about all the wonderful ways we can take revenge, such as putting salt in their tea, or throwing rotten eggs at them in the street.
Sometimes, however, we take a slightly more passive aggressive approach and give them the cold shoulder.
This English idiom is very common, and it means to ignore someone on purpose because we are annoyed or upset with them.
Here are some examples to help you understand how to use this ESL idiom:
Is John okay? He gave me the cold shoulder this morning, I hope I haven’t upset him.
I’ve been giving Helen the cold shoulder all week, I know it was her who was making up the rumours about me in the office.
Please don’t give me the cold shoulder, tell me what I did wrong.
Learning idioms is essential if you want to sound like a native speaker. The next time you sit down to expand your English vocabulary, take a moment to think about any idiomatic expressions you could learn!
If you enjoyed this post, try reading 5 Useful & Fun ESL Idioms.
Want to read a short story with idioms to help you understand English idioms in context? Try our idiom story, The Bag Of Bananas!