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6 Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish.com

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish. I'm Rob.

And I'm Sam. Can you wait a second, Rob? I have to spend a penny.

What, you're going shopping now, are you? Which is about to start the programme?

No, no, I have to, you know, spend a penny. Haven't you heard that expression before?

Spender penny means go to the toilet. It's an old idiom from the days when it cost a penny to unlock the door of a public toilet.

OK, I see. Well, you're showing your age there, Sam. Most young people today wouldn't know what that phrase meant.

And there aren't many public toilets left nowadays anyway.

Language changes fast and new words and phrases are being created all the time.

In this programme, we'll be learning some modern idioms, new expressions that have been introduced to English through the internet, TV and social media.

And of course, we'll be learning their meanings as well.

Great, I am rearing to go another idiom there. But first, as usual, I have a question for you, Sam.

Many well-known idioms come from the world of sport. For example, throw in the towel, which means give up or surrender.

But which sport does the idiom throw in the towel come from? Is it A, football, B, tennis or C, boxing?

I think I know this one. It's C, boxing.

OK, Sam, I'll reveal the answer at the end of the programme, so just hold your horses for now.

Ah, another idiom thereof. Hold your horses, meaning stop and think for a moment.

That's an idiom that Gareth Carroll might teach his university students.

Dr. Carroll is the author of a new book, dropping the mic and jumping the shark.

Where do modern idioms come from?

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