Idioms: Body and Health
Body and health idioms are the figurative-English layer where physical states map onto emotional and behavioural meanings. A pain in the neck (annoying), get cold feet (become nervous), let your hair down (relax), keep a stiff upper lip (stay calm), under the weather (slightly ill), off-colour (unwell), pull yourself together (regain composure). Learners build the receptive recognition and selectively productive use of high-frequency body-health idioms.
This worksheet builds B1–B2 fluency with body-and-health idioms.
Worksheet preview
What’s inside:
- An idiom bank with 18 high-frequency expressions, meanings, and examples
- Multiple-choice items testing meaning in context
- Gap-fill: complete the sentence with the right idiom
- Production task: write a short paragraph using three target idioms
- Full Answer Key plus Teacher Notes
Common challenges: Word-for-word translation rarely works at B1–B2 — get cold feet doesn’t translate. Register awareness: most body-health idioms are casual-to-neutral, fine in conversation, wrong in academic writing. Frequency intuition: which idioms are worth using productively vs which to just recognise.
For: Adult and teenage learners (14+) at CEFR B1–B2, in intermediate and upper-intermediate classes, 1:1 lessons, or self-study. Maps onto Cambridge B2 First (FCE) Reading-Use of English. Part of the Body & Emotions Idioms collection — the natural next step is Idioms: Body Parts.
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