Pain in the Neck | Join the Club | Lend an Ear | Give the Cold Shoulder

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

pain in the neck

Phrase

peɪn ɪn ðə nɛk

an annoying person, object, or situation

She is a terrible pain in the neck when she’s bored.

This map is a pain in the neck. It contains so many mistakes!

join the club

Phrase

ʤɔɪn ðə klʌb

an expression indicating that two or more people are going through the same bad experience

Join the club! We didn't pass the test either.

Join the club, brother! We all forgot to do our homework.

lend an ear

Phrase

lɛnd ən ir

to listen carefully or sympathetically

I just need someone to lend me an ear and help me figure out what to do.

If you need someone to talk to, I'm always here to lend you an ear.

give (someone) the cold shoulder

Phrase

ɡɪv ðə koʊld ˈʃoʊldər

to be intentionally unfriendly towards someone

Ryan started giving me the cold shoulder after we broke up.

Chloe gave Ken the cold shoulder because she was angry.

Exercise 2

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.

Ayako	Hey, Emily! Why have you been giving me the cold shoulder all day? What did I do?
Emily	Are you seriously asking why? You kept teasing me in the class! Sometimes, you're such a pain in the neck.
Ayako	Come on, I didn’t mean it.
Emily	What is your excuse this time?
Ayako	Well, I was just trying to be funny, you know. I really like Jamie and I guess I was just trying to attract his attention. I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to tease you! But please, don't tell anyone that I like him, okay?
Emily	OK, I promise. My lips are sealed and I'm always willing to lend an ear. But that's not the way to attract someone's attention. I'm supposed to be your friend, so you shouldn't make fun of me.
Ayako	I know, I'm really sorry.
Emily	Anyway, I'd better hurry, I'm already late!
Ayako	Hehe, join the club!

Exercise 3

Article

Read the passage aloud with your teacher.

Ayako and Emily are long-time friends. After Ayako started teasing Emily in class, Emily gave her the cold shoulder. Ayako was beginning to worry that Emily was really upset. Ayako told Emily that she liked Jamie and didn’t mean to be a pain in the neck. Emily told Ayako that her lips were sealed and that she is always willing to lend an ear. They both realized that they were late for the class while they were talking about this issue, so they laughed saying, “join the club!” to each other.

Exercise 4

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct idioms to complete the dialogue.

Mr. Smith and Mr. Abbott are talking about an employee who recently joined their team.
Mark Smith	That girl is such a (1)! I can’t stand her!
Jonathan Abbott	I know, me neither. And now the boss wants to talk to me, because she told him I was (2) for no reason.
Mark Smith	(3)! He wants to talk to me as well about the same thing. I don’t even know what to tell him. She's constantly been interrupting my work and asking me private questions that are none of her concern.
Jonathan Abbott	I know. Maybe we should just talk to the boss together and explain the situation. I'm sure he'll understand that it's not our fault.
Mark Smith	Yes, you're right. And maybe he'll talk to her as well and she might change her attitude around here.
Jonathan Abbott	I really hope so. But, maybe we should try to be a bit more sympathetic towards her, as well. Perhaps she is having some problems and she just wants someone to (4). That might be why she's been asking us about our personal lives and problems at home.
Mark Smith	You might be right, actually. Okay, we'll first talk to the boss to see what he has to say and then we'll see.
Jonathan Abbott	Agreed.