Idioms with Pay

Hello! Today’s lesson is about idioms that use the word “pay.” So let’s get started! First one: to pay a compliment. To pay a compliment means to praise somebody; to say something good about them, or to say that they’ve been doing a good job. A teacher might say for example: I can see you’ve been working hard, or Good job on the quiz! A friend might say: That’s a lovely shirt, or You’re a lot of fun to be around! Number two is to pay someone a visit. So to pay someone a visit means simply to go visit them. So you might say something like: I haven’t seen him for a long time; perhaps I should go pay him a visit. In movies and TV shows when the bad guys say this phrase, it often has a completely different meaning. They say: I think it’s time we go pay him a visit, and then they have their evil laugh: Ha ha ha ha! It’s very scary. The third idiom is: Pay attention. It means listen; it means, focus on what I am doing, or what I am saying right now. Parents and teachers use this a lot. So does my wife, but I’m the only one who has to worry about that. Number four: to pay back. This can mean to return something that is owed. It could be money, it could be a favour that somebody has done for us. It could also be used in a similar but different way. If somebody has been making problems for us, or somebody has done something wrong, we can also say: I’m gonna pay them back. He’s been making my life difficult for months. It’s time for me to pay him back. Don’t worry, I’m not talking about you. Unless you’re Daryl. Daryl, if you’re watching this… Number 5: pay it forward. Pay it forward is kind of the opposite of the negative meaning of pay it back. With pay it forward, the idea is that somebody helped you, but instead of paying them back, you pay it forward to somebody else. So, the idea is that eventually, everybody will be helping everybody, and we will all be living in a happy world! Well, that’s the idea anyway. Number six: pay one’s respects. To pay one’s respect means to visit a person or to attend a ceremony, for example a funeral, as a sign of respect towards somebody. Paying your respects can also be done by sending a card, depending on the situation; it’s a way of showing that you care about somebody. Pay off, so pay off can have several meanings. First of all, it can mean to pay the money that you owe. So, she paid off her house, now she owns it, so she doesn’t owe the bank any more money. Next, it could be some kind of reward. So, hopefully all this work will pay off. Hopefully, I’ll be rewarded for all of my hard work. Hopefully, there will be a payoff. Third, as a one-word noun, it can be used to mean bribe, okay? So after the construction company got the contract to build the road, people learned that there was a payoff to a local politician. Hmm. So payoff can mean bribe. Number eight: to pay the price. To do, or to sacrifice, whatever is necessary. In sports, where effort is often the difference between winning and losing, the coach will encourage players to pay the price to win. If you want to be a highly trained professional, you have to pay the price by studying and going to university and working very hard for very many years. Number nine: to pay through the nose. This isn’t as disgusting as it sounds. When something is very expensive, we can say that you have to pay through the nose for it. For example, travelling at holiday times can not only be stressful; it can also be very expensive. Yeah, I might go home this Christmas, but I don’t know; I’d have to pay through the nose to do it. It just means the price would be very very high. Often, concert tickets can also be very expensive. If you want to see a popular band, you should be prepared to pay through the nose to do it. And number 10: pay up. When you pay what is owed. Somebody might say this at the end of the night in a restaurant when it’s time to pay the bill. The waiter or the waitress would never say this – that would be extremely rude – but if one of your friends is trying to organize people to make sure that the bill is paid before they leave, they might say this. Now, personally, I find this a little bit, I find this phrase a little bit rude; I find it a little bit direct. It seems to suggest that people might be trying to leave without paying. Somebody going around saying, pay up, pay up! It doesn’t leave a good feeling with me. Other people obviously disagree because because they say it. And, just to be clear, no. I have never left a restaurant without paying my bill! We can also say this if somebody loses a bet. So, for example, if you bet on a sports team and you, you lose, the person you bet with might say: Come on! You bet on the Rangers and they lost. Time to pay up! Okay, so there’s 10 idioms with “pay.” If you’ve paid attention, hopefully this lesson will pay off in the future. You see what I did there? Have a good day.