Idioms: to kick oneself

Posted on March 24, 2007
Filed under 2-minute English, Idioms and slang, Listening, Upper intermediate |

 
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Hi! Lori here, welcoming you to another episode of 2-minute English from BetterAtEnglish.com. This episode is in response to a question from Seref, a teacher of English in Turkey, who sent in a question about the sentence I feel like kicking myself. Seref is curious about the level of formality of this idiom and wonders if there are any synonyms.

Idiom
According to my trusty Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, if you kick yourself you feel “annoyed with yourself because you did something foolish or missed an opportunity.” You can also see the definition of to kick oneself in the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms.

Lori is kicking herself for not buying Google stock back in 2004

Michael bought Google stock when it was at 300 dollars a share, but he still kicks himself every day for not doing it sooner.

Formality
The phrase to kick oneself is neutral, informal and conversational. So it’s perfectly OK to use it in all but the most formal situations.

Synonyms
The core meaning of the idiom to kick oneself is the idea of regret: regret for something you did or for an opportunity that you missed. So Seref, if you need a synonym that would suit formal situations, you can use the verb regret.

to (deeply) regret (v +ing) something

In general, many people consider idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs to be less formal than lexical verbs. So in formal situations of a grave or somber nature, you should definitely go with regret, or you may end up kicking yourself.

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of 2-minute English, and special thanks to Seref for the question. By the way, if I’ve been horribly mispronouncing your name I will totally kick myself! You can find some additional links and the full transcript of this show on the website, www.betteratenglish.com. And remember, your continued donations make this show possible, and we really appreciate them. Bye for now!


Research authentic English Usage

Google provides the worlds biggest corpus for doing quick’n'dirty research into language usage. Follow the link below to see examples of how to kick oneself is used “out in the wild.”
See usage examples of to kick oneself on Google.

Related Link: English Writing Software with Text Enrichment - Synonyms and Idioms WhiteSmoke is the most comprehensive English Writing Tool available with advanced grammar correction and a patented text enrichment engine.

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Comments

5 Responses to “Idioms: to kick oneself”

  1. Claire on March 28th, 2007 15:39

    Idioms, yes, finally! Thank you so much for this!

    Our english teacher always says, that even though it may appear to upper-intermediate or advanced students of English that they are able to communicate in English well, it´s the idioms that may cause trouble.I once got embarrassed when someone was talking to me and used an idiomatic expression which I didn´t know so I completely misunderstood what he meant.Since then I am patiently learning and writing them down when I see one :)

  2. Lori on April 4th, 2007 08:13

    Thanks, Claire! Your teacher is right — idioms are really important. They’re tricky because they’re hard to figure out unless you have oodles of context to help you put the pieces in place. Anyway, I’m glad you liked this episode. I’ll definitely make more :)

  3. Susana on April 9th, 2007 21:31

    Hi Lorie nice to heard you ohh I hope some day speaking iqual like you!!! I’m from Peru and I’m learning english but my problem it’s my listening need more practice and you side help me a lot of I want say you thanks ok bye

  4. Lori on April 10th, 2007 01:27

    Thanks so much, Susana. I promise you that the more listening you do, the easier it will become. Just be patient and give yourself time to learn :-)

  5. ayu yasa kerti on June 27th, 2008 00:39

    Hi Lori,
    Can you help please. any defferences between idiom and idiomatic expression? And please tell me the types of english idioms.
    thank you :roll:

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