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Lesson planC155 minsNew. New: checked automatically for level, grammar, facts and originality; a teacher's review is still to come. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Bury the Hatchet: Idioms about friendship and falling out
Students learn idioms for getting on, falling out and making up, then use them to write a short story about two people who reconcile.
Idioms · Friendship · Relationships
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Plan at a glance
Aims
- Learn and use 8 words and phrases in one set: Idioms for friendship
- Read for detail: the café that came between them
- Writing task: a story
Stages · 55 min
- 5 minLead-in: Pairs talk about relationships and share ideas with the class.
- 5 minVocabulary: Ex. 1
- 5 minLanguage focus: Go through the grammar notes together and check understanding.
- 10 minControlled practice: Ex. 2–3
- 5 minAccuracy practice: Ex. 4–5
- 10 minReading: Ex. 6
- 15 minWriting: Ex. 7
Printables
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Download all (ZIP, 2 PDFs)Grammar notes
Idioms are fixed
- The key words in an idiom don't change: bury the hatchet (not the axe), give someone the cold shoulder (not the cold arm).
- The verb can change its tense and person: They buried the hatchet. She's been giving me the cold shoulder.
Watch the small words
- see eye to eye (with someone) is often negative: We don't see eye to eye on politics.
- get on like a house on fire; be on the same wavelength; go back a long way.
Register
- Most of these idioms are informal or neutral. They're natural in conversation, stories and informal emails, but avoid them in formal reports.
Study tips
- Learn idioms in a whole sentence about a real person you know: My brother and I don't see eye to eye about football.
- Group idioms by situation (getting on well, conflict, making up) so you can find the right one when you need it.
Glossary
- Idioms for friendship8 items
Complete the exercises, then check your answers.
1
Idioms and their meanings
Match each idiom with its meaning. There is one meaning you do not need.
Tap an item…
…then its match
2
Getting on, falling out, making up
What does each idiom describe? Put each one in the right group.
- a
go back a long way
- b
extend an olive branch
- c
clear the air
- d
give someone the cold shoulder
- e
get on like a house on fire
- f
bury the hatchet
- g
be at each other's throats
- h
rub someone up the wrong way
- i
be on the same wavelength
3
Complete the idioms
Complete each idiom with a word from the box. There is one word you do not need.
Word box
Tap a gap, then a word, or type the answer.
- a
Jo and I have never really seen eye to about politics.
- b
The two new flatmates got on like a house on from the very first evening.
- c
Since our argument, Sam has been giving me the cold at work.
- d
After years of feuding, the brothers finally buried the at their mother's birthday party.
- e
We need to sit down and clear the before this gets any worse.
- f
Maya and I are on the same : we always laugh at the same things.
- g
Tom and I go back a long : we were at primary school together.
- h
Our host told a funny story about her first job to break the .
4
Say it another way
Complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first. Use the word given and between three and six words.
- a
Pete and Laura have known each other since they were children.
WAY
Pete and Laura .
Use 2–6 words, including the word given.
- b
My sister and I rarely agree about anything.
EYE
My sister and I rarely about anything.
Use 2–6 words, including the word given.
- c
After the meeting, Kim deliberately ignored me.
SHOULDER
After the meeting, Kim .
Use 2–6 words, including the word given.
- d
They decided to forget their quarrel and become friends again.
HATCHET
They decided to .
Use 2–6 words, including the word given.
- e
Ana and I think in very similar ways.
WAVELENGTH
Ana and I .
Use 2–6 words, including the word given.
- f
Let's talk honestly about what happened, so that the bad feeling ends.
AIR
Let's talk honestly about what happened .
Use 2–6 words, including the word given.
5
Find and correct the mistake
Each sentence has one wrong word in an idiom. Write the correction: the corrected word(s) or the whole sentence.
- a
We've been on the same frequency since the day we met.
- b
It's time you two buried the axe and moved on.
- c
She gave me the cold arm for a whole week after the party.
- d
A quick game helped to break the glass at the start of the workshop.
- e
My boss and I don't see eye in eye on most things.
- f
The two cousins got on like a house in fire.
6
Read: the café that came between them
Read the text. Are the sentences true, false or not given?
Rosa Delgado and Hannah Mills go back a long way. They met on their first day at university, discovered that they had grown up three streets apart without ever meeting, and got on like a house on fire. For the next fifteen years they were inseparable: they shared a flat for a while, travelled together and were bridesmaids at each other's weddings. So when the two women stopped speaking in the spring of last year, their friends were baffled. The cause, it later emerged, was a business they had started together, a small café in the centre of town. Rosa wanted to expand by opening a second branch and taking out a loan to pay for it. Hannah, who had a young daughter and a mortgage, thought the risk was too great. The two had never really seen eye to eye about money, but this time neither was prepared to back down. What followed was months of silence. Hannah left the business, and the two women avoided each other so carefully that mutual friends had to plan their parties around them. When they did meet by chance at a wedding, Rosa gave Hannah the cold shoulder for the entire evening. It was Hannah's daughter who finally broke the ice. On her sixth birthday she insisted that 'Auntie Rosa' be invited, and Rosa, to everyone's surprise, came. The two women talked for hours that night, and Rosa admitted that she had been too proud to apologise. 'We needed to clear the air,' Hannah says. 'Once we had, it was obvious that the friendship mattered far more than the café.' They have buried the hatchet, but they have not gone back into business together. 'We're still on the same wavelength about almost everything,' says Rosa. 'Except money. And that's fine.'
- a
Rosa and Hannah grew up near each other but didn't meet until university.
- b
Hannah was worried about borrowing money to open a second café.
- c
Rosa thought that opening a second branch was too risky.
- d
Before the argument, the two women had always agreed about money.
- e
Their friends organised social events so that the two women would not meet.
- f
At the wedding, Rosa refused to talk to Hannah.
- g
Hannah's daughter invited Rosa because she missed her.
- h
The café has done better since Hannah left.
- i
The two women now run a business together again.
7
Write: a story
Write a short story.
Write a story (220–260 words) about two people who fell out and later made up. They could be friends, neighbours, colleagues or members of a family. What caused the argument? How did they behave towards each other? How was the problem finally solved? Use at least five idioms from the box. Word box: see eye to eye · get on like a house on fire · give someone the cold shoulder · bury the hatchet · clear the air · on the same wavelength · go back a long way · break the ice Example: Jack and Leo went back a long way, but when Leo started dating Jack's sister, Jack gave him the cold shoulder for months.
Suggested minimum: 220 words
0 words · aim for at least 220
Spotted a mistake in this lesson?· tell us the exercise and item
Revise with a game
This lesson's own words and questions. Play on your own, or in teams on the classroom screen.
- Step UpAnswer the lesson's questions to climb to the top.
- Pair UpMatch the lesson's words to their meanings against the clock.
- SnapA word and a meaning: do they go together? Answer fast.
- Fix ItFind the mistake in each sentence, then correct it.
- Quiz BoardTeams choose questions worth 100 to 500 points.
- Retro arcadeWord Invaders, Word Snake, Word Maze and Word Crossing: classic arcade games with the lesson's words.
Glossary
The 8 words and phrases this lesson teaches, in one set.
Idioms for friendship
- see eye to eye
- to agree with someone
- get on like a house on fire
- to like each other a lot from the start (informal)
- on the same wavelength
- thinking in a similar way to someone
- go back a long way
- to have known each other for many years
- break the ice
- to make people feel relaxed when they first meet
- clear the air
- to talk openly to end bad feelings
- bury the hatchet
- to stop arguing and become friends again
- give someone the cold shoulder
- to deliberately ignore someone
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