dressed to kill
Dressed to Kill, an English Idiom
Welcome to another Happy English Podcast, coming to you from New York City, and here’s your English teacher, Michael!
Michael: Thanks, John, and thanks, everyone. This is Happy English Podcast Episode 6 – Dressed to Kill.
Today, we’re going to look at the idiom, “dressed to kill.” First, let’s listen to two guys talking in a club:
Guy 1: This club is pretty nice.
Guy 2: Dude!
Guy 1: What?
Guy 2: Did you see that girl?
Guy 1: What girl?
Guy 2: Oh my god. She’s dressed to kill.
Guy 1: Wow! She is dressed to kill.
Guy 2: Ooowee!
That’s right! She was dressed to kill. When someone is dressed to kill, they are wearing stylish, classy, and even sexy clothes. The idiom dressed to kill comes after the be verb and can be used to describe both men and women.
For example:
The girl in the club was dressed to kill.
Jack is wearing a nice suit and a red tie. He’s really dressed to kill.
All of the guests at the millionaires’ party were dressed to kill.
Dressed to kill.
One of the listeners said that the history of the idioms would be interesting to know. And so, one example of the history of this idiom comes from the movie, The Godfather.
So, in one scene, one of the characters had a plan to kill two guys from a rival gang. He put on a very fancy suit to meet them at a restaurant and kill them. So, we could say that, on that day, he got dressed up in order to kill. He dressed for the purpose of killing. He dressed to kill. These days, when someone is dressed to kill, they are not planning to actually kill someone. They’re just trying to look their best and maybe attract a mate!
Well, that’s our lesson for today. I hope you had fun, and I hope you’re dressed to kill today! Thanks for studying, and I’ll see you next time at Happy English.