Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Rhetoric and Evasion
Explore rhetoric and evasion with eight useful expressions, including hedge your bets, split hairs, gloss over. Read the meanings and examples, then use the language in eight C2 discussion questions.
What’s in the worksheet?
- Eight expressions with meanings and example sentences
- Eight matching discussion questions
- One printable page
- Open-ended speaking practice
Explore eight C2 expressions for evasive language and contested explanations. The page asks when small distinctions matter and how to separate cautious strategy from misleading presentation.
Worksheet preview
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A simple way to teach it
Before the lesson
Use the single open-ended discussion page. Introduce the disapproving tone of split hairs, move the goalposts, a fig leaf and smoke and mirrors.
- Read the examples and compare glossing over details with dancing around the central issue. Identify what makes moving the goalposts unfair.
- Discuss the eight prompts using invented announcements or proposals. Require reasons before labelling an explanation deceptive or a consultation tokenistic.
- Practise a chairperson's question that gets to the crux of a disagreement without erasing a legitimate distinction.
Support and extension
Support with a fictional event announcement. Extend by rewriting an evasive explanation clearly and explaining what information it needs; the idioms are evaluations, not proof of misconduct.
Suggested approach. Adjust the pace and number of questions to suit your class.
