In this English lesson, you’re going to learn the idiom: the best of both worlds.
Watch the video and then read the definition and examples below:
Best of Both Worlds (Definition and Examples)
This is an English idiom that is used in everyday English for very specific circumstances. And a lot of idioms are very specific. So be careful when you use them. Don’t try and force them.
Here is an example. Paul loves living in the big city. He wants to be in an urban environment and to be surrounded by big buildings and lots of people.
But he also wants to live in the countryside and experience nature. So these are two contrasting things when you think: “oh, well if you live in the big city you can’t live in nature.”
But Paul buys a very expensive apartment right next to Central Park. For him, he is having the best of both worlds because he gets to live in a big city, but he also gets to experience nature by being in Central Park.
So he has the best of both worlds.
It’s often used with can’t: You can’t have the best of both worlds.
So an example here is you want to spend a hundred dollars on a laptop. You don’t want to spend a lot of money on a laptop, but you want a high-quality laptop. And you complain to your friend, I only have a hundred dollars, but I can’t find a good quality laptop.
And your friend says well you can’t have the best of both worlds.
In order to get a high-quality laptop you have to spend more money. You can’t have the best of both worlds.
What to Do Now?
Practice this idiom by writing it down or better yet, using an app like Anki to commit to memory. And then, check out our resources below!
