Learn English with English, baby!

Join for FREE!

Social_nav_masthead_logged_in
 
kill two birds with one stone

kill two birds with one stone

Date: Oct 24 2019

Themes: Celebrity, How To, Pop Culture

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

“I’m sort of killing two birds with one stone here, getting to write for ‘True Blood’ and being able to put myself in a comic at the same time.”

Actor Michael McMillian on doing two jobs at once (BrainyQuote)

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

solve two problems at the same time with one action

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

Life can be hard when you have many things to do, and not much time to do them. If you can, it helps to be able to do two things at the same time. If you have to go to the bank and buy food for your house, you can do both on the same trip. This is called killing two birds with one stone.

Sometimes when people have too many things to do, they can find ways to kill two birds with one stone and make life easier. You can kill two birds with one stone by simply talking to a friend on the phone while washing dishes. Or maybe, if you are cooking a meal, you could kill two birds with one stone by making enough for dinner today and lunch tomorrow. Killing two birds with one stone is nice because it gives you more time to do all the other things you love.

Actor Michael McMillian is happy he can kill two birds with one stone by writing for a show and making a comic at the same time. It’s a good way for him to save time and do what he loves.

When have you been able to kill two birds with one stone?

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

“I killed two birds with one stone and saw some old friends while visiting my grandmother in California.”

“Anne says she kills two birds with one stone by cleaning her house, because her house gets clean and she gets some exercise.”

“We should drop off these books at the library on our way to the bank and kill two birds with one stone.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

aijaciba To solve two problems with a one action.
by aijaciba
Manu4 To solve two things or getting two things done at the same time
by Manu4

Want to guess next week's slang?

The iTEP® test

  • Schedule an iTEP® test and take the official English Practice Test.

    Take Now >

Comments

Log in to Comment

flyinglightly

China

in chinese.we say kill two eagles with one arrow. it’s similar

03:37 AM Feb 11 2020 |

flyinglightly

China

in chinese.we say kill two eagles with one arrow. it’s similar

03:37 AM Feb 11 2020 |

bkmiller69

bkmiller69

United States

It will better to kill three birds with on stone.

08:11 AM Apr 16 2015 |

OPQ

OPQ

China

I kill two birds with one stone by go to post officce to send a letter on the way to the grocery store.

05:34 AM Apr 03 2015 |

Yemeni4u

Yemeni4u

Yemen

Here in Yemen there are a lot of student kill 3 or more birds by one stone by study at university and do teach English in some institutes and do work at night…be careful that I am not one of them.I just like kill one bird by one stone.

01:57 AM Mar 20 2015 |

julito1

julito1

Argentina

@SHOBA,   ouch !!!!!!

06:04 PM Mar 19 2015 |

1 person likes this

La Princesse de la vie

Egypt

I am not that person that can focus on more that one thing in a time. I’ve tried before to study while listening to quiet music which I like, but I found myself drifting with the music and I couldn’t even move to the next line in the book. :))


Perhaps one can’t do two things that acquire mental abilities, like thinking or focusing, but physically I can do more than one thing, like I walk to the university as sort of exercising when I’m not able to do my morning exercises because I overslept :)) 


Another instance, today I cooked fried chicken, and while they were on the cooker, I made the salad. I killed two birds with one stone.

05:11 PM Mar 19 2015 |

ScienceBoy

ScienceBoy

Turkey

It seems this expression has an international use. We have the same expression in Turkish.


I like watching films. But they can be waste of time. So I watch them with English subtitles so I study English while watching a movie. That counts as killin two birds with one stone, right? 

habiba 18

habiba 18

Tunisia

we use this expression a lot in tunisia 

04:09 PM Mar 19 2015 |

Shoba

Shoba

Sri Lanka



Aha, thanks for your brilliant idea, dear Julito.


I hope I don’t accidentally pick up the hot iron and rock it instead of the baby! 



03:31 PM Mar 19 2015 |

forugh

forugh

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

I’m not usually able to kill two birds with one stone!I solve my problems one by one!I can’t concentrate on two subjects simultaneously.that’s my liability :(

ola33

ola33

Japan

I try to kill two birds when I’m everywhere. We always do that but giving the priority to something one, we don’t notice that multitasking skill in us. While walking, you can still talking.. While washing your face, not leaving the spot, you can wash the sink..while watching the movie, during the ads you can do the dishes, while cooking that sometimes is a drudgery, you do some stretching and stregnuous exercises
Exercises by reaching to the top shelf, by energetically chopping.. Just be creative and you will be amazed how many birds you can kill, and not only birds—hares too. We have the same saying in relation to hares:) Figuratively, of course. I also, like Julito, won’t hurt a spider.

10:44 AM Mar 19 2015 |

julito1

julito1

Argentina

Dear shoba, rest assured that your english is good ,to say the least. in this particular case there is not need to pick up a stone to kill birdies.  You can do your ironing  and rocking your baby at the same time. 

10:41 AM Mar 19 2015 |

julito1

julito1

Argentina

I usually go to work on foot , on doing so i kill two birds with one stone . But first let me get this straight, i kill two birds figuratively speaking , because i am incapable of killing a bird and what to say if they are two . jejejeje . well , back  to the topic ,  i can save money on the bus fare and  exercising at the same time (highly recommended by my doc)

Erfan7

Erfan7

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

we say this slang in Farsi in another way: one shot and two targets!


I kill two birds with one stone by learning english on Ebaby and finding good friends!I shoot two targets with one shot!

Shoba

Shoba

Sri Lanka



Since I’m always pressed for time I can’t afford to spend that much time on enhancing my English skills. Therefore, I listen to TED talks and English radio stations while ironing.


This enables me to kill two birds with one stone without unnecessarily wasting another stone.



moha15

Kenya

Time*

03:25 AM Mar 19 2015 |

1 person likes this

moha15

Kenya

To handle two things at the same tim.

03:23 AM Mar 19 2015 |

hermitlady

China

I killed two birds with one stone and gone to work by walking and i got some exercise.


I  killed two birds with one stone and picked up my daughter while buying food.


 

Likes (19):

See all >

Share this lesson:

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Bebo
  • Share on Myspace
  • Share on Twitter
  • Email this to a friend
  • Share on Sina

Post Ebaby! lessons on your blog:

Ebaby! Cast