47. Beats Me – Learn English Idioms with Videos

John ordered a new set of shelves online, but it arrived in a flat-pack box. He needed to assemble it himself. What a nightmare! The instructions were very confusing and difficult to read. It caused him a lot of stress. He felt like pulling his own hair out! But he was satisfied when he finally completed the project. He called his wife into the living room to admire his handiwork. She looked around and then picked something up off the floor. It was a mysterious furniture part. “Where does this part go?” she asked. At first, John panicked at the thought of building the whole set again. But the shelves looked safe and secure, so he just laughed, “Beats me! It can go in the garbage bin!”

Watch the video below for more on this interesting idiom!

Transcript

Beats me? Sounds a little violent!

Don’t worry! Beats me or it beats me just means I don’t know the answer, or I can’t work out the answer, or it baffles me!

Let’s look at a few example sentences:

• What’s the value of x? Sorry, teacher. It beats me!
• A: Why do so many traders commit white-collar crimes?
• B: Beats me! I mean, they earn enough money already. It’s baffling!
• What beats me is: how did the thieves get into the bank? It has a high-tech security system.

So, there we are. The next time you don’t know the answer to a question, just say, “Beats me!”

Practice

In what situations could you use today’s idiom in your own life? Let us know below! Here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Has a child ever asked you to explain something difficult? If you weren’t sure about the answer, how did you respond?
• Have you ever felt confused by the political opinions of others when they are completely different from your own? Why do you think they have the beliefs that they do?
• Have you ever been asked to fix something in your home, but you had to give up? What did you say?

Keep learning idioms or try our English pronunciation quizzes.

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