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What does “old habits die hard” mean?
Meaning, example sentence and a quick practice question.
C1
Said when someone finds it very difficult to change a long-standing habit
“I still check my phone first thing every morning. Old habits die hard.”
Say it smoothly: “ol-habits-die-hard”
From the C1 lesson Creature of Habit (habit idioms).
Quick check
What does “old habits die hard” mean?
Teaching this phrase?“old habits die hard” is part of a ready-to-teach lesson, with a reading, three exercises, speaking tasks and an answer key, in Everyday English Chunks C1 Pack 4 (Communication, Decisions and Habits).
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Related phrases
- break the moldto do something differently from the usual or expected way
- get out of a rutto escape a boring, unproductive pattern of behavior
- a force of habitsomething you do automatically, without really thinking about it
- turn over a new leafto start behaving in a better or different way
- go through the motionsto do something without real effort, interest or enthusiasm
- set in your waysunwilling or unable to change your habits or opinions
- a creature of habitsomeone who prefers to do the same things in the same way each time
- fall back into old waysto return to a previous, usually less desirable, pattern of behavior
- an ingrained habita habit so deeply established that it's hard to notice or change