There are several phrases that are used in

english by native speakers which sometimes

may cause misunderstandings in a conversati-

-on between foreigners .Most phrases sound

strange to english learners,at first ,but listen-

-ing to them in context ,they can be under -

-stood and later on ,they can be used without

too much trouble.

For example : " A bitter pill to swallow " 

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/swallow_1 

The verb: to eat ,ate,eaten is immediately

learned at elementary levels. However,most

students do not learn the 3 other verbs that

are part of the process of eating. They are :

1) bite,bit,bitten

She is biting  the green apple slowly and carefully .

2) chew (-ed)

He is chewing the apple with his eyes closed !

It is delicious !

3) swallow (-ed)

Wow ! Somebody swallowed a fork ! Look at

this X-ray !

Well,in general we swallow what we choose to

eat after chewing fruit ,vegetables or any other

kind of food we enjoy eating,right ?

The phrase " a bitter pill to swallow" means the

situation  is not pleasant or easy to be accepted

at all.People disapprove what has happened  and

would prefer not to accept or swallow it !

Click on the link below.Listen to the dialogue.

The phrase " a bitter pill to swallow" is used

several times.Can you write down the exam-

ples given in this conversation?

I hope this activity is not going to be :

"a bitter pill for you to swallow "

Enjoy !

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak/ep-160105