Dance to Someone's Tune IELTS Idiom: Meaning, History and Usage

Tap to Read ➤ Find out the usage of the ‘Dance to someone's tune’ idiom in IELTS. Learn more about its use in the IELTS Speaking, history, meaning, and much more!

Meaning The idiom ‘dance to someone's tune’ means to obey someone else's wishes, often resulting in a lack of independence.

Historical Roots! The idiom originated from medieval times, with the control a musician had over dancers. It means to obey someone's commands or to act according to their wishes.

Example sentences: Ram refused to dance to the CEO's tune and stood up for what he believed in. She didn't want to dance to her parents' tune and rebelled against their strict rules

In IELTS Speaking, you can use the idiom ‘dance to someone’s tune’ when you want to convey the idea of following someone else's orders or being under their control.

How will you be asked? Examiner: Can you describe a situation where you had to follow someone else's instructions?

How will you answer? Candidate: Certainly. In my previous job, my head had very specific ways of doing things, and I often felt like I had to dance to his tune to meet his expectations and avoid conflicts.

Whenever you have to talk about following the rules set by someone, you can use this idiom!

To learn more about such idioms and implement them into your answers for IELTS Speaking, join our classes!