Hi, all. Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre algumas expressões super comuns com a palavra once.

Transcrição

Hello, everybody. How’re you doing? Today we have a new episode of the inglesonline podcast. To download or just listen to other episodes and download transcripts, go to inglesonline.com.br and click Podcast Inglesonline.

Today we focus on a little word: once. It’s a short one, but very useful and always present in conversations. Once means one time. Here are a few examples of how we use ‘once’: “Have you ever had sushi?” someone asks. The answer: “Yes, once. I’ve had sushi once”. Have you seen this movie? Yes, once… but it was a long time ago.

And here’s the first thing you’ll hear a lot: “once in a blue moon”. Once in a blue moon means rarely. So if something happens once in a blue moon, that means it rarely happens. For example, maybe you have a childhood friend that you talk to once in a blue moon. That means you guys rarely get in touch and chat. Or maybe you really dislike a certain type of food but your husband or wife loves it, so once in a blue moon you guys will go to a restaurant that serves that food so your spouse can have it. Or here’s another one: can you cook? Maybe you’re not a talented cook at all (like me) but once in a blue moon you’ll try your hand at putting something together in the kitchen.

And here’s another very common term: ‘once in a lifetime’. People use it a lot to describe something that isn’t likely to happen again in your lifetime. For example, let’s say you receive a job offer from a top company in your field. Not just that, but the salary is twice as much what you’re making right now and the benefits are unbelievable. The only downside is, you’d have to move to the other side of the country.

Your friend Mark thinks you’d be crazy to pass this up. You’re torn: on the one hand, it is an amazing opportunity with an incredible company. But on the other hand, your current job may not be spectacular but it pays the bills and you enjoy living where you live. Mark says “Dude, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Tell them you’re moving there yesterday.”

Mark said “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”. Notice how he’s using this expression as an adjective. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You’ll hear this a lot in conversations, movies, TV shows, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And, of course, no one really knows for sure whether you’ll have a second opportunity like that in your life again, but people say that to express that it’s just an incredible offer, or event, invitation, etc.

So maybe you teach French at a language school and one day a talent scout hears you just when you’re singing a French song, and he thinks you have incredible talent and wants you to sign a deal with a major record label. Everyone around you says that an opportunity like that doesn’t come by often. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. What to do? Well, that’s up to you, of course, but people think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And here’s another way to say that: an opportunity like that only comes along once in a lifetime, or it only comes around once in a lifetime.

So tell us: can you remember a great opportunity you had, or maybe someone close to you, that is the kind of thing that only comes along once in a lifetime? What about things you do once in a blue moon? Any examples? Let us know in the comments. Talk to you next time.

 

Key expressions

* once in a blue moon

* three is a crowd