Hey, what’s going on?

No podcast de hoje, você ouve como dizer coisas como Esquece, já era. Tarde demais e É melhor você parar com o café se quiser dormir melhor à noite (uma obs.: “já era” pode ser dito de maneiras diferentes em inglês, dependendo da situação).

Transcrição

Hi, this is Ana Luiza with a new episode of Inglesonline podcast. To see the transcript and download the audio for this and other episodes, go to inglesonline.com.br and click on “Podcasts”. OK, so I was reading a discussion forum about that TV show, Friends. Remember Friends? I’ve always been a fan, and I’ve watched all the episodes, like, multiple times. It was about the lives of six friends in New York City.

And you know how they’ve been making lots of movies based on TV shows? So in that forum people were discussing whether a Friends movie was going to be made. And one person said: “Would anyone care if they made a Friends movie? That ship has sailed”.

What does that mean? This person is saying that, by now, people don’t care about Friends anymore. I mean, the show ended in 2004, six years ago. Maybe if they had made a movie in 2005, it would have been a huge hit. But now? It’s too late, the opportunity has passed… that ship has sailed. That ship of opportunity, the “Friends movie” ship? It has sailed, it’s not here anymore.

Here’s another example for this expression “that ship has sailed”: imagine that your friend Jerry broke up with his girlfriend Monica a year ago. So the two of you – you and your friend Jerry – you guys bump into each other at a cafe. And then Jerry tells you, “You know, I’ve been thinking about Monica lately. I think I’m gonna give her a call, maybe we could get back together”.

And you look at him, and you say, “Dude, that ship has sailed. Monica got married last April”. So, the ship of “reconciliation”? The “getting-back-together” ship? It has sailed. It’s too late. That ship has sailed.

I like the expression “That ship has sailed”. I don’t know why, I think it’s funny. And here’s another one that I like, and it is a very informal way of saying “Quit doing this or that”. The expression is “lay off”, or “lay off something”. Companies often lay off employees, especially in difficult times. That means they let employees go. When a company lays someone off, this person no longer works for the company.

This expression “lay off” is also used in a slightly different way, although it’s similar: you can lay off stuff. Example: your friend tells you he’s been gaining weight and you know he eats junk food every day. You can tell him “You should lay off the junk food. Lay off the junk food, and you’ll be back to your regular weight in no time”.

Another friend might say “I can’t believe how much money I spent last month! That’s it, I’m gonna lay off the credit card. I’m never going to use it again”. I’m gonna lay off the credit card means I’m gonna stop using it… No more credit card for me.

Do you drink a lot of coffee at night and then have trouble sleeping? Lay off the coffee!

Do you lift heavy weights every day and then have back pain? Lay off the heavy weights!

Do you wanna make real progress in English? Lay off the excessive grammar study and keep listening to this and other audio programs that you understand – that is, without a doubt, the best use of your time.

Alright, that’s it for today. Tell us about a situation in your life where you could have said “...