Hi, everyone. How are you?

Hoje no podcast Inglês Online falamos sobre como dizer em inglês expressões como “não seja tão modesto” e “o mérito é seu”.

Transcrição

Hi, everyone. How have you been? 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.

So here’s an expression I wanted to talk about today: sell yourself short. Have you ever heard this expression? Can you guess what it means? We usually hear people use it like this:  Don’t sell yourself short. And as you get used to listening to real English, be it from TV shows, or movies, or podcasts, you’ll see that this expression will start popping up here and there. So let’s get on to an example.

Imagine that you have a friend who works at a TV station, OK? Now, he’s very young. Let’s say he’s in his mid-twenties. However, he started working for the station when he was just seventeen, as an intern. He’s a pretty hardworking guy, though, so he’s been promoted quite a few times since then. He’s done a little bit of everything; he has become a true jack-of-all-trades. So, let’s say this is your friend and his name is… Jack, why not? Jack is a jack-of-all-trades.

Anyway, he tells you that the old station manager has quit his job and the station has got to fill the position pretty quickly. They’re looking for someone young (check!), with a lot of initiative (check!) and a minimum of 10 years of experience. So your friend Jack wants to apply for the position, but he’s afraid the station owners will think he is too inexperienced. So you remind your friend Jack of all the important work he has done for the station. You remind him that he’s the one who filled in for the manager last month when the guy got caught in a car accident. And, finally, you remind Jack that he has worked in practically every division of the station, that he gets along very well with everyone and that he was the one to initiate many significant actions that had a huge positive impact on the station’s bottomline.

You say to Jack, Don’t sell yourself short! That means, give yourself credit where you deserve it! By the way, that’s another very common phrase in English: give yourself credit, give someone credit, etc. But back to selling yourself short: you remind Jack of everything he’s done that was important for the TV station, and you tell him to remember all that. You say, Jack, give yourself credit for everything you’ve done. You have worked hard for this station since your first day as an intern and even the old manager himself said that you would be a good candidate to replace him. So don’t sell yourself short!

That’s good advice, in general, right? Don’t sell yourself short! Be aware of everything you’ve accomplished and when someone asks you, you can be honest. Now, that’s different from bragging, of course. What does brag mean? To brag means to talk about something you did, or one of your qualities, in an arrogant way, or in an annoying way… You know, sometimes it’s a little much and you may even get the sense that what that person is bragging about isn’t even true. So there’s a difference between giving yourself credit and not selling yourself short, and bragging, right?

So here’s my question to you: do you give yourself credit for your accomplishments? Has this ever happened to you – you sold yourself short because you wanted to come off humble, and then later you regretted it? What about bragging – when was the last time you or someone you know bragged about something?