Hoje temos um podcast que fala sobre algumas expressões comuns relacionadas a enfrentar situações difíceis.

Transcrição

Hey, what’s up? This is Ana Luiza with 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 a few weeks ago inglesonline reader Camilla wrote in with a request. She said “Why don’t you talk about vocabulary related to difficult situations people go through?” I thought it was a good idea, so.. here it is!

First off, let’s use this little phrase that I just said, “difficult situations people go through”. What are some examples of difficult situations that many people go through? Here are a few things that Camilla suggested: falling in public.. you know? Taking a tumble in front of many people. Having your heart broken, getting fired…

And, of course, there are many people who face serious difficulties throughout their lives, one after another. For example, some people are financially poor and have a big family to support, some people lose several family members in a short period of time, others have a serious illness… It’s common to say something like “Sarah has been through a lot”, for example. What does that mean? Sarah has been through a lot. That means Sarah has faced lots of difficulties in her life. She’s still alive, right? So I am not saying “Sarah had difficulties…” in the past, ’cause that would sound like Sarah is dead. I’m speaking in general. She’s still alive so, Sara has had, Sarah has faced lots of difficulties throughout her life. Sarah has been through a lot. She’s been through a lot. And she has probably overcome most of the obstacles or all of the obstacles that she has encountered in her life. So again, we can say “Sarah has been through a lot”. She’s been through a lot.

And here’s something else that you’ll hear a lot: when you’re talking to someone who has been through a lot and, you know, now this person has just received some really good news, or something really great has happened in their life… you could say “You deserve it. You’ve been through so much!”. What are you saying to this person? You’re saying that he or she deserves this great thing that’s going on right now in their life. They deserve it, since they have been through so much. This person has faced so many difficulties, he or she has been through some hard times, it hasn’t been easy. So, now that something wonderful has happened to them, you’re really happy for them and you can say “You deserve this. You really deserve it.. you’ve been through so much!”

Now, well… some things are not that serious, right? Like falling in public. I think it’s safe to say this has happened to everyone at least once. Maybe you’re walking down the street, minding your own business and then you step on a banana peel, and you slip, and you fall. Has that ever happened to you? I’ve never slipped on a banana peel, but… yes, I have fallen in public a few times. So, last time that happened to you, how did you feel and how did you recover?

I did a search on Google and I found a webpage with this  question: Have you ever taken a tumble in public? What hurt most: the fall, or your pride? Tumble kinda sounds like Portuguese, right? We say “tombo”, they say tumble. So the question on that page is “Have you ever  taken a tumble in public? What hurt most: the fall, or your pride?” Now take a look at this image here to the right. Do you see what this guy’s doing? That’s called a somersault, that’s like an acrobatic leap that gymnasts do.