Podcast Inglês Online

Hi, all. How’s everything?

Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online falamos sobre expressões com MAKE.

Transcrição

Hello, everyone. How’s it going? 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.

Let’s talk about a few expressions with the word make. We’ve had a podcast before that revolved around MAKE, but today we have different expressions. The first one is really easy to understand, and it is one way… It is one more way you can agree with someone, or a way to express that you feel the same way as someone else. Imagine that you’re dicussing movies with a friend. She says that she enjoys watching a good drama, but she can’t stand excessive violence in movies. You realize that your friend has described exactly the way you feel about movies, and so you say That makes two of us. What does that mean? That means that, just like your friend, you enjoy a good drama but you can’t stand watching too much violence. So when you hear your friend express her opinion, you say That makes two of us. You and I have the same opinion.

Another example: you’ve just gone through a one-hour long karate training and you feel exhausted. You think the instructor is pushing his students a little too hard. Too much weight-lifting! You don’t understand why you should have to do so much weight-lifting for a karate class. You’ve been sore for weeks, and you tell another student “I don’t know why our instructor is pushing us so hard. What’s with all the weight-lifting? I’m thinking about quitting this class”. And, to your suprise, the other guy says That makes two of us. I’m glad I’m not the only one. What is he saying? He’s saying that he feels the same way and he’s been thinking about giving up karate and taking up tap dancing. So when you tell him that you’re tired of this class and you’re thinking about quitting, he says That makes two of us.

Now let’s focus on another term that also has the words make and two, although this one is used for a different purpose. Let me give you an example: you’re at a bar with people from your office, and you order a beer. John, who’s sitting by your side, immediately tells the waitress Make it two. Make what two? Hmm… the number of beers, I guess. Instead of bringing only one bottle of beer, the waitress will bring two. So what John meant when he said Make it two was, I want the same thing that he or she just ordered. Instead of bringing just one unit of that, bring two units. Make it two.

Well, you said you wanted a beer, then John said Make it two, and then Molly, who was sitting next to John said Make it three! She wants to have beer as well. So now she’s telling the waitress that she should bring three units of beer. In Portuguese we would say something like “Pra mim também, uma cerveja” or “Mais uma pra mim”, right? In English, if the person next to you orders exactly what you want to order, you can say Make it two. Or if someone has already said Make it two because this person is ordering the same as another person, you can say Make it three, and so on.

And here’s our final expression with make: imagine you’re driving somewhere with your family. Your wife or husband, and the kids. It’s a long trip and you’re tired, and you can’t wait to get to your final destination so you can rest and relax. But one of your kids is desperate to pee, so you make a stop at a gas station, and you tell your kid Make it fast! What does that mean?

Hey, everybody. How’s it going?

Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online falamos sobre get away with, uma expressão super comum no inglês.

Transcrição

Hello, all. What’s up? 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.

Let’s begin with a pretty interesting phrase: get away with something. Let me give you a very simple example: imagine you work in an office with your boss and two other people. So there’s three of you reporting to the same person, the boss: you, and your coworkers Monica and Jacob. Now, your boss doesn’t like it when you or Jacob are late. Yesterday, Jacob arrived ten minutes after eight and the boss reminded him that work starts at eight. Last week you were only five minutes late, and the boss told you he expected you to be on time every day. However… when Monica is late that’s a different story.

Monica arrived fifteen minutes past eight last week, and the boss didn’t say anything! Yesterday she had a long lunch and got back to work at two thirty and, again, the boss didn’t say a peep. Monica is obviously your boss’ favorite, and she can get away with almost anything. Again: Monica can get away with almost anything. What does that mean? To get away with something is to escape the consequences of something you did. Not just any consequences, though: unpleasant consequences. When someone gets away with something, that means this person isn’t facing potentially unpleasant consequences that other people might face if they did the same thing.

For example, if you’re late to work every day, there are probably going to be some unpleasant consequences, like… your boss is going to give you a warning. If the dress code at work is business formal and you wear jeans, there may be consequences. If you’re young and live with your parents, and they give you a curfew – in other words, you have to be home by 9 PM every night, and then one night you arrive at midnight, there are probably going to be consequences, right?

So when someone gets away with something, that means they do that thing that, in theory, no one can do, but nothing happens to them. Somehow, they don’t suffer the unpleasant consequences. Like Monica, at your office. She gets in late, and nothing happens. She forgets to turn in her weekly expense report on time, and the boss doesn’t say a word. So Monica can get away with being late… and she also gets away with not being on time with her report. She can get away with mostly anything… she’s the boss’ favorite.

Do you have any examples of your own? For example, when were you able to get away with something and you were actually surprised you got away with it? Maybe you didn’t follow some rule somewhere, and you thought you wouldn’t be allowed to participate in something, but you got away with it somehow… Maybe when you were underage you wanted to go to a party where only people who were over eighteen were allowed in, and you managed to get in. How did you get away with it? Did you present a fake ID at the door?

Here’s a very common phrase that you’ll hear a lot in movies and sitcoms:  You’ll never get away with it. That’s what your friend will say if you tell him or her that you are going to sweet-talk your teacher into raising your grades. You’re going to tell your teacher a very sad story about how you didn’t have enough time to prepare for the exams because you were caring for a sick relative. Your friend hears that and says “You’ll never get away with it! Forget it.” You think you’ll get away with it. You have rehearsed your story and you think it’s pretty convincing.

Hi, all. How have you been?

Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online falamos sobre expressões muito comuns no inglês, que começam com That’s… 

Transcrição

Hi, everyone. How have you all been? Here’s 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 today I picked four expressions… more like four set phrases that start with That’s… All four of them start with “That’s…” They’re all very, very common in everyday conversation and if you’re used to watching TV shows or movies, you’ve definitely heard them before.

Here’s the first one: That’s it! What does that mean? I’m gonna use an example to illustrate the meaning of “That’s it!” Let’s say Jennifer is having dinner at a restaurant. She orders a pizza. When the pizza arrives, she takes one look at it and immediately spots a band-aid. Yes, someone’s band-aid ended up on Jennifer’s pizza. She calls the waiter and he takes the pizza away, and ten minutes later comes back with another pizza. By now Jennifer is really hungry, and she’s about to go for her first slice of pizza when she realizes that this is a pepperoni pizza! She didn’t order pepperoni. She hates pepperoni! She ordered the cheese and mushroom toppings on her pizza.

Jennifer returns her pizza once again. She’s starving now, and she’s not pleased at all that this restaurant screwed up her order twice! Finally the waiter brings her the pizza with cheese and mushrooms. Her mouth is salivating and she’s ready to dig in, when… The waiter sneezes all over the pizza. Jennifer stands up and says “That’s it! This place is awful, service is ridiculously bad! I’m never setting foot in this place ever again.

So when Jennifer said “That’s it!”, what did she mean? She meant that she had had enough. First, she found a band-aid on the pizza. Then, they messed up her order: they brought pepperoni instead of cheese and mushrooms. The last straw was when the waiter sneezed all over her pizza. That was the last straw! That’s when Jennifer decided that she wasn’t going to spend another second at that restaurant, even tough she was starving. That was the moment she said “That’s it! That is it!” Enough of this! I’ve had enough. I have to do something, I can’t stay in this restaurant another second! That’s it!

Do you recognize this phrase, “That’s it!”? It’s very common so you’re bound to hear it if you regularly watch TV shows and movies made by English-speaking countries, especially the US. Now, I just used this expression a few seconds ago: That’s the last straw! That means about the same as “That’s it”. I don’t know the origin of the expression; I’m not sure why there’s a straw in it… In Portuguese we say something about “gota d’agua”, right? We say “foi a gota d’água”. In English, people use the present tense a lot too: That’s the last straw! That’s it!

So what was the last straw, in Jennifer’s case? The sneeze, right? The band-aid… she was pretty annoyed, but didn’t leave the restaurant. The messed-up order, with the pepperoni pizza… again, she was annoyed but she didn’t leave. But when the waiter sneezed on her pizza… that was the last straw. She couldn’t take it anymore. She said “That’s it! That’s the last straw.” and left.

Alright! Let’s move on another expression. Actually, to a couple of expressions that are the English version of this episode’s title.

Hey, everyone. How’s it going?

Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online falamos sobre boatos, e como prometer que não vai contar nada pra ninguém.

Transcrição

Hello, all. How are you today? This is the 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, do you know what a rumor is? Rumor. A rumor is a piece of information, and this piece of information is unverified, which means no one really knows whether it’s true or not, and no one really knows who started it. Usually no one knows who actually started the rumor. I’ll bet every one of you listening knows what I’m talking about. When I worked for corporations, there were rumors all the time about this manager and that director not getting along, or a rumor that sales people were going to be laid off and so on.

So like I said before, a rumor is a piece of information that no one can really vouch for, right? It’s that kind of thing you hear from a colleague, or when you’re eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation… No one can say “This is the truth. This piece of information is true”. No, it’s always like “There’s a rumor that this or that is going to happen” or “Have you heard? There’s a rumor that Jenn is gonna be the next VP of Sales”. “Hey, I’ve heard that blah blah blah”. That’s a rumor, or boato as we say in Portuguese.

Rumors are usually spread by word of mouth, right? What does “word of mouth” mean? That’s when people speak to each other, when they talk to each other, when information is spread through conversation among people. So when someone tells someone else about some story they heard, that may or may not be true… that’s how rumors are spread: by word of mouth.

So you can say “There’s a rumor that Mark is gonna get promoted”. And you can also say “Rumor has it that Mark is gonna get promoted”. “Rumor has it” is a set phrase and it’s a very common way to introduce some piece of information you heard from someone and you don’t know whether it’s true or not. Example… Rumor has it that Ashton Kutcher is gonna be in the next novela das 8. There’s a rumor that we’re gonna have a local CNN channel. Rumor has it that we’re gonna have new employees from Spain. So, what’s the last rumor you heard?

OK, so let’s move on to another set phrase in English. This is an expression you can use when someone tells you a secret, and then asks you not to tell anyone. You can say My lips are sealed.  My lips are sealed. When you say that, you’re telling that person that the secret won’t come out of your mouth because your lips are sealed. You won’t tell anyone. You won’t tell a soul.

By the way, this is another very common phrase when you’re saying you’re going to keep something to yourself; you’re not gonna tell anyone: you can say I won’t tell a soul. My lips are sealed, I won’t tell a soul.

So next time someone tells you a secret, you can say “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. My lips are sealed”. Or when your coworker tells you she’s looking for a new job and asks you not to tell anyone, you can say “I won’t tell a soul”.

Please tell us in the comments about the last time you heard a false rumor. Talk to you next time!

Ouça também: Podcast “Não conte com isso&#...

Hello, everybody. How’s it going?

Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre mais duas expressões super comuns, que tem a ver com aquela sensação de reconhecer alguém ou alguma coisa.

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.

Today we’re talking about a couple of expressions that are really useful and you’re gonna hear them all the time on TV or real life conversations. The first one is He looks familiar, or It looks familiar, They look familiar and so on. You see someone and you think you know them, but you can’t really pinpoint where you know them from. He or she looks familiar. Or you see someone’s handwriting, for example, and you ask your friend “This handwriting looks familiar. Is it Fred’s?” and your friend says “No, it’s mine”. So that’s why it looked familiar.

Has anyone that you had just met ever looked at you and said “Hey, you look familiar”? This happens to me all the time. Someone that I’ve just met says “You look familiar”. And here’s something else that people I’ve just met are always telling me: “You look like my friend Gabriela.” “You look like my aunt Maria”. “You look like someone I know”. So maybe that’s why so many people think I look familiar when they first meet me: they think I look like their friend, their cousin, their aunt…

What about when someone’s telling you a story? Let’s say they’re describing someone to you. Your friend says “C’mon, don’t you know Sally? She’s tall, green eyes, red hair…”. You think you know who your friend is talking about, but you’re not sure. Do you say “Oh, she looks familiar”? No! You’re not seeing this person. Your friend is talking about her. So you say “She sounds familiar”. Another example: your brother is telling you about a book he read and he’s saying how much he enjoyed the book, and then he says “I think you recommended this book. Wasn’t it you?” And you’re not sure. The story sounds familiar, but you can’t remember if it’s because you saw a movie the other day with a similar plot, or if you really read that book and just can’t remember, so you say “Well, it sounds familiar but I’m not sure”. When the feeling of familiarity comes through voice or sounds, that is, when someone’s talking to you about something, or when you hear something, well… That’s because it sounds familiar.

And here’s another great expression, really really common and somewhat related to “looks familiar” and “sounds familiar”. This time your friend is telling you about someone he met… let’s say it’s a girl and her name is Jennifer. He’s telling you about Jennifer and he’s pretty sure you and Jennifer have met before. He’s describing her to you and you just cannot remember having met someone named Jennifer with those characteristics. You’re trying, you’re going as far back as high-school, and… nothing. Your friend insists that you and Jennifer know each other. You finally tell him “Hmm, it doesn’t ring a bell” That means simply that the name Jennifer, combined with the description of her your friend just gave you, doesn’ make you think of anyone in particular that you met in the past. You don’t remember her, you don’t know anyone like her named Jennifer. It doesn’t ring a bell.

Here’s one more example: you’re at work and you bump into your coworker Ted in the hal...

Hi, everyone. What’s up?

Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre duas expressões bem comuns com a palavra LESS.

Transcrição

Hello, all. How’s it going? 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.

Let me tell you about a very common and interesting expression in English: the lesser of two evils. Think about a situation where you had to choose between two not-so-great options. You have to make a choice in order to keep something going, or to fulfill an obligation. An election is a perfect example, when there are only two candidates running and you don’t like either of them.

Let’s say, though, that you firmly believe that, even if neither candidate is that great, you should pick someone. You should vote for one of them, that’s what you believe. You feel like it’s your duty to vote, and you’re not gonna spoil your vote either, so you MUST pick someone to vote for. The problem is, you’re not a fan of either candidate. You’ve heard bad things from trusted sources about both of them. So who are you gonna vote for? Candidate A is the one you were going for, until last week when your good friend Raymond filled you in on Candidate A’s real opinions about public transportation.

You were devastated. You’d been a big fan of Candidate A until that moment. And then there’s Candidate B, and you’re really not a fan. You just don’t think Candidate B has got what it takes to be an effective politician. You’re familiar with his work and you just don’t think he’s competent. So this is a tough choice for you. Since you’re adamant about voting for someone, you are going to choose the lesser of two evils, in your opinion. Both are bad, but you’re gonna go with the least bad, or the lesser of two evils. You’re gonna go with the one that, in your opinion, is going to cause the least damage as a politician. You’re gonna pick the lesser of two evils.

Here’s another example for that: your friends are going to watch a movie tonight and they’re asking you to come along. You’ve heard of this movie, and you think it’s gonna suck. Your other option would be staying home and watching boring TV shows. What to do? You choose the lesser of two evils, which in your opinion is staying in tonight and watching TV.

Here’s another set phrase with the word less: less is more. Less is more. Have you heard that one? How can less be more? Well, imagine that you’re in school and your History teachers gives the students a new assignment. She says you guys should break into groups of six and work as a team on the assignment. Your team spends two weeks working on the assignment and you realize that it’s not that easy to coordinate everyone’s work, or get everyone to agree on something, or find a date for the next meeting that will work for everyone, and so on.

So now your History teacher is giving the class a new assignment, and she tells the students that they should break into groups of three. So you and your two classmates start working on the new assignment and you realize it is much easier to get things going in a small group. The three of you agree on stuff quickly, it’s easier to find a place and time for the next meeting, and so on and so forth. So you come to the conclusion that,

Hi, everyone. What’s up?

Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre duas expressões com keep, e mais uma super informal e coloquial.

Transcrição

Hello, all. How’s it going? 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 have two expressions with the word KEEP, and a third expression that doesn’t have the word keep. These are all very, very common terms in everyday conversation, so let’s get to know them and see how you can use them. The first one has to do with remembering something.

Let’s say that you’re on your way to someone’s dinner party with a couple of friends. You say “I heard Cindy is a fantastic cook! Can’t wait to try her food. I’m starving!” and one of your friend replies “I’m not sure who’s cooking tonight. It could be her sister Mindy, who is NOT a good cook! So, keep that in mind”. What does that mean? That means “keep in mind that Mindy may be cooking, not Cindy”. Remember, as you’re about to eat, that the person who made the dishes may not be Cindy, who is a fantastic cook, but Mindy, who’s… not that great a cook. Keep that in mind. Remember that. Keep in mind that the food may not be as good as you expect.

More examples? Imagine that you just moved to the United States and you’re on your first day on a new job. Your boss, who’s also Brazilian, but likes speaking English with you, says “Now that you work for an American company, keep in mind that being late for meetings and presentations is a no-no”. What is “a no-no”? That’s something people are not supposed to do. They shouldn’t do it. If something is a no-no, just don’t do it. Avoid it. In general, if you do something that is considered a no-no, you’ll attract a lot of attention upon yourself, or you will be reprimanded in some way, or you will get a fine… you get the idea.

So what is your Brazilian boss telling you? He’s telling you to keep in mind, to always remember that being late for work meetings and presentations is a no-no. Keep that in mind! Always keep that in mind. In Brazil we are usually more tolerant of lateness than Americans, so, actually if you’re thinking about moving to the US, keep that in mind: lateness is not as well tolerated in the USA as it is here. It’s a no-no in that country.

So, what kind of behavior would be considered a no-no in Brazil? Wearing high heels to the beach comes to mind. I think wearing high heels to the beach is definitely a no-no. I mean, you’re not breaking any laws if you do it, but it’s probably going to be very unconfortable and the sand may ruin your shoes, and… high heels are definitely not suited for the beach. So, I think wearing high heels to the beach is a no-no. You would have to be crazy to do that. You shouldn’t do it. Going to a meeting with your company’s CEO wearing shorts and Havaianas is a no-no. Don’t do that! That’s a big no-no. That shows lack of respect and professionalism, and depending on the company it may get you fired.

Our last expression for today is an interesting one… another set phrase with the word keep. Let’s say you and your teammates are at a meeting with the VP of Marketing discussing a project in order to get her approval. She gives her approval and then says “This project will directly impact our marketing strategy so I need to be informed of everything that’s going on with it. Please keep me in the loop” So the VP of Marketing is aski...

Hello, everybody. What’s up?

Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online eu falo sobre duas expressões super comuns: it’s not over ’til it’s over e not worth the trouble.

Transcrição

Hello, everyone. How’s it going? 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.

Imagine that you’re watching a game of soccer on TV. This is a very important game to you… let’s say it’s the World Cup Final and Brazil is playing… Argentina, why not? So your eyes are glued to the game and you’re starting to sweat. Why? Because we’re thirty minutes into the second half and Brazil is losing. The current score is 2-0 (nil) in favor of Argentina. But you’re hanging in there. Still fifteen minutes to go. You’re on the edge of your seat, following every move of every single player and… Argentina scores again. That’s it. You can’t take it anymore. You get up and you tell your friends, who are all watching the game with you: I can’t take this anymore! Argentina’s the winner and I can’t watch Brazil lose yet another World Cup. I’m outta here.

And then one of your friends says “Hey, it’s not over ’til it’s over! Calm down, we still have fifteen… fourteen minutes to go. Who says Brazil can’t turn this game around? Just because we lost way before the finals in the last two World Cups, that doesn’t mean Brazil can’t score three, uh, four goals in… thirteen minutes. C’mon! It’s not over ’til it’s over.” So what is your friend saying? That as long as the players are in the field, playing, you don’t know what the final result will be because the game is not over yet. Anything can happen! It’s not over ’til it’s over.

“It’s not over ’til it’s over” is a very common set phrase and you may hear it in situations where there’s a particular outcome that you’re hoping for, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Here’s another example: you’re trying to convince your boss at work that your latest idea about how to increase sales should be implemented. Your boss has met with you and let you present the idea, but after your presentation he told you he just doesn’t see it happening, he doesn’t feel like your idea would be well accepted by the sales team. So it’s not looking good for you, right? Your coworker Stuart asks you how things are going with that great idea you had, and you tell him “Well, the boss kinda shot it down after our first meeting, but I get the feeling he’s still open to it. You know how strongly I feel about this. When the time is right I’m gonna bring it up again. It’s not over ’til it’s over“. So that means you’re hopeful, right?

And it’s very common for people to say “It ain’t over ’til it’s over”. It ain’t over ’til it’s over. “Ain’t” is a very informal term and some people use it in everyday speech instead of am not, is not, has not or have not. Be careful, though… Don’t use “ain’t” all the time, especially in the workplace. Not only is it informal, but it is considered improper English by many, so… unless you’re chatting with close friends, or just trying to be funny, best to avoid it.

Let’s move on to another interesting set phrase in English. Here’s an example: let’s say you’re home, hanging out with a few friends and one of them...

How have you been?

Esse episódio do podcast Inglês Online é um pouquinho diferente, pois eu vou falar de três errinhos que eu tenho escutado ou lido com certa frequência quando vejo brasileiro falando inglês.

Transcrição

Hello, everyone. How’s it going? 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, today’s podcast is about stuff that is usually considered very basic. You know, you’ve seen this on Lesson 3 of your Basic English book and… check! Done, and you’ll never talk about it again.

You know how it works, though: it can take some time until we internalize stuff we’re being exposed to, and the more we’re exposed to that stuff, the faster we’ll acquire it. That means, the faster we will internalize it. Students may have seen or heard about the basic stuff while attending English school, and that doesn’t mean they’re actually using that stuff correctly when they speak or write.

So this is my goal today: talk about three little mistakes I’ve seen, or rather, heard, people make, kinda often, lately. They are all what I would consider details, so English learners tend not to pay as much attention to them as they do the big stuff. You know, verbs, nouns and other big words.

So here’s the first thing I hear often: I’m engineer, and she’s teacher. We speak that way in Portuguese: eu sou engenheiro e ela é professora, but not in English. In English we say I’m an engineer and she’s a teacher. I’m an engineer and she’s a teacher. More examples? I’m a teacher and an engineer, she’s an architect, he’s a doctor, she’s a dentist, he’s a race car driver, she’s a publicist, he’s a police officer, she’s a dog walker, he’s a businessman, she’s a scientist, he’s a librarian, etc.

So what are you? Do you work or study? Are you a student? Do you take care of your home while other people are out? If so, you’re a homemaker, or a stay-at-home mom, or a stay-at-home dad – in case you have kids. I have a friend who lives in the US and she’s an HR executive, while her husband is a stay-at-home dad.

OK, moving along to mistake #2… I read this the other day: I’m fan of… something. Again, we say it just like that in Portuguese, right? Sou fã disso, sou fã daquilo. Not exactly so in English. In English, we say I’m a fan. I’m a fan of soccer, I’m a fan of comedies, I’m always a fan of restaurants with good service, I’m a big fan of Indian movies… He’s a fan of homemade ice cream, she’s a fan of sitcoms, he’s a big fan of soapoperas… Imagine that you show up to the opening of a new Greek restaurant in your town. Your neighbor sees you and he’s all surprised! He says “Wow, I didn’t expect to see you here! I didn’t know you were into Greek food.” And you say “Oh, yeah. I’m a fan. I’m a big fan.”

So what are you a fan of? Are you a fan of soapoperas? Are you a fan of water sports? What are you a fan of? Let us know in the comments.

And, last but not least, here’s the third mistake I’ve seen recently. You know how in Portuguese we say Eu não gosto de laranja. Eu gosto de maçã. Não aguento mais político. Detesto peça de teatro mas adoro filme. Well, in English we do not say I don’t like orange (unless we’re talking about the color orange). We would say I don’t like orangeS. And we don’t say I like movie. We say “I like movieS”. For all the stuff we can count, we use the plural. We can count oranges, apples, pens, movies, as in three oranges, four apples, five pens,

How have you been?

Nesse episódio do podcast Inglês Online a gente fala sobre algumas expressões comuns com a palavra better.

Transcrição

Hello, everyone. How’s it going? 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’s word is “better”. As in, Coke tastes better than Pepsi, or Pepsi tastes better than Coke, whatever your opinion is. Better, as in I like coffee better than tea. As in, I’ve had a cold since Saturday but I’m getting better now. I think you get the gist.

So I’m gonna talk about three really common expressions, or set phrases, with better. So for the first one, picture this: you’re about to get out of the house for the whole day. It’s early in the morning and you won’t be back home till after the sun has set. It’s been raining a lot where you live, but you take one look outside and you can’t see a cloud in the sky. All you can see is the clear, blue sky… no clouds in sight. You think to yourself that maybe today is going to be different – it’s not going to rain. But then you think again, and you remember that, sometimes, the weather can be unpredictable. Sunny in the morning, rainy in the afternoon. Who knows? So, again, you think to yourself: You know what? Better safe than sorry. It’s sunny right now, but what if it rains later? I’m gonna take my umbrella with me, just in case. Better safe than sorry.

So that’s what this expression means: it’s better to take extra precautions than to take risks and maybe suffer some undesirable consequences. So maybe you’re in your car early in the morning and the tank is only half full, but you know you’re not gonna need to drive too far today. Then you remember your boss might ask you to do a last minute delivery… It’s not likely, but… who knows? You decide to stop by the gas station anyway and fill up the tank. Better safe than sorry.

The other two phrases aren’t very pleasant things to say, but hey, we’re not always pleasant, right? So let’s move right along to the next set phrase. Let me give you an example: imagine that you and your friend are visiting some touristic town for the first time and, actually, you guys have just returned from a day-long tour. You’re both tired and starving, and the first two restaurants you stumble upon are closed already. So you finally spot this little place that looks like a bar, and you guys get a table and, after a quick look at the menu, order some sandwiches. As you’re taking a sip of your Diet Coke, you ask your friend “How do you like your sandwich?”. Your friend says “Better than nothing”.

That means your friend doesn’t really like it. It’s the same in Portuguese, right? Better than nothing. It’s not good, to be honest, but I’m starving and it’s food, so it will do. Better than nothing. Can you remember the last time you had this thought? “Eh, better than nothing”. Maybe you had been wandering in the streets somewhere, looking for a restroom and just when you’re about to give up and call a cab, you finally find a public restroom. It’s dirty and it stinks, but you think to yourself “Better than nothing”. That’s based on a true story, by the way and… that’s all I’m gonna say.

And here’s the last one. You’ll say this one when you’re kinda annoyed at something or someone. Again, it’s very similar to what we say in Portuguese: Tenho mais o que fazer. You can say “I’ve got better things to do”, or simply “Better things to do”. Imagine someone asks you how your conversation with your nei...