Podcast Inglês Online

How are you doing? Hoje, no podcast, eu falo sobre um idiom ótimo de pronunciar (fun!)  e uma expressão super comum do inglês do dia a dia. Não perca!!

How are you doing? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Download the Inglês Online app at the Google Play Store or the Apple Store – search for “inglês online Ana”. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So let’s dive right in with our first expression of today – and this is an informal one that I’ve heard quite a few times. So, think about this: when you do something without a lot of forethought, without, you know, reflecting a little bit first, without any planning or even without a clear reason for doing it… That’s when we could say you’re doing something willy-nilly.

I love this idiom because it sounds kind of funny and it’s fun to say. So, let’s say your friend Sam is an impulsive kind of guy. He’s pretty young and a bit inconsequential – you know what I mean, he doesn’t give things a lot of thought before doing them. So the other day Sam decided to enrol in an expensive arts course ’cause he thought it would be cool to become an artist. Here’s the thing, though. Sam isn’t financially independent, and in order to attend the course he’ll have to spend quite a bit of money in arts supplies.

His parents will have to spend that money, that is. Not Sam. His parents would be more than happy to encourage Sam to become an artist, if they didn’t know him better. They know Sam usually enrols in expensive courses willy-nilly only to give up a month later. He’s a starter, but not a finisher. They remember when Sam decided to learn a language a few months ago and spent his allowance willy-nilly on an Indonesian course that he abandoned two weeks later.

What that means is, Sam didn’t really give it a lot of thought. He didn’t think through all that would be involved in seriously learning Indonesian, and he didn’t really consider whether this was just a passing interest or something he was willing to commit to. So he just went for it willy-nilly and, as it turns out, he’s not a student of Indonesian anymore, and he’s a little bit poorer than he was a month ago.

So, check out what this guy tweeted out:

Wowww I’m really about to make a whole year of being single.. i used to jump in to relationships all Willy Nilly and honestly, finding that self love and self worth is way better than putting up with peoples bullshit and lowering yourself

So, that was a nice thing he learned. Cool.

Next up we have win someone over, and this is a pretty common one. You win someone over basically when you convince them of something; when you bring them over to your side, metaphorically speaking. That’s all there is to it, really. Let’s say you’re giving a presentation this week to the big boss in your company and you want to convince him or her that more money should be invested in your department.

Your boss has been skeptical of your ideas – she just doesn’t see the need for any improvements right now. She’s an open-minded lady though: she encouraged you to present your ideas to the big boss and, if you’re able to win him over, it’s a done deal.

So, that’s pretty much it: winning people over means bringing them to your side, getting them to be favourable to whatever it is you think or want to do. A good example would be, let’s say, a guy who wants to date some girl but the girl isn’t that interested. The guy then cultivates a friendly relationship with the girl and ends up winning her over, and they become girlfriend and boyfriend.

What are your examples? Let me know and see you soon!

Key expressions

Vocabulary

forethought = pensar muito bem antes de fazer alguma coisa, prudência, premeditação

arts supplies = materiais de artes (para as aulas)

allowance = mesada

as it turns out = no fim das contas

to put up with something = aguentar, tolerar, ter que suportar algo

it’s a done deal = está feito

How are you? Hoje, no podcast, eu falo sobre o que quer dizer “be in the doghouse” com alguém… Não é algo muito bom, mas acontece – e a expressão é ótima! Não perca.

How are you? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Download the Inglês Online app at the Google Play Store or the Apple Store – search for “inglês online Ana”. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So, let’s dive right into it: when you’re in the doghouse with someone, that means this person is upset or angry about something you’ve done, ok. So, let’s say Paul is married and he has been working late all week. His wife Linda is mad at him because she expected him to be home around 7 in the evening – so they could go porcelain-shopping.

So, Paul has had a lot of work to do lately, though. He feels bad, and… you know, maybe in the back of his mind he wasn’t too crazy about going porcelain-shopping, let’s face it. Anyway, Linda is a bit mad now and that means Paul is in the doghouse for now. So, he’s going to have a chat with her tonight and take her out and stuff like that, and see if they can make up.

So, ‘be in the doghouse’ is slang – it’s a slang term, and therefore really informal. You wouldn’t normally use this idiom for something really serious – for example, my friend betrayed me and stole all my money so she’s in the doghouse now. No, hopefully your friend would be in jail, rather than the doghouse.

Now, you know when you see someone that you know that person is misbehaving… And they think no one’s noticing. That happens all the time, especially because some people manage to fool others for a while, right? Eventually, though, people catch on to it and the misbehaving person gets found out or exposed. Then, some form of consequence or punishment usually happens – and here’s what you could say: Well, this person had it coming.

They had it coming! This person had it coming. When you say that, it means that you think that person basically deserves whatever hardship, trouble or consequence they’re facing right now. They’ve done things that led up to this point.

Check out this tweet:

Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is that you’re a terrible person and had it coming 😶.

— Luu Venda™ (@Lut3ndo) July 26, 2018

So yeah, that’s what this guy said – sometimes you’re a terrible person and that’s why something bad happened to you. You had it coming. I think you’ll be able to relate to this idiom – everyone knows someone who lied for a while about something and they were getting away with it. You knew they were lying, but for some reason you were not in a position to out that person.

And one day, it happened: someone figured out that person was lying and the whole lie was exposed. They lost their job. They had it coming, obviously.

Can you think of an example of your own? Who is it, in your professional or personal life, that got exposed and you thought “They had it coming”? Let me know, and see you soon!

Key expressions

Vocabulary

go porcelain-shopping = ir comprar (alguma coisa de) porcelana

isn’t too crazy about = não está morrendo de vontade de

if they can make up = se dá pra eles fazerem as pazes

people catch on to it = as pessoas “se tocam”, percebem aquilo

led up to this point = levaram a, fizeram as coisas chegar a este ponto

to out someone = desmascarar alguém

Hello! Hoje, no podcast, eu falo sobre dois idioms do inglês pra lá de comuns com a palavra throat (garganta). Não perca!

Hello. You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Download the Inglês Online app at the Google Play Store or the Apple Store – search for “inglês online Ana”. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So let’s get started, and I’m sure you will know what I’m talking about. Let’s say you’re watching a nice film and the heroine is going through a lot of pain right now. She has struggled so hard to overcome her difficulties and just when she thought she was going to meet her grandma… She finds out that her little old grandma just passed away.

Our heroine is crying now because she’s devastated, and you can’t help but feel a lump in your throat. We have all been there, right? You can physically feel that thing in your throat especially when you’re witnessing or thinking about something sad or very moving in some way.

So, check out what this girl, “anna brink”, tweeted out:

https://twitter.com/agrce27/status/1024809095881285632

That’s a bit of a tough situation. What do you do when you’re talking to someone and all of a sudden you have a lump in your throat?

And how about our second idiom of today: shove something down someone’s throat. That sounds a bit aggressive, but that’s the point. Example: let’s say you go meet your girlfriend’s parents for the first time, and they can’t stop talking about politics. The problem is, their positions are opposite to yours.

And, they’re not really that open to discussion, though. They keep talking about their politics, how good it is, and – they totally expect you to be on the same page. Then, they start slagging off people who disagree with them. YOU don’t agree with them, obviously, but if you say something now things are going to be awkward. However, you can’t help but feel that your girlfriend’s parents are shoving their politics down your throat.

When someone shoves something down your throat, it’s like they’re trying to make you accept or agree with them on something. It feels a bit forceful, like there’s no space for different opinions. That person has the last word, and that’s it. In my example, your girlfriend’s parents are shoving their politics down your throat and leaving you no room to disagree. I mean – you could disagree, of course, but from the looks of it things would get awkward.

“Shove something down someone’s throat” can also mean literally trying to force someone to swallow food, for example, or pills if you’re at the doctor’s. Some people have had that experience when they were little – one of their parents shoving some medicine down their throat.

Have you ever had that experience? Has anyone ever done that to you, or do you have kids? Have you ever tried to shove something down their throat? Have you tried to force them to eat something, or to swallow some medicine maybe?

Let me know in the comments and see you soon.

Key expressions

Vocabulary

passed away = faleceu

you can’t help but feel = não tem como você não sentir

we have all been there = todos nós já passamos por isso

lol = abreviação de “laughing out loud” que significa rindo muito alto ou rolando de rir

to be on the same page = estar de acordo, na mesma sintonia, na mesma linha de pensamento

to slag someone off = criticar ou falar mal de alguém

How’s it going? Hoje, no podcast, eu falo sobre idioms ultra-comuns para expressar que algo fugiu do controle!

How’s it going? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Download the Inglês Online app at the Google Play Store or the Apple Store – search for “inglês online Ana”. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So let me tell you about this little expression that is so, so common in the English language – and I’m only getting around to talking about it now! Amazing. And it’s also pretty easy to get – you won’t have any trouble :-) However, that doesn’t mean you’ll immediately start using it all the time – you might do so, but it usually takes a bit of listening for new language to get in our heads so that it’ll come out easily when we open our mouths and want to express those things.

So, here we go: you know when a situation gets out of control? That’s pretty much it, you guys. If something gets out of hand, that means it’s getting out of control. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean someone was controlling it and lost control. Very often it just means something became excessive; it became too much – to the point where it was no longer acceptable, or it started to get in the way of other people’s well-being, for example.

A party can get out of hand. In fact, I have some experience with that. When I still lived in Brazil, one of the residents in a neighbouring building used to have really loud parties till the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes there were people screaming out the window – I’d say that’s when it really got out of hand since no one seemed to be able to make them stop. Good times!

Anything that has the potential to escalate into a really bad state could get out of hand. An argument between two people, for example. Have you ever witnessed it happen? If you’ve ever watched reality shows, you probably have indeed witnessed it. It starts as a disagreement, then it escalates into an argument, then a shouting match where they’re practically at each other’s throats. That’s when you know things have gotten out of hand, and someone will usually interfere and break the two people apart.

On to our second one: spin out of control.  Picture someone driving a car really fast on a slippery surface, and then they lose control of the car and it starts spinning… out of control. That’s a very concrete way to use this idiom. The car spun out of control (yup, spun is the past tense of spin).

So spinning out of control is something we can say about some machine that stopped responding to our attempts to control it and is just doing its thing and looking pretty crazed in the meantime! However, for this episode we’re focusing on the meaning that is similar to ‘get out of hand’. Whenever we see something getting progressively worse and it looks like no one’s able or willing to get it back on track, we can say it’s spinning out of control.

For example, some people feel like they obsess about things and think about it way too much, but they can’t seem to control their thoughts. These people often say “My thoughts are spinning out of control”. “Things are spinning out of control” is also a very common one and you’ll have heard it before if you’re used to watching American TV.

What do you think? Any examples? Let me know and see you soon!

Key expressions

Vocabulary

I’m only getting around to talking about it now = só fui falar dela agora, só consegui falar dela agora

wee hours of the morning = altas horas da manhã, madrugada

good times = expressão usada em geral ironicamente, com o significado oposto do literal

doing its thing = fazendo o que ela quer

What’s up? Hoje, no podcast, eu falo sobre dois idioms pra lá de comuns, e um deles é usado para descrever aquela pessoa que fez de tudo e mais um pouco para ajudar alguém.

What’s up? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Download the Inglês Online app at the Google Play Store or the Apple Store – search for “inglês online Ana”. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So let’s get started today with a nice expression: leave no stone unturned. I like this idiom because it’s very easy to imagine what it means in your mind – isn’t it?

Let’s say you were actually looking for something in your backyard… maybe you were holding your bank card when all of a sudden you just had an urge to pop out to the yard and sit near your begonias. And while you’re there enjoying a bit of fresh air you get lost in thought, and then you hear the phone ring.

It’s time to get back inside. You’re too late for the phone (it stopped ringing when you came in), but you realise nonetheless that you’re not holding your bank card anymore. Darn! You must have dropped it somewhere in the backyard.

So you go back and you start searching thoroughly. You look under every leaf and under every stone. You’re even turning over the stones in your little garden – you got to find this card. You end up finding it, of course… You dropped it under a begonia. You literally left no stone unturned, though. You covered them all in your search.

People say they “left no stone unturned” when they’ve made every possible effort to find or get something. Let’s say your sister is an accountant and, when she woke up today, she said she dreamed that she owned a business in Romania. Yeah. So now she feels that dream has to become reality. She turns to you and says “Hey, I need to find out everything about how accounting works in Romania. Their laws and regulations, the particularities of the market, costs involved… everything? Will you help me?”

You’re always there for your sister, so you tell her “We’re in this together. I’ll help you become the number 1 accountant in Romania. We’ll find everything you need. We’ll leave no stone unturned!”

Which leads me to our second idiom of today: bend over backwards. It fits our example just great, because that is what you do for your sister. She needs help to break the accounting market in Romania and you’ll help her get there.

In order to help her, you start researching online every day for about an hour. You go to the local library and check their information. You seek out the Romanian community in your town to get some information from them. In other words, you’re bending over backwards for your sister. You’re putting in a whole lot of effort and doing everything you can.

People can bend over backwards to get any kind of result they really want, though – it doesn’t need to be a situation where they’re helping someone. You could be preparing for an exam, for example, and bending over backwards to be well prepared. You’ve hired a private tutor, you’re studying long hours, you’ve downloaded computer programs that will help you get there and so on. It’s fair to say you’re bending over backwards to achieve a good score.

I think these two expressions are very relatable – anyone can think of real-life examples for “leave no stone unturned” and “bend over backwards”. So, when did someone do that for you? Or, when did you do that for someone? Let me know and see you soon.

Key expressions

Vocabulary

have an urge (to do something) = ter uma vontade repentina (de fazer algo)

pop out = sair de forma rapida para algum lugar, dar uma escapadinha

nonetheless = mesmo assim

darn! = Expressão usada para demonstrar desapontamento ou irritação, semelhante ao nosso ‘caramba/droga’

break the accounting market = entrar no mercado de contabilidade

seek out = procurar ou buscar algo

How are you? Hoje, no podcast, eu falo sobre dois idioms pra lá de comuns… Só pra variar :-) Um deles, em particular, é muito comum no inglês americano – eu mesma ouvi outro dia de um American. Não perca!

How are you? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Download the Inglês Online app at the Google Play Store or the Apple Store – search for “inglês online Ana”. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So, you guys, let me start with this very, very popular way of saying you or someone else failed to do something you were supposed to do, or you sort of made a mistake when you were trying to complete a task.

I heard it just the other day, from an American person, for the millionth time. He said “Look, I was supposed to take care of this and get it done, and I didn’t. I dropped the ball.” He said he dropped the ball – it’s a sports metaphor, as you can probably tell, and I’m not sure which sport that comes from but we can guess it’s a sport where we’re not supposed to drop the ball.

So this guy dropped the ball, not literally, but metaphorically in this case. It was his job to complete a task and he didn’t. He dropped the ball. When someone does a poor job of something, or makes a mistake when doing a task of some kind, you can also say that they dropped the ball.

So, the reason I mentioned an American person used that expression with me is, you’re not going to hear too many British people saying that – it’s really more common in the States. So can you think of an example of you dropping the ball… or maybe someone you know? I’m sure you can.

So let’s move swiftly on to our second expression of today. Picture an airplane going down in flames. Done? Cool. So we use the idiom go down in flames to say that something is being, or was completely destroyed, or just was a spectacular failure. That’s a common combination, by the way… To fail spectacularly.

Anyway, it’s pretty easy to find examples of this expression being used particularly when people are talking about something they didn’t approve of to begin with. Then they see that thing fail, and they talk about the failure saying “It went down in flames.” I mean, it’s a pretty powerful image!

So, do you remember Harvey Weinstein, the big American producer who was accused a while ago of all kinds of sexual offenses? I bet his business went down in flames in the aftermath of those events. Sometimes, advertising campaigns that cost a fortune and were planned for months go down in flames. It happens! The ad campaign is a disastrous failure. I’m sure anyone who’s worked in advertising would have a story to tell about a campaign that went down in flames.

So, this idiom, as you can probably see, applies very well to projects that demanded big efforts, big money and other resources. Then for some reason it all goes wrong. And it also applies very well to things that used to work very nicely, so to speak, and then all of a sudden that thing ceases to exist or goes out of business. Like the Weinstein company. His name certainly went down in flames after all the revelations.

So, what’s your example? Does anything come to mind? Let me know and see you soon.

Key expressions

Vocabulary

you can tell = dá pra você ver

swiftly = rapidamente

in the aftermath = o que acontece após um determinado evento

cease to exist = deixa, para de existir

to go out of business = encerrar atividades, fechar as portas, falir

What’s up? Hoje, no podcast, eu falo sobre mais duas expressões super comuns do inglês do dia-a-dia. Não perca!

What’s up? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Download the Inglês Online app at the Google Play Store or the Apple Store – search for “inglês online Ana”. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

Ok, so here’s our first idiomatic expression of today, and it’s an interesting one. I don’t really know if we have the equivalent in Brazil… it’s likely that we do, but I can’t think of anything right now.

So picture this: you know that your friend Beth is not a huge fan of horror movies, ok. It’s not her thing. However, there’s a new horror movie out and everyone’s talking about it. It’s supposed to be a blockbuster and it’s being promoted on every TV show.

Alright, so Beth for some reason goes and watches the movie on a Saturday night with her friends. And the next day you bump into Beth while standing in line at the baker’s, let’s say. So of course you say “Hey Beth, how’s it going? How did you like the new movie?”

And Beth proceeds to tell you that she hated it. She absolutely disliked it and she’s giving you a list of reasons: the story is bad, the actors not talented enough, the editing was bad and the list goes on.

Now, if you didn’t know Beth well enough you’d have skipped the movie altogether based on her review. You’ve known her for a while, though. You know Beth can be very opinionated and you’re also aware that she’s not an admirer of the horror genre. Because of that, you know better than to rely solely on her opinion. You know you should take her opinion with a grain of salt.

That means you’re listening to her but you’re also keeping in mind that she may not be able to make a fair assessment of the film because well, she’s biased! She doesn’t like the genre. You don’t even understand why she went and saw the movie. So you take what she said with a grain of salt: you keep in mind that she may not be seeing this objectively but you still take in consideration what she said.

I guess taking opinions with a grain of salt is something we all do sometimes – that’s pretty common. So here’s our second term of today: it’s more of a saying, really. Curiosity killed the cat – that’s it! The word killed is a bit strong, obviously… Basically you can say that to someone when they ask you a question you don’t want to answer.

You’re implying they’re being a bit nosy, even. Let’s say you’re telling your friend about a new guy you’ve met and you’ve been out with this person a couple of times… Your friend is asking all kinds of details though, such as “Do you see yourself with this person in five years?” It’s like an interview.

So you just say “Curiosity killed the cat… I’ll let you know more as I make a decision”. “Curiosity killed the cat” is a pretty good-natured, playful way to tell someone you’re not going to answer their question. Obviously they’re not going to be killed for being curious – it doesn’t even mean that something bad is going to happen to them for being curious, so the saying is not always used with the original meaning.

But it’s a playful way to avoid a question. It’s nicer than “Mind your own business” or “You’re so nosy”. Have you ever said something to that effect to a very curious friend or family member? I know I have. Let me know and see you soon.

Key expressions

Vocabulary

rely solely on something = levar em conta ou se apoiar somente em algo

to skip = pular, passar, dispensar ou ignorar algo

biased = tendencioso/a, parcial em favor de alguém ou algo

saying = ditado popular

playful = brincalhão / brincalhona

Mind your own business = Cuide da sua vida, isso não é da sua conta

nosy = abelhudo/a

How’s it going? Hoje, no podcast, eu falo sobre dois idioms comuníssimos (é claro) com a palavra far. Com um deles, você vai poder dizer “longe de mim criticar, mas…” Enjoy!

How’s it going? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Download our apps on the Google Play store and the iTunes store for a very easy and organised listening experience of our podcasts. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So you know when someone is about to criticise another person but they preface their criticism with something like “Look, I don’t mean to criticise but…” or “No offense, but…” Well, our first expression today is sort of used in the same kind of situation.

So, let me read what this lady, Lizzie Logan, tweeted out and then I’ll explain it a little bit:

https://twitter.com/lizzzzzielogan/status/984422467019182080

So first of all, TSA stands for Transportation Security Administration and I think that’s what she’s referring to when she says there was a TSA agent singing gospel songs at full volume while doing his job – which, by the way, was to monitor metal detection somewhere… So we can tell she doesn’t want to come across as super critical since the language she’s using is very mild actually.

And, the first thing she says is far be it from me to limit someone else’s artistic expression. “Far be it from me to do something” basically means “I’m doing something in a few seconds but that is not really what I mean to do”. Sometimes we just want to criticise something; we just want to express a negative opinion or tell people what we think is wrong about a situation or a person and so on.

So that’s it – when people don’t really want to come across as overly critical they may preface what they’re saying with Far be it from me… Far be it from me to tell you how to do your job, but don’t you think you should have planned your actions more carefully? Far be it from me to rain on your parade but I don’t think this girl is interested in you. Far be it from me to be stingy but I don’t see the value in paying so much money for this hotel.

Now, let’s move on to our second idiom of today’s episode, and this one contains the word FAR as well. So, let’s go ahead and start off with an example – listen up: This restaurant is a far cry from what it used to be when I was a child. When I go there nowadays to have a meal, nothing tastes the same. It just doesn’t taste good. They’ve changed the dishes, the recipes, I don’t know where the original cook’s gone. This food is a far cry from the great stuff they used to offer.

So, when something is a far cry from another thing, it means it’s very, very different and usually in a negative way. It leaves a lot to be desired! So someone will usually say that when they’re not happy. What they see now is just not as good; it’s actually much worse than it used to be. It’s a far cry.

So, I’m sure you can give a few examples from your own life. A place you’ve known since childhood which has changed for the worse. A food place where you used to have your favourite dish. And this is a common one: we, as consumers, can always notice, right, when the quality of a product goes down. This happens a lot with food items. Sometimes I can tell that those biscuits that I like just don’t taste the same anymore and then one day they appear to be about half the original size. A far cry from what they used to be.

What are your examples? Let me know, and see you soon!

Key expressions

Vocabulary

to come across as = Parecer ser, no sentido de demonstrar ou transparecer sua característica ou qualidade

rain on your parade = jogar um balde de água fria, ser estraga-prazeres

it leaves a lot to be desired = Deixa muito a desejar

How have you been? Hoje eu falo sobre dois idioms comuníssimos com a palavra blessing. Are you ready? :-)

How have you been? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. For a better listening experience, head over to the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store and download the Inglês Online app. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So our first expression of today is blessing in disguise. Yep – do you know what that means? Let’s see. I’m going to read out a tweet for you, and you tell me whether you know what blessing in disguise means or not.

So check out what this guy tweeted out – he’s talking about two football teams who lost one of their players:

https://twitter.com/OvieO/status/983833742799237121

So just an observation: notice that he said “Roma lost Salah” and “are”, so “Roma are” and then in the second sentence “Liverpool lost Coutinho” and “are” – “Liverpool are”. OK? So he uses ‘are’ with Liverpool and Roma, why? Because these are collective nouns. They communicate, like, a whole team. He’s talking about a team and in British English it’s very common to use “are” with nouns that represent more than one person; they represent a group.

So this guys said “sometimes losing your best asset”. He’s referring to the star player each of the teams lost – “can be a blessing in disguise”. What looked like a really bad thing in the end did not prevent a great outcome. Here’s a dictionary definition for you: an unfortunate event or situation that results in an unforeseen positive outcome.

I remember at the time of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York – a couple of people were interviewed saying they were supposed to be on those airplanes and because they were late, or some some other reason, they missed their flights. To those people, missing the flight was a blessing in disguise. Bit of an extreme example… but there you go.

I think the best way to really see this idiom, blessing in disguise, in your life is to think about something you lost, an opportunity you missed, that… at the time really bummed you out. Then, let’s say about a month later, you couldn’t even feel sad when you thought back of what happened because something much better came along.

I know that, for me, this exact sequence of events has happened so many times. I miss a sale and some time later I’m happy I didn’t spend that money on something I didn’t need. Missing that sale was a blessing in disguise. I miss an opportunity to do something and then some time later I realise that thing wasn’t really what I wanted to do! Missing that opportunity was a blessing in disguise. These are my examples – what are yours?

Now, here’s our second one with blessing: count your blessings. This is usually said to someone who’s feeling a bit down on their luck… Maybe they just got some bad news, or the outcome they were expecting didn’t really happen, or they’re just going through a hard time right now. And then a friend – more likely a stranger, to be honest – will tell them “Hey, count your blessings. At least you still got…” Whatever. At least you still got your home. Or your family. Or a job. Some money.

Basically, when someone tells you to count your blessings they’re telling you that no matter how sad your predicament is, there are a few things you should be grateful for. Let’s go to Twitter again – check out this one.

https://twitter.com/idillionaire/status/983819346509053952

Look, I’m not saying it’s easy to do what this chick suggested but that was a good example of how someone might use the term count your blessings.  How would we say that in Brazil? I actually can’t think of anything right now that would be a good translation for count your blessings… I mean, something we Brazilians actually say. Do you have anything? Let me know and see you soon!

Key expressions

Vocabulary

bummed you out = te deixaram chateado

be down on their/your luck = estar sem sorte

chick = mulher, moça, garota (gíria USA)

What’s up? Hoje eu falo sobre expressões super comuns com a palavra point, como there’s no point. Não perca!

What’s up? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So, let’s get started: remember last week’s episode, when I talked about the idiom ‘cry over spilt milk’? Well… there’s no point, really, in crying over spilt milk. There is no point. Point, in this expression here, means something like purpose or use. There’s no use, there’s no purpose in crying over spilt milk.

So for example: you decide to plan a surprise party for your classmate Tony the next 13th of February. Then you find out Tony and his family are moving to another country on the eleventh. There is no point now in planning a party for Tony, right? What is the point of planning this party? Tony won’t be around anyway, and the whole point of the party was… Tony.

So I bet that if you regularly watch TV shows and movies you’ve heard these expressions with “point” before. They’re uber common – every native speaker uses them a lot. The question is, are you using them? So that’s the point of this episode. Yep! To give you more exposure and make you more familiar with these terms.

What’s the point of taking your family to a nice restaurant right after they had lunch? There’s no point in doing that. It’s pointless. What’s the point? Taking them for a meal when they just ate? Pointless. Investing in new software for your company to improve your financial records when you have not made one sale yet… What’s the point? I would say that’s pointless. No useful result will come of that. What are you going to do with new software? You haven’t even sold a unit yet! It’s a pointless investment. There’s no point in making this investment and buying new software.

So, check out what this person, Lauren, tweeted out:

https://twitter.com/Laur_MacAskill/status/980494301443641346

So Lauren has a pretty low opinion of the world right now. For those of you who don’t know or don’t remember, April Fools’ is the first day of April, and you know what that means in Brazil. In the US and in the United Kingdom as well, people love to pull pranks on April Fools’. Lauren thinks this is pointless since, in her opinion, the world is enough of a joke as it is.

If it’s sunny outside and the forecast says “sunny” for the whole week, it’s pointless to take an umbrella with you when you go out. Telling a kid who’s crying to stop crying is usually pointless. What’s the point of doing that? The kid will not listen and they won’t stop crying. Expecting a cat to bark is pointless. Buying stuff on sale that you’re not going to wear is… pointless. I’ve done it! But now I look at it and I think “What was the point of buying this stuff?”

Tell me: what exactly is it, in your life right now, that would make you ask yourself “What’s the point of this? Why am I doing this?” Let me know, and see you soon.

Key expressions

Vocabulary

uber = super, very (informal)

pull a prank (on someone) = pregar uma peça em alguém, fazer uma pegadinha