#458 - Stop Sounding Basic in English! — Learn 20 Advanced Expressions You Should Be Using Every Day

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 Hey, let me ask you something. Have you ever been in the middle of an important conversation,

spk_0 like maybe with your boss or a new friend, and you suddenly realized that you're saying

spk_0 that's very good for the tenth time? Or maybe you catch yourself using, I'm not sure,

spk_0 to respond to too many questions? You almost feel childish because you can express yourself as

spk_0 naturally and richly as you would in your native language. I've been teaching English for 13 years,

spk_0 and this has to be the number one frustration that I hear from intermediate learners.

spk_0 You have really solid grammar, you understand almost everything, but you find yourself stuck

spk_0 using the same elementary phrases over and over again. Well, let's change that. Today,

spk_0 I'm going to be teaching you 20 expressions that will help you to sound advanced and fluent,

spk_0 and the great thing is that you can use these in almost any situation, professionally at work,

spk_0 casually at the bar with friends or in presentations. For each expression, I'll tell you what words

spk_0 or expression your place is, and I'll give you two realistic examples so that you already

spk_0 constantly know how to use it as soon as you finish this video. Now, you should know that this lesson

spk_0 comes with its own vocabulary flashcards covering all 20 expressions that we'll learn today.

spk_0 Practicing with these daily is the easiest way to make sure you remember these new expressions

spk_0 forever so that you can go from sounding like an English learner to sounding like an advanced

spk_0 English speaker. So if that sounds interesting to you, simply tap the link down the description

spk_0 below to download our app for free and start your vocabulary practice right away. Oh yeah, now let's

spk_0 transform how you sound in English starting right now. Let's jump right into our first expression.

spk_0 So don't say it, that's very good, but it's very important. Instead, say, that's a game changer.

spk_0 All right, and we can understand this better with an example, right? So when Steve Jobs first

spk_0 announced the iPhone, do you remember that? Was that in your lifetime? It was clear, it would be a

spk_0 game changer. So if you actually experienced this, you know it was a game changer when smartphones

spk_0 came about, right? It was clearly changed the way that we interacted with mobile devices by all the

spk_0 sudden having apps available and so on and really it was like this very revolutionary technology.

spk_0 So a way that you can remember this one is that it's like when you play a game, like a board game

spk_0 with your friends, if you were to all of a sudden change the rules of the game, then it completely

spk_0 you know change your experience playing that games. So a game changer, it's kind of like that,

spk_0 it changes the rules of the game, it changes the rules of how something is done. Let's look at

spk_0 another example that you could hear someone say it works. So learning to use AI tools effectively

spk_0 has been a real game changer for my productivity at work. So if you're already using AI tools at

spk_0 work, then you probably know this. It's really amazing how much more we're able to achieve with these

spk_0 tools and now it's just so commonplace, right? It's become kind of like you have to use it if you

spk_0 want to be great at your work. All right, so let's move on to our second expression. Don't say

spk_0 I'm really busy. Say I'm swamped. Let's check out a pop culture example. So even when Taylor Swift

spk_0 is swamped touring, she finds time to write new songs on the road. So this means that even though Taylor

spk_0 Swift really gives her all to her performances between them, she prioritizes creating new songs,

spk_0 producing new albums for her fans. And at work, you might hear someone say, sorry, I can't

spk_0 join the meeting today. I'm actually swamped with corley reports. This is a great expression for

spk_0 work. You can use it all the time just to say you're really busy. You can't do something because

spk_0 you're really busy. And this just sounds much more colloquial. And just so you know, to help you

spk_0 remember this one, a swamp is a place. So it's a low-laying piece of land where water collects

spk_0 and you know, for example, Shrek lives in a swamp. You're probably familiar with this. You can

spk_0 imagine if you were in this place, it'd be really difficult to move around. So sometimes when we're

spk_0 really busy, it feels this way. You've got all these tasks on you, all this work, all these demands

spk_0 that make it really difficult to get anything done. You're swamped. All right, and number three,

spk_0 don't say it's really easy to decide or it's obvious. Say it's a no-brainer. Why don't we start with

spk_0 how you might hear this at work first? So when they offered me a promotion with better pay and

spk_0 flexible hours, it was a no-brainer to accept. If someone is going to give you more money with no

spk_0 added responsibility, then you should definitely say yes. It's a no-brainer. Literally, you don't need

spk_0 to use your brain to make that decision because it's obvious. It's really easy to decide. Let's

spk_0 check out another example. So for most soccer fans choosing between watching the World Club or

spk_0 doing homework is a no-brainer. Obviously, you would rather do something that you really enjoy

spk_0 than do homework. Moving on to number four, don't say I'm not sure or I can't decide. Say I'm on

spk_0 the fence about it. All right, so our first example, many Netflix subscribers are on the fence

spk_0 about whether to keep paying for multiple streaming services. If you're at all like me, you probably

spk_0 have felt this. Nowadays, we have HBO Max, we have Apple TV Plus, we have Prime Video, there might be

spk_0 another streaming service that only exists in your country. Paying for all these, the prices would

spk_0 just get astronomical, the bills, right? So you're probably on the fence of whether to sign up for one

spk_0 or the other one or to just bite the bullet, that just means just to make the difficult decision

spk_0 and pay for all of them. Actually, I can give you a tip. What I do is I have a list of all the

spk_0 series that I want to watch along with the streaming platform where I find them. I think I talked

spk_0 about this in another lesson. What I'll do is basically I sign up for one of the platforms. I watch

spk_0 all the series on my list from that platform and then I unsubscribe for it and I switch to the next

spk_0 one and watch all the series on my list from that one and so on. And this way, I'm able to spend a

spk_0 lot less each month on streaming services. So I might want to try that. Or you might hear this at

spk_0 work as well. Maybe someone would say I'm still on the fence about taking that advanced certification

spk_0 course. It's expensive, but it could help my career. All right. And this comes from a fence,

spk_0 which is like the barrier that you have between two pieces of property. So like, for example,

spk_0 if you live in a house, you might have a fence between you and your neighbor's house or property.

spk_0 And if you were on it, it's like you're on the border between two things, right? So it's like this.

spk_0 When you have a hard decision, you're between those two things. You're on the fence. Number five,

spk_0 don't say I'm in the same situation or I have the same problem. Instead say I'm in the same boat.

spk_0 So maybe you could read a piece of news that says Nintendo Switch owners have found themselves

spk_0 in the same boat when it comes to deciding whether to upgrade to the Switch 2. Right. So when the

spk_0 Nintendo Switch 2 was announced, it's like, do I spend all the extra money to get this new system

spk_0 that doesn't really have that many games yet or should, you know, I stick it with my old one.

spk_0 And everyone who has an Nintendo Switch might have been asking themselves that. So they're all

spk_0 in the same boat. This one you might hear at work as well, like this, don't worry about struggling

spk_0 with the new system. We're all in the same boat here. So write something might happen at your company,

spk_0 like there might be a new tool that the management is saying everyone should use or something happens

spk_0 that affects your department. And so everyone in your department is in the same boat dealing with

spk_0 that problem or dealing with that new way of doing things. Moving on to number six, don't say

spk_0 we should try it. Say it's worth a shot. This is a great one that you can use at work when you're

spk_0 trying to convince someone to do something. So you might hear someone say, I know this marketing

spk_0 strategy is different from what we usually do, but it's worth a shot. So this comes from basketball,

spk_0 I believe. So you probably know in basketball, there's like a hoop or net. And when you try to throw

spk_0 the ball into the hoop, you are taking a shot, right? You're trying to get to the ball into the

spk_0 hoop and score a point. So we use it metaphorically in this way to say basically to try something.

spk_0 Let's look at another example from pop culture. Even though BTS had never performed at the

spk_0 Grammys before, their team thought it was worth a shot to propose it. So they might as well try.

spk_0 They might as well see if they can perform on an international stage like the Grammys, right?

spk_0 And there's other ways that you can use this as well. You can say instead of it's worth a shot,

spk_0 like take a shot. You might as well try it. You could encourage your friend by saying, just try it.

spk_0 Just take a shot, right? Or you could say give it a shot means the same thing.

spk_0 All right, and our next one is another sports metaphor. So don't say that's completely wrong. Say

spk_0 that's way off base. So base, you could probably guess comes from baseball. The bases are the,

spk_0 there's four of them. And basically you score points by getting from one of them to the other one.

spk_0 So if you're off base, you think you're not going to score a point. Probably where this comes from.

spk_0 Let's take a look at an example to understand this better. So when critics said Cristiano Ronaldo

spk_0 was too old to perform at the World Cup, his hat trick proved they were way off base.

spk_0 Right? So when someone makes a prediction or a claim, but then that turns out not to be true,

spk_0 that's a perfect situation where you could say that's way off base. That was completely wrong.

spk_0 I work. You could hear this as well, right? Sorry, but I believe your assumption that we're losing

spk_0 customers because of price is way off base. It's actually about customer service. So there's a great

spk_0 one to use that work to propose a different opinion or idea. I just would say be careful in how you

spk_0 present it because it could sound rude. So like it said here, sorry, that's always a good way to,

spk_0 to start off to make it a bit lighter. But you might find it useful depending where you work.

spk_0 Let's move on to number eight. So don't say I agree with something or I support it. Say I'm totally

spk_0 on board with it. All right, so you might hear a new story like this. Not all Instagram users are

spk_0 on board with how meta chooses to use their data. Right? There's been a lot of controversy

spk_0 about how Facebook meta uses their users data, right? And you might be someone who really enjoys

spk_0 using the app, but you're still kind of like not totally on board with you don't totally agree

spk_0 with how they choose to use your data, right? Maybe that's even a reason to stop using it.

spk_0 There's a lot of ways that you could use this at work as well. For example, you might hear someone say,

spk_0 I'm totally on board with a new flexible work policy. It'll help everyone balance their lives better.

spk_0 Right? So if you completely agree with something new at your workplace, that's a great one to use. Say,

spk_0 I'm totally on board with that. I'm on board with that or the opposite. Like, I don't know if I'm on board with that.

spk_0 I don't know if we should do that. All right. Number nine, don't say it's not difficult. Say it's not rocket science.

spk_0 This is one that we naves use all the time. And you can also say that it's not brain surgery. So I guess at

spk_0 least in American culture, we tend to think that rocket science and brain surgery are like the most

spk_0 difficult skills that a human can acquire. So anything else compared to that is not really that

spk_0 difficult, right? Let's check out an example. Memorizing new English vocabulary isn't rocket science

spk_0 when you experience these lessons on the real life English app. The truth is you've already learned

spk_0 some useful advanced expressions like game changer, swamped, and on the fence. But if you don't practice

spk_0 these, then poof, they'll disappear in just days or even hours. Want to actually use these

spk_0 expressions naturally when you speak English? If you want to some confidence, simply knowing them

spk_0 isn't enough. You have to practice until they become automatic. This is exactly why we created a set

spk_0 of flashcards for you, which is available for free on our app. The magic isn't the science behind it.

spk_0 That uses smart technology, which brings back words for a view right on your bow to forget them.

spk_0 It's like having your own personal English coach right in your pocket. Just 10 to 15 minutes a day,

spk_0 and these expressions will be right at the tip of your tongue exactly when you need them. Super easy.

spk_0 No more, I know that word, but I can't remember it at moments. Click the link down in the description

spk_0 below to get the real life app right now. Your future fluent self is going to thank you.

spk_0 And maybe when your work colleagues might say something like setting up the new software might

spk_0 seem complicated, but once you try it, it's really not rocket science or it's really not brain

spk_0 surgery. So if you're talking to someone at work, this can be a great way to say in a very colloquial

spk_0 native way that something is not that difficult. Don't say that's hard to believe, or that's an

spk_0 exaggeration. Say that's a stretch. So maybe you are a fan of Ryan Reynolds and your friend really

spk_0 didn't like his new movie. Maybe you would say to them, saying that one bad movie will end Ryan

spk_0 Reynolds's career is a bit of a stretch. He's proven himself many times. Someone making a claim

spk_0 that you think it like that's an exaggeration. That's not really true. You can say that's a stretch.

spk_0 Check out a way that you could use this to work. I think claiming our competitors with this

spk_0 period six months is a stretch, but we're definitely gaining market share. Right, so again,

spk_0 if someone says something that is way out of the park, it's completely exaggerated. This is a great

spk_0 way for you to say that. That's a stretch. Number 11, don't say I'm listening carefully. Say

spk_0 I'm all ears. This is a super polite expression that you can use a lot. Let's check out an example.

spk_0 During her recent interviews, Oprah always makes guests feel comfortable by saying, I'm all ears

spk_0 when they start sharing personal stories. So maybe a friend comes to you for example and they say,

spk_0 you know, I'm really having issues at work or I'm really just struggling with something that's

spk_0 happening with my boyfriend or my girlfriend. This is a really nice, really nice one just to show

spk_0 that you're open to listening, open to helping. I'm all ears. Tell me about it. You know, I'm here

spk_0 for you. You can of course use this at work as well. If you have suggestions for improving our

spk_0 team meetings, I'm all ears. Right, maybe if someone is complaining about something, that would be

spk_0 a really great one to use is like, you know, instead of complaining about it, tell me your ideas.

spk_0 I'm all ears. I would love to hear them. Don't say that's almost too late. Say that's

spk_0 cutting it close. All right, a perfect example is with travel. Check this out. Arriving at the airport,

spk_0 it's only 45 minutes before an international flight. Most travelers would say you're cutting it

spk_0 too close. You can see we can add other things to this as well. You're cutting it really close.

spk_0 You're cutting it too close. It's really risky, you know, to play with a faith like that, like

spk_0 arriving at the airport really late. Or at work, this can happen as well, right? That person who

spk_0 does not quite respect deadlines. Submitting the proposal at 11.58 pm when it's due at midnight,

spk_0 that's really cutting it close. Right, so anytime something just seems way too close to like

spk_0 the limit, you can use this one. Great expression for every day. Let's move on to number 13. Don't say

spk_0 it's unlikely, but say it's a long shot, but all right, if you've ever tried to get tickets to a show,

spk_0 to a concert for someone who you really love who is really popular, you probably had an experience

spk_0 like this. Check it out. Getting tickets to CB Yonsei's tour is a long shot, but thousands of

spk_0 fans to try every day. I recently had experience like this trying to get Lady Gaga tickets here,

spk_0 and I got some, but they're not the best location, but still going to get to go. But I can totally

spk_0 feel this one. Or at work, I know getting budget approval for the new software this quarter is

spk_0 a long shot, but the cost benefit analysis might convince them. So anything that's really difficult

spk_0 to do that the probability of success is really low. You can say it's a long shot. It's really

spk_0 nice expression. All right, number 14. Don't say that's a difficult decision. Say that's a tough call.

spk_0 Another great one that we need to use all the time. So let's see, football example or soccer example.

spk_0 Choosing between Christiana Ronaldo and Lionel Missy is the greatest player. It's a tough call

spk_0 the divide soccer fans. You probably are aware of this if you like soccer at all. I'm not a huge fan,

spk_0 but still there's always debates around this, right? So anything that there's a debate about,

spk_0 you can say is a tough call. Let's check out another example. Deciding whether to hire the

spk_0 experienced candidate or the promising newcomer is a really tough call. I know a lot of hiring

spk_0 processes that I've actually struggled with this myself, always if it comes down to two candidates,

spk_0 it's always a really tough call. Really any sort of situation where there's kind of like high stakes

spk_0 or you're worried about making the wrong decision. It's a tough call, right? And just so you know,

spk_0 call is just a synonym of decision. So there's other ways we can use this. For example,

spk_0 if someone makes a really great decision, you can say, man, good call. Or maybe your friend is asking

spk_0 you, you know, would you rather eat Chinese or Italian for dinner and you're like, I don't really

spk_0 care. It's your call, you know, it's your decision. All right, so just a few more here. Number 15,

spk_0 don't say I can't remember or I can't think of anything. Say I'm drawing a blank. All right,

spk_0 so if you're a cooking fan, you'll like this first sentence. So even though Gordon Ramsay is a

spk_0 world famous chef, he admits that sometimes he draws a blank when trying to create new recipes.

spk_0 So that means that he creates recipes all the time. But you know, sometimes he sits down to try

spk_0 to put ingredients together and she's like, nothing will come to him. That happens to all of us,

spk_0 right? And creative work that sometimes, you know, the muses, the creative voices, they just don't

spk_0 come to us. We draw a blank. I work, of course, we can use this a lot too. So you might hear someone say,

spk_0 when my boss asked for ideas to improve customer satisfaction, I was completely drawing a blank in

spk_0 the meeting. Have you ever been in a meeting where, you know, someone asked you something and you

spk_0 just draw a blank, you know, you can't think of anything or we'll say a lot of times like you're

spk_0 put on the spot, like someone calls on you, you're not expecting it. And it's just like your mind

spk_0 completely goes blank. There's nothing. You can't think of anything. So that's exactly that.

spk_0 One thing I've really gotten into in the last years is improv. And sometimes you have a scene

spk_0 and this totally happens to you. It's like you're given a prompt, but then it's kind of like, okay,

spk_0 roll. And nothing comes to you. You can't think of anything. You just are there silent, staring into

spk_0 the light. All right, number 16. Don't say that's not relevant. Say that's beside the point.

spk_0 All right, so check this out. Whether Lady Gaga is a great actress is beside the point. As an artist,

spk_0 her music has inspired millions around the world. All right, so Lady Gaga has, of course, gotten a lot

spk_0 of criticism on some of the roles that she's played as an actress. And some people just say, just

spk_0 stick to music. And that's kind of where this comes in, right? It's like, who really cares if she

spk_0 is a great actress or not because like her music has just had such a big impact on people, right?

spk_0 So it's beside the point, whether she's a great actress. And there's one's pretty formal. So it's

spk_0 also really nice at work. So you might hear someone say, your concerns about the budget are valid,

spk_0 but they're the beside the point right now. We need to focus on the deadline first.

spk_0 So if you do work in an office, you probably have meetings all the time and there's always that

spk_0 person who might bring up something that's not relevant or not so relevant to the conversation,

spk_0 or it's not relevant right now. And this is the perfect opportunity to try out using this one. Like,

spk_0 um, understand what you're saying, but it's beside the points. Let's come back to the main topic.

spk_0 Number 17, don't say, I hope, say, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. You might have an expression

spk_0 like this in your own language because we have the emoji, right? That's like this. So I think it's

spk_0 kind of a universal thing, at least in many countries. But anyways, let's see some examples to

spk_0 help us to understand better how to use this one. So fans around the world are keeping their

spk_0 fingers crossed that black pink will tour in their countries. So anytime an artist that you love

spk_0 announces their tour dates, you might be hoping that they'll come to your city so you can go see them,

spk_0 right? You're keeping your fingers crossed. You really hope that they come and we can use this

spk_0 in so many different situations like if you're applying to a university or you are trying to get

spk_0 a new job. For example, I submitted my application yesterday. So now I'm keeping my fingers crossed

spk_0 that I'll get the interview and we can shorten this even just to fingers crossed. So we can just say

spk_0 fingers crossed I get the interview or maybe your friend is saying, man, I really hope that I get

spk_0 accepted to this exchange program in New Zealand next year and you can say fingers crossed, you know,

spk_0 say like I hope you get it. So I really love our next one. Number 18. So don't say I forgot what I was

spk_0 saying. Say I lost my train of thought. For me, this one's really visual. It says if you know like

spk_0 your thoughts in your head, where a train that's running and then maybe it crashes into something and

spk_0 you know, we saw the one earlier like you're drawing a blank like nothing comes to your head.

spk_0 You can believe, forgot what you were explaining or sometimes if there's something that distracts

spk_0 or interrupts you, you'll lose your train of thought, right? So check this out. I was explaining

spk_0 the quarterly budget to my team, but when someone's phone kept ringing, I completely lost my train of

spk_0 thought. So this is a great one to use at work all the time. You know, this happens on our team

spk_0 here at Relife English all the time that someone is explaining something and then they forgot what

spk_0 they were saying. And this is the perfect expression to use in those situations. Check out one more

spk_0 example. During a live interview, even experienced hosts like Jimmy Fallon sometimes lose their train of

spk_0 thought when celebrities tell unexpected stories, right? So if something blew you away so much from

spk_0 the person you're interviewing, you could totally be like, I don't know how to respond to that. I lost

spk_0 my train of thought. I forgot what I was going to say. Number 19. Don't say I'm learning or I'm

spk_0 proving. Say I'm getting the hang of it. So if you're new out of company, this is a really great

spk_0 expression for you to remember because you can use it in so many different situations, right?

spk_0 For example, this new project management software seemed impossible at first, but I'm finally

spk_0 getting the hang of it. Or another example is that we're learning all of these great expressions

spk_0 today, right? If you don't practice them, then maybe even later today, if not tomorrow, you probably

spk_0 will have forgotten most of them. That's why if you study them with the real life English app,

spk_0 you'll get the hang of using them naturally in no time. And just to give you a final way that you

spk_0 could use this, for example, even though TikTok dances look complicated, most teenagers say they get

spk_0 the hang of it after a few tries, right? So that's like anything. Like the other day, I tried out

spk_0 beach volleyball. And I found out it was like really the first time that was actually doing like a

spk_0 class, you know, other than just like throwing the ball around with some friends or something like

spk_0 that. And at first, although I was awful, and I'm still awful, but I did find after a little bit

spk_0 of doing some different exercises and getting different tips from the trainer, I started to get the

spk_0 hang of it. And our last one, number 20, instead of saying the most important point is say that's

spk_0 the bottom line. All right, so maybe you would hear a friend say no matter how you feel about Jeff

spk_0 Bezos personally, the bottom line is that Amazon totally redefined how we shop, right?

spk_0 So maybe you don't like Jeff Bezos as a person, but most countries, right, that have Amazon,

spk_0 shopping has completely changed. You no longer need to go to a store. It's like you can have even

spk_0 the same day or the next day, something delivered right here doorstep. So convenient, right?

spk_0 Or you might hear at work like we can discuss all the features we want to add, but the bottom line is

spk_0 we need to launch by March. So that's great at work when you want to really point out this is the

spk_0 thing that we should focus on. This is the most important thing you can use this one. The bottom line

spk_0 is this. Something else you could hear at work too is the bottom line used to mean like revenue,

spk_0 because for most companies in order to survive the bottom line, the most important thing is the

spk_0 revenue. So a lot of times, for example, it could say declines in marketing have really affected

spk_0 our bottom line, meaning have really affected our revenue. So this shout goes to Camila Bint,

spk_0 of course, who I believe is from Brazil. And she says, the best app for intermediate and advanced

spk_0 learners podcasts with excellent topics vocabulary included with words and expressions you won't learn

spk_0 in any English course flashcards with examples that help you memorize everything you've learned.

spk_0 And best of all, conversations with people from all over the world who are generally there to talk.

spk_0 The only drawback is the limited conversation time. So those who want to speak fluently should

spk_0 pay for the premium version. Thanks so much, Camila. It's really amazing hearing from learners like

spk_0 you that the app is making an impact. This is exactly why we made it so that you can go from feeling

spk_0 like a lost, inscuring a learner to finally being that confident natural English speaker that you've

spk_0 always wanted to be. So I highly recommend if you have not yet downloaded the app, you'll get the

spk_0 best experience with these lessons. You get the flashcards that I've already mentioned that will

spk_0 help you to remember these new words and expressions forever and to actually start using them next

spk_0 time you get in conversation and really blow the socks off, really impress the person that you're

spk_0 talking to. And that's it for today's lesson. I think we should call it today because you've done

spk_0 an awesome amount of work today that's been a lot of really powerful expressions. You know, if you can

spk_0 start using all these, you're going to sound so much more natural when you speak. You're really going

spk_0 to surprise people at work if you're someone who works in English. So I highly recommend that you study

spk_0 the flashcards for this lesson. And if you want to get great lessons like this every single week that

spk_0 help you to become a more confident natural English speaker, be sure to hit that subscribe button

spk_0 and button below. And that way you won't miss a single lesson. So I already hear Phoebe stretching

spk_0 she's ready to go for a walk. So let's call it a day. So thanks again for joining me today.

#458 - Stop Sounding Basic in English! — Learn 20 Advanced Expressions You Should Be Using Every Day

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