Meaning of NO CAN DO and SURE THING - A Short English Lesson with Subtitles

So I was sitting on my computer

trying to think of an English phrase to teach you today,

and my daughter was watching cartoons,

and one of the characters in the cartoon said, "No can do."

In English if you say no can do, it's not proper English.

It's actually very informal English.

In fact, it's a phrase that kind of makes fun

of people who don't speak English well.

So it's not a nice phrase to use,

but you might hear it sometimes.

If someone says, "No can do,"

it means that they can't do something.

You might ask someone

if they can give you a ride to work the next day,

and they might respond by saying, "No can do.

"I have an appointment in the morning.

"I will not be able to give you a ride to work."

Or you might ask a friend if they could

come over for dinner on a certain night of the week,

and they might reply by saying, "No can do.

"I already have other things on the go that day."

So again, no can do is an informal slang phrase

and it's a little bit rude to say it,

but you might hear it,

and it means that you can't do something.

The opposite, of course, is a very nice phrase

and doesn't make fun of anybody,

and that's to say, "Sure thing."

So this would be the opposite of no can do.

If someone said to me,

"Can I get a ride to work with you tomorrow?"

I could say, "Sure thing.

"You can totally get a ride to work with me tomorrow."

By the way, I think I might have already covered this phrase

a few months ago,

but it's always worth reviewing, isn't it?

I think that sometimes when you are learning English,

it's good to learn something more than once

so that you can remember it.

So again, if someone says, "No can do,"

it means that they can't do something,

and if someone says, "Sure thing,"

it means that they can do something.

So if you were to say to me, "Hey, Bob the Canadian,

"can you make another video next week?"

I would say, "Sure thing, I will make another video

"to help you learn English."

Anyways, Bob the Canadian here.

I hope you're having a great day

wherever you are in the world,

and I'll see you tomorrow in the next video.