Learn the English Phrases THE WORKS and IN THE WORKS

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you

learn the English phrase the works.

When you ask for the works when you're ordering something,

it means you want every possible option that's possible.

If you go to a restaurant and you order a hamburger

and they say, "What would you like on it?"

If you say you would like the works,

it means you want ketchup and relish and mustard

and lettuce and tomato and onions,

and maybe bacon and cheese.

When you order the works, it means you want everything.

I actually saw this phrase the other day

because I drove by a car wash and it said

"Basic wash, Wash with Wax,"

and then it said "The Works,"

and the works had all kinds of really cool things

they would do to your car if you got a car wash there.

So the works simply means

that you want every option possible when ordering something.

The other phrase I wanted to teach you today

is the phrase in the works.

When you have something in the works,

it means that you are planning to do it.

Sometimes at school, I say to my students,

"I have a few things in the works.

I'm thinking about what we're going to do this next week,

and I have a few things in the works."

That means I might be planning a class trip or a field trip.

It means I might be planning to bring in some food.

Actually, we can't bring food in 'cause of COVID,

but we definitely can go on little field trips.

So that's something I might have in the works for my class.

So to review, when you ask for the works

when you order something,

it means you want every possible option that is possible.

If you were buying a brand-new car,

I certainly wouldn't say "I'll take, give me the works,"

because that means you're gonna pay

thousands of dollars extra for a whole bunch of things

that maybe you don't need.

And then when you have something in the works,

it means that you are planning to do something.

Sometimes for my YouTube channel,

I have a few things in the works.

I think about what should I do in a month or two

that's a little bit different or more exciting.

Sometimes I have some things in the works.

But let's look at a comment from a previous video.

Sorry if I'm talking fast today,

it's misting out, like it's drizzling a little bit,

and it's really cold, actually.

This comment is from Khalil.

"Hi, Teacher Bob, what is the difference

between it is time and it's about time?"

And my response is this.

It is time simply means

the time has arrived to do something.

It's about time means you are frustrated

that something took so long to happen.

So let me maybe explain that a little bit better.

When you say it is time, like right now,

it's time for me to walk and talk for a little bit.

It's time for me to do that.

But if I was to say it's about time

that I start walking and talking,

that would mean that you were waiting for that

a long time, and it wasn't happening.

And you're like, "Come on, Bob, it's about time

you take the camera off the tripod

and walk for a little bit."

Anyways, hopefully that made some sense.

Thank you so much for that comment.

What should I show you today? Well, you know what?

(groans) Banged my camera a little bit.

Let me spin you around and show you what life is like here.

It has been raining.

You'll see that I have my rubber boots on.

It has been raining here for days. It just keeps raining.

The puddles in my driveway are gigantic.

If we go and try to have a look

in the distance at the river,

you'll notice that the river has flooded.

I know I talk a little bit too much sometimes,

let me get down a little bit so you can see,

I know I talk a little bit too often about the weather,

but this is getting to be a little crazy.

We have a cistern under our garage and it was so full,

it was right up to the brim.

We had to actually pump water out of it

because we didn't need it anymore.

The river, it's usually never this flooded

at this time of year, it's an odd thing.

I'm not sure if it's because of global warming

or what's going on in the world, but it's wet here.

It's too wet, it needs to stop.

Anyways, I'll see you in a couple of days

with another short little English lesson, bye.