Meaning of ON THE TIP OF MY TONGUE - A Really Short English Lesson with Subtitles

8,444 views ・ 2019-10-04

Bob's Short English Lessons


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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So I had this really cool phrase I wanted to teach you guys today, but, I can't remember
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what it was.
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It's, it's on the tip of my tongue though, it's, oh, that's what it is.
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It's the phrase, "on the tip of my tongue".
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So in English when we say that something is on the tip of our tongues or on the tip of
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my tongue it means that you're about to remember it.
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It's something that you've momentarily forgotten and you know that if you think hard enough
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you'll be able to remember it.
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Oftentimes we use this phrase when we're having trouble remembering someone's name.
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So maybe you see someone across a room somewhere who you haven't seen in a number of years
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and their name is on the tip of your tongue and that means that you know their name you
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just can't remember it quickly and you know that if you think long enough eventually you
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will remember their name.
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01:01
We also in this situation might say that we are a little bit absentminded.
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Absent means that something is gone and your mind is your brain up here, so when you feel
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absentminded it means that you feel like your brain has left you for a little bit, that
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you're having trouble remembering something or you are forgetting things a lot because
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you are a little bit absentminded.
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As you get older you might feel more and more absentminded every day as you start to forget
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things, so, anyways, I hope you guys aren't absentminded!
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Have a good day!
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