Learn the English Phrases IF ANYTHING and ANYTHING GOES

In this English lesson,

I wanted to help you learn the English phrase if anything.

This is a little phrase we use

when we introduce the opposite to the current idea.

Here's an example.

If Jen and I brought flowers to market

and we didn't sell a lot,

you might think we should bring less flowers,

but if anything, we should probably bring more flowers,

so that our display is more colorful

and people are more attracted to it, and come and buy more.

So it's when you introduce the opposite idea.

You might think to yourself on a hot day,

it's a good idea to spend a lot of time in the shade,

but if anything, it might be better

to spend a lot of time in the hot sun

so that you get used to it.

That's kind of a bad example.

Don't spend more time in the hot sun, but you get the point.

I was introducing an idea

which was kind of the opposite of what was being said.

The second phrase I wanted to teach you today

is the phrase anything goes.

This means that there are no rules or expectations.

At work, you might have to wear a suit and tie,

but your friend might work somewhere where anything goes.

They can wear whatever they want.

You might say to someone,

"Are there any things you don't like when you get a pizza?"

and you can say, "Oh, no, anything goes.

I like all of the toppings.

Put them all on."

I've never had a pizza like that.

I should try that someday.

But anything goes means

that there's no rules or expectations

in a current situation.

So to review, if you say, "If anything,"

it means that you're going to introduce

a contrary or opposite idea to the conversation,

and when you say, "Anything goes,"

it means that there's no rules or expectations

or things that you have to do in a certain situation.

Anything goes.

Hey, let's look at a comment from a previous video.

This comment is from D.Harish.

"After completion of exams,

we have to wait and see whether we will pass or not."

And my response.

"That's your only choice.

You just have to wait and see."

As a teacher, I'm keenly aware of this.

When I give an exam,

my students just have to wait and see what their grade is.

Usually I grade exams very, very quickly, though.

I'm a fast grader.

On a day when students write an exam,

I usually have it graded the same day.

I don't like to make students wait,

so I try to do it as quickly as possible.

Anyways, you can see behind me,

I have some equipment lined up here

because I'm selling some farm equipment.

So this is a plow.

This plow is for sale.

I'm asking $750 for it,

but I don't think I'll get that much.

It's in rough shape.

It's a little bit rusty and it needs some parts.

This is a mower that goes behind my small tractor,

and I don't need this anymore

because my son actually has a couple of lawnmowers,

and he does it as a little business,

so he mows some of my lawn now, so that's handy.

So that's for sale, too.

I'm asking $1,600 for this,

but you can see a person came to look at it this morning,

and they didn't like all of the rust on it,

so they weren't willing to pay that much, so that's okay.

And this piece of equipment is called a haybine.

It's for cutting hay out in the field.

I think I've even posted pictures in the past

of me using it,

but I don't cut my own hay anymore.

The neighbor comes and cuts it with his brand new machine,

so I thought I should sell this to someone else

and see if they could use it.

I'm asking $6,000 for this,

but no one has called on it,

so I think my price is too high.

I think I should reduce the price

a little bit at some point,

because I haven't had any offers.

This, I had someone call immediately

the first day I listed it for sale,

and this no one has called about, either,

but plows are usually used in the fall,

so it's possible

that it's just not a popular item right now.

Anyways, I hope you're not too bored

when I talk about farm equipment,

but it's just part of my life.

Hope you're having a good day.

I'll see you in a couple days with another short lesson.

Bye.