Learn the English Phrases DOWN THE DRAIN and GOING UNDER - A Short English Lesson with Subtitles

4,355 views ・ 2020-06-04

Bob's Short English Lessons


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So today I wanted to help you learn the English phrase
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down the drain.
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When we say in English that something
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is going down the drain,
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it means that things are getting worse.
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If I was to say that a business is going down the drain,
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it means that the business isn't making money.
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The business doesn't have very many customers.
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The business is going down the drain.
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And just to remind you, the drain is the thing
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that you find at the bottom of a sink.
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When you turn on a tap or a faucet,
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the water goes down the drain.
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So we use the same phrase to describe things
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that are going badly.
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You can also say that a relationship
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is going down the drain.
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If the two people in the relationship don't get along,
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you could say it's going down the drain.
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And then we have another little phrase
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when we think people are spending money
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and not in a good way,
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we say that it's like pouring money down the drain.
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So instead of keeping the money or saving it,
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you're actually spending it unwisely.
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Anyways, I wanted to end by thanking Elena
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for the suggestion.
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Awesome, thanks for the e-mail.
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I also want to talk about the phrase going under.
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When a business isn't doing well,
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when a business is spending more money than they are making,
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we would say that the business is going under.
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Another English word for it
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is that a business can be going bankrupt.
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So when you say that a business,
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when the business is going down the drain,
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you could also say that the business is going under,
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which means that the business is going bankrupt,
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and eventually the business will have to close
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because they won't have enough money to operate.
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So when things are going down the drain,
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they're getting worse.
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Thanks again, Elena for the suggestion.
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And then when you say that a business is going under,
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it means that the business is not doing very well.
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I'm not sure what just happened with my voice there.
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Apparently my voice is going down the drain a little bit.
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Anyways, Bob the Canadian here.
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Hope you're having a good day and I'll see you tomorrow
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with another short English lesson.
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