Learn the English Phrases STEP IT UP and TO STEP ON SOMEONE'S TOES

In this English lesson, I wanted

to help you learn the English phrase, step it up.

If you tell someone they need to step it up,

it means that they're working at this level

and they need to work harder.

At work sometimes my boss will say

to us, "Hey, everybody, you need to step it up,

you're not working hard enough."

He actually doesn't say that very often.

I have a really nice boss!

But if you are at work and someone

isn't working hard enough, they might be told

that they need to step it up.

We also sometimes say you need to step up your game.

So if you're working with someone

and they're not working very hard,

you might say they need to step it up.

The phrase to step up means something similar,

so if you are someone who doesn't have

a certain responsibility and suddenly

you need to take on that responsibility,

we would say that you need to step up,

so it's slightly different, but it has a similar meaning.

The second phrase I wanna teach you today

is the phrase to step on someone's toes.

If you step on someone's toes,

it means you do something

that they were supposed to be doing.

This can also happen at work.

Sometimes at work, a colleague will do part

of your job and you can say to them,

"Hey, don't step on my toes, that's my job to do."

It's not a nice thing to say, it's kind of direct

if you say, "Hey, don't step on my toes."

But when you step on someone's toes,

it means you do something

that they were supposed to be doing.

So to repeat, to review, if you need

to step it up, it means you need to do a better job,

it means you need to work harder.

We might even say you need to step up your game.

And if you step on someone's toes,

it doesn't mean that you're actually stepping

on their toes, but it means that you are doing

something that they were supposed to be doing.

And it might even be something they like doing.

Let's say your sister loves planning

a birthday party for one of your parents,

and then one year you do it without talking to her.

She could say, "Hey, you're stepping on my toes.

That's something I normally do."

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

I actually have a couple comments to look at today.

The first one is from Andrew, and Andrew says,

"Five years ago, I bought two pairs of long johns

and they've served me well,"

and I replied by saying, "Long johns are awesome.

Also, nice work using the phrase served me well perfectly."

So thanks, Andrew, for that comment.

Yes, long johns, they are also called long underwear,

and you wear them under your pants in the winter

if you live in a very cold country,

and they help keep your legs warm.

I love wearing long johns when I'm outside in the winter.

I forgot to put mine on today, and I probably should have.

It's not as cold as last time, but it's definitely cold.

And when Andrew says that "the long johns served him well,"

what he's saying is that they have been

an excellent thing for him to have.

They haven't broken, they don't have holes in them,

they've worked every time he's used them,

so anyways, Andrew, thanks for that comment again.

That was a great comment.

I do have a second comment today.

I liked this comment, this comment is from Naomi

and Naomi says, "Hi, Bob,

how can you make Oscar come inside?"

Oscar's my dog, by the way. He's around here somewhere.

"When you tell him to do that,

does he understand and obey right away," Naomi.

My response was when he hears the printer start,

he goes to the door and waits for me.

When I'm done my video, he runs to the door

and waits to go back in.

So Oscar and I have developed a little routine. (laughs)

Even though Oscar is really Jen's dog,

he's in the house in the winter.

When I start to print, when I print

my little phrase for the day,

when he hears the printer start,

he comes to my room and he lays by the printer

or he goes to the door and he stands

at the door waiting to go outside.

Then I come outside and I make my video

and he runs around, sometimes you see him,

and then as soon as he sees that I'm done,

he runs back to the house and he stands

by the door and waits to go in.

He's a really smart dog.