Meaning of A BIT OF A FIXER-UPPER - A Really Short English Lesson with Subtitles

So I bought my house from my mom and it's a bit of a fixer-upper.

In English when we say that something is a bit of a fixer-upper it means that it needs

some repairs.

You can see that this window here is a little bit rotted.

So we are getting a new window put in.

The house is in pretty good shape, but I would describe it as a bit of a fixer-upper.

So that means that there are a few things, here and there, that need to be fixed.

Interestingly enough, sometimes to be funny we will describe people in the same way.

Maybe you know someone who has started dating a new boyfriend and she might describe her

new boyfriend by saying, "He's a bit of a fixer-upper."

So that's kind of a joking way to say that he's a really nice guy, but there are things

about his personality that could be improved.

So he's a bit of a fixer-upper.

The other phrase we use in English when I describe things like my house is that it needs

work.

My house needs work.

When you say that something needs work it's a general term referring to the fact that

it, it needs some repairs, it needs some things done to it so that it is back in good shape

again.

So my house definitely needs work.

It needs work.

We don't usually use this phrase though to describe people.

We don't often say that a person needs work.

Sometimes though we'll just say, that person needs some help, because we think that they

could improve their personality.

But generally, if you say, that something needs work, or it needs work you are describing

something like a house or a car.