Meaning of GOOF AROUND and GOOF OFF - A Short English Lesson with Subtitles

So in English when you goof around,

it means that you're just being playful

or maybe telling jokes.

You're certainly not doing anything important.

A lotta times in my classroom, my students work really hard,

but sometimes when they don't feel like learning,

they goof around.

They just act silly, and they do playful things

or they play games with each other.

So when you goof around,

it means that you're just doing something playful or silly.

A lotta times this happens when I'm driving my kids

in my van, especially at night.

Sometimes I will get a little bit angry

because my kids will goof around in the back of the van

while I'm trying to drive, while I'm trying to focus

on the road and when I'm trying to pay attention

to the traffic around me.

Sometimes my kids are laughing and giggling,

and all they do is goof around while I'm trying to drive.

We have another phrase that means exactly the same thing,

and that's goof off.

So again, sometimes in my classroom,

my students work really hard, and sometimes they goof off.

This means exactly the same thing.

When you goof off, it means that you just act silly

or you do silly things or you're just not doing

what you're supposed to be doing

and instead you're having a little bit of fun.

So if you goof around or if you goof off,

it means that you're just being silly

and you're just having fun

and you're just not doing the work

that you probably should be doing.

So hopefully you are not goofing around,

and hopefully you are not goofing off right now.

Hopefully you're learning lots of English with me.

I'm Bob the Canadian,

and I hope that you're having a good day.