Learn the English Phrases "a hard pill to swallow" and "to be hard hit"

In this English lesson,

I wanted to help you learn the English phrase,

a hard pill to swallow.

Sometimes we say a tough pill to swallow.

When you have an experience in life

that you describe as a hard pill to swallow,

it means it's a difficult situation,

or it's something that's just not very nice.

The other day,

I talked about needing to get something fixed on my van.

The mechanic said it was going to be $1,000.

That's a bit of a hard pill to swallow.

The other day, I was driving my van,

and I saw someone on the side of the road,

and there was steam coming out

from the front of their vehicle.

That might be a hard pill to swallow,

especially when they go to get it fixed.

It might be really, really expensive.

So when you're describing something that isn't pleasant,

or something that you don't actually enjoy,

you might say that it's a hard pill to swallow.

The other phrase I wanted to teach you today

is to be hard hit.

So when you're hard hit by something,

it means that it's very, very difficult or trying.

You could say this,

a lot of restaurants were hard hit during the pandemic.

They didn't have a lot of customers,

and it was very, very difficult for them to make money.

They were hard hit during the pandemic.

By the way, I can switch the words as well,

and I can say the restaurants were hit hard

during the pandemic, and it means exactly the same thing.

So you could say restaurants were hard hit

during the pandemic.

They weren't allowed to be open,

and they didn't have a lot of sales,

and it was very difficult for them.

Or you could say they were hit hard as well.

So to review,

when you say that something is a hard pill to swallow,

or a tough pill to swallow,

it means it's something that you don't wanna do.

It's something that you're experiencing

that isn't very nice.

And when you say that something is hard hit or hit hard,

it means that they've taken a bit of a wallop.

It means they went through a time

that wasn't very good for them.

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

This comment is from Denis,

or in English, we would say Dennis,

but it usually has two N's then.

The comment is this.

"A very good lesson,

I will listen to it in a couple of hours for repetition."

And my response, "That's a great plan."

So I've mentioned this a lot of times as I teach English.

I think repetition is very, very valuable.

The problem with repetition is it's not very enjoyable.

So it's one of those things in life that's valuable,

but not enjoyable.

Think of it this way.

If you read a book,

it's very difficult to reread the book right away.

If you watch a TV show,

it can be fun and enjoyable and you just love it,

but thinking about watching it again immediately,

it's not as exciting, is it?

You won't have the same experience

if you watch it for a second time,

it will be something where you,

sorry, there's a vehicle driving in.

I'll show you for a sec.

It looks like there's a van driving in,

now they're backing up.

And then now they're going to drive out.

So maybe someone was here for flowers.

Anyways, repetition.

The only thing I can think of where repetition is enjoyable

is with music.

When you listen to a song and you love the song,

it's really easy to listen to it again.

But once again, Denis, as you mentioned,

watching these videos twice is a good idea.

Watching things twice, reading things twice.

Even if you can get to the point

where you're doing things three times,

it will really, really help your English learning.

Anyways, I've gone on with this quite a bit, haven't I?

I should show you the tree that I have not cleaned up yet.

So we'll spin around.

This is the tree that blew down in that windstorm

a little while ago.

You can see the leaves are turning brown.

I still have to get up there and cut this branch,

and pull it down with my tractor and dispose of it.

We'll probably cut it up into small pieces,

and use it for firewood next summer.

That would be my plan.

Anyways, thank you so much

for watching this short English lesson.

I hope you enjoyed it,

and I'll see you in a few days with another one, bye.