Learn the English Phrases "a rookie mistake" and "an honest mistake"

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you

learn the English phrase a rookie mistake.

Now, this is a term we use

when we're talking about someone who's new at something

and then they make a mistake.

At school, oh, by the way,

a rookie is someone who's new at something.

When you play a sport, you can be a rookie.

It means it's your first year.

But we use this in other things as well.

At school, sometimes we hire a new teacher

and we call that teacher a rookie for the first year.

And a rookie mistake as a teacher

would be to try and use the photocopier

right before the school day starts.

That's the busiest time.

If you need to photocopy something in a school,

don't do it (laughs) right before school starts

because there will be a lineup of teachers

all making the same mistakes, including the rookie.

So anyways, a rookie mistake is a mistake

that someone who is new at something ends up making.

The other phrase I wanted to teach you today

is the phrase an honest mistake.

Now, an honest mistake is just a mistake

that anyone would make,

and it's a mistake that doesn't really harm anyone.

A good example would be this.

Sometimes I'll teach a student

and then a few years later, I'll teach their brother.

So I'll teach two brothers, and then a few years later,

again, after they've graduated

I'll meet one of them somewhere and I'll use the wrong name.

And that's just an honest mistake.

Sometimes brothers look a lot alike,

especially after they graduate from high school.

If you meet two brothers in their 20s,

they can sometimes look quite a bit alike.

So it's just an honest mistake

if I use the wrong name when I run into one of them.

So to review, a rookie mistake is a mistake

made by someone who's new at something.

A rookie mistake for a farmer

is to try and work up the soil before it's dry enough.

That's a rookie mistake.

And an honest mistake is just a simple mistake

that anyone would make,

and it's not a mistake that harms anyone

or costs money or anything like that.

So I make a lot of those, actually.

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

This comment is from Judit.

"Thanks for the video. It was quite short, as usual.

"Christmas is coming as well as the eagle season

"in North Florida, check them out."

And my response, "I'll have a look."

And I did, I actually just spent a little bit of time

reading about bald eagles.

And I wanted to show all of you something as well.

So the bald eagle is native to North America.

It's an eagle with a white head.

I think it's the national bird in the United States.

But if you look behind me here,

there's a really tall hydro pole right there.

We call 'em hydro poles in Canada.

And at the very top, sometimes in the summer

we'll see a bald eagle.

There is a bald eagle that lives on our farm.

I'm sure it's gone now, though,

because I'm sure it's gone south for the winter

where it's a bit warmer.

But interestingly enough, Judit, thanks for that comment.

I did read a little bit about bald eagles, and again,

there's one that sometimes perches right at the top

of that hydro pole.

You might call it a utility pool if you are in America,

or something like that.

By the way, I'm out here in the rain.

It's a little bit slippery out here.

Let's see if...

So I actually ended up staying home today.

We had, I guess we would call it technically,

we would call it a snow day,

but it's actually more accurate to call it an ice day.

We woke up to freezing rain.

It was very, very dangerous to walk outside.

It was very, very dangerous to drive.

So we found out that school was canceled.

So I had a day off. It was kind of nice.

It's been a while since I've had a day off.

It's been a while since I've had a snow day.

Now it is a little wet and cold still,

but it's above zero now so it's not as dangerous.

But I'm glad I'm not at work now

because it's supposed to get really cold again.

So the drive home would've been dangerous.

Anyways, see with another video in a few days. Bye.