Learn the English Phrases BELOW THE BELT and ABOVE BOARD

6,364 views ・ 2022-04-22

Bob's Short English Lessons


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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In this English lesson I wanted to help you
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learn the English phrase below the belt.
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When someone says something to you that's not very nice,
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especially if it's really, really nasty.
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You might say that it's below the belt.
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When you describe an insult or an action as being
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below the belt, it means it's really, really hurtful.
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It's really, really negative.
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I think the phrase below the belt comes from,
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for guys especially, if you get kicked down there
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below the belt, it hurts quite a bit.
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And so I think this phrase is a similar idea.
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If someone says something that's just really rude
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or really nasty, or they do something that's really rude
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or nasty, we would describe it as being below the belt.
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It's definitely not nice to do things that are kind of
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below the belt to people.
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It's just not a good thing at all.
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The second phrase I wanted to teach you is the phrase
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above board.
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When something is above board, it means it's done
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in the right way, and it's done legally, and it's done well.
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Let's say that two teams are trading players.
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If they do everything above board, they will announce
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the trade, and they will follow all the rules.
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Let's say the Toronto Raptors are trading one
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of their players with another team in the NBA.
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They wanna make sure everything's above board.
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They wanna follow all of the league rules,
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when they make the trade,
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they don't wanna do something illegal or sneaky.
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So they wanna make sure it's done, above board.
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Anyways, to review.
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When someone says something that's insulting or does
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something that's not very nice.
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If it's really, really nasty and mean,
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we say it's below the belt.
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And when you do things above board,
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it means you take the time to do them properly.
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You follow the rules, you do it the right way.
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So that yes, (chuckling)
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hopefully so that you don't get in trouble
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for doing it the wrong way.
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But anyways, let's look at a comment from a previous video.
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This comment is from Daniel.
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I've noticed you are a sport enthusiast, Mr. Bob.
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Please tell us your favorite sports and teams.
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I guess hockey is the favorite one of most Canadians.
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And my response, I have come to love watching
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NBA basketball, I like the Toronto Raptors.
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Hockey is very popular in Canada,
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but I don't actually watch it.
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Don't tell any of the other Canadians that.
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Yes, I have become, just during COVID, during this pandemic,
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Jen and I have become Raptors fans.
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We started watching them actually, I think
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the year before the pandemic, they were in the playoffs
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and they actually won the championship.
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But we weren't really fans.
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We just jumped on board, because they were
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doing so well that year.
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But then during, I forget at what point,
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but at a certain point in the winter
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we started watching Raptors games quite regularly.
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We would watch one a week and then maybe two.
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And now the Raptors are actually in the playoffs.
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(rumbling of large truck engine)
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Sorry, bit of a loud truck there.
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And we have watched, I would say a couple games a week
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for most of the season.
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We are a little bit sad right now though,
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because, yeah, they just lost three games in a row,
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against Philadelphia. And it's a best of seven series.
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So if they don't win four straight,
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their season is going to be over.
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Actually, Jen and I had tickets to go and
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see a Raptors game way back in January.
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We bought tickets and we were gonna go see a Raptors game.
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It was going to be the first time
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we had seen the Raptors live.
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and then COVID came back and there was another wave.
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I don't know if it was the fifth, or fourth, or sixth wave,
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(chuckling) and we weren't able to go.
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The tickets were canceled and refunded.
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So we're thinking maybe next year we will go and
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see an actual game.
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Go see a live Raptors game in Toronto.
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That would be super, super fun.
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But anyways, not a hockey fan.
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When the Maple Leafs, when the Toronto Maple Leafs
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do well at the end of the season,
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sometimes I will watch a bit, but normally not.
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So again, don't tell the other Canadians.
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See ya in a couple days, with another
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short English lesson. Bye.
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