Learn the English Phrase TO CLAM UP and the Word BASICALLY

In this English lesson I wanted to help you

learn the English phrase to clam up.

Now, this simply means to stop talking,

and it's usually used to talk about

when a conversation just stops

because someone's mentioned something

or brought up a topic that no one wants to talk about.

Maybe they started talking about politics,

and everyone just clams up

because they don't want to talk about politics.

Maybe they start talking about

some other uncomfortable topic,

and everyone will clam up

because they don't want to talk about it.

So, it simply means to stop talking.

It simply means a situation where people

are having a conversation, and then someone says something,

and then everyone else stops talking, they clam up.

The other phrase I wanted to teach you today

is actually just a word, and it's the word basically.

Mark Cooper requested that I talk about a couple of words,

the first one is basically.

Basically just means the the simple things you need

for something to exist, or for something to happen.

I'm not describing this very well,

so let me get back to the basics.

If you wanna make bread,

basically you need flour, water, yeast, and salt.

If you want to be healthy,

basically you just need to go for a walk every day,

eat healthy food, and relax a little bit.

There's probably other things you can do,

but those are the simple ingredients

or the simple things you need to do.

When we say basically,

we're basically just saying the only things you need.

For me, basically, if I wanna make an English lesson,

I need a piece of paper, a camera, and a good idea,

and I'm ready to go.

Anyways, to review, to clam up simply means to stop talking.

Sometimes when they arrest someone,

the police bring him into the police station,

and the person will clam up when they start asking questions

about the crime that was committed,

and the word basically is simply used

basically to talk about the simple things you need

for something to exist.

In order to grow flowers, basically you need dirt,

seeds, and some sunshine and some rain.

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

I hope it didn't fall outta my pocket.

Here it is.

This is from Vítor.

Mr. Bob is such a nice teacher.

Thank you.

Do your children know how to swim?

And my response, yes.

All of our children have had swimming lessons,

and we often swim at a local park and at a relative's house.

So yes, all of my children have had swimming lessons,

and they do know how to swim,

so that's really, really cool.

Hey, a couple of things I wanted to talk about today,

I need to keep an eye on the time here.

One is people have noticed

that I've been wearing more t-shirts lately.

Yes, it's summer.

In the summer, I wear more t-shirts.

I have a little bit of a relaxed approach to the day.

Instead of wearing a nice shirt with buttons and a collar

like I do when I go teach every day, I relax a bit,

so I tend to wear a few more t-shirts.

They say Champion, it's the brand name.

It doesn't mean I think I'm the champion.

So, anyways,

the other thing I wanted to do is show you some flowers.

Let me spin you around.

This is our Dahlia bed,

and sometimes I say this two different ways.

I say dahlias or dahlias, and you can see here,

they're all growing really well.

I just realized I'm walking into a running sprinkler,

so I should maybe move this way a bit so I don't get wet.

I'm not sure if you can see the water,

but Jen is definitely out here

watering some flowers right now.

Sorry, she's not actually out here,

but you can see maybe a little bit of the mist

that's coming off, and let's go this way.

I'm gonna run back this way

because I wanted to show you the lilies

before I run out of time.

We have some nice lilies growing here.

Anyways, that's it for the lesson.

Thanks for watching.

I'll see you in a couple days with another one.

Bye.