Movie quotes you need to know to understand native speakers.

- Has this ever happened to you?

You are in a social situation in English

and someone says something

and then everyone else starts laughing

and you don't know why.

Well, maybe they just said some famous line

or a reference from a movie that everyone knows

and well, maybe you don't,

but today, we're going to fix that, so let's go.

Hi, I'm your English coach, Christina

and welcome to Business English with Christina

where you become more confident in English

so that you can grow your business.

If you're doing business in English,

recognizing famous movie quotes

can help you to understand certain situations,

get the jokes that people are making

and make you feel more confident,

like a little bit like an insider because you get it.

And you know, some of my clients have admitted to me

that when this kinda situation happens

and they don't understand, they just kinda like smile

and laugh and pretend that they know what's going on

even if they don't.

And I mean, like, I've done that before.

In fridge, I think we've all done it.

It's just kind of a really scary feeling.

Anyway, we're gonna fix it all today.

All right, so let's look at some famous movie quotes.

Have you ever heard this one?

- May the force be with you.

- May the force be with you.

- May the force be with you.

- So what does it mean if someone says to you,

"May the force be with you?"

It basically, it's like they're wishing you good luck,

or, you know, possibly maybe they're implying

that you're about to do something like incredible

or big and difficult, and they want to,

you know, wish that you do a good job.

And so, for example, if like your coworker is leaving

on a big, important business trip

or they're going into like a big, important meeting,

you can say to them, "May the force be with you."

Now, what if you're talking with your coworkers

about something surprising that happened to you

and then someone on your team says to you,

"Eh, life is like a box of chocolates."

What the heck are they talking about?

Well, of course, they're referring to this famous quote.

- My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates.

You never know what you're gonna get.

- It's from the film "Forrest Gump",

which actually the parts

where they're with the shrimp boats,

that was filmed, like where I live, which is kinda cool.

Anyway, when they say, "Life is like a box of chocolates,"

it basically means that life is full of surprises

and you can never know what's gonna happen.

Now, what would you think if you are,

I don't know, like at a conference

and someone says to you, "We're not in Kansas anymore."

And you're like, "Wait, we were never in Kansas."

Like, what on earth do you think they're talking about?

- Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

- "We're not in Kansas anymore,"

it basically means like, you know,

you should expect things to become a little strange,

a little different from the way things are done,

you know, where you're from

or your normal context, let's say.

And of course, it's from that very classic movie,

"The Wizard of Oz" when a girl, Dorothy,

who is from Kansas is swept up in a tornado

and then she finds herself in this very strange,

surreal land, of course, the Land of Oz.

And when she sees things that are very strange,

that's why she says,

"You know, we're not in Kansas anymore."

All right, are you having fun learning

these cultural references and movie quotes?

And if you wanna have even more fun,

go over to the blog because I've got a quiz for you

where you can quiz yourself on these quotes

and some more quotes that we're about to look at.

Okay, this one is a tricky one.

Let's imagine you are in a meeting

and someone gets up to leave

and then they use a funny accent

and they say something like, "I'll be back."

And you're wondering like,

"Okay, are they making fun of my accent in English?"

No, they're not. I assure you, but here's what's going on.

It's just this reference.

- I'll be back.

- It's a very famous quote from the movie "Terminator",

which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger

who, of course, is from Austria

and, you know, still has his accent.

It's a great example of someone

who still has their native accent

but who went on to succeed and become governor

or as we say, Governator, like governor and "Terminator",

Governator, the Governator of California.

So if someone's like leaves the room and they say,

"I'll be back," they're not making fun of you.

They're maybe just trying to, I don't know,

lighten the mood and have a little fun.

Now this one you may have seen

if you've gone on to the Google website,

you know, to Google something

and you see that it says feeling lucky question mark.

Now, what does it mean when you ask someone

if they feel lucky?

Well, it's from this movie.

- You've got to ask yourself one question,

"do I feel lucky?"

Well, do you punk?

- "Do you feel lucky" means, you know,

like do you really want to take the risk?

It's a quote from the movie "Dirty Harry".

And if someone says it, it's kind of a humorous way

of saying that you're maybe going to try something

that's a little dangerous like, I don't know, Google.

Why would that be dangerous?

Because you start Googling something

and then you click on something

and you click on something else

and you click on something else

and then, I don't know, two hours has gone by, and yeah.

So watch out for Google. It's dangerous.

Okay. Here's another one.

What if you are at a meeting, let's say,

and someone is presenting,

they're trying to convince you and your coworkers.

And then, at the end, they say, "Okay, what did you think?"

And one of your coworkers says, "You had me at hello."

Hmm. Let's see if you recognize this clip.

- I love you.

You (breathing shakily) complete me.

And I just had- - Shut up.

- What?

- Just shut up. (sniffling)

You had me at hello.

You had me at hello.

- "You had me at hello."

Of course, it's from another famous movie, "Jerry Maguire",

and it basically means like,

"You don't need to keep making arguments.

I, I was convinced as soon as you said hello."

Now in the movie, yes, it is in sort of a romantic context

but this quote, it's so famous that now we can use it

in any other situation where you want to say

that you were convinced very early in the discussion.

All right, so now you know, some of the most famous lines

and references from movies in American culture

that you might hear at business events like,

I don't know, networking events, lunches, dinners,

just casual conversation, that kind of thing.

And now, instead of feeling lost and confused,

you'll actually understand the reference.

You'll get what people are saying and why they're saying it

and that gives you a little bit, you know,

a reason to feel proud of yourself in English.

Now, if you're serious about becoming better at English

and better at your business, go over to the blog post

and check out the quiz that I've created for you

that goes with this lesson.

This way, you can, you know,

actually test yourself on what you've learned

that helps to make it stick in your brain, and it's fun.

It's just always fun taking a little quiz, right?

And of course, if you don't use it, you lose it,

so here's a way that you can also use your English.

Are there any famous movie quotes

in your culture that everyone knows?

I'm sure there are.

I'm sure every culture has these,

and I would love it if you share it with us in the comments.

You can put it in the original language.

That's always interesting.

And then maybe try your best to translate it into English.

Of course, we know that cultural references,

they don't always translate well, but that's okay.

Just do your best, share it with us,

and we'll have a lot of fun down in the comments, I'm sure.

And if this lesson was helpful for you,

there are three ways that you can let me know.

The first one is to give this video a thumbs up on YouTube

and subscribe to my channel so that I can continue

making business English lessons for you.

The second thing that you can do, go over to the blog

and have fun with the quiz on these movie quotes.

And while you're there, sign up for my newsletter

to get, you know, lots of extra fun stuff

and a free lesson every week.

And you can also watch this next lesson

which will help you to know what to do

when you don't understand in English

because hey, it happens to the best of us.

All right, thank you so much for improving your English

and your business with Business English with Christina

and I'll see you next time.