20 Inspiring Phrases For Conversation

Hi there. Welcome to today's English lesson. Today, we are learning 20 inspiring phrases to  

use when times are tough or when someone  you care about needs some inspiration. 

Now don't worry about making notes  because I've done all that for you. 

You can download your lesson notes  for free by clicking on the link below  

and joining my ESL mailing list. The beauty is once you're signed up  

to the mailing list, I'll send  you all future notes as well. 

Just click on the link below and add  your details. Now. Let's get started.

The sky's the limit. The sky's the limit means  

anything is possible. You can go as high as  

the sky with a project or goal. Metaphorically speaking, of course,  

there is actually no top limit to this. You can just keep on going. The sky is endless.

And I'm really nervous about  putting myself on YouTube.  

I just don't know if people will like my video...

Don't worry, just try it out. And you never  know what will happen. The sky's the limit.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

This means that there is always something  good that can be found in a bad situation.

For example, you lose a job that you  love. That's really bad news. But  

it does give you more time and space to work on  some other projects that you've been putting off. 

That's the silver lining.

What a lovely day! What a... Oh, no.

Just look at that awful cloud.  This is terrible. Worst thing ever!

But wait, what's that?

A silver lining, it's not much, but  it's something to smile about. I guess.

Next up we have - there's  light at the end of the tunnel.

This means that you can see the  end of a situation or project  

after a long time or a difficult  time trying to complete it. 

You know that it will finally end  because you can see the light.

When is this gonna end?

Hang on... What’s that!? It’s light! Light!  The end is in sight guys. The end is in sight.

When life gives you lemons - make lemonade.

This means that you should try to make the best  out of any situation. Even when something happens  

in your life that you don't want. You can  find a way to make something good from it.

Oh, Holy Macaroni! What am I  going to do with all these lemons?

Ah there! Lemonade.

The world is your oyster. Huh? 

The world is your oyster. That's a bit of a funny one. The world isn't  

an oyster. This is one of the phrases in English  that we can thank Mr. William Shakespeare for.

It first appeared in his play the “Merry Wives of  Windsor”. The world is your oyster means you can  

do anything. You can go to space! You can become president! 

Or you can sit in your  living room and read a book.

The world is your oyster.

Now we use this next phrase when we  want someone to make a special effort. 

It's - go the extra mile.

Oh, I'm so tired. And I'm just out  of ideas. I just want to stop here.

Come on Anna. Your students love you.  

And they are used to high quality  lessons with you. So go the extra mile.

You're right. I'll go the  extra mile for my students.  

Thanks. Next up.

When one door closes another one opens.

This means that even though  one opportunity has finished  

or is no longer available to you,  there will be another opportunity.

Anna, can you help? Oh, this door  

is stuck. I thought I'd be  able to open it but I can't up.

Don't worry. That door may be closed but  another one has just opened over there.

Break a leg - is a great expression to  use when you want to wish someone luck,  

especially if you're involved in acting  or the theatre, in acting circles saying  

good luck is believed to bring bad luck. So, people started saying ‘break a leg’  

which didn't actually mean break it. Just  bend it at the knee like you would do  

at the end of a show when  the crowd cheers for you. 

Thank you. Thank you.

Ahhh my show is starting in 10  minutes, so I better prepare myself.

Oh, yes, Anna, break a leg.

Come on. Keep going. Bit by  bit, you can make it. YAAAY! 

Did you see what I was doing? I was going slow and steady.

Slow and steady wins the race.

This means that you get to  your goal by taking small,  

consistent steps, I worked a little  bit every day to grow my business.

Our next phrase is off to a flying  start. And means to advance quickly.  

When you start something. For example, if you write a book,  

and in the first week after publishing, you sell  a million copies, you could say that your writing  

career is off to a flying start. Wow!

Anna, what are you doing? Oh, I'm about to get off to a flying start. 

What? Yeah,  

I took up amateur circus performance. And  my teacher says I'm doing great! WEEEEEEE!

The early bird catches the worm means  that being first makes success easier. 

Right? So glad I'm up at dawn.  Time to catch some worms. 

I'm going to be putting in my  winter holiday request today. 

Really? That’s a bit early. I want to be the first to ask  

for time off. So, the boss can't say ‘no’. The early bird catches the worm after all.

Fortune favours the brave  means that when you have the  

courage to try something new or something  difficult, you will achieve your objectives.

Oh, I'm not sure I can do this. I've never walked  a tightrope without a net underneath me before. 

It's okay. I believe in you. Fortune favours  the brave. So, get out there and just do it.

To do something with bells on means  that you do it very enthusiastically. 

You can also say be there with bells on.

I'll be there with bells on! 

Anna, don't forget about my party  Friday night. It's going to be epic. 

Oh, don't you worry. I'll be there with  bells on. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

To eat, sleep and breathe something  means that you do that thing  

or think about that thing all the time. You can use this when you're really  

inspired by something. Oh, my little cousin eats,  

sleeps and breathes dinosaurs. She knows all about them. She's obsessed. 

Oh, here you go!

To sow the seeds for success. This means that you put the  

work in now so that you can get the  benefits or reap the rewards later. 

It was really tough starting out on  my degree, but I worked hard. And now  

I've sown the seeds for success in my career.

When someone is feeling low or not  optimistic, you might say to them, chin up. 

It's a way of saying it'll be okay. Cheer  up, stay positive, literally put your chin  

up and face the world rather  than being down. Chin up!

I often feel a bit down when the sky  is grey and it's been raining a lot. 

Chin up, Hannah, the weather  will start to get better soon.

Get your finger out, or pull your finger out  is what you might say to a friend or colleague  

who's procrastinating. They have something  to do, but they're just not starting it.

So, you might say, “Come on, pull your  finger out!” to encourage them to start. 

It is usually used when someone's trying to  start something after inactivity. Now this is not  

as inspirational as the other phrases.  But it certainly is effective. Just  

make sure that you say with a  smile, so that you don't seem rude.

To be on cloud nine is when  you're incredibly happy.  

Imagine you get the results  you want in your IELTS test  

or your favourite team comes top of the league.  You'll be on cloud nine all the way up there.

Where is Anna? Hey Nicky! 

Oh! I'm out here. I'm on cloud nine.

To shoot for the stars is similar  to our first phrase in this video. 

Can you remember what it was?  It was the sky's the limit? 

If you got that right you have a great memory  with shoot for the stars there's a similar meaning  

that your goal can be as  high as you want it to be.

It can even be as high as the stars. You  will still try to reach your highest goal.

Hey, you've got to hang in there. You may recognize this one from my video,  

“Learn English Idioms for Working  Hard”. If you haven't seen it yet,  

maybe you can check it out after this video. I'll put a link in the description below.

But basically, we say this phrase when  someone is finding something difficult,  

and we want to inspire them to continue.

Oh, I’m finding these exercises really tough!  

How much longer? Just hang in there only another  

two minutes 30 seconds to go. What? How long?

Now, pause the video, download your lesson  notes. If you haven't already and try  

the quiz to test your knowledge. Then go  and check out the working hard idioms video. 

I'll see you there.