8 Mean English Phrases You Should Never Say!

So you saw the title for this English lesson

and you clicked on it.

And you might be wondering if the title is about mean things

that you should never say in English.

"Why is Bob doing an English lesson about this?"

Well, these are things you should never say,

but I think it's important as you read things in English,

and as you watch things in English,

and as you listen to things in English,

I think it's important for you to know these phrases.

They are really mean.

I'm sure, you're curious to find out what the phrases are.

So we'll take a look at them in this English lesson.

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Well, are you ready?

Are you ready to learn some really mean English phrases?

Here's the first one.

The first phrase is, "You'll never amount to anything."

This is something that maybe a parent will say to a child

or maybe a teacher will say to someone.

And when you say to someone you'll never amount to anything,

what it means is that you don't think

they will ever be successful.

You don't think that they'll ever have a good job

or a good life.

You think that they'll never amount to anything.

Definitely a mean thing to say.

And usually, it's something that is said

by someone in authority-a grandparent,

or a parent, or a teacher.

Those are the kinds of people that come to mind

when I think about this phrase.

It's definitely mean and you should definitely never say it.

The next mean phrase is the phrase,

"You're just like your mother."

Or, "You're just like your father."

This is not a nice thing to say to someone,

even though people's moms and dads have good qualities.

When we use this phrase, we're usually referring

to something about the person's mother or father

that isn't very pleasant.

Sometimes when two people are fighting in a relationship,

the husband might say to the wife

or the wife might say to the husband

one of these two phrases, the husband might say,

"You're just like your mother."

And the wife might say, "You're just like your father."

Not a nice thing to say.

And it's usually, not used in a positive way.

There are small scenarios where you can use it

in a positive way.

But most of the time, if you say to someone,

"Ah, you're just like your mother."

It's usually not a nice thing to say.

The next mean phrase is the phrase,

"Don't quit your day job."

This is something you might hear someone yell.

If you're watching someone who's singing,

or doing karaoke, or playing a guitar,

and maybe they're doing it for the first time,

someone might think that their singing isn't very good.

And so they might yell from the audience.

"Don't quit your day job."

Not a very nice thing to say.

And obviously, what it means is this.

The person thinks that you're not very good at singing,

or playing guitar, or whatever you're doing.

And that if you have a job that you go to every day

and that's where you make money, you should keep doing that.

Don't quit your day job.

I'm happy to say that no one has ever written that

in the comments below my English lessons,

even way back when I was just getting started,

no one said, "Hey, Bob, English lessons, aren't very good.

Don't quit your day job."

And I'm glad no one did,

'cause that would've been very discouraging.

The next mean phrase is actually a question.

And it's another mean phrase where you compare someone

to someone else.

If someone said to you,

"Why can't you be more like your brother?"

"Why can't you be more like your cousin?"

When someone asks you this question,

what they're saying is that your brother

or cousin is amazing.

They've done something remarkable

and incredible in their life.

And then they're asking you that question.

"Why can't you be more like your brother?"

"Why can't you be more like your cousin?"

Not a nice question to have.

Again, this is a question that would usually be asked

by maybe a parent or a grandparent.

Someone that knows you well and obviously knows someone

that they can compare you to.

"So why can't you be more like your brother?"

"Why can't you be more like your sister?"

"Why can't you be more like your cousin?"

You know what I think though, you should just be you.

That's usually the best person that you can be.

The next mean English phrase is the phrase,

"Is that the best you've got?"

This is a phrase that someone like a coach might say

after you try really hard to do something

in a game or a practice.

Maybe you're on a soccer or football team,

and you kick the ball as hard as you can.

And it goes further than it's ever gone before.

If the coach was then to ask you

"Is that the best you've got?"

That would be very discouraging,

because what they're saying is that whatever you did

that you thought was really good,

they didn't think it was very good at all.

So, that's the next phrase.

The next mean phrase, "Is that the best you've got?"

The next mean English phrase is the phrase,

"Move over, let me do it."

This is a phrase that someone might say to you

in the kitchen, maybe if you're cooking or baking something.

And if they don't think you're doing a very good job,

if they think that you're messing up the recipe,

they might say, "Move over, let me do it."

It means they don't have confidence in you.

It means they don't trust you.

It means they think that you're just not doing

a very good job.

So that's the next mean phrase, "Move over, let me do it.'

The next mean English phrase

is I think the meanest one of all,

and it's the phrase, "You suck."

Maybe you've gone to a sports game

and maybe a player on the field has made a lot of mistakes

and you might hear one of the fans yell.

"You suck."

It's not a nice thing to say at all.

It means that the person thinks not only

are you doing a bad job, but they don't like you at all.

They don't like you.

They don't like what you're doing.

They think that you're failing at what you're doing

and they're just yelling, "You suck."

This can happen as well at a concert.

I was at a concert once where the band that was opening

for the other band wasn't very good.

And someone in the audience actually yelled, "You suck!"

And then they started throwing stuff

at the people on the stage, not a nice thing to do.

And definitely, when you yell, "You suck,"

it's not a nice thing to say.

The next mean English phrase is the phrase,

'You're a disappointment."

Again, this is something that would probably be said

by a mean parent, or a mean grandparent,

or a mean coach, or a mean teacher.

When someone says you're a disappointment,

it means that they thought you were going to do better.

And then they were disappointed

when you did whatever you did.

It is not a very nice thing to say to someone,

especially if that person is trying their best.

Think about yourself for instance.

Let's say, you studied English for six months,

and you took an English test, and you failed.

'Cause that kind of happens sometimes.

If someone you know really well

like a spouse or a parent said to you,

"You're a disappointment."

That would be extremely mean.

And it would make you feel really, really bad.

Instead, I think it would be better

if they gave you a little bit of encouragement.

They could say something like,

"I'm sure you'll do better next time."

So if you hear someone say to someone,

"You're a disappointment,"

maybe walk up to that person later and say,

"Hey, I heard that someone was mean to you,

but I think you'll be better next time."

Well, hey, thanks for watching this English lesson

about mean English phrases

that you should never say to anyone,

but I think it's important for you

to be able to recognize them,

if you read them or hear them someday.

Remember, if this is your first time here,

don't forget to click that red subscribe button over there.

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