Common American expressions | Learn English with Cambridge

Hello, everyone.

One of my favourite topics is teaching expressions.

I think it's an interesting and unique way of learning English.

But how can we learn expressions?

A good idea is to listen and to watch the real content,

practising and mainly by not translating them

into your own language.

Instead, learning the meaning of it.

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Today, I’m going to teach you five American expressions.

Hello?

Hi, Rebecca.

How are you?

It’s Melina.

Oh hi, Melina.

What are you doing?

Oh I’m just recording a video.

So, let me tell you about my week.

I can’t wait to hear about it.

Well, this week I really brought my A-game to work,

finished all my tasks

and my boss was really happy with me.

We use the expression A-game when we’re talking

about a person’s

best performance possible in some kind of activity.

In 1969 in the GQ Magazine,

appeared an article about a new golf course

in Hilton Head in South Carolina.

In the article, they said

that the person who was going to play should bring their A-game,

which means to be the best at it,

so they could play,

because it was very challenging.

So, notice that with this expression we use

to bring your A-game or his or her A-game.

And it’s a very common expression used

in the United States and in Canada.

You have no idea

how my friend from work is playing hardball

with me with the new contracts.

The boss wants the contracts signed today, okay?

Today?

I don’t have time to do them today.

If someone plays hardball,

they will do anything that’s necessary to achieve

or to get what they want,

even if that means being unfair and harsh.

Hardball is another name for American baseball,

as opposed to softball,

which is played with a larger and softer ball.

The term was used the first time in a figurative way by

a journalist called Robert Ruark in 1949.

And the idiom became very popular

since it was very

used by President Nixon’s speech writers.

The boss wants the contracts signed today, okay?

Today?

I don’t have time to do them all today.

I don’t care if you don’t have time,

just have them done by the end of the day.

Yeah, and he’s only doing this

because I had to take a rain check on our dinner plans.

The expression take a rain check means to refuse an offer

or an invitation with the hope or promise

that it could be postponed and accepted at another time.

It also originated

because of baseball in the 1880s in the United States.

So, if it rained heavily enough for the game to be cancelled,

the ticket holders would receive a rain check,

which means they would receive a voucher to come

and watch another game at another time.

And, done.

So, let’s go.

Oh, I’m so sorry, Vinnie, I have some work to do.

I have to take a rain check on our dinner tonight.

So, anyway, I hope our friendship doesn’t go south.

The idiom to go south is used when a situation, organisation,

or set of standards becomes really bad,

although they were once really good.

It is believed

that it makes references to two-dimensional maps

where the compass is pointed up for north and down for south.

I can’t believe you’re not going to dinner with me.

And I can’t believe how rude you were to me before.

So?

So, maybe we shouldn’t be friends anymore.

Yeah, and maybe our friendship has gone south.

Fine.

Although, I hope we’ll always be friends,

knock on wood.

When you want to avoid bad luck,

or talk about good luck you’ve had in the past,

or mention your hopes for the future,

you can use the expression knock on wood.

Its origin is uncertain,

but it may have appeared because some people believed

that it brought good luck to tap trees in the past.

Although I hope we’ll always be friends,

knock on wood.

I’m sorry, I was playing hardball before

and I was rude to you.

I’m sorry I didn’t go to dinner with you.

It’s okay.

Okay, I’ll let you know what happens.

Talk to you soon.

Bye.

Bye, Rebecca.

Well, sorry about that.

I hope you enjoyed this video

and if you learned a new expression please

give the video a big thumbs up

and share it with you contact list.

What other American expressions do you know?

Leave a comment and tell me.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel.

I’ll see you soon.

Bye.