ENGLISH FLUENCY SECRETS | Vocabulary That Makes You SOUND LIKE A NATIVE | Relaxing English Slang

Hi there. This is Harry, and welcome back  to advanced English lessons with Harry,  

where we try to help you to get a better  understanding of the English language,  

try to help you with your conversational  English, business English, whatever it takes,  

whatever you need, whether it's expressions,  phrasal verbs, idiomatic expressions, we're  

there to help you. And if you need any help, you  know where our teachers are. You can just contact  

me on www.englishlessonviaskype.com.  I'm always happy to hear from you.

So what have we got for you in this lesson? Well,  in this advanced English lesson, we are looking  

at idioms and expressions to do with relax and  relaxation, how to rest, rest and relaxation.  

So advanced English expressions and idioms  connected with rest and relaxation. So we've  

got 12. So plenty of ways in which you can relax  and plenty of ways in which you can express it.

So I'll go through them and then give  you situations when you might use them.

So to take it easy, well, we can use  that in lots and lots of ways. You  

might tell somebody that's what  you want to do for the weekend. I

I'm not going to give up too much. I'm just going  to take it easy. I've been working hard recently,  

or we might give somebody some advice.  Why don't you take it easy for a couple  

of days? Just rest. Who knows when somebody  is complaining, but they've. They've. They've  

had no holiday. Everything is difficult. So  you might just say, well, just take it easy,

take a couple of days off. You're due them.  Why not? And just rest at home. Take it easy

Next, to let your hair down. So this is  one of these idiomatic expressions which  

sometimes needs a little bit of explaining.  Particularly if you've got a head of hair  

like mine or lack of hair like mine. So when you  let your hair down, it's a metaphorical meaning,  

of course, but it means to really  relax. And when you go to town, you,  

you go to their the restaurant or you go to the  bar, you go to the nightclub, you sing and dance  

the night away and you let your hair down and  you come back the next day completely shattered.

But you've really, really had a good time  of its gesture to let your hair down. So  

you often hear the expression. What are you  guys getting up to? With the exams are over.  

We're just all going to get together, go  to the nightclub, but we're really going  

to let our hair down. So don't expect to  see me any time soon to let your hair down

To switch off. Well, it's like switching  the electric lights off. You know,  

you just power down. Okay, So. Or I'm  looking forward to the holiday. We've  

got two weeks coming up. We're going off. And  assuming there's no problems of the flights,  

we're just going to switch off. Lie on a beach.  

Have plenty of swims, relaxation and get  a bit of a tan, some nice local cuisine.

Yep, We're going to switch off. So to  switch off means to forget about everything,  

switch off from work, switch off from the family.  Switch off from what other activities keep you  

busy. All the school runs and the helping with  the homework are all those sort of issues. So the  

two week summer holiday, or if you're lucky, three  weeks are really going to help you to switch off.

Hang out with. So this is about doing something  different. It's about resting and relaxing,  

relaxation. How did you spend the  summer holidays? I was hanging out  

with my friends most of the time.  So what kids loved to do during  

the summer holidays. They don't  particularly want to go to school.

But they don't want to lose touch with the Friends  of the Friends, a local or not so far away. Then  

they will like, if they can, to hang out with  them. And of course, in the modern world they can  

hangout on the Internet, they can hang out playing  computer games. But, you know, they like to go to  

the park, kick a football, play tennis, go for  a swim, go to the movies, have a pizza together.

Yeah, They like to hang out with their  friends, to be together. Sometimes not  

doing anything in particular, sometimes just  doing nothing. I was... we were in Charles's  

room at home and we were just hanging out,  listening to music. He had some good music.  

We downloaded some and we phoned in the pizza.  We had a really good time to hang out with.

Next, to unwind. Well, when we want to unwind, it  means we might be feeling a little bit stressed.

We might be feeling a little bit uptight. So when  you unwind, you literally let yourself go. You try  

to completely relax. Some ways of unwinding. Could  be to start the evening off with a nice massage.  

That's a good way to unwind. Or you might unwind  sitting in front of the TV watching a movie,

having a glass of wine. That's a nice,  comfortable way to unwind with your  

feet up. So there are many, many ways  in which we can find to have rest and  

relaxation. And we generally classified  as unwinding. How did you unwind? Oh,  

it was wonderful. I went to that new spa  just outside the town. I was there for a day.

Wow. I could really unwind. Absolutely  wonderful. Started off with the massage,  

then those seaweed baths. You really should  try it, Kate. It's wonderful to unwind.

To take your mind off something. Well,  when you take your mind off something,  

if you want to forget about it. So let's go away  for the weekend and take our minds off work.

Let's go out for the evening. Try that new  restaurant and take your mind off all the  

problems with the kids. All of it. The school  and the. But the points for a university to  

take your mind off something. So it might only  be for a few hours, it might be for a weekend.  

And if you're very, very lucky, might be for a  longer period of time over your summer holidays.

But whatever you do and whichever way  you do it, you want to take your mind  

off something means to forget about it.  Or if you can't deal with the problem,  

put it at the back of your mind and then  you deal with it when you come back.  

The problem's still going to be there  when you've finished with the holiday.

But let's try and relax on the holiday and take  your mind off things or take our minds off things.

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to slow down.

Well, this is a good bit of advice that we  could all take. Had to slow down. Why does  

everybody want to do things at 100 miles  an hour? Why, when they send you an email,  

do they look for an answer immediately?  Why? When they send you a text on WhatsApp,  

they send you a message 2 minutes  later, Did you get my text?

Did you get this? Yeah. So  we just need to sit back,  

take a deep breath. Whoop. Yeah. Slow down.  The world is still there. The world is still  

going around. It will always go around. So  what we need to do is slow down a little bit,  

take a step back and slow down. Good  way to rest. Good way for relaxing.

That leads on to take a breather. Okay.  So this is literally to take a breather.  

Is deep breaths a breather? Okay. But if  you've been working very hard or perhaps  

in a some sports activity, let's say  you've been running on the treadmill  

in the gym and then you just stop after 20  minutes, say, I think I'll take a breather,  

meaning I'll take a short break, or  you could be redecorating the room.

And after 2 hours, you've been peeling  wallpaper off the walls. The room is  

very hot and stuffy. Is it? I'm just going  to step outside and take a breather for 10  

minutes. I'll be back in no time at  all. So to take a breather means to  

walk away from or stop what you're  doing for a short period of time.

That could be a very important marketing  meeting in your office. And after about 2 hours,  

the boss says, okay, look, I think it's time we  took a breather. Let's break for lunch. We'll come  

back here. It's 215 and we can pick up where we  left off. So to take a breather to rest and relax,  

you go out and you have that coffee, You  sit down and do a little bit of thinking.

Footloose and fancy free, an ideal

idiomatic expression, footloose and  fancy free. So what does it mean? Well,  

Footloose means you really know  direction to go. Fancy free means,  

but you've no ties. You have no obligations.  So you can do what you really want.

A good time to use. This is when the kids have  gone off for the summer to their granny's or  

they're gone for a couple of days or nights. And  you can say to your partner, Well, I'm footloose,  

or we are footloose and fancy free. So what we're  going to do. Let's let our hair down and go to

city or whatever you planned to do.

But you don't have to worry about the kids  because they're away. You don't have to be  

back at midnight because they are away. You  don't have to be thinking about getting up  

at eight or 9:00 in the morning to prepare  breakfast because they're away. So you are  

really footloose and fancy free, meaning no  ties, no obligations. You are your own boss.

You can do what you will with your time. You  can do nothing or you can do lots of things,  

but you don't have to seek permission. You don't  

have to be rushing home because somebody  else needs you. Footloose and fancy free

To have a blast. Well, when we have a blast, it's  we have a really good time. How was the party? we  

had an absolute blast. You know. It was really  great to see all the old guys there. We haven't  

been together for. God. I've forgotten how long it  is since we last met. But it's a long, long time.

And, you know, most of them haven't  changed at all. A few with a few

less hair, some with a bit extra weight.  But, you know, the same old guys. So we  

had an absolute blast. Not nobody got really  badly drunk. Few guys a little bit tipsy,  

but they really, really enjoyed themselves.  We had a blast. So to have a blast is a good  

way to have rest and recuperation or rest and  relaxation because you get out of yourself, you  

get away from the humdrum of the normal life and  you start talking to or interacting with people.

In this situation that you haven't  seen for some time. So to have a blast.

If you have something that isn't  working correctly, for example,  

your mobile phone or something that  requires power, you have to re charge  

the batteries say so you plug it in like  your electric razor or the mobile phone,  

you plug it in and you recharge the battery so you  can use it for the next two, three or four days.

Okay. So just like your mobile phone, just like  your electric razor, you from time to time will  

need to read, charge your battery. So we use  this expression when we feel it's time we had  

a rest and some relaxation. Well, I'm going  to spend the next three or four days just  

recharging my batteries or I did nothing  at the weekend but recharge my batteries.

I got up late and Saturday morning I went  for a haircut, a massage. I even skipped  

the gym. I just said, Right, this is it. I'm  just going to put my feet up for the day,  

recharge my batteries and see where  it leads me. And I have to say,  

I had a really, really good time. By Sunday  afternoon I was getting a bit itchy feet,  

so I went to the gym on Sunday afternoon and did  a little bit of a workout, but nothing strenuous.

So it was still part of my recharging the battery  

phase that I was going through.  So to recharge your batteries,  

make yourself feel better, get yourself  energised or re-energised for the next week,

And finally, to indulge yourself in  something. Really good way to rest  

and relax. I'm going to indulge myself in a bit of

chocolate. Okay. So I'm going  to sit down in front of the TV,

Find that movie that I wanted to watch. I've  

got some chocolate and I'm going to  indulge myself. I know I shouldn't,  

but it's dark chocolate, so probably not  so bad. Anyway, so to indulge yourself

Or you could say to your partner, Why don't we  go away for the weekend? Go to that hotel out  

in the country near the forest and indulge  the sounds. I hear they've got a great spa.  

They've even got a golf course. You  might fancy playing a bit of golf,  

but let's just indulge a sell for a  few days, make ourselves feel pampered,  

make ourselves feel special, or really,  really good so we can completely switch off.

So all of these expressions, they're  all related to you taking it easy,  

you taking some rest, you having some relaxation.

And we all need them in this day and age.

So let's go through them again. As I said,  

there are 12. Take it easy. Let your hair  down. Switch off. Hang out with. Hang out  

with your friends. Unwind. Okay. And make  sure with that pronunciation. Unwind, unwind.

To take your mind off something. To take  your mind off something. To forget about it.

To slow down. Take it easy.

Slow down.

Take a breather. Step out,  don't play the game all night.

Footloose and fancy free,  Footloose and fancy Free.

To have a blast. To recharge  your batteries. And then finally,  

to indulge yourself in something.  Indulge yourself in something nice.

All about relaxing and resting. So these  are advanced English idioms and expressions  

relating to rest and relaxation  so you won't remember them all.

You never will. You have to practice. Some  of them see a few that you like. Use them  

and come back and then use a few of the other  ones. Don't try to remember them all at the  

same time. And if you need some additional help,  you'll get me on wwww.englishlessonviaskype.com.

Very happy to hear from me. Very  happy when you can join us. This  

is Harry saying goodbye to next  time join me for the next lesson.