Handle Awkward Situations in English | Express Dislike Politely

Have you ever been in this situation?

Your friend suggests going to a heavy metal concert,

but you are more of a jazz person.

Or maybe a coworker proposes a risky marketing strategy that you know

will not work for your clients. And in that moment you freeze,

not because you don't know what you want to say,

but because you're not sure how to express that dislike or

disapproval politely in English. If you're nodding your head right now,

you're in the right place.

Today we're going to explore exactly how to handle those awkward moments with

confidence and grace.

Together we'll explore the phrases you need to express your true feelings,

especially when something doesn't meet your expectations or align with what you

want. Now, before we begin,

let me tell you exactly what we're going to learn today. First,

I'll highlight casual everyday phrases for expressing

dislike politely.

Then we'll transition to professional expressions that are perfect for the

workplace. In each case,

I'll give you real life scenarios so you know exactly how to use these phrases.

At the end,

I want to finish with some cultural tips to ensure that you communicate

effectively. One last thing to keep in mind,

this lesson isn't really about being negative,

it's about expressing yourself authentically while maintaining

respectful relationships.

So let's start with those everyday situations we all encounter.

Like when your friend suggests meeting at a crowded,

noisy bar for dinner,

but you'd prefer a quiet cafe where you can actually have a conversation

or when a colleague raves about a new TV show that you tried

watching but you really didn't enjoy it that much.

These are the moments where you can use relaxed,

conversational language to express your feelings.

So first I wanna share several casual phrases you can use and then we'll go

into how to apply them in real situations.

Let's look at our options and we'll start with neutral phrases like I'm not

into, for example,

I'm not into loud crowded bars or it's not my thing.

These are perfect when you want to express dislike without any strong emotion.

Here are a few more examples. Nah,

I'll pass or it's not my jam. Now a quick note here,

when someone says It's not my jam,

it's just a casual friendly way to say it's not something that I like or I'm not

really into it, we might also use the idiom. It's not my cup of tea.

This idiom, while it mentions the word tea,

is a phrase that you can use anytime you want to express dislike about

something, not just food and drinks. Here are a few more phrases to know,

and these are soft rejections, so they're perfect.

When you want to be extra gentle.

You might respond to something with, I'm good, no thanks,

or That's not really my thing, I'm not really feeling up for it.

And lastly, when you want to express stronger disapproval,

you can use some of these phrases, it just rubs me the wrong way,

or I'm not sold on,

I'm not crazy about and I'm not a fan of. With this in mind,

let's see how to use these phrases in real situations you might encounter.

In the first one, we're going to look at politely expressing disinterest,

and we'll go back to that example I used at the start of this video. Again,

imagine your friend suggests going to a heavy metal concert,

but you're a jazz person. Here's how you could respond to that invitation.

First sounds cool, but it's not really my cup of tea or, nah,

I'm not really into that now.

I've used this phrase a couple of times now to be into something or

if you're expressing dislike to not be into it.

When someone is into something, they enjoy it or they like it.

If I want to express that it's not something I enjoy, then I would say,

no thanks. I'm not really into it or No thanks. Heavy metal's not my thing.

Our second scenario here is sharing dissatisfaction.

Let's say that you're at a trendy cafe that your family member recommended,

but it didn't live up to the hype. You might say,

it wasn't really my jam. The coffee and dessert work quite what I expected,

or I'm not a fan of the coffee and dessert I've had better. And lastly,

it's okay, but it's not really what I expected.

Before we move on to our professional phrases,

I want to go over one more scenario for showing mild disapproval.

Here's another common situation.

A friend suggests an activity that you're just not enthusiastic about,

like a road trip over the weekend and in response to the invitation,

you could say, I'm not too crazy about that idea, but let's see how others feel.

Or I'm just not feeling up for a long drive this weekend.

I'd prefer something more relaxing, but thanks for suggesting it.

One thing I often hear from my students is how challenging it is to get

comfortable using language for challenging topics just like this one,

expressing, dislike and disapproval.

This is one of the reasons I created my Confident Women Community.

If you've ever felt unsure of how to express yourself,

and if you've needed a safe place to try out new vocabulary and new

communication skills in English, the Confident Women Community is here for you.

Inside you'll find real world practice opportunities in live group

conversations, a supportive network of women working toward the same goal,

speaking English with confidence and authenticity.

You'll also find monthly lessons and.

Challenges designed to help you master your communication skills in English.

If you're looking to start practicing with others who understand your English

confidence journey,

and if you want to get the support you need to take your English to the next

level, I'd love for you to join me inside the Confident Women in Community.

To learn more, you can click the link that I have in the notes below the video,

and now let's shift to the workplace. This is where expressing, dislike,

or disapproval requires an extra level of finesse.

Think about those moments when your team proposes a project timeline that

you know isn't realistic.

Or when a colleague presents an idea in a meeting that you believe needs

significant improvement or perhaps your manager suggests changes

to your work process that you feel won't be effective.

These are situations where you need to frame your opinions respectfully while

maintaining clarity. So let me share some professional phrases you can use.

And again, we'll start with some neutral expressions such as I'm not sure if

maybe we could consider,

I'm open to other suggestions and I'll need to give it some more thought.

When you want to express disapproval diplomatically, try this.

It's not quite what I had in mind or this doesn't align with our goals

when giving constructive criticism. Here are some phrases to use.

I appreciate the effort, but or let's explore some other options.

And finally, for some soft disapproval, use one of these examples.

I'm not entirely convinced,

I'm not fond of that approach or there could be a better way to this.

Let's take a look at how to use several of these in real workplace situations.

In the first scenario,

I want you to imagine that you're offering some constructive criticism.

Perhaps a coworker shares a marketing strategy that doesn't meet your

client's needs. And when responding to that idea, you might say,

I appreciate the effort, but it's not quite what I had in mind.

The strategy doesn't align with our client's goals. Or you could try,

it's a good starting point,

but I think we need to adjust it to better fit the client's expectations.

In our next scenario,

I want you to imagine that you need to politely disapprove of an outdated idea.

Maybe a team member suggests reintroducing a service that no

longer fits the market. So here's how you might respond.

I'm not sure if this approach will work for our current market since so much has

changed in the last six months, or that's an interesting suggestion,

but it might not resonate with today's audience. Let's try some other ideas.

In our third scenario with these professional phrases,

imagine that you need to express some practical concerns.

For example, when your manager assigns additional responsibilities,

but you're already stretched thin when this happens, you could say,

I appreciate the feedback,

but I'm not certain about the feasibility of the new task list.

Could we evaluate which tasks require my expertise right now?

Or you could say, thank you for the opportunity,

but I'm concerned about balancing these new responsibilities with my current

workload. What do you want me to prioritize first? And for our final scenario,

I want you to imagine that you're disagreeing with a team event idea.

Maybe in a meeting a coworker suggests an activity for an upcoming

team building event that you don't really like.

So in that moment you might say, I'll need to give that some more thought.

Do you have any other suggestions or I'm not entirely

convinced this will appeal to everyone.

Let's brainstorm more options together. Before we wrap up this lesson,

I want to share some essential cultural tips with you that will help you use

these phrases effectively. The first is the tone matters.

Anytime we express, dislike or disapproval in English,

it's essential to use a calm and positive tone to

avoid sounding harsh or dismissive. For example,

when expressing dislike with, it's not quite what I had in mind,

but I see potential in this idea,

we're using positive language and maintaining a calm tone.

If you're ever not sure how to do that,

one little thing to help is to simply smile. When you smile,

it immediately softens the tone of your voice.

The next cultural tip to keep in mind is body language.

Pair your words with friendly body language like a smile,

which I just mentioned, and open posture, especially in casual settings,

for instance, while saying, that's not really my thing.

Maintain relaxed eye contact and a small smile. Lastly,

it's important to think about assertiveness.

This means avoid over apologizing when disapproving of something because

this can weaken your position. Instead of saying, I'm so sorry,

but I just don't like it. You can simply say, I'd prefer a different option.

Let's explore that. Now it's time for you to practice.

I want you to try responding to several scenarios that I'm going to share with

you using some of the phrases from today's lesson.

After sharing each scenario,

I'll pause briefly and you can also pause the video for a longer period of time

if you need to, and try forming your response. If you want to,

you can always share your examples with me in the comments below.

So scenario number one, A friend invites you to a concert,

but you do not like the music.

At all. How would you respond? Take a moment to think about it, and again,

if you'd like to, you can share with me in the comments In scenario two,

your team proposes a risky marketing strategy.

What would you say in scenario three,

someone suggests a restaurant that you don't really like?

How would you express this politely? And finally, in scenario four,

your manager suggests a last minute task that interferes with

your existing deadlines.

How would you handle this situation as challenging as it may be to

politely express, dislike and disapproval in English?

I want you to remember that this isn't about being negative,

it's about being authentic while maintaining respectful relationships with

others.

I'd love to hear from you which of these phrases you're going to try using

first. As always, you can share your examples, your comments,

and your questions with me in the comment section below.

If you found this lesson helpful, I would love to know,

and you can tell me in one very simple way.

Give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube, and while you're at it,

make sure you subscribe so you never miss one of my Confident English lessons.

Thank you so much for joining me, and I look forward to seeing you next time.