ENGLISH FLUENCY SECRETS | 9 CONFUSING THINGS AMERICANS SAY

Hey!

Today, I wanna teach you 9 confusing things that Americans say.

But after today's lesson, you won't be confused.

Are you ready?

Well then.

I'm Teacher Tiffani, let's jump right in.

All right!

So the first one, number one.

We have this, shoot the breeze.

Again.

Shoot the breeze.

Shoot the breeze?

Why do American say, shoot the breeze.

Now, you saw the lady's hair blowing in the wind, right?

The breeze was blowing but what does this actually mean?

So, in English when we say shoot the breeze, we're actually just

saying to chat in a relaxed way.

That's right!

It's that simple.

Again.

Imagine my friend calls me, right?

"Hey girl!

(Yeah!) What you doin'?

(Oh, me?

I'm just recording a video for my students.

Yet, girl.

What?)" And if we continue talking, we are shooting the breeze.

Chatting in a relaxed way.

So again, you can now use this.

"Hey!

What are you doing today?

(Nothing.) What about you?

(Just shooting the breeze.)" Having a relaxed chat with family or friends.

Make sense, right?

We say shoot the breeze.

Now here's the next one.

I want you to look at this, number two.

In English, we say ballpark figure.

Ballpark figure.

Wait a minute!

Now when you think of a ballpark, you think of baseball, right?

You got your bat and you're ready to hit the ball.

So why do we say ballpark figure.

Now let me explain what it actually means.

You see a ballpark figure is literally just a rough numerical estimate

or approximation of the value of something that is otherwise unknown.

For example, let's say someone says, "Tiffani, I'd like to buy your car."

And I said, "Okay.

You wanna buy my car.

I'm actually trying to find a new car so sure you can buy my car."

And then they say, "Tiffani, how much will you charge me?

What's the price of your car?"

And I stop and I think to myself, "Man, I know how much I paid for it

but how much am I gonna sell it for?

I know that it's worth..."

And I continue thinking about what I will charge the person.

The person can then say, "Hey Tiff!

Just give me a ballpark figure.

Give me an estimate.

Kind of a figure that is around what you think your car is worth.

So, if I think my car is worth exactly $6,550 if I'm giving them

a ballpark figure, I may say around $7,000 or I could say around $6,000.

Again.

It's just an estimate.

So when you hear an American say a ballpark figure is just

once again, a numerical estimate or approximation not baseball.

Make sense?

All right.

Let's check out the next one.

Again.

9 confusing things American say.

We're on number three.

Here we go!

This guy looks like he's enjoying the music but then someone says,

sound like a broken record.

Wait a minute!

Someone or something sounds like a broken record?

Now he had his headphones on and he was jamming.

He was getting into the music.

So, what does a broken record actually mean?

So, in English when we actually say someone or something sounds like a broken

record or you sound like a broken record.

We're actually saying this, it is used to refer to a person's

constant and annoying repetition of a particular statement or opinion.

So let's say for example, you got a promotion at your job and

you start telling everyone, "Hey!

Guess what?

I got a promotion at my job."

The first time everyone's like, "Yeah!

Good job!

Amazing!"

Then 30 minutes later you say, "Guess what?

I got a promotion."

They say, "Yeah!

Good job!

Congratulations!"

30 minutes later, you say the exact same thing.

"Hey guys!

I got a promotion."

Listen!

You sound like a broken record.

"Come on man!

We already know."

You're repeating the same thing over and over.

Think about a record from back in the day.

I remember when I was growing up, we used to listen to records.

There were no CD's, no MP3's, didn't exist back then.

So we would have a record and we put it on the record player.

And the record player would spin and we'd hear the music playing

and we'd start moving, right?

But if something happen and the record had a scratch, it would start

playing the same sound over and over again, the record was broken.

So again, right there, saying the same thing over and over again.

Constantly and getting annoyed.

A broken record.

Here we go!

Here we go!

All right.

So let's go to number four.

Number four, right here.

Look at this beautiful bird.

Well, what about this statement right here.

For the birds.

For the birds.

Now wait a minute.

When Americans say for the birds, what exactly are we saying.

For the birds?

Like for the little beautiful bird in that video?

No!

Actually when we say for the birds, this is the meaning.

Not worth consideration or unimportant.

Something that is really not worth a discussion.

"Hey!

This is really not that important and this is for the birds."

Again.

Something that's not important, not worth your consideration,

not worth thinking about.

Listen!

We have a huge project to work on.

All of this other stuff, this is for the birds.

We need to focus on what we're doing right now.

Now, this is kind of slang so you don't necessarily want to use it when

you're speaking to your boss but if you hear an American say this, now

you'll know what it means, right?

For the birds.

Now what about the next confusing thing that Americans actually say.

What about this one right here?

I got a big old turkey and the expression we use is cold turkey.

Cold turkey.

Cold turkey like brrr, like I'm cold?

It's cold outside.

Why do we as Americans say cold turkey.

Let me explain.

Here's the meaning of this one, in a sudden and abrupt manner.

That's right!

In a sudden and abrupt manner.

Let's imagine this.

Let's say, now again we're just imagining.

Your teacher doesn't do this but I'm trying to get a prop, hold on one second.

Let's say for example, I'm gonna get a marker.

Let's say for example, that I had a habit of smoking.

Let's say that was my habit, right?

You guys liked that.

This is my cigarette right there.

It's kind of big, right?

Let's say I had a habit of smoking and it was so bad that even when I was

teaching my lessons I had to take a cigarette, I was addicted but then I

read a report and the report explained, the more you smoke, the worse your

lungs will become, you'll die faster.

And the article really scares me and I decide to quit smoking all of a sudden.

In this situation, I quit cold turkey.

Hey!

You got it, right?

Again.

Cold turkey is just in a sudden and abrupt manner.

I was smoking and then all of a sudden I quit cold turkey.

I don't do that anymore.

Hopefully you enjoy that little acting.

All right.

So let's go to the next one.

Again.

We have 9 in total and we just finished number five.

What about this one right here?

Number six.

Number six is plead the fifth.

Plead the fifth.

Now, you know that pleading just means like begging or saying I'm

making a strong request, right?

So why do we say plead the fifth?

Now I'll be very honest with you.

We use this all the time so it's very important for you as an

English learner to understand this.

You will hear it in movies.

You'll hear it used in dramas.

You hear it on podcast.

Native English speakers.

Americans use this all the time so what does it actually mean?

Well, plead the fifth actually refers to exercising the right, guaranteed by

the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, of refusing to answer questions in

order to avoid incriminating oneself.

Let me explain.

Sometimes people ask you questions, right?

And you don't mind answering those questions, they're okay, right?

But other times people ask you personal questions or questions that if you

respond, you may get in trouble.

In those situations, you can say, "Oh, I plead the fifth.

I plead the fifth.

I'm not gonna answer that question."

What you're saying is, I have a right to refuse to answer because of the

Fifth Amendment to the Constitution that gives me the right to not answer.

It makes sense, right?

So when you hear an American say, "Oh, I plead the fifth."

It means, "Hey!

They're exercising their right from the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

Make sense?

It's not confusing anymore, right?

All right.

So let's check out this one.

Here we go!

This one is also interesting.

We see this person falling from the sky and then we have this thing.

Fall through the cracks.

Fall through the cracks.

Why do Americans say fall through the cracks?

Are you literally falling through a crack?

No!

Actually, this means to be missed; to escape the necessary notice or attention.

Again.

Something is missed, it's overlooked because it fell through the cracks.

Think about in your kitchen.

It doesn't matter what country you live in, right?

Let's say you're cooking, right?

And while you're cooking food, you are ready to eat.

Whatever it is your making, right?

But unfortunately right next to you, right next to the stove, you have

your countertop and there's a little crack in your countertop, right?

You mean, you wanna get it fixed but you haven't gotten fixed yet and while

you're cooking some of the onions fly out of the pan and they go into the crack.

You no longer see the onions, right?

They literally fell through the cracks.

So, this is what we're implying.

When you're doing something and maybe you're working on a project and

there are some details that you miss.

"Oh man!

They fell through the cracks."

We didn't see them.

We missed them.

Just like a literal piece of onion can fall through the cracks in

your kitchen from the countertop, on the countertop, right?

There's a crack in the countertop, that onion goes in there, right?

Just like that.

You can miss a detail.

It fell through the cracks.

Make sense, right?

All right.

Now let's check out this one right here, another thing we say in English.

You see this bus going around this curve and there's an expression we use.

Throw someone under the bus.

Wait a minute!

You're telling me that Americans say that they're gonna throw

someone else under a bus?

What in the world does this mean?

I'm gonna tell you.

So, when we say throw someone under the bus, it literally means to abandon

a friend or ally for selfish reasons.

You wanna protect yourself and you're like, "Nope!

I don't have anything to do with that person."

You want to protect yourself or to cause someone else to suffer in order to save

oneself or gain personal advantage.

Here's the easiest way for you to remember this.

A bus is a big vehicle and if someone tossed you under that

vehicle, you would be harmed, right?

You would suffer some serious consequences.

Your body would experience harm, right?

So when someone tosses you under the bus, again, they're saving

themselves but they're causing you harm or they're taking the advantage

and giving you the disadvantage.

So for example, let's say there are two children, right?

And they both, they're eating ice cream.

They shouldn't have bought the ice cream.

Their mom told them not to buy the ice cream but they

decided to buy the ice cream.

And they're walking back home and one of them finishes his ice cream

but the other one is still licking, licking an ice cream cone and all

of a sudden their mother walks out.

And the one that finished his ice cream points and says, "He did it.

I didn't."

Even though he did it too, he tossed him under the bus.

I don't wanna get in trouble.

"He's the one that did it, not me."

Tossed him under the bus.

Make sense, right?

Okay!

Now let's check out number nine.

This is also important.

You see them flying down the slope, right?

Well, here's the expression we use.

It's all downhill from here.

It's all downhill from here.

What does this mean?

Why do we as Americans say it's all downhill from here.

Well, this actually has two different meanings.

It's actually an idiom with two opposing meanings.

The first meaning is that things are about to go really bad, usually because

you've already had all the good.

Everything good has already happened and moving forward, we're

only gonna experience bad things.

The second meaning is that from now on, everything is going to be easy.

Now, let me show you visually the second part.

Again.

Look at this!

It's very easy to fly down the hill, right?

This individual can just let the hill take him or her down the hill very, very

easily or again according to the first part of the definition, we've reached

the top, everything good that will happen has already happened but moving

forward, we're only gonna have bad things.

In English we say, it's all downhill from here.

Now, I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.

I hope that understanding these 9 confusing things will now help you sound

more like a native English speaker.

And help you enjoy more programs and movies when you watch them.

All right!

I'll talk to you next week but as always remember to speak English.

You still there?

You know what time it is?

It's story time.

Hey!

I said it's story time.

All right!

So, today's story is actually something that happened to me when

I was in Korea teaching English.

Now, we talked about in today's lesson, 9 confusing things that American say right?

So, when I was in South Korea, again, I have always loved teaching English.

I love helping you and when I was in South Korea, I loved teaching English.

And I remember I had this one class, it was one of my favorite classes.

Their English was improving.

They can understand me.

I could tell stories.

I could tell jokes.

We could have long discussions.

Their English was good.

They were intermediate learners.

So, one day after class, I ended class and we all were walking out together.

Again.

They were one of my favorite classes.

We talked all the time and as we were walking out of the

class, I saw a fellow teacher.

Now he was actually working at another Institute.

So I didn't see him all the time.

So I was so excited when he came up the steps that I immediately ran over to

him and we both gave each other a hug, started talking and we were having a

good conversation and all of a sudden we stopped because all of my students

were surrounding us and there were other people in the hallway and everyone was

silent and they were just staring at us.

Now remember, I had been an English teacher for a while.

He was also an English teacher.

So we looked around and I stopped and I said to my students, "What's wrong?

They said, "Tiffani, what are you guys saying?"

And he and I looked at each other and said, "What do you mean?

They said, "Tiffani, we understand everything you say in class.

We have long discussions with you but this is the very first time, we

have no idea what you're saying."

And I chuckled and so did my friend.

And in that moment I realized the importance of teaching my

students not just book English but real English from real life.

You see what happened was my friend and I, we left teacher mode and

we just started speaking English regularly, very comfortably like

we were in our own environment.

We started using new expressions, new phrases that my students had never heard.

My speed changed a little bit and they were in all because the teacher that

they had gotten so used to, all of a sudden, it was like a brand new person.

This is exactly why I try to teach you lessons like I taught you today.

I don't want you to experience that confusion.

Now of course they laughed and I explain some of the things my friend

and I were saying, and they enjoyed the conversation moving forward.

But again, this is what happens to you on a regular basis when you're watching

TV or movies, you speak English well, you've studied a lot but then you

hear an American or a native English speaker use something you've never

heard before and you get confused.

Don't worry.

I will help you.

I hope you enjoyed the story again.

My friend and I had a good laugh.

The students had a good laugh and moving forward, I taught them a lot

more real English expressions and words.

All right guys, I will talk to you next time.

Have a great day!