13 English Idioms for 😕DOUBT & UNCERTAINTY

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Hey there I'm Emma from mmmEnglish.

This lesson today is all about natural English

expressions that you can use in everyday conversation.

I've got thirteen idioms that will help you to express

doubt and uncertainty which is really useful right

because we don't always have all the answers do we?

I don't care who you are you don't know everything,

you don't always know exactly what you should do

so these expressions are going to help you in those

moments and we'll focus on three different situations

where these expressions will be useful for you.

Firstly, when you're still thinking about a situation

you know you haven't decided on the outcome yet.

You're still forming your opinion.

But then there are other times when you genuinely

don't know what the outcome will be.

So in those situations, instead of saying "I don't know"

you know which can be a little unhelpful

or unprofessional,

I've got some expressions to help you there and then

of course, there are always times when you actually

need to change your mind,

make a different decision to the one that you've

already made so we'll get to those as well.

So let's get started by thinking about the times when we

have a decision to make

but we're still deciding what to do,

you know, we're still forming our opinions.

We're not quite sure yet.

Once we decide, we'll know exactly what we need to do

right there's no problem then.

It's deciding that's the hard part

because you're always gonna have two options right,

two or more options.

So this expression is a really useful one when someone

is going from this to this to this.

We say that they are toing and froing.

Going backwards and forwards from one to the other

you know, when it's really difficult to decide

what you're actually gonna do.

Come on, we've been toing and froing on this all week

let's just make a call.

Let's decide what to do.

You can say that you are in two minds when you

are having difficulty deciding what to do.

And this is a really great one to use at work

in a professional context so instead of saying

"I don't know"

which is negative and it doesn't really make you seem

very professional or helpful but by saying that you're in

two minds about something suggests that you're

actively thinking about it.

Tim suggested we hire a new developer,

but I'm in two minds.

I'm unsure. I'm still thinking about

whether that's the right thing to do.

To put feelers out.

What is that?

This is really useful when you want the advice

or opinions of others before you make your decision.

So you're trying to discover what other people think

and often you're doing this discreetly you know,

when you put the feelers out you would just

ask a few people quietly, not send out a huge group

email just to ask for everyone's input.

You're just asking for a few people just to see

if what you're thinking is the right sort of thing.

So imagine you're organising the staff office party.

You're not sure what everyone might want to do,

bowling, river cruise. There's lots of options.

So you could say

I might put the feelers out to see what the team thinks.

You know, before doing something and organising it,

you're gonna try and discover what everyone else thinks

by just asking a few people, making a few discreet

inquiries to see if what you're thinking

is also what everyone else is thinking.

Alright so what on earth is a quandary?

If you're in a quandary.

A quandary. Say it with me. It's a bit tricky.

Quandary.

This is a really great expression when you're stuck

and you can't actually decide what to do you know.

Imagine if you received two job offers,

one is a really interesting job.

The work is interesting but it doesn't pay well.

The other is a really well-paying job but the work is

kind of boring so it's hard to decide right? You could say

I'm in a real quandary over which job to accept.

I want to know. Have you ever been in a quandary?

I want you to think about that.

Have you ever been in a quandary?

Write me a sentence using that expression

in the comments below.

It's a new one I'm sure, for many of you so try it out.

Alright I'm sure you've heard this one before.

It's a very common expression 'to sleep on it'.

So if someone is expecting you to make a decision

but you need a little bit more time to think about it,

then this idiom is perfect and by using it,

you're asking for some more time until the next day

to think something over before making that decision

so you sleep on it.

So this isn't just about what to have for lunch tomorrow,

it's usually a big important decision like

accepting funding from investors or maybe your boss

offers you a new position

but it's in an office in another country.

So when you hear that idea, you might be really positive

and say "Wow what an amazing opportunity" but

it's a really big decision, you know, it means

new friends, relocating so you might say something like

"I really appreciate your offer but if you don't mind,

I need to sleep on it."

So you can talk to your family about it. You can

do some research about the country and you know this

new place that you're moving to,

to help you make the decision.

Or if you have an awesome boss, then they might say

"Do you know what? Why don't you sleep on it?

Let me know your decision tomorrow."

Okay so there are definitely times when we are

really unsure of an outcome

and because of that we don't want to commit to a

decision right? So to express that uncertainty

there are a few different things that you can say

and of course, one of those is that you're on the fence.

You know, when you are faced with a choice,

you've got two different options and you need to make

a decision and you're thinking about those two different

options but you haven't decided yet you know.

Both are good options so you're here you're on the fence

and usually this expression when you have,

maybe when you have to choose a side you know

or you feel strongly about something. Are you for

or against it? Are you in are you out?

So let me ask a question.

Do you think that children should have mobile phones?

So if your answer is firmly yes or no, good for you.

You don't need to worry but if you catch yourself

thinking well it is good to have access to the Internet,

the education you know. If they ever are in trouble then

they have a way to call for help etcetera, right?

So you might have to say

"Do you know what? I think I'm on the fence."

Can you think of a time when you were

on the fence about something?

I want you to see if you can write a sentence

about it in the comments below.

Think about a time when you really weren't sure if you

agreed or disagreed with something. Let me know.

So that was a useful expression when you are in control

of the outcome. You get to make the decision right

but if you're not in control of the outcome

and you're trying to predict something,

what the result will be, then you can say

"It could go either way."

Imagine that you're watching a football match

and the scores are even, there's only one minute left

and the result really could go either way you know,

there are two possible outcomes.

Team A wins or team B wins unless you play soccer

which I think you can have a draw as well so

this is Australian football, right?

You can't have a draw okay. Team A wins or team B wins

and it's actually not clear which result is more likely.

So you can use this expression in a sporting context

like that but also in other contexts too especially

where there's some level of competition

and you're not sure what the result will be.

I think it would be two kids arguing about a toy

or two applicants for the same position,

applying for the same job at work.

So if you have something like a plan or a decision

and it's up in the air, it means that it hasn't been decided

yet or it hasn't been settled yet

but the thing is this expression is a little negative.

I'm wondering if you can guess why.

It doesn't actually suggest any action, you know,

the result is out of your control,

you're just waiting to hear

what the result will be.

So usually if something is up in the air, it makes you

feel a little uncomfortable or a little uneasy like

what's gonna happen?

My company's announced that they're making

redundancies at the end of the month

but we don't know how many,

we don't know from which department

and it's so hard to stay focused with everything

so up in the air. I don't know if I'll have a job next month.

Without funding to move forward, the project's

really up in the air.

The jury's out or it's still out.

This expression means that something is being

considered but no decision has been reached yet okay?

Now in case, this word is a little new for you.

A jury is the group of people who decide the verdict

in a court.

So the judge is the main guy but this group of people,

that's the jury. They're the ones who decide if someone

is innocent or guilty and if you've watched

any Law & Order shows on Netflix,

you'll know that after the jury have all the evidence,

they leave the courtroom to discuss and to make

their decision.

Sometimes it can take days or even weeks.

But while the jury is out, out of the room,

there's no decision right?

We don't have any idea what the outcome will be

so that's where this expression comes from.

Will Australia open its international borders

again in 2020?

Well, the jury's still out on that one!

And you can express that same idea a little more

formally by saying that the result remains to be seen

so we don't know what the result will be yet.

The government's pledge to fund three new schools

but the location of each school remains to be seen.

Okay so there are just a few more to go my friends.

We're talking about doubt and uncertainty

and how to express that in English so naturally

when you feel uncertain and you're doubting yourself

and the decisions that you've made in the past,

maybe you change those decisions you know,

and if you're changing your mind constantly

going from one to the other, then we say that you

chop and change

from this to this to this to this.

But unlike toing and froing where

you're switching between different opinions or

different ideas

well this expression is more about actions and decisions

so when you keep changing the plan.

And chopping and changing is definitely a negative

thing you, know it often creates confusion.

Are we doing this? Are we doing that?

Are we going there? Are we going there?

So usually when you're using this expression,

you're expressing frustration, right?

Are we printing the designs on yellow t-shirts?

Who knows? Jess has been chopping and changing

our ideas for weeks.

I wish she'd just make up her mind

so that we can get them printed.

What if you have made a decision to do something?

To buy a house, to quit your job, to start a family, well,

that's great but then you start to panic.

Is that really what I want? Maybe I rushed into this

decision. Maybe I need more time.

So that's when you get cold feet.

I'm not really sure where this expression comes from

exactly but I love it. I've always imagined that

you've had this amazing wonderful idea to go for a swim

at the beach. The ocean looks beautiful

so you run down, ready to get in

and as soon as your feet hit the water,

you realise it's actually freezing cold.

You start thinking oh should I keep going further?

Is this a good idea? Am I gonna regret it?

That's what I imagine when I use this expression.

So when you get cold feet about something,

usually you begin to hesitate about it, you know

you're no longer sure whether you

really want to do it or not.

You start to think oh is this the right thing to do?

And usually it relates to a big decision,

something that makes you nervous.

I wanted to bid at the auction but at the last minute,

I got cold feet.

Can you think of a time when you got cold feet

and you actually hesitated or maybe you didn't

do something because you thought it was a bad idea?

Let me know it down in the comments.

To have second thoughts.

Now this is another idiom that has a very similar

meaning to 'to get cold feet'

You can also say

"I wanted to bid at the auction

but I had second thoughts."

So it's used when you want to change your opinion

about something you know and you start to doubt your

your opinion or your ideas.

Now it's not quite as strong as getting cold feet.

It doesn't have to be about a really serious decision.

It's just when you change your mind so it might be

I thought the sailing club would be a great venue

for our wedding but I've been down to check it now and

I'm having second thoughts.

I'll have the pumpkin pizza please.

On second thoughts, I might try the fish.

So there you have it. That was thirteen English idioms

that you can use when you feel uncertain

or unsure about something.

I hope that you enjoyed it. If you did, make sure you

give it a like, share it with your friends if you want to.

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lessons like this, keep sending them to me.

So most of the idioms that I shared with you today

will help you to sound more professional at work,

especially when you're not sure what to do but you

want to seem like you're in control of a situation.

And definitely all of them are very common

everyday expressions that you can start using right now.

So keep learning with me here in this lesson or

practise your speaking skills and pronunciation with me

in this lesson right here.

I will see you in there!