AEP 3 – Deep English Conversations

Well, hello and welcome to this month’s Phrase Builder and pronunciation practice lesson.

It is a pleasure to have you with me again today.

This month, our topic for the month is deep conversations.

So, we want to help you not just have

kind of, uh, you know, basic, everyday conversations about sports or the weather or how’s the family, things like that.

We want you to be able to talk deeply and have really interesting conversations, which we call, you know, kind of, philosophical

or deep conversations, uh, where you really get to talk about the things that you’re passionate about.

I’ll explain more about a, what a deep conversation is in the Master Class lesson,

but for right now, we’ll just cover a few of the different words and phrases that appear in the conversation itself.

So, we’ll be talking about two different things.

First, we have the short, one-word and, you know, very, kind of, very quick and easy phrases that you can use, and we’ll also talk about some of the longer phrases and expressions.

Let’s get started.

All right.

The first one that you’ll hear is dapper.

Dapper.

Now, Shannon, uh, he’s an Australian guy, so he would pronounce it dapper.

Dapper.

And his pronunciation is a little bit stronger than mine,

uh, with that “ah” sound, dapper.

Dapper.

And I have the stronger “er” sound.

Dapper.

Dapper.

So, in the America English, it’s a little bit more difficult for people to pronounce,

but if you’d like to have more of an American accent, you have to try extra hard and listen to a lot of

American speakers, like myself, so you can really get that “r” sound.

Dapper.

Now, what dapper means is handsome.

It’s, kind of, neat and sharp.

And right now I don’t look very dapper.

Maybe I have a dapper haircut,

but, you know, I’m just regularly, you know, wearing a T-shirt and it’s not particularly handsome or, you know, anything fancy like that.

But, if I have a nice suit, you can say I was looking dapper.

Now, this is just a great phrase, a great word you can use.

Uh, instead of calling someone handsome, you can say, “Ah, you look dapper,”

and people will be surprised and impressed by how you sound.

Dapper.

Dapper.

Next, half-decent.

Half-decent.

Good, decent, half-decent.

Half-decent is a great way of some, is, kind of, saying something that’s, eh, it’s okay.

It’s, it’s not so great.

It’s half-decent.

The restaurant over there it’s, eh, it’s half-decent.

Half-decent.

So, you could go to that restaurant; the pizza is pretty good, but,

eh, it’s half-decent.

Half-decent.

So, listen carefully.

Watch how I’m using the expression, not just the words I’m using, but the way I’m saying it.

Eh, half-decent.

Half-decent.

So, “Oh, how was the, how was the movie, how was the movie, yesterday?”

“Eh, it was half-decent.”

Half-decent.

Half-decent.

So, decent just, kind of, means, uh, it’s kind of a more, uh, intelligent way of saying, like, okay, like 50 percent.

Yeah, we were decent.

It was decent.

My job is decent.

But then, half-decent is a little bit lower than that.

So, eh, half-decent.

Half-decent.

Next, we were talking about clothing and, especially, loud clothing.

Now, loud clothing is like a bright red shirt with pictures of penguins fighting dragons and things like that that you’ll see, like lots of sparkles.

This is called loud clothing, or you can describe someone’s clothing as being loud.

“Wow, that guy really has a loud shirt.”

A loud shirt.

Or, “He’s got some loud pants.”

So, sometimes you’ll see people wearing things, uh, and instead of just saying,

uh, well, you know, it’s a, like it’s a bright shirt, or it’s a sparkly shirt, or it has a crazy design,

you can just call it loud.

Loud.

Next, to pull off something.

To pull off something.

Now, this is a really fantastic phrasal verb that I highly recommend.

And what it means is to succeed at something.

So, usually, let’s say I’m, uh, I’m trying to, uh, I’m trying to pull off, like, a crime or something like that.

So, I am a, I am a diamond thief and I am going to sneak into a jewelry store,

uh, and I’m going to pull off a robbery.

Now, what that means, if I pull it off,

if I succeed, then I get what I want.

So, I can pull it off.

In the fashion sense, you can talk about someone being able to pull off a certain kind of clothing.

Now, maybe a beautiful woman could wear, uh, like, a thong, you know, those like really tiny bathing suits, but I could not pull off a thong.

I couldn’t pull off a thong.

If I was wearing a thong walking around at the beach, I think people would think that was pretty funny.

So, to pull off something means to be able to do it,

to succeed at being able to do something.

To pull off.

Pull off.

Pull off.

Next, to be out there.

To be out there.

To be out there means to be crazy or wild or different from everyone else.

So, if everyone else has a suit on, I’m wearing my black suit with a white shirt and a black tie and maybe other people are wearing the same thing,

and then one guy he has a, a crazy hat with stars and sparkles on it and a purple suit

and a cane and big glasses, that guy is out there.

Out there.

So, he’s different from everyone else.

He’s crazy.

You can use it, uh, in a good way or in a bad way,

but usually we talk about something being out there is just, kind of, different than normal.

So, we have a kind of normal space and then outside of that.

So, describing someone as being out there.

His ideas are really out there.

He thinks about things in a different way,

out there.

Out there.

Next, a gray area.

Gray area.

Usually, when children are very young, we have very, kind of,

maybe one-year-old, two-year-old, three-year-old kids,

we teach them things that, uh, yes, it’s, uh, it’s good, or no, it’s bad.

And we usually call this black or white thinking.

And for kind of teaching children it’s a bit easier to do.

But as they get older they learn that there are gray areas.

Like, maybe, uh, if, uh, a woman asks me, oh, “How do I look?”

Uh, or “Do I look fat,”

and maybe I think she does, maybe I think she doesn’t.

But if I think she does, I might tell a white lie.

So, a white lie is a, kind of, a small lie where you’re not really saying anything bad or trying to do anything,

you know, kind of hurtful to someone.

So, this is a white lie.

Now, I might tell a white lie because this is a gray area.

Now, are lies a good thing or are lies a bad thing?

Well, there’s a gray area.

Sometimes it’s okay and sometimes it’s not,

a gray area.

A gray area.

Next, a side note.

Side note.

Let’s say I’m talking about something, I’m talking about, uh, my pet iguana.

And I have, uh, a baby iguana over here, and then I say,

“As a side note,” so here’s just an extra piece of information,

“As a side note, I bought this iguana in Hawaii.”

So, I’m talking about the iguana, like what it eats and other things and, as a side note,

I bought it in Hawaii.

So, a side note, it’s literally like a note, but it’s a piece of information on the side of something else.

So, the main conversation is here, but on the side

here’s some extra information you might want to know

on the side,

a side note.

A side note.

And finally, repercussion.

Repercussion.

A repercussion is an unintended consequence, or something bad that happens when you are trying to do something else.

Let’s say you have two parents that are arguing with each other.

Uh, they are having a really bad fight and maybe they just think, uh, they are the only two in the conversation.

But, in the next room, one of their children is listening to that.

So, the repercussion of them arguing is that the child feels bad.

So, this is a, uh, an unintended consequence.

So, the parents they didn’t intend to make the child feel bad, but the child does feel bad,

repercussion.

Repercussion.

Repercussion.

And now we’ll go over some of the longer phrases that appear in the conversation.

First, a penchant for.

A penchant for.

I have a penchant for expensive cars.

I have a penchant for expensive cars.

To have a penchant for something means you have a disposition

or you really like something, or you have a habit for something.

So, it’s just something you have a kind of, natural liking for something.

I have a penchant for expensive cars.

I have a penchant for expensive cars.

Next, damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

To be damned means to be cursed by something, or to have a problem or something happen to you.

Now, what we’re talking about in the conversation is,

uh, how Shannon was dealing with his wife.

So, Shannon wanted to wear one kind of clothing,

uh, and then his wife told him to wear, kind of, a different kind.

But he said that it’s really difficult to find a, kind of, middle area where it’s okay for his wife.

Because if he wears what she wants, then she says it’s boring.

But if he wears what he wants, then she says, “Well, that’s, that’s out there.

That’s, kind of, too crazy. You shouldn’t do that.”

So, if you’re in a situation where no matter what you do there’s going to be a problem, you can say,

“Ah, I’m damned if I do, I’m damned if I don’t.”

So, if I do something there will be a problem.

If I don’t do something, there will also be a problem.

Next, a little bit goes a long way.

A little bit goes a long way.

Usually, when we talk about medicine or trying to solve a problem,

you can say that a making a little bit of effort or just using a little bit of medicine, or something,

will go a long way.

And what that means is that if you have even just a little bit of something, it will solve the problem.

To go a long way means to solve the problem in this way.

So, a little bit of honey goes a long way to

helping you recover from, you know, a sickness or the flu or a sore throat.

So, a little bit goes a long way.

Be careful with that medicine,

a little bit goes a long way.

So, a little bit is strong enough for the solution,

or a little bit is very powerful, so you don’t have to use very much of it.

A little bit goes a long way.

A little bit goes a long way.

Next, to do your part.

To do your part.

To do your part means to help in some way.

I’m doing my part for the environment.

I’m doing my part for the environment by cleaning up all the trash in my neighborhood.

I’m doing my part.

Now, it can be for an organization or for a person or a group of people.

It doesn’t really matter.

But to do your part means that you’re using yourself for, you know, helping some,

uh, cause or some group of people, something like that.

To do your part.

Do your part.

Do your part, now.

Do your part for the environment.

Next, to do right by something.

To do right by something.

To do right by something means to help or,

uh, to be positive for that thing.

To do right by something.

So, I am doing right by the planet, even though “to do right by”

it sounds kind of weird to non-native speakers.

But it’s, again, a phrase that you should learn as one unit:

to do right by.

So, to do right by the planet, you shouldn’t throw your trash on the ground.

Do right by the planet.

Do right by the planet.

So, to be helpful, uh, and to do something positive and beneficial.

Next, on both sides of the issue, or on both sides of an issue.

Usually, you can think of an idea as having a good side or a bad side,

or look at something from one perspective or another perspective.

So, the issue or the problem of something, or the question of something, usually it has two different sides.

So, you can look at it from this side of the issue or this side of the issue.

Sides of the issue.

So, I’m on this side of the issue.

He’s on that side of the issue.

And we are thinking about both sides of the issue.

So, an issue might be, uh, should children be able to smoke, let’s say.

Should little kids be able to smoke?

Maybe some people think, “Eh, it’s okay, let people smoke.”

Uh, and other people think, “No, no, no, no. Do not let children smoke.”

So, we have people on both sides of the issue.

Some people say yes and other people say no,

both sides of the issue.

Both sides of the issue.

And, finally, the tip of the iceberg.

The tip of the iceberg.

The tip of the iceberg.

The tip of something is the very top edge, or the last little piece of it.

This is the tip of my finger.

The tip of my finger, or the tip of one of my hairs.

The tip, just the end of it.

An iceberg is one of those big pieces of ice floating out in the water.

So, usually, an iceberg you have the surface of the water, here,

and the iceberg will look like this.

It will have a really big part under water and just a small part on top of the water up here.

So, the iceberg, the big piece of ice is floating in the water like this,

and you can only see the tip of the iceberg.

Even though the iceberg is very big, you can just see the tip of it.

This is a really common expression.

I highly recommend you remember this one.

If you don’t remember all of these phrases,

remember this one in particular because it’s so useful and you’ll hear it everywhere.

This problem is just the tip of the iceberg.

This problem is just the tip of the iceberg.

So, this little thing right here that we’re experiencing, it’s only just the beginning or only just a small piece of a much bigger thing,

the tip of the iceberg.

The tip of the iceberg.

Well, that’s it for this month.

I hope you’ve enjoyed all of these phrases.

Be sure to go back and review all of them.

Listen to my pronunciation as I’m saying them and practice with me if you’d like to sound more like a native American speaker.

And I look forward to seeing you in the next lessons this month.

Have a fantastic day and keep practicing.

Bye bye.