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Hey, let me ask you something. Have you ever been in the middle of an important conversation, like maybe with your boss or a new friend, and you suddenly realized that you're saying that's very good for the 10th time? Or maybe you catch yourself using I'm not sure to respond to too many questions. You almost feel childish because you can't express yourself as naturally and richly as you would in your native language. Well, I've been teaching English for 13 years, and this has to be the number one frustration that I hear from intermediate learners. You have really solid grammar. You understand almost everything, but you find yourself stuck
using the same elementary phrases over and over again. Well, let's change that. Today, I'm going to be teaching you 20 expressions that will help you to sound advanced and fluent. And the great thing is that you can use these in almost any situation. Professionally at work, casually, at the bar, with friends, or in presentations. For each expression, I'll tell you what words or expression it replaces. And I'll give you two realistic examples so that you already confidently know how to use it as soon as you finish this video. Now, you should know that this lesson comes with its own vocabulary flashcards covering all 20 expressions that we'll learn today. Practicing with these daily is the easiest way to make sure you
remember these new expressions forever so that you can go from sounding like an English learner to sounding like an advanced English speaker. So, if that sounds interesting to you, simply tap the link down description below to download our app for free and start your vocabulary practice right away. Oh, yeah. And now let's transform how you sound in English starting right now. Let's jump right into our first expression. So don't say that's very good or that's very important. Instead say that's a game changer. All right. And we can understand this better with an example. Right? So when Steve Jobs first announced the iPhone, do you
remember that? Was that in your lifetime? It was clear it would be a gamecher. So if you actually experienced this, you know it was a gamecher when smartphones came about, right? It was completely changed the way that we interacted with mobile devices by all of a sudden having like apps available and so on. And really it was like this very revolutionary technology. So a way that you can remember this one is that it's like when you play a game like a board game with your friends. If you were to all of a sudden change the rules of the game, then it completely uh you know change your experience playing that games. So a game changer, it's kind of like that. It changes the rules of the
game or changes the rules of how something is done. Let's look at another example that you could hear someone say at work. So, learning to use AI tools effectively has been a real gamecher for my productivity at work. So, if you're already using AI tools at work, then you probably know this. It's really amazing how much more we're able to achieve with these tools. And now it's just so common place, right? It's become kind of like you have to use it if you want to be great at your work. All right, so let's move on to our second expression. Don't say, "I'm really busy." Say, "I'm swapped." Let's check out a pop culture example. So even when Taylor Swift is swamped touring, she finds time to write
new songs on the road. So this means that even though Taylor Swift really gives her all to her performances, between them, she prioritizes creating new songs, producing new albums for her fans. And at work, you might hear someone say, "Sorry, I can't join the meeting today. I'm absolutely swamped with quarterly reports." This is a great expression for work. You can use it all the time. Just to say, "You're really busy. You can't do something because you're really busy." And this just sounds much more colloquial. And just so you know, to help you remember this one, a swamp is a place. So it's a low laying piece of land where water collects. And you know, for example, Shrek lives in a swamp. You're probably familiar with
this. You can imagine if you were in this place, it'd be really difficult to move around. So sometimes when we're really busy, it feels this way. You've got all these tasks on you, all this work, all these demands that make it really difficult to get anything done. You're swamped. All right. Okay. And number three, don't say it's really easy to decide or it's obvious. Say it's a nobrainer. Why don't we start with how you might hear this at work first? So, when they offered me a promotion with better pay and flexible hours, it was a no-brainer to accept, right? If someone is going to give you more money with no added responsibility, then you should definitely say yes. It's a no-brainer.
Literally, you don't need to use your brain to make that decision because it's obvious. It's really easy to decide. Let's check out another example. So, for most soccer fans, choosing between watching the World Cup or doing homework is a nobrainer, right? Obviously, you would rather do something that you really enjoy than do homework. Moving on to number four. Don't say, "I'm not sure," or "I can't decide." Say, "I'm on the fence about it." All right, so our first example. Many Netflix subscribers are on the fence about whether to keep paying for multiple streaming services. If you're at all like me, you probably have felt this. Nowadays, we have HBO Max, we have Apple TV Plus, we have
Prime Video, there might be another streaming service that only exists in your country. And paying for all of these, the prices would just get astronomical, the bills, right? So, you're probably on the fence of whether to sign up for one or the other one or to just bite the bullet. That just means just to make the difficult decision and pay for all of them. Actually, I could give you a tip. I do is I have a list of all the series that I want to watch along with the streaming platform where I find them and I think I talked about this in another lesson. What I'll do is basically I sign up for one of the platforms. I watch all the series on my list from that platform and then I unsubscribe for it and I switch to the
next one, watch all the series on my list from that one and so on. And this way I'm able to spend a lot less each month on streaming services. So might want to try that. Or you might hear this at work as well. Maybe someone would say, "I'm still on the fence about taking that advanced certification course. It's expensive, but it could help my career." All right? And this comes from uh fence, which is like the barrier that you have between two pieces of property. So like, for example, if you live in a house, you might have a fence between you and your neighbor's house or property. And if you were on it, it's like you're on the border between two things, right? So it's like
this. When you have a hard decision, you're between those two things. You're on the fence. Number five, don't say I'm in the same situation or I have the same problem. Instead, say I'm in the same boat. So maybe you could read a piece of news that says Nintendo Switch owners have found themselves in the same boat when it comes to deciding whether to upgrade to the Switch 2. Right? So when the Nintendo Switch 2 was announced, it's like, do I spend all of the extra money to get this new system that doesn't really have that many games yet or should, you know, I stick with my old one? And everyone who has a Nintendo Switch might have been asking themselves that. So they're all in the same boat.
This one you might hear at work as well like this. Don't worry about struggling with the new system. We're all in the same boat here. So right something might happen at your company like there might be a new tool that the management is saying everyone should use or something happens that affects your department and so everyone in your department is in the same boat dealing with that problem or dealing with that new way of doing things. Moving on to number six. Don't say we should try it. Say it's worth a shot. This is a great one that you can use at work when you're trying to convince someone to do something. So you might hear someone say, "I know this marketing strategy is different from
what we usually do, but it's worth a shot." So this comes from basketball, I believe. So you probably know in basketball there's like a hoop or a net, and when you try to throw the ball into the hoop, you are taking a shot, right? You're trying to get the ball into the hoop and score a point. So, we use it metaphorically in this way to say basically to try something. Let's look at another example from pop culture. Even though BTS had never performed at the Grammys before, their team thought it was worth a shot to propose it. So, they might as well try. They might as well see if they can perform on an international stage like the Grammys,
right? And there's other ways that you can use this as well. You can say instead of it's worth a shot, like take a shot. Like you might as well try it. You could encourage your friend by saying just try it. Just take a shot, right? Um or you could say give it a shot. Means the same thing. All right. And our next one is another sports metaphor. So don't say that's completely wrong. Say that's way off base. So base you could probably guess comes from baseball. The bases are the there's four of them and basically you score points by getting from one of them to the other one. So if you're off base, it's like
you're not going to score a point. Probably where this comes from. Let's take a look at an example to understand this better. So when critics said Cristiano Ronaldo was too old to perform at the World Cup, his hat-tick proved they were way off base, right? So when someone makes a prediction or a claim, but then that turns out not to be true. That's a perfect situation where you can say that's way off base. That was completely wrong. At work, you could hear this as well, right? Sorry, but I believe your assumption that we're losing customers because of price is way off base. It's actually about customer service. So, this is a great one to use at work to propose a different opinion
or idea. I just would say be careful in how you present it because it could sound rude. So, like it said here, sorry. That's always a good way to start off to make it a bit lighter, but you might find it useful depending where you work. Let's move on to number eight. So, don't say I agree with something or I support it. Say, I'm totally on board with it. All right. So, you might hear a new story like this. Not all Instagram users are on board with how Meta chooses to use their data. Right? There's been a lot of controversy about how Facebook Meta uses their users data, right? And you might be someone who really enjoys using the app, but you're still kind of like not totally on board with you don't
totally agree with how they choose to use your data, right? Maybe that's even a reason to stop using it. There's a lot of ways that you could use this at work as well. For example, you might hear someone say, "I'm totally on board with a new flexible work policy. It'll help everyone balance their lives better." Right? So, if you completely agree with something new at your workplace, that's a great one to use. Say, "Yeah, I'm totally on board with that. I'm on board with that." Or the opposite, like, "I don't know if I'm on board with that. I don't know if we should do that." All right. Number nine. Don't say, "It's not difficult." Say, "It's not rocket science." This is one that we natives
use all the time. And you can also say that it's not brain surgery. So, I guess at least in American culture, we tend to think that rocket science and brain surgery are like the most difficult skills that a human can acquire. So, anything else compared to that is not really that difficult, right? Let's check out an example. Memorizing new English vocabulary isn't rocket science when you experience these lessons on the Real Life English app. The truth is, you've already learned some useful advanced expressions like game changer, swamped, and on the fence. But if you don't practice these, then poof, they'll disappear in just days or even hours.
Want to actually use these expressions naturally when you speak English. If you want to sound confident, simply knowing them isn't enough. You have to practice until they become automatic. This is exactly why we created a set of flashcards for you, which is available for free on our app. The magic is in the science behind it. The app uses smart technology, which brings back words for review right when you're about to forget them. It's like having your own personal English coach right in your pocket. Just 10 to 15 minutes a day, and these expressions will be right at the tip of your tongue exactly when you need them.
Super easy. No more I know that word, but I can't remember it moments. So, click the link down description below to get the Real Life app right now. Your future fluent self is going to thank you. And maybe one of your work colleagues might say something like, "Setting up the new software might seem complicated, but you know, once you try it, it's really not rocket science." or it's really not brain surgery. Right? So, if you're talking to someone at work, this can be a great way to say in a very colloquial native like way that something isn't that difficult. All right? Don't say that's hard to believe or that's an exaggeration. Say that's a stretch. All right? So, maybe you are a fan of Ryan Reynolds and your friend
really didn't like his new movie. Maybe you would say to them, "Saying that one bad movie will end Ryan Reynolds career is a bit of a stretch. He's proven himself many times." someone making a claim that you think like that's an exaggeration, that's not really true. You can say that's a stretch. Check out a way that you could use this at work. I think claiming our competitors will disappear in 6 months is a stretch, but we're definitely gaining market share, right? So again, if someone says something that is way out of the park, it's completely exaggerated. This is a great way for you to say that. That's a stretch. Number 11, don't say I'm listening carefully. Say, I'm all ears.
This is a super polite expression that you can use a lot. Let's check out an example. During her recent interviews, Oprah always makes guests feel comfortable by saying, "I'm all ears." when they start sharing personal stories. So, maybe a friend comes to you, for example, and you know, they say, you know, I'm really having issues at work or I'm really just struggling with something that's happening with my boyfriend or my girlfriend. This is a really nice one just to show that you're open to listening, open to helping. Like, I'm all yours. Tell me about it. you know, I'm here for you. You can of course use this at work as well. If you have suggestions for improving our team meetings, I'm all ears, right? Maybe if someone is complaining about something, that would
be a really great one to use is like, you know, instead of complaining about it, tell me your ideas. I'm all ears. I would love to hear them. Don't say that's almost too late. Say, that's cutting it close. All right. A perfect example is with travel. Check this out. Arriving at the airport only 45 minutes before an international flight. Most travelers would say you're cutting it too close. You can see we can add other things to this as well. You're cutting it really close. You're cutting it too close. It's really risky, you know, to play with a fate like that, like arriving at the airport really late. Or at work, this can happen as well, right? that person who does not quite respect deadlines.
Submitting the proposal at 11:58 p.m. when it's due at midnight, that's really cutting it close, right? So, anytime something just seems way too close to like the limit, you can use this one. Great expression for every day. Let's move on to number 13. Don't say it's unlikely, but say it's a long shot, but All right. And if you've ever tried to get tickets to a show, to a concert for someone who you really love, who is really popular, you've probably had an experience like this. Check it out. Getting tickets to see Beyonce's tour is a long shot, but thousands of fans still try every day. I recently had an experience like this trying to get Lady
Gaga tickets here, and I got some, but they're not the best location, but still going to get to go. But I can totally feel this one. Uh, or at work. I know getting budget approval for the new software this quarter is a long shot, but the costbenefit analysis might convince them. So, anything that's really difficult to do that the probability of success is really low, you can say it's a long shot. Really nice expression. All right, number 14. Don't say that's a difficult decision. Say that's a tough call. Another great one that we natives use all the time. So, let's see. Football example or soccer example. Choosing between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as
the greatest player is a tough call that divides soccer fans. You probably are aware of this if you like soccer at all. I'm not a huge fan, but still there's always debates around this, right? So, anything that there's a debate about, you can say is a tough call. Let's check out another example. Deciding whether to hire the experienced candidate or the promising newcomer is a really tough call. I know a lot of hiring processes that I've actually struggled with this myself. always if it comes down to two candidates, it's always a really tough call. Really, any sort of situation where there's kind of like high stakes or you're worried about making the wrong decision, it's a tough call, right? Just
so you know, call is just a synonym of decision. So, there's other ways we can use this. For example, if someone makes a really great decision, you can say, "Man, good call." Or maybe your friend is asking you, you know, would you rather eat Chinese or Italian for dinner? And you're like, "I don't really care. It's your call. You know, it's your decision. All right. So, just a few more here. Number 15, don't say I can't remember or I can't think of anything. Say, I'm drawing a blank. All right. So, if you're a cooking fan, you'll like this first sentence. So, even though Gordon Ramsay is a world famous chef, he admits that sometimes he draws a blank when trying to create new recipes. So,
that means that he creates recipes all the time, but you know, sometimes he sits down to try to put ingredients together and it's just like nothing will come to him. That happens to all of us, right? in creative work that sometimes, you know, the muses, the creative voices, they just don't come to us. We draw a blank. At work, of course, we can use this a lot, too. So, you might hear someone say, "When my boss asks for ideas to improve customer satisfaction, I was completely drawing a blank in the meeting." Have you ever been in a meeting where, you know, someone asks you something and you just draw a blank?
You know, you can't think of anything. Or we'll say a lot of times like you're put on the spot, like someone calls on you, you're not expecting it and it's just like your mind completely goes blank. There's there's nothing. You can't think of anything. So that's exactly that. One thing that I've really gotten into in the last years is improv. And sometimes you have a scene and this totally happens to you. It's like you're given a prompt, but then it's kind of like, okay, roll. And nothing comes to you, can't think anything. You just are there silent staring into the light. All right. Number 16. Don't say that's not relevant. Say that's beside the point.
All right. So check this out. Whether Lady Gaga is a great actress is beside the point. as an artist. Her music has inspired millions around the world. All right, so Lady Gaga has of course gotten a lot of criticism on some of the roles that she's played as an actress and some people just say just stick to music and that's kind of where this comes in, right? It's like who really cares if she is a great actress or not because like her music has just had such a big impact on people, right? So it's beside the point whether she's a great actress. And this one's pretty formal, so it's also really nice at work. So you might hear someone say, "Your concerns about the budget are valid, but they're the beside
the point right now. We need to focus on the deadline first." So if you do work in an office, you probably have meetings all the time, and there's always that person who might bring up something that's not relevant or not so relevant to the conversation or it's not relevant right now. And this is the perfect opportunity to try out using this one. Like, um, I understand what you're saying, but it's beside the point. Let's come back to the main topic. Number 17, don't say I hope. say, "I'm keeping my fingers crossed." You might have an expression like this in your own language because we have the emoji, right? That's like this. So, I think it's kind of a universal thing, at least in many countries. But anyways, let's
see some examples to help us to understand better how to use this one. So, fans around the world are keeping their fingers crossed that Blackpink will tour in their countries. So, anytime an artist that you love announces their tour dates, you might be hoping that they'll come to your city so you can go see them, right? You're keeping your fingers crossed. you really hope that they come. And we can use this in so many different situations, like if you're applying to a university or you are trying to get a new job. For example, I submitted my application yesterday, so now I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get the interview. And we can shorten this even just to fingers crossed. So we can just say fingers
crossed I get the interview. Or maybe your friend is saying, man, I really hope that I get accepted to this exchange program in New Zealand next year. And you can say fingers crossed. You know, say like I hope you get it. So, I really love our next one, number 18. So, don't say, "I forgot what I was saying." Say, "I lost my train of thought." For me, this one's really visual. It's as if you know, like your thoughts in your head were a train that's running and then maybe it crashes into something and you know, you're we saw the one earlier like you're drawing a blank like nothing comes to your head.
You completely forgot what you were explaining or sometimes if there's something that distracts or interrupts you, you lose your train of thought, right? So, check this out. I was explaining the quarterly budget to my team, but when someone's phone kept ringing, I completely lost my train of thought. So, this is a great one to use at work all the time. You know, this happens on our team here at Real Life English all the time that someone is explaining something and then they forget what they were saying and this is the perfect expression to use in those situations. Check out one more example. During a live interview, even experienced hosts like Jimmy Fallon sometimes lose their train of thought when celebrities tell unexpected
stories, right? So, if something blew you away so much from the person you're interviewing, you could totally be like, "I don't know how to respond to that. I lost my train of thought. I forgot what I was going to say." Number 19, don't say, "I'm learning," or, "I'm improving." Say, "I'm getting the hang of it." So, if you're new at a company, this is a really great expression for you to remember because you can use it in so many different situations, right? For example, this new project management software seemed impossible at first, but I'm finally getting the hang of it. Or another example is that we're learning all of these great expressions today, right? If you don't practice them, then
maybe even later today, if not tomorrow, you probably will have forgotten most of them. That's why if you study them with the real life English app, you'll get the hang of using them naturally in no time. And just to give you a final way that you could use this, for example, even though Tik Tok dances look complicated, most teenagers say they get the hang of it after a few tries, right? So that's like anything. Like the other day I tried out beach volleyball and I found out it was like really the first time that I was actually doing like a class, you know, other than just like throwing the ball around with some friends or something like that. And at first, although I was awful and I'm still awful, but I did find after a
little bit of doing some different exercises and getting different tips from the trainer, I started to get the hang of it. And our last one, number 20. Instead of saying the most important point is, say that's the bottom line. All right. So, maybe you hear a friend say, "No matter how you feel about Jeff Bezos personally, the bottom line is that Amazon totally redefined how we shop." Right? So, maybe you don't like Jeff Bezos as a person, but most countries, right, that have Amazon shopping has completely changed. You no longer need to go to a store. It's like you can have even the same day or the
next day something delivered right to your doorstep. So convenient, right? Or you might hear at work like we can discuss all the features we want to add, but the bottom line is we need to launch by March. So that's great at work when you want to really point out this is the thing that we should focus on. This is the most important thing. You can use this one. The bottom line is this. Something else you could hear at work too is the bottom line used to mean like revenue because for most companies in order to survive uh the bottom line, the most important thing is the revenue. So a lot of times um for example could say
declines in marketing have really affected our bottom line meaning have really affected our revenue. So this shout out goes to Camila Bitten Court who I believe is from Brazil and she says the best app for intermediate and advanced learners podcast with excellent topics vocabulary included with words and expressions you won't learn in any English course. flashcards with examples that help you memorize everything you've learned. And best of all, conversations with people from all over the world who are generally there to talk. The only drawback is the limited conversation time. So those who want to speak fluently should pay for the premium version. Thanks so much, Camila. It's really amazing hearing from
learners like you that the app is making an impact. This is exactly why we made it so that you can go from feeling like a lost insecure English learner to finally being that confident natural English speaker that you've always wanted to be. So, highly recommend if you have not yet downloaded the app. You'll get the best experience with these lessons. You get the flash cards that I've already mentioned that will help you to remember these new words and expressions forever and to actually start using them next time you get in conversation and really blow the socks off, really impress the person that you're talking to. And that's it for today's lesson. I think we should call
it a day because you've done an awesome amount of work today. That's been a lot of really powerful expressions. You know, if you can start using all these, uh, you're going to sound so much more natural when you speak. You're really going to surprise people at work. if you're someone who works in English. So, highly recommend that you study the flashcards for this lesson. And if you want to get great lessons like this every single week that help you to become a more confident natural English speaker, be sure to hit that subscribe button and bell down below and that way you won't miss a single lesson. So, I already hear Phoebe stretching. She's ready to go for a walk. So, let's call
it a day. So, thanks again for joining me today. A
