Hello; welcome back. My name is Chris; I'm your English teacher and this is a free
lesson on Learn British English Free on YouTube. Thank you for joining me. Please
use the description - the text below on YouTube; above on Facebook and the
captions or subtitles on the video to read with me. The title of this lesson is
nine useful British expressions and that is what I'm going to teach you about
today. It's important for learning British English and for sounding more
like a native or to sound more like ... authentically a British person. They're
quite advanced - some idiomatic - so don't worry if they're a bit confusing;
you'll get there with time. I will try to explain them clearly.
Let's start: one - describing a situation where you're busy or too busy. This idiom
is: I've got a lot on my plate or I've got too much on my plate.
Imagine your plate with food - there's a lot or too much - maybe you can't eat it
all. In this sense, the meaning is you have too much to do, so when someone at
work or someone at home asks you to do something - you're too stressed, you don't
have time - tell them: "I'm sorry, I've got a lot on my plate" or "I'm sorry, I've got
too much on my plate". What about for number two - when we want to start a meal.
French people will say "bon appetit"; Italians "buon appetito".
British people don't have any an exact expression we often say "bon appetit" - we
steal from French as usual. However, we have one informal one: "tuck in". It means
get started; eat your food; enjoy; tuck in. Tuck in.
A simple and useful expression. Three - someone is talking about something. Someone asked
you something. You really don't know. You can say I'm
sorry, I haven't the foggiest. I haven't got the foggiest. It means I
really have no clue - I don't know what you're talking about.
Fog is the weather condition when there is lots of water in the air - like the
cloud is here - it's hard to see very far. Therefore, we can understand it is like
we're very confused - I haven't got the foggiest.
I just don't know. Four: so important when you're feeling unwell this means you're
feeling sick not you have a physical injury when you're feeling sick like a
cold or something worse than the flu: "I'm under the weather" - really important
expression, this. If someone says they're under the weather, it means they're
feeling sick.
You want to explain to someone that you're not feeling well,
oh - I think I need to go home. I'm under the weather.
Five is related to this; to ask someone "Are you feeling better?", but let's not use
these same expressions all the time. What about this: Are you on the mend? "Mend"
means to fix something - we can also mean "Are you on the mend?" -
are they recovering from either a virus or - in this sense is a bit different from
before - this can mean recovering from a physical
injury as well. Are you on the mend? = Are you feeling better? How about a situation
when you're angry or annoyed? This is expression six - the idiom is to be cheesed
off. I don't know why. You can simply say I'm cheesed off or someone is annoying
you - you know what you're really cheesing me off. It's expressing a negative
feeling but it sounds quite funny so it reduces the tension a little bit. Seven - can I
help you? How can we say this in a different way, informally? Do you need a
hand? Or: do you want a hand? This is another idiom. If you are working in a
shop or someone is working in a shop, they will ask you: can I help you?
May I help you? Cause it's more formal. But these ones, with your friends or with
someone in an informal situation, do you need a hand? Do you want a hand? Please
remember and try it next time. Eight and nine - some variations for the most common
expressions really. To mix it up a bit; to enhance your vocabulary instead of
"you're welcome" - "don't mention it". Someone says "thank you", you don't need to say
"you're welcome" all the time - you say don't mention it.
No problem = don't mention it. And finally, nine, how are you? Let's try a
different expression for this please. Not "how are you/" every time. How have you been?
It's similar - not completely different - but it mixes it up a bit - it sounds a
bit different and it's something that will sound a bit more advanced. How have
you been? It will mostly be used with people you've met before because there
is the meaning "how have you been/" since last time. How have you been?
Finished. Nine expressions - nine - to really enhance your British vocabulary if
you're here, when you're talking to British people. Please use it; I think
they will sound really good and they should be useful in a variety of common
situations; that's why I've chosen these. Please try them and tell me what do you
think - is this lesson good or bad? Is the explanation clear or not? Remember these
are advanced ones so it might take some getting used to. Thank you for watching.
My name is Chris; I'm your teacher on YouTube like before and these are also
published on Facebook - the British English Page and my website - please visit
it, please share these lessons, invite your friends and classmates.
Everyone is welcome - the more the merrier. Thank you for your time. I'll be back
soon with more lessons. I'll see you then. Goodbye.