Did you know that “It’s not on” and “It’s not on” have completely different meanings?
While “Are you kidding me?”
could be a playful question or an indication that the speaker is really annoyed.
Hello everyone, Anna here, and today we are exploring different ways to
say “you’re behaviour is unacceptable, mate”.
Now hang on, see that right there is also a really weird British thing.
When we're really angry with someone,
we have the word ‘mate’ on the end of a statement, even though ‘mate’ means friend.
“That's not very friendly. Is it mate?”
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Okay, so let's start with “Are you kidding me?”
‘Kidding’ means joking.
We use this phrase when we cannot believe what we're seeing, or hearing.
Or when we don't want it to be true.
“Are you kidding me? I parked in a parking bay and I paid to park, why have they given me a ticket?”
Next, “You’re out of order” or “That’s out of order.”
This phrase means that someone's behavior or words are unacceptable, offensive or upsetting.
“Look sis, I just wanted to borrow your lipstick. I didn't ask you because you
were busy, so I just got it out of your bag.”
“You shouldn't ever go into someone's
handbag without asking. Besides that lipstick looks ridiculous on you.”
“Hey, that's out of order... that’s just mean.”
A similar phrase is “You’re out of line”or “You’re way out of line”
This means that your behavior is not appropriate.
It's not what's expected.
“My supervisor said that I shouldn’t expect a promotion
anytime soon because I’m useless - that’s what she said anyway.”
“Really, that is completely out of line, you should file a complaint about her.”
“What do you think you are doing?”
When someone is doing something that is surprising and unacceptable,
you can say, “What do you think you're doing?”
This is different to “What are you doing?”
Which is a genuine inquiry.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“I am doing my English homework.”
“What do you think you are doing?” is used when
you can see exactly what they're doing and you do not approve.
“Hey, what do you think you are doing?”
“Ermm my English homework.”
“You are suppose to be in class.”
“Oh shoot.”
If you feel really annoyed by someone's unacceptable behavior,
then you can add emphasis to the phrase by adding the word ‘on earth’.
“What on earth do you think you are doing?”
If someone is out of line?
Like if your teenage daughter starts being rude to you, then you could remind them of
their place in the pecking order by saying, “Who do you think you are?”
It's a way of reminding them that this is not an acceptable thing for them to say or do.
“Ah, morning everyone.”
“Jane, it's 9:45”
“Yes, it is, and I am in desperate need of a coffee,
so if you don't mind grabbing me a cappuccino while I check my emails.”
“I'm sorry?”
“Get me a coffee.”
“Who do you think you are? I am your superior, not the intern.”
Very similar to that phrase is “Who do you think you're talking to?”
It's like you're asking them,
“Do you think that you're better than me? More senior, more experienced than me?”
“Mom, I wanna see my mate. So you're going to drive me to Danny's house and
then you're going to give me 20 quid so I can go to the cinema.”
“Who do you think you're talking to?”
One of my favorite phrases on this list is “How dare you!”
This phrase has been around for a very long time,
and I'm sure you would find many examples of it being used in black and white films.
“I'm sorry, Mary. I don't love you. I could never love you.”
“How dare you!” (slap)
But this phrase is not archaic.
We do use it in modern English, and it means “I
can't believe you were brave enough to do such a thing.”
How dare you?
How did you dare to do or say that?
“Babe, we need more biscuits.”
“No, there’s a tin full in the kitchen”
“Nope, I have eaten them all.”
“You’ve eaten them all, and you didn’t save any for me?”
“Sorry.”
“How dare you! They were my special Birthday biscuits.”
And similar to that phrase is, “You’ve got a nerve.”
Again, you are pointing out how brave someone is to dare behave in such an unacceptable way.
“Knock knock”
“Danielle?”
“Hi, can we talk?”
“You’ve got a nerve coming in here after what you did.”
I hope you found this lesson useful and my presentation acceptable.
Until next time, take care and goodbye.