So, in this video, we're going to look at how to moan and grumble, which means
if something is not very good: How do you express that? I might think of how
to do it in another language, like in Spanish: "Qué pena"; or in French: "Quel
dommage". Yeah? But how do we say it in English, and how can we use a rich
variety of phrases to express that? We're going to look both at informal
English in a more social situation, and also in a very different situation in
the world of work, where it's going to be formal language and more serious
situations. Okay. So, here we are, we got some informal phrases to say: "No,
not very good". Okay. Let's imagine that we are at the most English of occasions
— a cricket match; a Village Cricket Match. And we've got two guys who've
just been batting. And Jack says to Ian: "So, how did it go, Ian?" And Ian says:
"Well, I mustn't grumble, but..." which basically means: "I've got a problem
here. I didn't like it." But he's saying it in the negative. "I must not" — this
is short for — "I must not grumble, but..." and then we're going to say what
the grumble, what the complaint is. "I mustn't grumble, but I don't think I was
out." Yeah? "I was standing here. The ball was not going to hit those three
bits of wood. I wasn't out. It wasn't fair. I mustn't grumble, but it was a
terrible decision." Okay.
A few sandwiches... "sandwiches"; not "sandwich" — "sandwich". "A few
sandwiches short of a picnic." A very strong image, there. We've got this
picnic, and it's not very good; it's a bit incomplete. So, dissatisfactory.
Unsatisfactory, sorry. Unsatisfactory. So, at this cricket match — yeah — in
the middle, they're going to have a tea. And if we say: "Yeah, it's a few
sandwiches short of a picnic, isn't it?" then it means it's not very good. "Bog
standard". Now, this is quite... it's quite sort of base. Yeah? A "bog" means
a toilet. So, if something is "bog standard", then you understand that it's
not particularly great. If I asked a friend: "How is your new cricket bat?"
and if they said: "Bog standard", it means, you know... really not very happy
with it. "Bit of a botch job." A "botch" is a... "botched job" is a badly-done
job. It was... it's like what would happen if I tried to do some plumbing —
like, your house would fall apart and water would start spraying everywhere.
So, a "botched job" is a job not done particularly well. If there are any
plumbers out there, then maybe you can take me on as an apprentice. You don't
want to do that. "A dog's dinner". So, we've been talking about this tea at the
cricket. If the tea is a real mess and it looks totally unappetizing, like
there are like disgusting tuna sandwiches and kind of fruitcake that
looks like some sort of person who doesn't know how to cook has cooked it —
then a "dog's dinner". It's a real mess, and it doesn't make us want to eat it.
"A dog's dinner" — a mess. Again, it's got this idea of something done badly.
-"How are you feeling?" -"I'm gutted." Yeah? It means: I'm really upset. Your
guts are down here in the stomach, so when you feel: "That was bad", then
you're "gutted". So, Ian, was out in the cricket, so he might be feeling gutted
that it's all over. "A bit miffed". A "bit miffed" is like: "Why did that
happen? I'm a bit miffed about that." A bit like: "Huh? How? What?" Ian is also
feeling a bit miffed. "What? That wasn't out. Come on". "To over-egg the
pudding." This is a compound word, so these... this is one word, joined. "To
over-egg the pudding" is when you do a little bit too much. Yeah? A little bit
too many eggs in the pudding. It's just trying a bit too hard with something. Okay?
"I mustn't grumble" — we introduce the complaint. "A few sandwiches short of a
picnic." Yeah? It's just... it's the opposite of this, isn't it? This has
been done too much; this has been done too little. "Bog standard" — too simple;
not enough care and attention. "Botched job" — done badly. "Dog's dinner" — a
mess. Feeling upset. "It's all gone a bit pear-shaped." It's kind of quite a
sort of Cockney expression, isn't it? Apples and pears. So, here, we've got a
pear, like it was going well; and then, like... it's gone. It's gone all over
the place. "Shambles" means it's a mess. It's, like, I don't know. Some... it's,
like... what do they say? It's like a sort of a drunk running a brewery. It's
just total chaos. "Bit of a spanner in the works". So, we've got a tool, here;
let's imagine it's a spanner. If I shove that into a bicycle, then the wheel's
not going to keep moving. So, it just... "a spanner in the work" is when you put
something... you... it's an intervention that just causes chaos. "Bit of a
spanner in the work". Yeah, it's a bit of a problem that's stopping us from
maybe buying a house. We've got a useless solicitor — "bit of a spanner in
the works", because, you know... we want to buy the house, but because of him, we
can't. Yeah. There's this problem. "It really takes the biscuit." I love this
phrase; it's an absolute classic. So, there, we're imagining our plate of
biscuits, and we know how many are on the plate. We know that there are seven
biscuits there, and there are eight... no. Let's say that there are four
people. Yeah? So, we know that everyone should at least have a biscuit. We go
out the room; we come back, and they've all gone. Yeah? Someone has taken the
biscuit. They've been really cheeky, and now I'm really annoyed. "Doing my head
in". If someone does your head in, then they give you a headache and you feel
like hitting your head because they are so annoying. "Oh my gosh, that is doing
my head in; that noise is doing my head in." Okay? These are all informal. Now
let's get formal in the business place; at the workplace.
Okay. On to some formal expressions. By the way, if you are learning something
from this video, I'd like to make sure that you are a subscriber of mine, and
I'd like you also to share it with someone who could learn something from
this, too. Done that? Yeah? Subscribe; share. Good. Cool. Right. "To be honest,
I'm not really getting much out of this." I hope that's not true for you; I
hope you're getting lots out of this. I don't know if you watch the program, The
Apprentice — I know it's on in the US and the UK; maybe other places, too. But
in the UK, they recently had this competition between the boy's team and
the girl's team, and the girls were doing this tour of a vineyard in South
Africa. And it was going really badly because they couldn't actually find the
cellar in this vineyard. And they were taking their paying customers around and
saying: "I'm really sorry. We don't know where the room is." So, these are kind
of things that those clients who paid money to go on the tour could have said.
"To be honest, I'm not really getting much out of this." Yeah? This is not
good, is it? Or... I've got to say: This is how we speak; not how we write. Yeah?
And all of these phrases that I've written here, I've written them exactly
how they are used in spoken English. "I've got to say, this is testing my
patience." Yeah. "I am running out of patience. This is no longer funny that
we can't find the cellar. Why do we not know where we are going?" Or, very
similar meaning: "I think I've probably reached my limit now." Yeah. So, I can
put up with this much chaos and confusion; but if we reach this limit,
then... "This experience"— yeah — "it" — pronoun — "just hasn't lived up to my
expectations. I thought it was going to be really good, but it's been really
bad. My expectations were this, and you've come short."
"I have to say, I was expecting a bit more". "I have to say" — this doesn't
really mean anything; it's a filler phrase. "I was expecting", and then we
don't really need the bit for grammatical sense, but we pad the
language out. "I have to say, I was expecting a bit more." Yeah. "I thought
it was going to be good." Again, same root word: "to expect". Again, these
more phrases to say that something has not met expectations. "It's not up to
scratch." Now, the origin of this phrase, here: "not up to scratch" —
"scratch" refers to a starting line, so it's like they hit... they haven't even
got to the starting line. Yeah. They're not even in the arena. "It's just not up
to scratch". It's... it's not good enough. "I'm sorry. I'm not very happy
with this." Yeah. Nice and clear; we all understand that. Let's get the
pronunciation right. "I'm sorry". Yeah. So, it kind of breaks. "I'm sorry. I'm
not very happy with this. I'm not very happy with this. I'm not very happy with
this." Or: "I don't really see the point of..." "point of" meaning purpose. "I
don't really see the point of trying to find this vineyard cellar anyway. Why
don't we just go and taste the wine?" Or: "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just finding
it a bit frustrating". "A bit" meaning a little bit. "Look" — it means... this is
a word that... when we want someone's attention. "Look". "I'm sorry". Yeah?
I'm softening the blow. I'm making myself polite, but I am angry. "I'm just
finding it a bit frustrating." Yeah? This is very polite way of saying: "This
is terrible". "Is that really necessary?" I ended up saying that to my
landlord back in the UK in the summer when she tried to raise the rent because
we have pets. I said: "Is that really necessary?" and she didn't raise it. If
she continued, I could have said: "That is ridiculous. That's stupid. Why...?"
dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah-dah. Okay?
So, in this video, we've had phrases, like: "Mustn't grumble". Yeah. "That
really takes the biscuit". I hope these are things that you're going to remember
and use in a kind of jokey and playful way. And then, when we're in a more
serious context — this is the stuff you need to be using. Do the quiz now. Let
us know how you get on. I'm looking for ten out of ten. Do you reckon you can do
it? I hope so. See you in the next video. Until then, take care.