Today I am going to talk to you about, wait, wait, I'll be right back.
I just got to go number one.
Hey everyone. My name is Wes and yes, yes, I'm back. I've returned.
This is interactive English,
which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills.
And today I have a great lesson because I want to talk to you about euphemisms
in English and you might be wondering, you might be thinking,
well what is a euphemism? That is a great question.
A euphemism is a phrase or or an expression in English that is a little more
pleasant. It's not offensive,
and we use them because they take the place of of something else that is perhaps
offensive or unpleasant or that's just not,
it's maybe it's embarrassing. It's something that you don't want to hear.
So instead of being direct and saying things that people might find rude,
you would use a euphemism in its place so that you would sound more polite or
you know, they're also a bit amusing as well.
You can have some fun with these phrases,
which is why they are great to learn and native speakers use them all the time.
So this is perfect for developing your English fluency.
So let's begin with business.
And the first euphemism that I have for you is to let someone go.
And if you let someone go,
it's just another way of saying to fire someone. And when,
when you talk about firing someone that that's a strong word.
Nobody wants to hear that they're getting fired.
So an employer might tell someone, you know, sorry, but um,
we're going to have to let you go.
I don't want to tell you that you're fired because that's just going to sound a
bit mean. So instead, I'm just going to say, going to have to let you go.
You may also hear the person who was fired use this expression as well.
If you're having a conversation with your friends or your family and you don't
want to tell them that you were fired, you would just say, you know,
I was let go. And personally I,
I think it's a bit more professional because when you say that,
that someone's fired, it makes me think perhaps,
well they were doing something wrong. They were stealing.
Perhaps they were fighting. But if you say that, you know, I was let go,
then it makes me think, well it's just, it's business. It happens. Uh,
it's a fact of life. From time to time, companies will let their employees go.
So in that case, it makes me think that it's not really something that,
that you did wrong. It's just, it just happened. But company had to let you go.
We're going through....little tough time, financially.
And um, we're gonna have to let you go.
And we are going to have to let you go. Hank, would you come up here please?
Hank is our security guard. He will be ushering you out.
And if a company lets you go, then another thing
that you could tell people is that you are between jobs,
which is the next euphemism that I want to talk to you about.
So when somebody is between jobs, it's just,
it's another way of saying that are unemployed that they're not working right
now. They are looking for another job. So you'd tell somebody,
well I'm between jobs at the moment.
I'm not working with my old employer, I have not found my new employer.
So I am just between jobs. So in my opinion,
I think it's better to say you're in between jobs because the word unemployed
may have a negative connotation.
People might think you're a little lazy or perhaps you don't want a job and
you're not looking for one.
And if that's not the case and you are looking for work,
but you haven't found it yet, it's just better to say, Hey, no,
I'm between jobs, not working at my old job. I haven't found my new job.
So right now I'm between, between those jobs, I'm between jobs.
Um, Randall's in between jobs.
And court appearances.
Since Mitchell is between jobs,
I've taken a part time job at a greeting card store
Now just BizPro to BizPro. If you wait too long between jobs, you get stale.
Now let's switch from business to the bathroom,
which is a natural transition to make.
And the first euphemism that I have for you is I have to go number one and if
somebody says that they have to go number one, they're just,
they're talking about PA, they have to P.
so if number one means to pee,
you can probably guess that number two is talking about pooping.
And these are euphemisms you might use just to,
to have fun that you can have fun with these euphemisms.
Somebody may even ask if somebody says, Oh, I got to go to the bathroom.
And the other person says, you know, number one or number two,
I don't know why many people might be asking that question.
Perhaps they want to know how long it's going to take.
And obviously I think for the vast majority of us takes longer to go.
Number two. So if somebody is like, well, you know,
the train is leaving but I gotta run to the bathroom real quick,
the person you're traveling with might ask, well wait, number one or number two,
you better hurry up because we don't, we don't want to miss the train.
Not sure if you caught onto that euphemism. At the very beginning when I said,
well, I have to go number one and I left and then I came back.
If you're going number one, you've got 10 more seconds.
I'm gonna go use the ladies room. Number one or number two?
Number none of your business.
To use the restroom. I'm only asking is for your safety.
Is it a number one or number two? Your silence indicates number two.
When I get out of that bathroom, you better be gone.
Is it number one or number two? I just want to know how much time I have.
Now instead of saying number two, you could also say,
do your business to do your business. That means to poop.
And I think this might be a little more of a polite way to say it. Uh,
maybe I dare say a more professional way to say that you have to poop.
So if you are in a professional setting and you have to go to the bathroom and you actually
for some reason you have to tell the other person what it is you have to do.
Instead of saying, I got a poop, I'll be right back.
Which is a little more embarrassing even though it's very direct.
Just just say, you know I gotta do my business now.
If you are a woman and you need to go to the bathroom or go to the toilet,
you can tell someone, I have to go powder my nose.
This is a euphemism that that you might hear if you're watching a TV show or a
movie and the woman is at a restaurant maybe on a date and they'd say,
well, you know I, I'll be right back. I got to go powder my nose.
It means that they are going to the toilet now.
It doesn't tell us what they're going to do in the bathroom.
Doesn't give any information about number one. Number two,
it's just another way of saying that that you need to go to the toilet.
Even if it's just to wash your hands. You might say, well,
I need to powder my nose.
I don't know if this expression is still commonly used today.
I would have to ask my wife,
but it is something that you will hear when you're watching a movie or TV show,
so try to listen for that next time. If a woman is out,
especially like at a restaurant and they need to go to the toilet,
They might say, I need to powder my nose.
Drink up Tom. I'm going to go out of my nose.
Now play nice boys while I go powder my nose.
I'm going to go to the bathroom and powder my nose.
You sit here and think of something to say.
Now let's talk a little bit about appearance. You may or may not know this,
but the word fat in English,
it is a bit offensive and I would hear learners describe people from time to
time or even they may even talk about themselves and they would say, well,
I'm fat or he's fat or she's fat. And again, it,
it's not a very polite word in English.
And I think there are many learners who are unaware of this,
so keep that in mind. Don't describe somebody as being fat.
One way you could do it if you want to use a euphemism is to say somebody is big
boned. He's big boned, she's big bone. And again,
I think it's more commonly used when you were describing other people.
I think even more appropriately, somebody would use the word overweight,
but you may hear this euphemism from time to time and somebody says, well,
he's big boned or she's big bone.
And that is just another way of of saying fat, but not nearly as rude.
My whole family is big-boned. It's genetic.
I'm just big-boned. No such thing.
I'm not fat, I'm big-boned.
Why are you punishing yourself? Face it. You're a big-boned girl.
Bones don't giggle mom.
Keeping with appearances, the next euphemism I have for you is love handles.
And if somebody is talking about another person's love handles or maybe they're
talking about their own love handles,
they're referring to the excess fat that they have around their waistline.
So it's just something that happens naturally.
Especially I think as people tend to get older,
they start to develop these, you know,
these love handles on the side right here. Uh, yes, I,
I do have some love handles. And again, it's just,
it's more of a fun way to talk about it and less offensive.
Instead of saying, Hey, you know, you're,
you're getting fat around the waistline, you could just say, well,
they're their love handles. It's just, it sounds a lot nicer.
It's like love handle alert.
What he likes most about me is probably my love handles.
Don't you worry about cholesterol, lung cancer, love handles.
I don't worry about anything.
The next euphemism is make love.
And I think this is probably a euphemism that many of you might already be
familiar with, but if you're talking about making love to somebody,
then you're just, you're talking about sex instead of saying have sex.
You would say make love.
And the reason that I think you would want to use make love instead is because
it's more romantic.
It's a little more meaningful because if you just say like have sex,
it could just be something that's a little more carefree.
It's not something that may be, you know,
as romantic or if you're out on a date, you may want to think about that.
And not be too direct and say, Hey, you know, let's have sex. You know,
you try to make it a little more meaningful, make it more important,
make it a little more romantic and you'd tell something,
Hey, I just want to make love to you. I want to make love.
And, and who knows, perhaps that will work or it may not work.
And she'll look at you and say, you know, I,
I've got to go powder my nose and then she'll leave and never come back. So I,
you know, in all seriousness,
I think this is a euphemism that you would use with somebody that you have been
involved with for some time already. Maybe they're married,
perhaps they're engaged, but they,
they have a more intimate and romantic relationship.
They may use this euphemism, make love, instead of just saying, have sex.
It is not sex. You must not call it that.
Then what do I call it.
Making love.
Steve insists we turn the light off when we make love.
If you're doing it, I think you should be able to say it. Make love.
The next euphemism is to lose your lunch.
And if somebody loses their lunch,
then that is just another way of saying that they are vomiting,
they are throwing up, they're losing their lunch. And it just occurred to me,
I don't know how we went from making love to losing losing one's lunch.
I know it's a weird transition, but just, just bear with me. Just go with it. Okay.
So if somebody is feeling sick and they think that they may vomit,
then you know, you could just say, Oh, I think I'm going to lose my lunch.
I might lose my lunch, I might vomit, I might get sick.
Then we have a great euphemism,
which is not the sharpest tool in the shed.
And this euphemism is used to describe a person who is, who is not smart.
Maybe this person is a bit of an idiot,
but you don't want to say that because that's just mean.
So you may refer to this and say, yeah, you know,
well he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. So it's kind of a,
a fun way of putting it.
And I don't think it's really more or less polite.
It's just kind of having fun with it and it just doesn't sound as mean either.
If you want to describe somebody in this way, and again,
I don't think you still wouldn't,
you would not want to say this to the person you're talking about,
that is still going to be mean, but if you were just describing another person,
then you, you could refer to them and say, yeah,
you know he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. He's not that smart. He's an idiot.
And Craig, you saw him. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed.
Sure. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed.
Please God, please open my heart. Send me a sign.
We both know I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed.
Now let's talk about dying. And again, the word die.
It's a strong word. It,
it brings out these strong feelings and emotions.
So instead of saying that that somebody died, he died or she died.
I think overwhelmingly it's more common and a bit more polite to say someone
passed away and often you are going to use this in the past tense because it is
something that already happened. He passed away last year.
She passed away a few years ago. Somebody died, someone passed away.
My best friend, even though he wasn't so friendly.
What happened to him?
Passed away.
I'm sorry.
Aunt Sylvia passed away.
He passed away recently. Run over by an ice cream truck.
Now if you want to be very informal, you can say that someone kicked the bucket.
It means the same thing that someone died, but this is it.
It's very informal. You want to be very careful when you use it.
You don't want to use it when you're having any sort of serious conversation
about someone dying. But to say someone kicked the bucket,
it means they died.
So you might hear it used in the context of somebody died a long time ago.
The feelings, the emotions are not as fresh and they might informally say, you know,
well yeah, this person, they, they kick the bucket many years ago.
Or maybe if they're talking about a pet or an animal,
you may hear somebody say, you know that that their dog,
their cat kick the bucket. They died.
Guess who just kicked a bucket.
And what happened when he finally kicked the bucket?
I was so upset when he kicked the bucket.
I had no choice but the drown my sorrows when I woke up in the morning it was gone.
If this is what they send when mom goes to jail,
just imagine what happens when you kick the bucket.
All right, so I...I'm going to go powder my nose right now.
Actually. Well I wouldn't say that because I'm not a woman but I am going to go to the
toilet number one, not number two.
And I know that's probably not a pleasant picture to put in your mind.
I don't want to make you lose your lunch.
I actually just want to practice using these euphemisms so you can hear it as a
bit of a refresher because that's just going to help you understand their
meaning. And I don't think it's problem for you guys because I,
I think you are the sharpest tools in the shed. You guys are smart,
you're very intelligent. So I'm gonna head out.
I'm gonna take my love handles with me, and if you enjoyed today's lesson,
please hit that like button down below. As always,
thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time.