“No”, when do we use the word ‘no’ in English? Often to deny something. For example,
“can I go for the party please?” “No.” “do you want to eat something?” “No.”
“can I please come with you?” “No.” When do we use it? To deny. However there
are some phrases in English that you can use which begin with the word, ‘no’ but, the
meaning is completely different, well that's what we are gonna learn today.
Hi friends, I am Niharika and welcome back, well in today's lesson we are gonna look at some phrases,
7 phrases in English that begin with the word ‘no’ but doesn't mean that we are trying
to deny something, that means something different altogether. So what are these phrases and
how do you use it in your daily conversation? Well that's what we're gonna learn so let's
start with the first one which is, “no big deal”. Now when do you use this phrase?
When something is not difficult or there's no problem or it's not troublesome. So someone
requests you to do something, “hey can you help me with this project please?” And you
think it's not a problem at all, yeah, it's not difficult, it's not troublesome for you…
so rather than just saying ‘oh, no’ you can say, “no big deal”, So ‘no big deal’
is actually not a denial but this phrase is used in a positive sentence wherein you are
telling someone that yes, no problem, no big deal, I can do this for you, like if you tell
your husband in the night, “honey, I am so exhausted can you help me do the dishes,
please?” And he has no problem, he doesn't think that it's troublesome for him, so he's
gonna say, “No big deal honey, I'll help you with the dishes”, okay? So that's how
you can use this phrase, a very similar to this one is “no biggie” and remember both
these phrases are informal English phrases, okay? So either you can say ‘no big deal’
or you can say ‘no biggie’, okay? The next one, “no hard feelings”. Now ‘no
hard feelings’ the actual meaning of this phrase is that you are not angry, okay? But
how do you use this phrase in your conversation? So for example, someone apologizes to you
for something but you're not angry that situation has not upset you or made you angry, so to
convey that to that other person you would say, ‘no hard feelings’. For example,
your friend forgot your birthday, she's your best friend and guess what, she forgot your
birthday, now that might upset you, but hey you know what, you're not upset, you're not
angry. So when she calls you the next day and she says that “oh my god, I am so sorry,
I forgot your birthday, how could this happen…” now since you're not upset, you're gonna say,
“oh that's okay, no hard feelings.” So here you convey that it's okay and using the
phrase ‘no hard feelings’ it means that you're not upset or you're not angry, okay?
So that's how you will use this phrase. Let's have a look at the third phrase which is,
“no kidding”. Now ‘no kidding’ can be used in three ways, it means that it has
three different meanings… the first meaning. You use it to add that emphasis to a true
statement. So someone said something and you want to add that emphasis to it that yes,
this is true so you're gonna use the phrase, ‘no kidding’. For example your mom says
that “this mall is so expensive” now you totally agree to it, so you want to add that
emphasis to this statement you're gonna say, “no kidding, I saw these denims which are
just fabulous but they were ridiculously priced.” So yes it means that it is expensive so that's
how you can use this phrase. The other way that you can use this phrase ‘no kidding’
is to show mild surprise, for example your friend tells you that, “hey you know what
I am buying a new BMW car” and you are surprised you're like, “no kidding, that's amazing,
congratulations.” So to express mild surprise, you can use the expression, ‘no kidding’.
And then the third way that you can use this expression is to sound a little sarcastic,
okay? So now your friend tells you, “I am buying a BMW car” and she has mentioned
this like ten thousand times, so you have heard it over and over again and now you're
like, “no kidding, you've told this to me like ten thousand times” so you are adding
some sarcasm, okay? So when you want to add sarcasm you can use the expression, ‘no
kidding’ when you want to emphasize a true statement you will use, ‘no kidding’ and
when you want to show a little bit of surprise that you gonna use the expression, ‘no kidding’,
wow that's great, okay? The next one, “no offense”. Now when do you use this expression
‘no offense’? When you do not intend to insult someone. So here you don't mean to
insult someone but you also want to make a point, so for example y'all our group of boys
discussing something okay and there is another girl also in your group and you want to just
pass a comment about girls in general, but now this girl is also in your group, so you
don't really want to insult her in any way, so before making your point you would say
that, ‘no offense’. So for example y'all are saying that, “girls can be so dumb at
times”, now you don't want to insult this girl in your group so you're gonna say, that
“no offense Laura, but girls can be so dumb at times.” So you say ‘no offense’ which
means that do not get offended, but this is what I have to say or this is a point that
I want to make. So you kind of um want to make these insults, socially acceptable okay
so this is when you would use this phrase. And the next phrase that I have for you is
“no pain no gain”. Most of the times it's your fitness instructor or you know sports
people love to use this saying that ‘no pain no gain’ which actually means that
until you don't suffer too much, until it doesn't hurt much, you are not gonna be able
to achieve something. So if you want to be successful, if you want to achieve something,
then it's important that you need to put in a lot of hard work and put in a lot of pain.
So for example, now that I have gained too much weight I go to a gym and I say that,
“huh, I have to lose weight” and then when I start exercising my muscles, my body
hurts too much and I say, “ouch, my muscles hurt, I am done…” so my fitness trainer
would say, “Niharika, no pain no gain.” So which means that it has to hurt, you need
to suffer if you want to look good and if you want to lose weight. So that's the saying
that if you want to succeed, if you want to achieve something then you have to put in
a lot of hard work. Alright, and then I have another expression for you which is, “no
way”. So ‘no way’ can be used in two ways the first one is when something is just
impossible. So for example, you have a movie at 8 p.m. and guess what you are still stuck
in a bad traffic jam, whoops, I'm sure you're not gonna reach by 8:00 p.m. because you're
stuck in traffic, so you are gonna call your girlfriend's or you're gonna call your wife
who's waiting for you at the movie theatre and you're gonna say, “honey, guess what,
there's no way I'm gonna be able to make it at 8:00, because I am stuck in a bad Jam.”
That's how you will use this which means that it's just impossible that I'm gonna reach
at 8:00 and the other way that you can use ‘no way’ is when you want to show or Express
a strong denial. For example, your daughter comes to you and says, “Mom, can I go for
this party please? And your mom is definitely not gonna agree to it, so she's gonna express
her strong denial by saying, “no way… no way, you're going for the party.” So
rather than just saying it's simple ‘no’ just add it a little more and express that
“no way you're doing that”, okay? And then the last expression that I have for you
is, “no wonder”. So ‘no wonder’, the meaning of this expression is that it's not
surprising. So you know there are some things when you just get the logic when you just
understand the logic and it's not surprising to you, you express it by saying ‘no wonder’.
So this is baby who's crying, constantly crying and then you realize that he has pooped in
his diaper or his diaper is too full and then you're like, “yeah, no wonder he's crying
so much…” So it's not surprising, he was irritated, he was annoyed because his diaper
was full. So that's how you would Express when something is just not surprising to you
and you get the logic and you understand it well, you express it by saying, ‘no wonder’,
okay? So these are the seven expressions that you can use in your daily conversations, use
them, they're very simple and quite interesting and I'll be back with a new lesson soon till
then you take care.