hi everyone in today's video i'm going to teach you some really useful phrases that will help
you to improve your vocabulary and help you understand people in conversation all of these
phrases are combinations of two words and the word and like up and down hot and cold give and take
these can be combinations of two nouns two verbs two prepositions two adjectives but when
we put them together they make a phrase that has a specific meaning and we use these all the time in
conversation so they're really useful to know the first one is up and down up and down up and down
means that things are sometimes good sometimes bad sometimes up sometimes down and we use this a lot
to describe you know situations that are changing that sometimes it improves and sometimes it gets
worse for example we could say her health has been up and down lately or my job has been up and down
the next one is night and day night and day refers to two things that are complete
opposites for example we can say even though their personalities are as different as night and day
they have a great relationship or the cultures of china and the us are like night and day
again it refers to two things that could not be more different number three hot and cold
hot and cold refers to inconsistent feelings when someone feels like happy
and enthusiastic and interested and then they feel bored and not interested so inconsistent feelings
for example we can say how are you feeling about the new project
hot and cold or he was hot and cold throughout the entire date so i have no idea if he wants to
see me again again it's that idea of having inconsistent feelings that one moment the
person seems happy and interested and the next moment the opposite one way that you can learn
the phrase hot and cold and some of these other phrases is by checking out this katy perry video
of the song called hot and cold the next one is yes and no and this one is pretty obvious it means
that both yes and no are true for example we can say do you like your new house yes and no it's
a nice place but there's a lot of work to be done number five give and take give and take represents
the idea that in relationships that people need to both give to the other person and receive from the
other person that that has to happen in both ways or on both sides that a person can not only take
take take from a person but they also need to give and we use this a lot to talk about relationships
it represents the idea that there needs to be mutual compromise and work on the part of
both people for example before getting married it's important to realize that a good relationship
requires give and take number six brick and mortar brick and mortar are two supplies that are used to
build a structure brick is the block and mortar is the cement that is put in between the blocks
to build a house or a building brick and mortar refers to the idea that a business
has a physical space that a company or a business has a shop or an office that customers can visit
this is the opposite of having an online business and we use this a lot nowadays
because there are a lot of online businesses that then open a brick and mortar shop or brick
and mortar shops are maybe not as common because people do more business online for example after
selling their products online for several years they've just opened a brick and mortar location
downtown number seven an arm and a leg an arm and a leg means that something is expensive
and we use this with the verb cost it costs an arm and a leg for example i need to get a new
air conditioner but it costs an arm and a leg so i'm gonna try to save and get one next year
number eight apples and oranges apples and oranges refers to the fact that if we have two things that
are different we cannot easily compare them that if we try to make a comparison between things
that are apples and oranges that it's not a fair comparison because those things are just different
for example we might say new zealand and the us have had totally different coveted responses
however it's like comparing apples and oranges because the two countries are so different so
in this case we might think that new zealand is a small island country with a very small population
and the us is a very large country with a huge population with people coming and going
and visiting and leaving and so it's really not fair to compare those two countries it's not an
equal comparison they're like apples and oranges number nine inside and out inside and out means
in great detail or to know something thoroughly sometimes also people also say inside out
inside and out or inside out for example you can say i know her inside and out that means that
i know her so well or i know this neighborhood inside and out because i was born and raised here
the singer feist has a song called inside and out and you can check that out to help you
learn more about this phrase number 10 nice and slow nice and slow or we also say nice and easy
means that you're going to do something with patience you're going to do something slowly
and carefully for example i have a big project i need to work on but i want to make sure i do it
correctly so i'm going to do it nice and slow or if you're helping someone do something they might
say nice and easy or nice and slow meaning don't rush it do it carefully number eleven black and
white black and white is a phrase that means that a situation has two opposite sides and that people
usually over simplify the situation that they said that they think about the situation in only
this side or this side without considering um what might be in the middle so black and white
that people look at a situation and just see two opposites and that's oversimplifying the situation
for example we might say she always thinks about things in black and white terms that
means that she just thinks about the two opposite ends without considering the small
details or the nuances of the situation the truth is not always black and white number 12
off and on off and on means that something is not consistent that it starts and stops or that
it happens and then it doesn't happen and we often will flip these and say on and off as well
for example i can say she taught there off and on for several years or i study spanish off and on or
it's been snowing off and on all day number 13 hit and miss hit and miss means that it has a
good side and a bad side or that you liked it and you didn't like it we often use this to talk about
an opinion like that movie was a hit and miss for me that means that there were parts that hit
that i liked and there were parts that missed that i didn't like how was that new restaurant
that you tried and it was a hit and miss the last one is pros and cons and you're probably
already familiar with this phrase it's very common pros and cons pros and cons means the advantages
and disadvantages or the good side and the bad side we might say for example let's look at the
pros and cons of buying a house instead of renting so in that case we would look at the good and
bad side or the advantages and disadvantages so i hope that this video of common phrases helped you
i will put some questions in the description box below that you can check your understanding with
and if you have any questions as always please let me know as always i so appreciate your
support so if you found this video helpful please don't forget to give it a like
and subscribe if you have not already thank you so much and i will see you soon take care