English Expressions: To Lie Within
In today’s episode I share a few expressions using the words Lay and Lie, including the popular expression: Beauty Lies Within. Enjoy :)
Transcription
Hola muchachos, you are listening to English Made Simple this is episode number 73, numero setenta y tres. Yo wassup, my name is Shakira and my hips don’t lie.
Welcome to English Made Simple, my regular listeners will know that my name is NOT Shakira, my name is Milena. Obviously my name is not Shakira, it’s clearly a lie!
As you can tell, I just used the word lie as a noun. I said, it’s a lie! Una mentira! It’s clearly a lie!
Lie can be a verb and a noun.
Alrighty, so let’s not confuse our new listeners, let me clarify once more time, my name is Milena and you are listening to English Made Simple, episode #73 yeeey woohoo!
In today’s episode I want to introduce you to some common expressions using the words Lie and Lay. The following expressions are often used by native speakers and you will also hear them in movies and in some songs as well.
I will share these expressions in a completely random order. I will combine phrases with Lay and Lie. We learnt about these 2 verbs in the last episode, #72.
BTW, “Hips don’t lie” is not an expression, that’s the name of Shakira’s song and don’t ask me what it means, I don’t even think she knows what it means either. The lyrics don’t matter, the rhythm is catchy and that’s what matters!
So back to expressions, I will try to explain each expression in layman’s terms.
Ha!
And that’s our first expression for today: In laymen’s terms, in other words, I will explain each expression using words that an average Joe can understand. Basically, using simple language that anyone can understand, without complex or technical terminology.
That’s what in layman’s terms expression means. It’s three words, in laymans terms. That’s the expression. I dare you to use it, when you want to explain something to someone in a very simple language. Start the sentence with, Well, let me explain John, let me explain that to you in laymen’s terms… Use it in the office or when you are with friends. Ok? Cool!
The second expression I want you to know is:
- To lay it on the line – what this means is to be direct, to speak frankly, to be completely honest.
For example, my husband could tell me, Milena: listen to me! Listen to me woman, I will lay it on the line, don’t eat Nutella because you will start to put on weight.
And the next expression you will often hear it in movies and in songs as well.
- To lay low or To Lie Low – both are acceptable BUT…. This is a BIG BUT,
Grammatically, speaking the correct expression is to Lie low –it means to hide, to be conspicuous, not visible, not noticeable, when a person lies low, they don’t stand out, they are hiding. That’s what this expression means.
For example: After embarrassing myself at a recent birthday party, I am just going to lie low for a while to avoid further embarrassment.
Another example, have you seen the movie Anchorman with Will Ferrrel, he is hilarious, he is an awesome actor, anyway he has a quote where he uses Lay Low instead of Lie Low. Remember, both of these are acceptable to use.
As Ron Brugandy that’s his character, says to Brick: hey Brick (another character) you should find yourself a safehouse or a relative closeby. Lay low for a while, because you are probably wanted for murder.
And I got two more expressions for you guys! The next expression is: to lie within.
- To lie within – to lie within something, a popular expression is something like: Beauty lies within. La belleza está en el interior.
What this means is that it’s your personality that makes you truly beautiful, not your physical appearance. You may be beautiful outside but it’s inside what counts, how you treat people, if you are cruel, rude and arrogant with others then you are not really beautiful. So that’s what the expression is, I guess it’s straightforward, isn’t it? \
And the last expression is: White lie.
- A white Lie
According to Weon Inteligente (he is back!): to tell white lies means to tell lies that are harmless and won’t hurt other people, you use it especially when you want to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. Sometimes it’s better to tell a white lie to be polite and so you don’t hurt other people.
In Spanish it is a mentira blanca.
Sometimes I tell my friends white lies for example, my friend Ana: Ana I am 5 minutes away, I will be there really soon, when in reality I am 30 mins away. That’s when I am running late to meetings, but it doesn’t happen often.
I also tell my husband white lies many times: wow you made such a delicious coffee, yummy dinner, that’s delicious! Or my favourite is: mi amor, I only had a little bit of nutella not a lot, where in reality I had….a lot.
And here we are amigos, hope you enjoyed today’s Short and Sweet. Hope you learnt something new today, and remember guys practise the expressions we learnt today.
Until Next time, Ciao, arrivederci!