Laughter is the Best Medicine
In today’s short and sweet I teach you some English expressions to do with Health. And this is exactly what the doctor ordered! Enjoy :)
Transcriptions
Hola muchachos, you are listening to English Made Simple, this is a Short and Sweet episode number 77, numero setenta y siete
Welcome my padawans, welcome to today’s Short and Sweet episode my name is Milena from www.englishmadesimple.net. And you guys, you guys are just my awesome listeners who tune in twice a week to listen to me blab. My husband gave up, he doesn’t listen to me anymore, he said Milena you talk too much. And he is completely right.
So let’s get cracking – Let’s get crackin’ is an Australian slang it means let’s get started, let’s begin.
I want to introduce you to some English expressions that involve health – salud, it will go well with the last episode I did, number 76 where we learnt some pharmaceutical terms. Ok..Don’t ask me how to spell this word, pharmaceutical, it’s bloody hard. You’ll just have to join my Facebook group, it’s a closed and private group English Made Simple or go to my website, www.englishmadesimple.net to read transcripts to this and the last episode, and you will find out how to spell this word. Alrighty, Deal!
Now that I have your attention chicos, I want you to take a deep breath in…take a deep breath in…and then breathe out. Inhale and exhale.
And that is your first expression for today.
Take a deep breath – when we say, take a deep breath, we mean to say: let’s pause for a second, let’s calm down… let’s relax.
For example: If you are doing English exams like IELTS and you see a question that looks like it’s a bit complicated, I suggest you take a deep breath first and then think about how to answer the question. I guess when you take a deep breath your body just feels more relaxed and you‘ll be able to think more clearly.
Cool? Excellent.
The next expression is:
Don’t hold your breath – when someone holds their breath, it means they are expecting something to happen, they are eagerly waiting for something to happen and it doesn’t happen. The saying Don’t hold your breath means, don’t wait for something to happen, it just won’t happen.
For example: I think I did well in my exam but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Basically, I am not 100% sure that I did well. I wouldn’t hold my breath, right?
BTW, breath is a noun and we spell it as B R E A T H. The verb is to breathe and we spell it as B R E A T H E. It is a regular verb, past tense is Breathed and participle Breathed. Honestly guys, I rarely hear this word spoken in the past tense. So for now, just keep in mind the verb in Present, verb to Breathe and noun Breath.
In Spanish BREATH is, aliento.
The second expression is:
No pain no gain – this expression is popular among native speakers, you will hear it widely spoken by English speakers. No pain no gain, means without sacrifice there is no success, or without suffering there is no reward.
If you are at the gym trying to lift weights and it’s getting really hard, remember no pain no gain, keep going, don’t stop. A little bit of suffering will be all worth it at the end, when you see those nicely shaped ….biceps. [I was going to say something else but I chose the word biceps haha]
Your next expression for today is: to be in bad shape, means to be in a bad way I guess. Means to be unhealthy or unfit.
I am in bad shape, I need to start exercising again, pump some iron, move my ass. Need to go to the gym, I’m in bad shape.
You can also use it for things not just for people. When something is in bad shape, it means it’s in a bad condition.
For example:
My friend bought an old car the other day, this car looks like it’s in a really bad shape. There is a lot of things to be fixed on this car. Basically, the car is in a bad condition. To fix is arreglar in Spanish.
I bumped into my friend from Bolivia the other day, she said, hey Milena how are you? I said, I’m great thanks, alive and kicking. She said, that’s great to hear! Cool.
Alive and kicking is an informal expression, it’s slang and I hear it being used when you are replying to a greeting. It can be used in other situations, like when you want to be a bit sarcastic, again it’s an informal expression and use it with your friends, don’t use it when you do your exams. Remember that Ok…cool bananas!
The next expression is Just what the doctor ordered.
I had a typical Australian dinner last night, it’s called fish and chips, it’s literally fish and chips.
Fish and chips for dinner is just what the doctor ordered. I just felt like eating some greasy and oily food. The expression here is: It’s just what the doctor ordered – that was exactly what I needed at that moment.
It’s just what the doctor ordered – it means, it’s exactly what is needed.
I am sick and tired of you – Apparently, I’ve been told that I complain a lot. I complain about stupid things. My husband had enough and said, Milena, I am sick and tired of your complaining.
You know what, I am getting sick and tired of slow drivers and traffic jams. I don’t know about you, but when I am driving, aaargh…. I am getting sick and tired of traffic jams.
Is there anything that you are getting sick and tired of? You could be getting sick and tired of listening to Justin Bieber for example… you know it could happen one day…
To be sick and tired of something is to have had enough of something, you had too much of the experience and now you are getting annoyed. Annoyed is enojado (or molestado) in Spanish.
And your final expression for today is:
Laughter is the best medicine – try to find humour in every situation no matter how bad the situation is, try to be happy in every situation because it’s a good way to stop worrying about things. For example, if you are going through a breakup with your boyfriend or girlfriend, your friends will most likely try to make you laugh so that you don’t have to worry about the breakup any more.
And as you know, what I always like to say is don’t worry be happy. And that’s how we are going to end today’s short and sweet show.
And remember guys, we are going to elaborate on what we learnt in the last episode at the pharmacy ok, that’s going to happen in episode #78 so stick around.
Thank you for joining me to yet another episode of English Made Simple, hope it’s given you a much needed boost. Hope you learnt something new! Until next time muchachos, hasta la proxima, ciao!