Different ways of saying NO
Listen up amigos y amigas, in today’s episode you will learn more interesting ways of saying NO. Have you heard the expression When Pigs Fly? Ha! Then tune into today’s show and enjoy :)
Transcript
Hi guys, you are listening to the English Made Simple show, this is episode number 1-1-3, or one hundred and thirteen, numero ciento trece.
Welcome amigos y amigas, welcome to the short and sweet show of the English Made Simple podcast, my name is Milena from www.englishmadesimple.net.
And in today’s short and sweet episode I would like to share some English expressions that you will find useful – I am pretty sure you will find them useful – English expressions to do with saying No to people. Or as they say in Russian nyet, or German, Nein. Just NO!
Firstly, why the heck did I decide to do an episode about how to say NO?
Well… it’s really easy to say Yes to someone, whenever someone asks you to do something, it’s easy to say, Yeah sure, why not. You could just say: Yes, sure. Yes, Mr. Boss. Yes, of course. Claro que si! Righto. Okey Dokey.
And another way to say Yes, an expression that you’d often hear in the action movies, like Rambo, you could hear something like: Roger that. Affirmative, sir. Negative, sir!
However saying no… well, depending on how you approach it, how you say it, you could hurt someone’s feelings, you could end up hurting someone’s feelings, so we have to be careful when we say no. A simple NO would be considered rude in some situations, it’s usually followed by No thanks, which sounds much better than just No.
Example: Milena would you like some more coffee? No, thanks, I am fine. You see, a simple and polite response.
Had I just said no, it would’ve been considered a short answer, it would appear a bit rude to the person who asked me so politely.
So today, I will share some expressions that I tend to use myself, and also share Expressions that I hear other people use. I wanted to share these expressions with you today.
I will share 2 ways of saying No using some Expressions: I will share The Polite way or Impolite way of saying No. The opposite of Polite is Impolite.
So, the Polite Way:
Just like in the last episode, saying No politely requires a bit of an explanation, not a simply No.
– For example if my friends invite me to join them to see the latest movie, the Wonder Woman movie, but I happen to be busy…. Milena are you free to come with us to the cinema on Friday?
I can say, I would love to join you but….blah blah blah insert your reason.
Another way to answer this would be:
I am afraid I cannot join you this time, but keep me in mind for next time.
In Spanish this would be: Me temo que no puedo juntarme con ustedes.
So, the two expressions I used here: I would love to but…. OR I am afraid I cannot…. Then insert the verb, join you, come with you, and go with you and so on.
So these are some expressions that I find very useful, I recommend that you practise these expressions.
And if someone is forcing you to do something that you don’t want to do, what about if you happen to be in that type of a situation. You can firmly say:
I’d rather not (if you don’t mind). The expression, I’d rather not.
That’s a good expression to know!
If you are in a bad mood and your boyfriend asks you: What’s wrong? Tell me? What’s bothering you?
And you say, I’d rather not talk about it.
I’d rather not is a polite way of saying I don’t want to.
The Spanish equivalent meaning would be, major que no, in this case, in this case.
Great, now you have learnt 3 phrases that you can start using today if you needed to, if you ever needed to say No in a polite manner.
Cool, I recommend these 3 phrases!
Cool bananas!
And what about the time when you just don’t feel like being polite? Well, if you around your friends you might use one of the following expressions ok. Use them only with people you know and that you feel comfortable with. Don’t use them with strangers. So the ones I am going to share with you today, just use with your friends.
The first one being:
Nope. Slang for No. Milena do you want more coffee? Nope.
My husband could say: Milena it’s your turn to do the dishes tonight.
And I would reply, Nah. Or No way! No Way José!
No way Jose! Just because it rhymes. This is in fact an English expression, No way José, like the Spanish name José!
Ok now for some serious expressions.
My friends could ask me Milena do you want to take skydiving lessons with us? Jump out of a plane you know, do you want to take some skydiving lessons with us?
Hmmm, well I have a combination of phrases that I could use in this example.
No way Jose. No chance. No way in hell. Not in a million years. Count me out.
Or if you wanted to be sarcastic: Sure I will go with you guys, I will go with you when pigs start to fly.
The fact of the matter is, I am scared of heights and I am not so brave to go skydiving. I admire people who can do this, well done to those who can go skydiving, you are very brave!
Skydiving is not my cup of tea. Ha! Another English expression here… not my cup of tea. It’s not something that I would happily do. I prefer to be on land you know walking.
I also said something like: Sure I will go with you, when pigs fly. Only when pigs start to fly.
Pigs or cerdos in Spanish, are domestic animals that live on the farm and they cannot fly, no vuelan. So I am obviously exaggerating here. And since I am already exaggerating, I am going to add a few more examples:
What else could say in response to skydiving…oh yeah!
Ain’t gonna happen, when hell freezes over, not in this lifetime. Ain’t doing it. No way José!
And that’s it amigos, thank you for joining me today, hope you enjoyed today’s show.
You’ve been jamming with Milena from www.englishmadesimple.net, until next time muchachos y muchachas, hasta la próxima!