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Learn some British English phrases your professor won't teach you
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INTRODUCTION |
Gabriella: Hi, I’m Gabriella. |
Gina: And I’m Gina. The Top Five Phrases Your English Teacher Will Never Teach You. |
BODY |
Gabriella: Sounds like an important topic! |
Gina: I think it could be. I think that there is often a difference between the English taught in a classroom, and the English that is spoken in the real world, so this lesson will help with some of that real world English. |
Gabriella: I agree. |
Gina: So I hope you’ve picked five good phrases for us, Gabriella. |
Gabriella: Me? Okay, I’ll do my best! Let’s begin with “dunno”. |
Gina: That’s a word? |
Gabriella: It probably won’t be in textbooks and you’ll rarely, if ever, see it in writing but I bet you’ll hear it multiple times everyday if you’re in the UK. |
Gina: Then it sounds like a perfect place to start. |
Gabriella: It’s a shortened form of “don’t know” and means exactly the same. The two words just run together and become “dunno”. |
Gina: “Dunno” on its own, without any subject or context, can be a valid answer to a question sometimes, can’t it? |
Gabriella: Yeah. As it’s a very strong slang term to begin with, you can be a little naughty and break the rule that states a subject should always be present. |
Gina: And it would often be said in a low tone and sometimes with a shrug of the shoulders, right? |
Gabriella: Yeah, it has a slight nuance of not caring as well as not knowing. |
Gina: Okay. What is your second phrase? |
Gabriella: A similar word – “gonna”. |
Gina: I knew you were gonna say that. |
Gabriella: Good example! “Gonna” is again a shortened form and it means “going to”. The words run together again to make “gonna”. |
Gina: It sounds different though, like it’s spelt with a “u” instead of as G-O-N-N-A. |
Gabriella: Yeah, it can be pronounced as “gunna” instead of “gonna” |
Gina: Right. |
Gabriella: Next, here is a great example of a lovely British English word – telly. |
Gina: I love that word! |
Gabriella: Me too! It’s a slang term for television, or TV, but unlike a lot of slang words, it’s seen as a very nice and cute term so you can sometimes get away with it in more formal situations. |
Gina: I always say “what’s on the telly” instead of “what’s on TV”. Telly is more natural to me. |
Gabriella: It’s a very popular term. We’ve spoken previously about the BBC, and that also has a nice slang name. |
Gina: Ah, the Beeb? Or Auntie? |
Gabriella: Yeah, both of those. |
Gina: It makes the BBC sound like part of the family! |
Gabriella: I know! My fourth phrase is something I would like to see a lot more of. |
Gina: Oh? What’s that? |
Gabriella: Quid. |
Gina: (laughs) oh, me too! |
Gabriella: Quid is the slang term for pounds, in the same way that bucks is the colloquial term for dollars. |
Gina: Quid is interesting though, because there isn’t really a plural form for it, unlike with the pound. |
Gabriella: It’s one of those rare nouns that don’t have different singular and plural form. |
Gina: Like sheep. |
Gabriella: One sheep, five sheep. One quid, five quid. |
Gina: If we think something will be successful and make a lot of money though, we say we’re “quids in” with the plural. |
Gabriella: We do. But never when we’re using actual numbers and figures. There are a couple of other money terms that I think we should talk about while we’re on the subject. Gina, what is another name for a five pound note? |
Gina: A fiver! |
Gabriella: And a ten pound note? |
Gina: A tenner! |
Gabriella: Fiver and tenner are very popular terms for money. Also remember that they are called notes in the UK and not bills. |
Gina: That’s four phrases down, what is your last phrase? |
Gabriella: I thought we’d end on something a nice, on a good adjective that will can be used to describe how good our lessons are. |
Gina: And what adjective is that? |
Gabriella: “Brilliant”. |
Gina: I think that is a fitting description (laughs). |
Gabriella: There are many great adjectives in English and you will never be short of several words to describe something. “Brilliant” means that something is very, very, very good and is similar to “excellent” or “fantastic”. |
Gina: Those are *brilliant* words. |
Gabriella: They are. |
Outro |
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Gina: Ok, we’ve introduced all five phrases. I think that’s all for this lesson. |
Gabriella: Thank you for listening everyone. See you next time! |
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