Lindsay McMahon
"The English Adventurer"

Today we answer a listener question to show you three native phrases that are common and 100% natural English.

Get these native phrases and how to use them today.

Here is the question from our listener:

Hi Lindsay ,

“Whats up ? Hows it going ? This is “Yogesh Chavan” from India . I am a regular listener of your podcast and this is exactly what I was looking for. They are fantastic and I love your podcast. They are awesome. Whenever I get time , I listen to all ears English podcast on my cellphone rather than listening to songs, because everyday I learn something new, something I have never heard before. You are my true inspiration and motivation. You both are really great. I want to ask you some phrases I heard from native speakers and I don’t know when to use such phrases when speaking English. I have written them down.”

1) cut me some slack

2) Get me up to speed

3) Trash talking

I  would appreciate if you could help me and I hope , my name will get read on the show.

Best luck for your job, Yoggesh Chavan

 

 

Expressions like these are real American English.

They are very typical.

You need to start using them as soon as you can.

You also need to listen for them and once you are aware of them after today you will start to hear them more often.

 

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What do the phrases mean?

  • “Cut me some slack”: This phrase means “give me a break” or “take it easy on me” or relax and “get off my back” or “stop giving me a hard time.” It can be used when someone is:
    •  Being strict with you “My boss said the next time I showed up 3 minutes late to work he would fire me. I wish he would cut me some slack.”
    • Teasing you especially a big brother teasing a little brother. Their mom might say “come on, cut him some slack…”

 

  • “Get me up to speed”: This phrase means to catch someone up on something or to get someone up to date. It means to show them what’s happened since they have been gone.
    • It is used a lot at work if someone has been out for a vacation and the team has been working on a project.
    • It could be used within a social circle when you ask people to let you know about the gossip or important things that have been said when you were gone.

 

  • “Trash talking”: This phrase means speaking in a negative way about someone or saying mean things. It might mean that you are swearing or speaking aggressively and gossiping
    • Sports fans at the game trash talk a lot: “Hey you (swear) you’ll never get that shot”
    • Talking behind someone’s back could be trash talking if you are saying mean things to someone when they are not around. Someone who is “two faced” is someone who is nice to someone in front of them but trash talks them behind their back.

 

What questions do you have about these new expressions?

Go out and use them today then come back to the blog and let us know how it went!

Good luck and thanks for listening.

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