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Como falo em inglês: É OK, mas nada demais
By Ana | Podcast Inglês Online
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How’s it going?
Hoje, no podcast, eu falo sobre idioms com a palavra NOTHING! Não perca.
How’s it going? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!
So in today’s episode we’ll focus on the word ‘nothing’ for a little bit. First of all, listen to it again: nothing. Did you notice I did not say “NÓ-thing”? I said it more like “nothing”. Just something to notice – we speak Portuguese as our native language and because of the sounds of Portuguese, we would tend to read a word such as nothing this way: NÓ-thing. So pay attention from now on every time you come across this word, hopefully because you’ve heard it: nothing.
And here’s something people say a lot – it’s our first expression of today: it’s nothing personal. When someone says that to you, they’re trying to tell you that whatever behaviour they’ve had or decision they’ve made was not meant to criticise or offend you. It doesn’t mean you’re not a good person or whatever quality may be related to that decision. It doesn’t even mean that they don’t like you. They may have made their decision purely based on objective factors.
For example, let’s take a job interview. You had a great time with the interviewer, you guys hit it off and chatted for twenty minutes, uninterruptedly. You thought “It’s in the bag”. But then you get a call from that same person two days later, saying that they had a look at your resumé and realised that they need a couple of skills for the position… and, unfortunately, at this time these are skills that you don’t possess. “It’s nothing personal”, the interviewer says. “I liked you as a candidate but we really need those skills”.
Obviously sometimes people will say that in an insincere or sarcastic way. Of course! If you watch lots of American films or TV shows you’ve probably come across it before. Example: someone says “Hey, we don’t need your services anymore. Nothing personal!” when it’s obvious they have made that decision because maybe you brought carrot cake to work the day before and didn’t ask your coworkers if they wanted a bite. You get the picture. By the way, that reminds me of a somewhat similar expression, no offense, which has been featured in a previous episode – have a listen.
And here’s another one that I’ve heard a lot in the past few years: it’s nothing to write home about. When you say something is nothing to write home about, what you’re saying is… this thing I’m talking about? It’s nothing special. It’s really unremarkable, or not that great. If I were to sit down and write a letter to my folks back home, I would certainly not include that bit of news in my letter – because it’s nothing to write home about, really.
Can you think about something in your life right now that would make you say – it’s nothing to write home about? Maybe it’s your cell phone. It may be your bicycle, or the food place you go to for lunch, or the performance of your coworker. Let me know what you come up with, and talk to you next time!
Key expressions
Vocabulary
You guys hit it off = vocês se deram muito bem
It’s in the bag = está no papo
You get the picture = (acho que) você entende
