Hello, busy bee! How are you doing?
Welcome to another episode of Walk ‘n’ Talk Level Up, our all English podcast! No diálogo de hoje, um casal conversa sobre a sua lista de afazeres, com vários momentos dramáticos e reações exageradas sobre o tamanho dela.
Não se esqueça de repetir todas as frases em voz alta com a teacher Becs para praticar bem a pronúncia, e confira o material extra que preparamos para você aqui abaixo!
Nos vemos na próxima semana, see you! Have a great week!
Vocabulary Expansion
In this episode of Walk ‘n’ Talk Level Up you learned some new vocabulary and new expressions! You can continue studying here by checking out the dialogue, the expressions with written explanations, and repeating all the sentences!
Dialogue:
Dean: Samantha? What is this?
Samantha: What’s what? Oh, that’s my to-do list for this week.
Dean: There are over 50 items here!
Samantha: I know, but these things need to get done, and they need to get done fast. So much to do, so little time.
Dean: Why don’t you spread it out a little? Leave some of this to next week, or even next month.
Samantha: I can’t do that, it’s already written down. Now I have to do it or die trying.
Dean: That is very dramatic of you. But seriously, you have to slow down. You can’t keep biting off more than you can chew!
New expressions and Vocabulary!
• Bite off more than you can chew
This is one of those expressions that may seem strange at first, but make a lot of sense when you think about them! When you say that someone is “biting off more than they can chew”, it means that the person has accepted a task or responsibility that is too much, something too heavy or too extreme for them:
Mary really bit off more than she could chew with that new project.
Andrew, are you sure you’re not biting off more than you can chew?
I want that investment but I think I’m going to bite off more than I can chew if I make it.
We should never bite off more than we can chew.
It’s possible to express that same idea using other terms, but they usually sound a little more formal:
I think Jane overextended herself with that new website design.
We care about you so much, we don’t want you to take on too much.
I know you want to win the tournament, just don’t overdo it.
• That is very dramatic of you
This construction is common when you want to qualify someone’s attitude, it can be used with any adjective, good ones or bad ones:
You gave them your lunch? That was so kind of you!
Throwing her that party was very nice of you.
They let them take the day off, which is very unexpected of them.
It’s also possible to say the same thing using a construction that is much more common in Portuguese, it also sounds natural in English: “on one’s part”.
Jake is going to cancel the trip. I think it’s very mature on his part.
The gift Jane gave us was very thoughtful on her part.
• Fun sentences
There are sentences in English that describe the idea of trying to do something with all your effort or to express the idea that you have to try your best, or it’s not going to work out, like Samantha’s sentence “I have to do it or die trying”. Most of these are purposefully dramatic, but are fun to use:
Do or die
Go hard or go home
Give it one’s all
Beat one’s brain out
Go all out
Give it one’s best shot
Put one’s back into
Spare no effort
Put one’s heart and soul into
Listen to this episode as many times as you wish, and follow it up with this content. That way, you’ll be able to memorize all the expressions you’ve learned! You’ll also be able to use them in conversations in the future. And remember, the more contact you have with the English language, the better. So make sure you don’t miss out on our next episode!
