Bob's Short English Lessons

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases BANG ON and A BANG UP JOB In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase bang on. In English, when we say something is bang on, we mean that it's perfect, and I think this might be a North American saying. I'm not sure, but I hear this all the time. Let's say I went to a party for my sister&a...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase I CAN TASTE IT and TO GET A TASTE In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the phrase it's so close I can taste it. This is a funny phrase we say in English when something that we're really excited about is going to be happening soon. For me, that would be summer vacation. It's so close I can taste it. I sh...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO TAKE THE HEAT and CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to take the heat. When you take the heat for something, it means you're the one who deals with people's anger or criticism in a certain situation. Sometimes at work, because I work at a school, parents migh...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase TO MAKE SOMEONE and IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to make someone or to make something. Now this isn't what you think. This isn't using the verb to make in the sense that you're creating something. This is using the verb to make meaning to force someone....

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases IT DOESN'T HURT TO and THE TRUTH HURTS In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, "It doesn't hurt to." This is a phrase we say when we're recommending that someone does something that will actually benefit them. If you're studying for an English test, it doesn't hurt...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase TO END UP and UNTIL THE BITTER END In this English lesson. I wanted to help you learn the English phrase "to end up." This is a phrase we use to talk about the thing that eventually happens. I think the best way for me to explain it is to give you a few examples. Today my son was playing basketball after school and Jen w...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO DO THE TRICK and TO PLAY A TRICK In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to do the trick. When we say that something will do the trick, we mean that it will work in a certain situation. Here's a good example. Sometimes when I'm eating a bag of chips, I don't eat all of them and I wa...

In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase picture this. This is a phrase we say before we're going to describe something to someone. And when we want them to picture it in their minds, we want them to imagine they can see what we're describing to them. So I could say to you picture this, you're in Canada, you're walking along the shore of a lake. The...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO DUMB DOWN and DUMB LUCK In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to dumb down. Now I think you know what the word dumb means. It's kind of an insult for someone who's not very smart. If you say he's dumb, you're saying that that person isn't intelligent. So it's not a...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase SUCH A and NO SUCH THING In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase such a. This is a little phrase we sometimes add to a sentence when we want to emphasize something. I could say to you, "It's a nice day today," but it's actually a really nice day, so I could say, "It's suc...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO TAKE A CRACK AT and TO CRACK OPEN In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase "To take a crack at." When you want to take a crack at something, it means you want to try it. Let's say you have a jar and you can't get the lid off. Your friend might say to you, "Hey let me take a...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase A MOMENT IN THE SUN and I'LL BE WITH YOU IN A MOMENT In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, a moment in the sun. When we talk about a moment in the sun, we're talking about a time when you were maybe a little bit famous for a day, a good example would be this. A few years ago, someone came...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase I WASN'T BORN YESTERDAY and WERE YOU BORN IN A BARN? In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, "I wasn't born yesterday." This is a funny phrase we use when someone says something and it's like they think we don't know how to do something. If someone said to me, "Bob,...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase I HOPE SO! and I HOPE NOT! In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, I hope so. The English phrase, I hope so, is a phrase we use when we really want something to happen. Let's say you're watching a game and your favorite team is playing. If someone asked you this question, "Do you think...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase IN RETROSPECT and HINDSIGHT IS 20/20 In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, in retrospect. When we use the phrase, in retrospect, it means we're talking about the past or thinking about the past. For me, it's usually a phrase I use when I'm thinking about a decision I made in the past...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase WITH A FINE-TOOTH COMB and IN DROVES In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase with a fine-tooth comb. When we say that we do something with a fine-tooth comb, or when we go over something with a fine-tooth comb, it means we look at it very carefully. I'm not sure what this hand motion means. A goo...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase BELOW THE BELT and ABOVE BOARD In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase below the belt. When someone says something to you that's not very nice, especially if it's really, really nasty. You might say that it's below the belt. When you describe an insult or an action as being below the bel...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase I'M AFRAID THAT.. and I'M AFRAID NOT In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, "I'm afraid that." This is a phrase that we use when we're telling someone bad news, or when we're telling them something that might disappoint them, and it kind of shows that we're bei...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION and THE FINAL STRETCH In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, "by any stretch of the imagination." Now, your imagination is when you use your mind to think about things, to imagine things. When you say something in the negative, and then you add the phrase,...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase A SLAP ON THE WRIST and A SLAP IN THE FACE In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, "a slap on the wrist." When we say something is a slap on the wrist, it means someone was punished or disciplined for something, but the punishment or discipline was very minor. Here's a great example. M...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase TO MAKE A LIVING and A LIVING WAGE In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase "to make a living." When you say that someone is getting enough money from work to make a living, it means they have enough money to pay all of their bills. I make a living by going to work and teaching and by doing Yo...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase TO HIT YOUR STRIDE and TO TAKE SOMETHING IN STRIDE In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, to hit your stride. When you hit your stride, it means you're very comfortable and efficient doing something. Here's a good example. Eventually, Jen and I will bring flowers to market, not yet though,...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase TO COVER FOR and COVER TO COVER In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase "to cover for". Now this phrase has two meanings. It can mean that you lie for someone when they do something bad. Maybe my brother, when I was younger, would like to steal cookies and I would cover for my brother by tel...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase FOR THE BIRDS and the term BIRDBRAIN In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase for the birds. When we say something is for the birds, we mean that it's useless, or that it has no worth. I guess I could say that it's worthless. When you say, hey, that English lesson the other day, that was for...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO BITE YOUR TONGUE and BITE YOUR TONGUE! In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to bite your tongue. Now, sometimes you're chewing food and you accidentally bite your tongue, and that doesn't feel very good. It hurts quite a bit. But we use the phrase to bite your tongue to talk about whe...