Bob's Short English Lessons

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase FEEL FREE and the English term FREE-FOR-ALL In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase feel free. If we say to someone feel free, we're basically saying go ahead or sure or yes. If my brother said to me, hey, can I use your van tonight? I could respond and say feel free. I'm basically saying, go...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS and TO GIVE SOMEONE THE BOOT In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, to shake in your boots. If you say that someone is shaking in their boots or if you are shaking in your boots, it means that you are scared. There are two things that make me shake in my boots. The first is hei...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases RUFFLE A FEW FEATHERS and LIGHT AS A FEATHER In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase ruffle a few feathers. We also sometimes say, "Ruffle some feathers." When you ruffle a few feathers, it means you're going to do something or say something that's probably going to upset some peo...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases QUIT WHILE YOU'RE AHEAD and DOESN'T KNOW WHEN TO QUIT In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, quit while you're ahead. When we say to someone, "You should quit while you're ahead," we're basically saying things are going good for you right now, but they might start...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases SOMETHING'S UP and UP TO In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase something's up. If two or three police cars went by my place with their lights on, I would probably think something's up down the road. It means that I think something's going on. It means that I think something is h...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases A MIXED BAG and TO BE MIXED UP In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English term a mixed bag. When we say something is a mixed bag it means it's a little bit of one thing, a little bit of something else, and maybe a little bit of a third thing, or fourth, or fifth thing. When I go to buy shirts it's kin...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases IT WAS MIND BLOWING and IT BLEW MY MIND In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, it was mind blowing. You could also say it is mind blowing or it's going to be mind blowing. The tense doesn't actually matter. But when you talk about something that is mind blowing, you're talking about s...

 Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO COME AROUND and TO GET YOUR HEAD AROUND SOMETHING  In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, to come around. Now, this phrase has a lot of different meanings. I think it has five or six meanings, but I'm gonna talk about just one meaning today. When you are waiting for someone to come around,...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases THAT'S FINE WITH ME and I'M FINE WITH THAT: In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, that's fine with me. This is a phrase we use when we are saying that something is okay with us. If my son was to say to me, "Dad, I wanna go out with my friends tonight. "Is that okay?" I...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO TAKE UP and TO TAKE OFF In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, "To take up." Now, this phrase has a few meanings, but I'm just going to talk about one of them, and it has to do when you start a new hobby. Maybe you decided to take up tennis. Maybe you decided to take up piano. It m...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO CLEAR SOMETHING UP and TO CLEAR THE AIR In this English lesson, I wanted to help you understand the English phrase, to clear something up. When you have to clear something up with someone, it means that you said something to them, and maybe they didn't understand it. Maybe they are confused and you just need to clear some...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases A MIND OF ITS OWN and TO MAKE HEADS OR TAILS OF IT In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, a mind of its own. This is a phrase we use to describe a machine that starts doing things that you didn't tell it to do, or starts behaving strangely. Sometimes my camera has a mind of its own. Sometimes...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases OUT COLD and COLD FEET In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase out cold. The driveway behind me is very icy right now. If I slipped on it and hit my head, I would probably be knocked out cold. When someone is out cold, it means they are unconscious. Sometimes when you're watching a boxing match...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO KEEP IT TOGETHER and TO EARN YOUR KEEP In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, "To keep it together." If you say to someone, "Hey, you need to keep it together," it means that that person is having some kind of emotional outburst. Maybe you play on a sports team, and you'...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases THREE DAYS A WEEK and THREE DAYS PER WEEK In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase three times a week. Well, not actually the phrase three times a week, but the use of a. Sometimes when we're talking about how often we do something, we use the word a in the phrase. So you might exercise five days...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English term DILLY-DALLY and the phrase TO GET MOVING In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English term "dilly-dally." Now, this is an older word that sometimes old people say, but Jen and I actually use this term a lot. When you dilly-dally, it means you move slowly, or you, if you're supposed to be working, you&...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrase TO HAVE A KNACK and the term KNICK-KNACKS In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, to have a knack. When you have a knack for something, it means you have a natural ability to do it. Some people have a knack for playing certain sports. Some people have a knack for playing certain musical instruments....

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO PETER OUT and TO GO ALL OUT In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to peter out. When a person peters out, it means they run out of energy. When I was younger, when I was in elementary school I used to run cross country races. I was on the cross-country team, and we had to run three or five kilome...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases THE REAL DEAL and HERE'S THE DEAL In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, the real deal. When you say that someone is the real deal, you mean that they are really good at something, and you're kind of giving them a compliment. Sometimes when you're watching a sport, there might be a ne...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO PUSH SOMEONE'S BUTTONS and DON'T PUSH IT In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to push someone's buttons. If you push someone's buttons, it means you know how to make them upset. It means you know how to make them angry. Usually this happens a lot between people that know eac...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO STEAL THE SHOW and TO SHOW OFF In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, to steal the show. If someone steals the show, it means that they do something that makes you look at them, instead of the person you're supposed to be looking at, if you're watching a video or a show or a play or so...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE and MIDDLE-AGED In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase "caught in the middle." When you are caught in the middle, it means that two people aren't getting along and you're not one of them. Let me give you a better example. Let's say that your sister and y...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO KICK BUTT and TO KICK ONESELF In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, to kick butt. Now, I think you all know what kicking is. It's something you do with your foot, and your butt is below your back. That's probably the best and nicest way to describe it. But the phrase to kick butt, does...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TOUGH SLEDDING and A BIT NIPPY In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase tough sledding. Sledding is of course what my kids are doing behind me right here. They're going down the hill on sleds. If you stick around 'til the end of the video, I'll take you down on a sled. So this is a real...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases SLIP OUT and SLIP UP In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase slip out. So this actually has three meanings. The first meaning means to leave somewhere maybe secretly. So if I'm at a party and I say to my friend, "Hey, I'm gonna slip out, don't let anyone else know. I need to go ho...