Bob's Short English Lessons

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases THAT'S THAT! and THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, “That's that!” This is a funny little phrase we say when something is over or when something is done. When the workday is done, you might say, “Well, that's that! Time to go home!” When you're done...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases A SLIP OF THE TONGUE and A SLIP UP In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase: a slip of the tongue. A slip of the tongue is when you say the wrong word by accident, or you use the wrong name when you're talking to someone. If I was talking to my brother John, and I called him Dave by accident, that...

 In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase "a walk in the park". When we describe something as a walk in a park, we mean that it's going to be very, very easy. If I say that tomorrow I'm going to go for a 20-minute walk, that's a walk in the park for me. Oh, it's a bad example. I'm using the literal example of walking to talk about thi...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases VICE VERSA and ON THE OTHER HAND In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, vice versa. I think this is actually a Latin phrase and it means the opposite, or the other way around. Let me explain. If I was to say I don't like my sister and vice versa that would mean my sister also doesn't like...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO KEEP COUNT and TO LOSE COUNT In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase "to keep count". This simply means to count something while you're doing it. When I put flowers in a bucket for Jen, sometimes Jen says, "Put 100 flowers in each bucket." So as I do it, I need to keep cou...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO MISS OUT and TO MISS THE POINT In this English lesson, I wanted to help you understand the English phrase, to miss out. When you miss out on something, it means you don't go to that thing or do that thing. Here's a good example. If I knew that tomorrow if I stayed after work, I would get free supper, I would say, I c...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO DIE FOR and TO DIE OF BOREDOM In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, to die for. When you describe something as being to die for, it just means it's really, really good. I know it has the word die in it, which is a sad word, but if you were to go to a restaurant and order a chocolate desser...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases AS FAR AS I CAN SEE and TO SEE SOMETHING THROUGH In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase "as far as I can see." Now this doesn't have anything to do with seeing a long ways. It has nothing to do with me being able to see something that's far away. It basically means "as I und...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases A CLOSE CALL and TO CALL OFF In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, "a close call." When something is a close call, it means that something bad almost happened, but it didn't happen. Here's a little story. Once when I was younger, I was working, I was about 17. I was working on a...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases BY WEIGHT and DEAD WEIGHT In this English lesson, I'd like to help you learn the English phrase "by weight." When you buy something, you can either buy it by weight. You pay a certain amount per pound or per kilogram, or I think the opposite is by volume. When I buy gas, I pay per liter. But when something is sold...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases A SPLIT SECOND and TO SPLIT UP In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase a split second. When something happens in a split second, it means it happens in less than a second. It happens instantly. It takes hardly any time at all. The other night I had to hit my brakes in a split second because a deer ran...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases AT THE END OF THE DAY and TO MAKE A DAY OF IT In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase at the end of the day. Now, this can literally mean at the end of the day. At the end of the day, I go home. Well, at the end of my workday. But we also use this the same way we use the word ultimately. To kind of su...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO BE IN THE WAY and TO GET OUT OF THE WAY In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to be in the way. When you are in the way, it means someone is trying to go somewhere and you’re blocking their path. Sometimes at the grocery store when I go down an aisle, there will be someone in the way and I'l...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO GIVE IN and TO GIVE OUT In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to give in. Now, this is kind of the opposite of the phrase to put your foot down. Sometimes you need to give in when someone asks you if they can do something. Sometimes when my kids ask for something, I put my foot down and I say no...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN and TO PUT UP A FIGHT In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to put your foot down. When you put your foot down, it means you're not going to agree with someone. Let's say that my kids said that they wanted to have ice cream and I said no. And then they asked again. An...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO BE WIRED and TO HOT WIRE In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to be wired. When we say someone is wired, it means they're a little bit nervous or they're a little bit energetic. We usually use this when we talk about the effects of coffee on people or the effects of sugar on kids. You...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO CHANGE THINGS UP and A CHANGE OF SCENERY In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to change things up. Now this just means to change things. But we use this phrase a lot in English when we talk about something that we do a certain way, and then when we just do it a different way, one or two days, ju...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases AN UNWRITTEN RULE and A HARD-AND-FAST RULE In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase an unwritten rule. Now, this is exactly what it sounds like. It's a rule, but it's not written down anywhere. There are a lot of unwritten rules when you are speaking English, because sometimes when you'r...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO COME UP WITH and TO COME AND GO In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to come up with. But before I talk about it, sorry, I know you've been enjoying the lessons in my local town. Today I'm just out here in the countryside. Or am I? What if I was to turn the camera? You would then see t...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO DOUBLE-CHECK and A REALITY CHECK In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English verb to double-check. When you double-check something, it means you check it and then you check it again. If you don't know what it means to check something, it means to make sure it's there or to make sure it's in a c...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO WIPE OUT and I'M WIPED! In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to wipe out. Now I used this phrase in my last lesson to talk about slipping on the ice and falling down. When you wipe out, this is the verb we use to describe slipping and falling. If you've ever gone skating, usually you s...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO WHIP BY and TO WHIP SOMETHING UP In this English lesson I wanted to help you learn the English phrase to whip by. This is a phrase we usually use to talk about something that happens quickly. I usually use it to talk about time. I feel like the days in January just whipped by using it in the past tense there. I find that at th...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases OUT OF SIGHT and LINE OF SIGHT In this English lesson. I wanted to help you learn the English phrase out of sight. You can see this right now, but now it's out of sight. It literally means what it says when you can't see something. It is out of sight. Often people who are doing something illegal, they try to do it out o...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English words WHATSOEVER and SOMEWHAT In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English word whatsoever. This is kind of an interesting word, and Konstantin asked if I could explain it. When you use the word whatsoever, it means at all. If I was to say, "There isn't any traffic behind me whatsoever," it would mean tha...

Read along to practice your English and to learn the English phrases TO HANG OUT and TO HANG BACK In this English lesson, I wanted to help you learn the English phrase, to hang out. When you hang out with someone, it just means that you are with them. You can go to someone's house and you can hang out. Jen and I are really good friends with our siblings. Sometimes we go to my sister's ho...