Como falo em inglês: Estou só apagando incêndio

By Ana | Podcast Inglês Online

Jun 29
Inglês Online Estou só apagando incêndio

Hey, everybody.  Hoje eu falo sobre idioms do inglês com a palavra fire.

Transcrição

Hey, everybody. This is the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast.

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ingles: idioms com fireSo today we start with the English saying “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” We say the exact same thing in Brazil. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. That’s what we think when it looks like something’s wrong, or when we hear a rumour about something and we’re not able to tell a hundred percent whether it’s true or not… but we do tend to believe that there’s something there.

Most people do become suspicious when they hear a rumour, I guess. They say ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire’. That’s why a well-known strategy by some politicians is to create rumours about opponents and spread them, because even though they’re false people will usually think that there’s at least a grain of truth in them. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Let’s move on to another idiom with the word fire – again, we say basically the exact same thing in Brazil. Very, very common to hear people who work in offices and are very busy with their daily attributions, and when you ask them “How’s it going?” they’ll answer “Oh, you know. Putting out fires all they long.” Listen again: I’m putting out fires.

If you’ve ever worked in an office in Brazil, I’m sure you’ve heard people say the Portuguese version of that. When you have to deal with emergencies or things that are urgent, rather than your daily tasks, you’re putting out fires. This could be you! I mean, what did you do in the office yesterday?

Did you have to handle last minute, urgent requests from your boss? Did you spend considerable time trying to fix some kind of unexpected issue with a client, a supplier, your computer? Did you spend so much time putting out fires that you didn’t even have a chance to read your e-mails? I think everyone can relate. I mean, I’m self-employed – I work for myself, and some days I spend hours putting out fires.

I remember one day, a couple of years ago. I was getting ready to write a few blog posts when I started to get messages from readers telling me my website was down. So this wasn’t just any small fire I had to put out, it was a big one. I remember it took me a few days to get the situation under control – in the end I had to find a different hosting service for Inglês Online and until I got that sorted I simply could not get ahead with any writing. Getting the website back up and working properly was way more urgent than getting a new blog post out – so that meant I spent those few days putting out a big fire rather than doing what I do every week, which is write new content.

I’m curious: what’s the last time you had to put out a fire at the office? Or maybe you do that regularly at home (hopefully not literally)? Let me know in the comments and talk to you next time!

Key expressions

  • where there’s smoke, there’s fire
  • put out fires
Ana
Gabriel Salazar 13/05/2017

Almost every days I need putting out fire. I work with information Technology and it is very common.

Albukerk 04/07/2016

Thank you Ana Luiza.

Inês 04/07/2016

Oi Ana! Gosto muito dos seus podcasts, sempre indico pra quem tá aprendendo. Hoje vim aqui baixar mais alguns mas não estou achando o ícone da impressora pra imprimir a transcrição…
Saiu?

    Ana 23/07/2016

    Olá- a instrução está lá no início!

Sabrina 30/06/2016

what did you do IN the office yesterday? x what’s the last time you had to put out a fire AT the office?

preposições em inglês acho que são meu maior desafio, poderias me explicar a diferença nessas duas frases?

obrigada

José Antonio 29/06/2016

Não seria “all day long”? Faz mais sentido do que “all they long”.

    Ana 23/07/2016

    Opa.. errei ao digitar. Obrigada!

Comments are closed