Como falo em inglês: Faça de uma vez!

By Ana | Podcast Inglês Online

Jun 18
Inglês Online Faça de uma vez

Hi, what’s up? Hoje eu falo sobre um idiom muito comum, mas a melhor parte é uma maneira de usar a palavra already que você não aprende em nenhum livro de inglês. Não perca!

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Transcrição

Hi, what’s up? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

Let’s dive right into our first term of today: cut to the chase. Cut to the chase is one of the many ways to tell someone to get to the point, to quit going around in circles maybe, to just get to the message, just say what they want to say.

This is one expression that is usually said when the speaker is getting a bit impatient, so they will either tell YOU to cut to the chase, or say something like “Let me cut to the chase”. When someone asks you to cut to the chase, they’re asking you to get to the core of your message. The thing that really matters. The thing that you want to say, but for some reason you’re not saying yet.

Maybe you’re making small talk, you know? Maybe you’d like to explain something before getting to the point. Maybe you haven’t found the right words to say it. But that person you’re talking to is aware that you want to say something, or at least that you would like to say something, so they ask you to basically skip the small talk and get to the point. They’re in a rush, or they’re just plain impatient. “C’mon, cut to the chase already.”

Notice the use of the word ALREADY in this case. This is a very interesting way to use it, and it’s one that you will rarely ever be taught about in an English course. When someone asks you to do something already, that means they want you to do that immediately – they have waited long enough, they don’t want to wait any more!

In fact, they think you should have already done it. They can’t believe you haven’t already done this thing. That is what they’re communicating when they say “Do it already!”

You’ve been telling your sisters for weeks that you would like to start learning Polish. So this morning while you guys were having breakfast you brought up your desire to learn Polish again, and your sisters said, ok, “Find a Polish teacher already! Here. Have a look at learnpolish.com”

Your friend Matt has been telling you for months now that he needs to get through all the books on his reading list. He’s been adding books based on recommendations from friends and the list has grown now to almost twenty books that he’s got to read. Matt has always been an avid reader but work has kept him so busy lately that he barely has time for his favourite hobby: reading.

You can tell he misses his regular reading routine, so when he brings that up yet again you say “Matt, just read those books already. Make the time. Put it on your calendar. Get reading already!”

Right now, think about a few things in your life or in the lives of the people you know – things about which you’d say “Do this already!” You know, the stuff people have been saying for a while that they’d like to do. What did you come up with? See you next time.

Key expressions

  • cut to the chase
  • do it already!

Vocabulary

Small talk = conversinha que você tem pra quebrar o gelo, sobre o tempo etc.

make the time = arruma tempo

to come up with = sugerir, propor ou ter uma ideia

Ana
Julio 23/06/2018

Hi Ana, in the phrase “This is one expression that is usually said when the speaker is getting a bit impatient” would not be the listener who is getting a bit impatient?

    Ana 23/06/2018

    Hi Julio
    I see what you mean, but that would apply better to “Say it already”, I think…?
    I meant the speaker, or the person who’s speaking at that moment, saying “Do it already”
    Ana

      Julio 24/06/2018

      Ah ok, I get it. The speaker, in the case, is who was listening to the other person making small talk.

Julio 22/06/2018

Hi Ana, in the phrase “This is one expression that is usually said when the speaker is getting a bit impatient” would not the listener who is getting a bit impatient?

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