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Como falo em inglês: Fazer as coisas sem pensar

By Ana | Podcast Inglês Online

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Como falo em inglês: Fazer as coisas sem pensar

Sep 10

6

Como falo em inglês Fazer as coisas sem pensar

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How are you doing? Hoje, no podcast, eu falo sobre um idiom ótimo de pronunciar (fun!) e uma expressão super comum do inglês do dia a dia. Não perca!!

Transcrição

How are you doing? You’re listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Download the Inglês Online app at the Google Play Store or the Apple Store – search for “inglês online Ana”. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So let’s dive right in with our first expression of today – and this is an informal one that I’ve heard quite a few times. So, think about this: when you do something without a lot of forethought, without, you know, reflecting a little bit first, without any planning or even without a clear reason for doing it… That’s when we could say you’re doing something willy-nilly.

I love this idiom because it sounds kind of funny and it’s fun to say. So, let’s say your friend Sam is an impulsive kind of guy. He’s pretty young and a bit inconsequential – you know what I mean, he doesn’t give things a lot of thought before doing them. So the other day Sam decided to enrol in an expensive arts course ’cause he thought it would be cool to become an artist. Here’s the thing, though. Sam isn’t financially independent, and in order to attend the course he’ll have to spend quite a bit of money in arts supplies.

His parents will have to spend that money, that is. Not Sam. His parents would be more than happy to encourage Sam to become an artist, if they didn’t know him better. They know Sam usually enrols in expensive courses willy-nilly only to give up a month later. He’s a starter, but not a finisher. They remember when Sam decided to learn a language a few months ago and spent his allowance willy-nilly on an Indonesian course that he abandoned two weeks later.

What that means is, Sam didn’t really give it a lot of thought. He didn’t think through all that would be involved in seriously learning Indonesian, and he didn’t really consider whether this was just a passing interest or something he was willing to commit to. So he just went for it willy-nilly and, as it turns out, he’s not a student of Indonesian anymore, and he’s a little bit poorer than he was a month ago.

So, check out what this guy tweeted out:

Wowww I’m really about to make a whole year of being single.. i used to jump in to relationships all Willy Nilly and honestly, finding that self love and self worth is way better than putting up with peoples bullshit and lowering yourself

So, that was a nice thing he learned. Cool.

Next up we have win someone over, and this is a pretty common one. You win someone over basically when you convince them of something; when you bring them over to your side, metaphorically speaking. That’s all there is to it, really. Let’s say you’re giving a presentation this week to the big boss in your company and you want to convince him or her that more money should be invested in your department.

Your boss has been skeptical of your ideas – she just doesn’t see the need for any improvements right now. She’s an open-minded lady though: she encouraged you to present your ideas to the big boss and, if you’re able to win him over, it’s a done deal.

So, that’s pretty much it: winning people over means bringing them to your side, getting them to be favourable to whatever it is you think or want to do. A good example would be, let’s say, a guy who wants to date some girl but the girl isn’t that interested. The guy then cultivates a friendly relationship with the girl and ends up winning her over, and they become girlfriend and boyfriend.

What are your examples? Let me know and see you soon!

Key expressions

willy-nilly
win (someone) over

Vocabulary

forethought = pensar muito bem antes de fazer alguma coisa, prudência, premeditação

arts supplies = materiais de artes (para as aulas)

allowance = mesada

as it turns out = no fim das contas

to put up with something = aguentar, tolerar, ter que suportar algo

it’s a done deal = está feito

Author
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Ana

Ana criou um blog de dicas de inglês em 2006, e depois de muito pesquisar o que faz alguém ganhar fluência numa segunda língua, criou seu primeiro curso de inglês em 2009.