Common Phrases British People Use in Conversation!
Good morning, good afternoon and goodevening! Welcome to Smashing English before we start this video be sure tosubscribe because we make new videos all the time and I don't want you to miss any! Sowith that said, let's get on with the video! Today we are talking about phrases that Britishpeople commonly use in everyday conversations and this was a video idea that was suggested to meby someone in the comments, I can't remember who it was but thank you very much if you commentedfor this video, here it is! So, I had a little think about the kinds of phrases that I hear a lotin everyday conversations. I live in Britain, I've lived in Britain all my life and these are someof the things that I hear a lot, so if you want to sound like a native British speaker, if you areplanning to move to Britain or if you are just .
Interested in how people in Britain talk, thisis for you. Little disclaimer, obviously Britain is a very big place, I live in the West Midlands,which is a place in Britain but obviously if you go to Wales, if you go to Scotland, if you go toNorthern Ireland, if you go to Cornwall, if you go to Manchester, you will hear different phrasesand different slang words, these are just some common ones that I think a lot of people,no matter what part of the UK you're from, I think a lot of people will use these, butobviously the UK is a big place, okay? So you are about to hear a little conversationbetween me and Bez and in that conversation, we are going to use a lot of common phrases.After you've seen that I will quickly talk them through with you so that you understandhow to use each and every one. Okay, let's go. .
Those three years of actor training that me andBez had have not been wasted. Okay, so let's start with the very first thing you heard and that wasalright, alright? This is a very common greeting in Britain, it means hello, it means how are you,it means oh look it's you! I haven't seen you in a while! It means lots of different things,it doesn't always mean 'are you alright?' It doesn't need an answer, if I say to you: alright?Normally the common response is: yeah, alright! It just means hello, it's really weird. Okay andthe next common phrase you heard was long time no see, we say this if it's been a long time and youhaven't seen someone and we just say it like that, you don't need to put any words around it, it'sjust long time no see. Then we had: I'm sound, which is another way of saying I'm good, I'mhappy, all is well in my life, I'm sound. We .
Also heard: can't complain, which means thingsare fine, you know? I can't complain about my life because there's nothing to complain about. Thenyou heard: in a bit, we can order food in a bit, it just means in a little bit of time, I'llsee you in a bit, see you in a bit, I'll see you in a little bit of time is all that means.Then, you heard: to be honest, this is a really, really common phrase, it's just something we mightput at the beginning of a sentence or at the end of a sentence just to exaggerate the fact that youare being honest, you're saying something true, so in this context: I'm not too hungry, to behonest. You know? If I'm being honest with you, I'm not actually that hungry, peopleuse this one a lot. Then we had: probs, which I use, I don't know how many other peopleuse it, but I definitely use probs, um, instead of .
Probably, sometimes, I don't always use it.It's a bit of a young person, kind of slang, so use it if you want to but it's not an overlyused thing, it's just something that I say so I thought I'd put it in. Then you heard: goodshout which just means good idea, good shout, yeah, good shout, that's a good idea! Then we had:a weight off my mind, if something is a weight off your mind or a weight off your shoulders, somepeople might say that, um, it just means that the worry has gone, you know? The worry, the stressthat you have had has gone, you know? The weight has been lifted, so you might hear people sayit's a weight off my mind, it's a weight off my shoulders or they might just say it's a weightoff, you know? Oh we sold the house, so that's a weight off. Then: we had pain in the ass, ifsomething is a pain in the ass, it's annoying, .
It's stressful, it's just not something youwant to do, it's, it's, oh it's irritating, it makes you angry, it's just, oh, frustrating,a pain in the ass. Or, if you want to be family friendly, you can say a pain in the neck, becausearse is kind of a little bit of a swear word, it's not a very big swear word, it's like a tinyone. I think I watched Home Alone the other day and Home Alone is a kids film and in that theysay 'ass', which is the American version of arse, so it's not a huge swear word but it's a littlebit of one, so if you don't want to do that teeny little swear word, I would just say pain inthe neck. Okay, then we had: light at the end of the tunnel, if you see a light at the end ofthe tunnel, you see the end, you see the good result of something, you are nearly finishedwith something that's hard or stressful or scary, .
You're nearly done and you can see the ending,it's so close, I'm nearly there! Then we had: faff, I love this word, faff is a great word, itjust means something that is hard, it's something that requires a lot of effort, a lot of time,it's a faff, moving is a faff, it's stressful, it takes a lot of time, it's hard, it's annoying,it's stressful. Faff. Without a doubt is another really common phrase I hear all the time,it just means, you know, without a doubt, I don't have any doubt, there's no doubt inmy mind that this is true. Then, I included: tell me about it and this is a bit more American,actually, you know, like tell me about it, it's a bit more American and it just means like, I agreewith you, oh I completely agree with you, tell me about it. But I think, you know, as Americanmovies and American tv shows become more popular .
Over here, I think a lot of people in Britaindo say it, it's something you do hear over here, so I thought I'd put it in, so tell me about itjust means I completely agree with you. It's just one thing after another, this means that lots ofstressful, hard, negative things are happening. It doesn't stop! Then we've got: all being well,which just means, all being well, if everything goes well, this will happen, so all being well,I will have a new job in 2022 or all being well, we will take our dog home from the vet tomorrow,so as long as everything goes well, as long as everything is okay and goes to plan, this willhappen. Then we had: to switch off, if you switch off from life, switch off from house moving stuff,switch off from work, it just means you completely take your brain away, you completely stopthinking about it, you distance yourself from it, .
You don't think about it anymore, it'sgone. Then we have the word: nightmare, something is a nightmare, this is something thatwe say a lot over here, oh it's a nightmare, oh moving house was a nightmare, it just means itwas horrible, like a nightmare, it was terrible, oh it's just, it's just a nightmare lookingafter seven cats and two dogs, it's horrible. Then we had: when it rains, it pours which justmeans when bad things happen, it really happens, you know? When you have some bad situations inlife, it feels like it really happens, it's really bad, it's not just a little bit of bad, it's like,oh that's terrible! When it rains, it pours. Mate is super common in Britain, we use it to referto someone, oh you alright, mate? How you doing, mate? Or we might use it, like in this sense,as a sympathetic word, so we might say, oh mate, .
Mate I'm so sorry, oh mate, I'm really sorry.Then we had: bound to be something good around the corner, though. So if something is boundto be, it's like surely, surely that's going to happen in the future, surely, it's boundto happen, it's gonna happen, definitely, surely. Around the corner, if something isaround the corner, it's in the near future. So if you imagine you're walking, just around thecorner there's going to be something really good. Then we had: we can only hope, which is a phraseyou would use if you don't have a lot of hope, really, you know? You don't think something isgoing to happen in the future, you might say oh we can only hope, you know, I don't think it'sgoing to happen, but I can at least hope! Then we had the word moping, if you mope it just means youfeel a bit sad for yourself, you complain a lot, .
You're just a bit: my life so hard, I'm moping.And finally, we had: just the usual, you know, if someone says to you: how's life? What are youdoing at the moment? They might say: ah, just the usual, like just the same, everything's normal,my life's the same as it usually is. And there we have it! If you have any questions about thosephrases, leave them in the comments down below, I hope they were useful to you. If you enjoyedthis video, please give it a like. If you want to follow us on Instagram, you can do so there- andif you want to support the channel, the link for that is down below. And if you want a one-to-oneonline English lesson with me or Bez, the link for that is also down below. Thank you so muchfor watching and I'll see you next time, tata! Once again, a huge thank you to our Patronswho are receiving, every single video, .
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As requested, here are some super common words and phrases people from the UK might use in conversation! ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Want to receive bonus content and have your name in a video? Click here! : https://www.patreon.com/SmashingEnglish —————————————————————————————————— Follow my Instagram for English learning content: @smashing.english ——————————————————————————————— And if you would like a one to one English lesson with us where we can assess your goals and help you to become fluent like a native, please click here! https://www.italki.com/teacher/7238054 Or here: https://www.italki.com/teacher/715365… ———————————————————————————————- Music: www.bensound.com
