Advanced Expressions (C2) to Build Your Vocabulary

hey everyone i have a great lesson for you today because we are going to talk about some common expressions and i think these are a little more advanced expressions that you can use in a variety of situations now i'm going to tell you how these expressions are used as well as when they are used and try to explain the situation because when uh when you think of these expressions i don't want you to look at the individual words i want you to think about it as a whole i think that if you're able to try and learn these expressions as one chunk as as a single piece of information then it'll be a little easier to comprehend to understand and you'll be able to use it correctly when you find yourself in a situation where these expressions are relevant so i am going to tell you the expression i'll give you the meaning i will tell you and explain some of the situations in which i think you may use these expressions or you may hear somebody else use them and then i may throw in a few video clips here and there to help reinforce that information so that you have a better understanding the first expression is having said that so this is a transitional phrase which means that you are using it to transition from one idea to the next and in this case you are transitioning basically to an opposing view you are going to say something contradictory to what was just said and this this phrase i think is often found at the beginning of a sentence and i think it's becoming more and more common in spoken english now let me give you an example so you know what i mean when i say that you are trying to disagree or you're basically contrasting information that was just said maybe i am talking to you and i i'm saying these you know this this great stuff about you and then i want to say the opposite so i'd say oh you you know you are amazing you're very smart you're very hard-working and then i'd say having said that and then i would say the opposite of everything i just said often i i think it's used in a context in which you are maybe you have to give somebody bad news but before you give them the bad news you want to say some good things about them so let me give you an example hopefully make this a little easier to understand let's say that you are applying for a job and you know unfortunately you don't get the job and i am going to tell you this but before i tell you i might try to say some things that are that are nice about you that are great uh because i don't want to just be mean and say you know you didn't get the job get out of here so i might say something like okay you you know you are obviously very passionate about what you do you're you're hard-working you seem like you're a responsible person having said that i contacted your previous employers and they said you were stealing from the company so you're not going to get the job i hope that example makes it a little easier to follow having said all of that stuff before let me tell you what the opposite is and it can go both ways it's not just about delivering bad news it could be used in a positive sense so for example maybe you say a lot of uh of bad and negative things to begin with and then you say having said that and then you say the positive things i can't be your hero anymore okay sure having said all that i still would like to get together on tuesdays for bowling and alternating sundays for general horseplay recognize that google is not a conventional workplace having said that we have rules i'm over it completely having said that it's so hard to move on the next expression and this is one of my favorites is wishful thinking and if somebody says wishful thinking then it means that some other person is imagining a future event that is rather unlikely but they they just wish that that is the way things were and you could say look you know that's wishful thinking and often i think it's used as that statement right there and you hear somebody talking about some situation that is unlikely but that's what they want to happen and then you could say look you know that's wishful thinking i you know that's just wishful thinking it's not going to happen for example if somebody were to say okay i want to learn um portuguese and i am going to start studying portuguese and i am going to be fluent in portuguese by the end of the week give me seven days and i will achieve fluency and then you would look at me and say okay that's wishful thinking it is an unlikely event it is an unlikely future it's it's probably not going to happen but that's wishful thinking you were you were just hopeful you were optimistic that something will happen anyway can't raise a kid here where would you even put her how do you know it's a she wishful thinking i guess i just hope he found some place where he could find a little piece a place set in the cedars and oak trees but that's probably wishful thinking then we have to take something for granted and this me i think this is a very common expression and what it means is that you don't fully appreciate something because you just you come to assume that it will always be there and it will always be available you could also use it when talking about a person to take someone for granted and it means the same thing that you don't fully appreciate this person because you just assume that they will always be there for you let me give you an example uh imagine you have a car and you drive it every day you go to work you go shopping you go to the grocery store and you use it quite often and then the car breaks down and now you have to change your routine and you have to take a bus or you have to walk it takes a lot more time it then becomes a reminder how much easier things were with the car that you could do things much faster and you might think to yourself wow i was starting to take it for granted i i completely forgot that it's a it's a lot more challenging to have to take a bus to all of these places and you didn't realize it and until it was gone until it was no longer available to take something for granted or to take someone for granted sure but philosophy is about questioning things that you take for granted stop complaining new york is the greatest city in the world no it's rude obnoxious and dirty you take this place for granted most of us here were born in america we take this country for granted not immigrants like apu then we have another expression which i i guess you could say it is also one of my favorite expressions because i use it all the time and that is keep that in mind you're telling somebody you know hey keep that in mind and what it means is that that this person should be aware of something or or maybe yeah they should acknowledge that that something exists so you may find this expression at the end of a person's comment they they tell you what they want you to be aware of and then just as a reminder say look keep that in mind or maybe they use it at the beginning of a statement and say something like look i want you to keep this in mind and then proceed to tell you what they want you to be aware of listen for it with me i i think i think i say that quite often because i'm teaching you these words and phrases and sometimes they can be used in different ways and i would i want you to be aware of that and i would just tell you look i i want you to keep that in mind so just now that i've told you that try to listen for it i think it's a great expression especially when you are giving instructions because as a teacher i'm constantly talking to learners and trying to explain the difference between things and really help them understand a little bit better so i would often try to remind them to be aware of something and say keep that in mind so when you are giving instructions i think that is a a common way in which this expression is used the volturi don't give second chances keep that in mind the world ain't what it seems is it gunny no sir you keep that in mind the next expression is be that as it may this is another expression that is often used at the beginning of a sentence and it's a little more formal as well and and what it means is that you use this expression when you want to say that you believe some information that you have been given that you think it is true but it does not change your opinion about some topic or some situation so let me give you an example and i'm i'm trying to think of something that would be a more formal setting maybe a courtroom with a judge and the judge is deciding that that somebody is guilty and they're just they're trying to determine should they give a a very strict punishment or should they give a very light punishment and the person is trying to say well hey here are some facts here's some here's some information to show you that i'm i'm a good person even though i did something wrong and when the judge is talking to this individual the judge may say that information and they may say look yeah you have been uh very helpful in your community you have shown that you can be an honest and trustworthy individual you've been a good friend to to others be that as it may you have still broken the law and you must be punished for that so once again you are basically reaffirming that it doesn't matter what information or facts that you get it's not going to change your opinion about this topic or this situation and remember it is a bit more formal and somebody is trying to say look i am not going to change my opinion even though i believe all of this other information be that as it may i'm not going to change my opinion all i can tell you is that i'm a different person now oh great i don't care be that as it may i know i don't deserve your mercy or your forgiveness well i see it i'm old be that as it may rickon's not yours to sell anymore here i am not out of control that is it me i must request that for the time being you allow the city to handle its own emergency then we have the expression around the clock so in this case it's talking about something that is continuous that it is lasting especially lasting 24 hours that it is around the clock all day every day and this expression i think it's often used before words like open like you know we're open around the clock or uh words like available you know i'm available around the clock you can call me anytime my phone is always on any time of the day around the clock efforts continue around the clock i'm working around the clock you've been working around the clock you can call me nikki it will be a pleasure to serve you i am available to you around the clock just let me know next is the expression to toss around the idea or you could say to toss around some ideas and this it's almost it's a form of brainstorming that you were just thinking about new ideas or new possibilities usually with with another person or often with a group of people as well if there is a group of individuals and you have to think of something you have to come up with some new ideas you might tell the group you know let's let's toss around some ideas let's get some ideas out there and then we'll make a decision this expression i think is used a little more informally when you are talking maybe with your colleagues or friends in order to make a great decision we need to come up with many different ideas so let's toss around some ideas do you wanna you wanna go over it and toss some ideas around no that's okay that means i'm gonna go to my book editor melinda and toss around some book ideas and go home soak in the tub drink a glass of wine the next expression and i i think this one is a bit more challenging and sometimes it may even be used incorrectly is in and of itself and what this means is that you are considering something alone that is apart from everything else so you're referring to something that is being considered alone now i will say that some people they may think this expression is a little outdated it's a little old-fashioned i think that this is definitely a more of an advanced expression you may not hear it as often but when you do just realize that it's referring to something that is being considered alone let me give you an example to help you better understand how it's used so i might say that a sentence like this the rainy weather in and of itself was not the cause of the traffic jam so there could be many causes for this traffic jam the rainy weather it could be one of them it's not the only one it could be part of this so what i said in that sentence i said the rainy weather in and of itself when it's considered alone which means that is the only thing that you are thinking of is the rainy weather was not the cause of the traffic jam something else you should know about this expression is that it would often be found in the middle of the sentence that it's going to be separated by two different commas so you're going to say something in and of itself and then finish the sentence that is reverse sexism which is in and of itself a sexist thing to do summoning the brother in court then jesus i really hope that that's a sad commentary in and of itself my cousin violated his parole which in and of itself isn't good news but we're gonna get his van until he gets out i did not say stuart i said stalwart which in and of itself would be weird enough next is the expression lo and behold and when somebody uses lo and behold they are are telling someone something surprising that happened this expression often follows the word and i i think also that it's quite common that you would use this when you're telling a story you're telling somebody a story and talking about some events that happen and then you want to reveal something surprising all of a sudden lo and behold for example if somebody said wow and i i looked in the drawer and lo and behold i found my wallet so if we if you just hear that sentence i looked in the drawer and lo and behold i found my wallet what other information is that telling you if you just hear that sentence what it tells me you're saying and lo and behold i found my wallet it was a surprise which tells us that this person they were looking for their wallet maybe they were looking all over the place they could not find their wallet and they were surprised when they found it in the drawer when you you use these expressions sometimes they help give a little more information as to the situation and what's happening i looked in the drawer and lo and behold i found my wallet is there any way that i could have any less respect for you two geniuses i would have said no no that's not possible but lo and behold you went and pulled it off congratulations no one would have predicted the results of the election that year no one not long after the election lo and behold a miracle some believed it was the work of god himself next is the expression in hindsight so this expression means that a person has gained understanding about a situation or event after it has already happened or perhaps after it has developed and you would often find this expression at the beginning of a sentence somebody might say well you know in hindsight and then talk about what should have happened maybe how they would have changed the past because now they have a better understanding of what was going on for example you say well in hindsight i should have told the truth i never should have lied about it in hindsight i should have told the truth or in hindsight i should have left hours before there was no reason for me to stay at the party and and stay out really late and not get any sleep in hindsight i i should have left charles and i blame ourselves in hindsight we weren't ready in hindsight i probably could not have picked a worse way to be honest with mary elizabeth they'll never know in hindsight one of us should have brought a camera you seem pretty hell-bent on several ties yeah in hindsight that might have been a bit dramatic well it's a little late to take it back so again i i think it really helps to just learn these expressions as one chunk and learn their meaning so that it gives you a better understanding as to how and when it's used now having said that if you are somebody who likes ah i need to really know each and every individual word then i think that's okay but really try to view these expressions as a single chunk with a single meaning because what i really don't want i don't want you to take these expressions for granted because you will hear them from time to time and now that you understand their meaning i hope that you can go out and use them and i i know it can be difficult i know it can be challenging but i think you guys you can do it you're just gonna study around the clock and the more you study them the more you practice them you're just gonna start speaking and lo and behold you're just gonna start using these expressions naturally and easily and that's going to help you improve your overall fluency and i i thought i'd just try and give you a little bit of review while at the same time giving you an inspirational message all right just you know i always want to encourage you to learn practice and continue building your vocabulary keep that in mind all right that is it i hope you enjoyed learning some of these advanced expressions and i will see you next time

Channel: Interactive English

Views: 873,135

Keywords: interactive english, learn english, advanced english expressions, advanced english lesson, advanced english vocabulary, learn english expressions, learn expressions in english, advanced vocabulary in english, english vocabulary c2, advanced english vocabulary c2, english vocabulary lesson, having said that meaning, lo and behold meaning, wishful thinking meaning, be that as it may meaning, take for granted meaning, in hindsight meaning, english vocabulary, english expressions

Id: BSyjjmq2V-o

Length: 20min 8sec (1208 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 08 2022