Learning English

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Summary

Sometimes people say something that is ridiculous or blatantly untrue. Jiaying and Roy use an informal phrase for this very situation.

Transcript

Jiaying
Hello. This is The English We Speak. I’m Jiaying.

Roy
And hello, I’m Roy. I’ve just applied to be the new head of department. My main policy will be that everybody will be able to sing karaoke in the office, and there will be donkeys that deliver drinks to people! I think the senior management will think that’s a great idea and agree to all my changes.

Jiaying
You think management would accept that much chaos which would damage productivity? As if!

Roy
As if what? You want an example? I don’t understand!

Jiaying
No, Roy. Just ‘as if’. We use the expression ‘as if’ to say that something is never going to happen or is obviously untrue. It’s a very informal expression.

Roy
So you think they won’t accept my idea? That’s ridiculous. In fact, the senior management has agreed to hold a meeting in ten minutes. I think I’ll be head of department by the end of the day.

Jiaying
As if! No one will agree to that idea! We can talk about your meeting after these examples.

Examples
You think her second novel was better than her first? As if!

She thinks she could win the award for best short film. As if! It’s rubbish!

As if! I will never become president of the company!

Jiaying
This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English. We’re talking about the expression ‘as if’. We use it to say that something is obviously untrue or will never happen. So how did your meeting go?

Roy
Well, I arrived on the floor – but I think they’d given me the floor number. Instead, the eighth floor is where all rubbish in the building goes to get sorted. It’s strange because that’s also the place I’ve been told to send some of my other best ideas.

Jiaying
Maybe they were trying to tell you something by sending your work to the eighth floor where the rubbish goes!

Roy
As if! My ideas are great, and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before I get promoted.

Jiaying
Well, actually, they’ve offered me the position. They liked the idea that by making people work four-day weeks, productivity would go up!

Roy
As if!

Jiaying
Sorry, Roy, but it’s true! Look!

Roy
I can’t believe it! So that means you’re my boss now? Now I can send all my great ideas to you!

Jiaying
I think you should just send them straight to the eighth floor. Bye.

Roy
Bye.

تازه ترین The English We Speak

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Eat your words
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Bug someone
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Willy-nilly
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A random phrase
Gnarly
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A word for something disgusting
Smash it
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a doddle
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Double down
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A phrase about forgetting something
Onboarding
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New job, new word!
Thereby hangs a tale
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A Shakespearean phrase for when there's more to something than you think
The royal treatment
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Tell me about it
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Creatively bankrupt
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As if
Episode 220509 / 09 May 2022
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Ish
Episode 220502 / 02 May 2022
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Bad hair day
Episode 220425 / 25 Apr 2022
Is this an unattractive phrase?!
Promises, promises
Episode 220418 / 25 Mar 2022
Is a promise a promise?
Not see hide nor hair
Episode 220411 / 11 Apr 2022
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Curate's egg
Episode 220404 / 04 Apr 2022
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That'll be the day
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Gathering dust
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This phrase shouldn’t be complicated!
The plot thickens
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A mysterious phrase!
All at sea
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Don't mind me
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Cramp my style
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Who’s cramping your style?
Cool cat
Episode 220131 / 31 Jan 2022
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As sick as a parrot
Episode 220117 / 17 Jan 2022
A phrase about disappointment
Eke out
Episode 220110 / 10 Jan 2022
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Say no more
Episode 220103 / 03 Jan 2022
Do you get me?