Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and this episode is all about expressions to talk about them. Some mistakes are small and minor, and others are really big. And sometimes we make embarrassing mistakes in front of other people—the worst kind or mistakes! But you shouldn’t make a mistake with these expressions once you’ve listened to this episode. So go ahead, check it out.
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Expressions included in the learning materials
- There’s no end in sight
- To mess up/to screw up
- And I mean…
- To say the least
- To give it time
- To get over something
- To draw a blank
- To butcher something
- Renos
- To learn your lesson
- To choke
- To strike out
Sample transcript
Harp: Yes. So today we’re going to talk about some expressions when you make a mistake.
Maura: Right. We can use these expressions to talk about when people have not done something well, when they’ve made a mistake or done something wrong.
Harp: Yeah. And all of the expressions are a little bit different, but they’re all related to making mistakes.
Maura: Right. So let’s start with the first one. The first expression we’re going to look at is to mess up.
Harp: To mess up.
Maura: Right. To mess up.
Harp: And this is when someone makes a mistake. They mess up.
Maura: Right. It’s a more casual way to say that you made a mistake, or you made an error. It could be used to talk about just about anything that you didn’t do properly.
Harp: Yeah. It could be something really serious or it could be something quite small, but it’s when you make a mistake.
Maura: Right. It would be something written, it could be something you do, it could be a performance. It’s some kind of mistake.
Harp: Yes.
Maura: So, let’s give you an example where someone messes up.
Harp: Let’s do it.
Maura: Hey, how are you? You don’t look too happy.
Harp: I just made the worst mistake at work.
Maura: What did you do?
Harp: I sent an email and it was supposed to go to one person, just the president of the company. And instead, I sent it to everyone, and I mean everyone. The secretary, the vice president, HR. I sent it to everyone.
Maura: Oh no.
Harp: There was so much private, confidential stuff in that email.
Maura: So I guess your boss wasn’t happy?
Harp: To say the least. He was extremely angry with me.
Maura: Well, did you say you were sorry and that you know that you really messed up?
Harp: Yeah, but I feel like maybe I’m gonna get fired. I just really messed up today.
Maura: Well, give it some time. Maybe he’ll get over it.
Harp: I hope so!
Maura: In that example, we had someone who really messed up at work and sent an important, private email to everyone instead of one important person
Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast