This English conversation lesson combines a mixture of informal, everyday language with some advanced and idiomatic expressions. The mix of dialogue style and humor in this scene from 'Nobody Wants This' is a great material for learning real-life English.
In today's lesson:
- 'gaslighting' — what does it mean?
- 'made eye contact' — what do you think this phrase means?
- 'desperately' — why does he say that?
Today we learn English with a bunch of characters from Nobody Wants This. First, there's Noah. He was delayed at work and is hurrying to see Joanne. She is waiting for Noah at the street because she wants to see him. Then we have Morgan, her sister, trying to give Joanne a ride home. Lastly, there's Sasha, Noah's older brother, who seems quite eccentric. Let's watch and learn.
Learn vocabulary
'get in' is a phrasal verb that means to enter a space, here, into a car.
'pretend' means to behave as if something is true when you know that it is not, especially in order to deceive people or as a game.
'pretend you don’t see him' means to act like you didn't notice someone, even though you did. This phrase is used when you don't want to talk to someone or get involved.
'eye contact' means the situation in which two people look at each other's eyes at the same time, or the act of looking directly in the eyes of another person as the other person looks at you.
'make eye contact' is a commonly used expression for meeting someone's gaze, and it’s useful for social interactions.
'close your eyes' is used here literally, but it is also an idiom that means to ignore something bad and pretend it is not happening.
'rude' means not polite; offensive or embarrassing.
'gaslighting' means the action of tricking you into believing something that isn’t true, making you doubt yourself. For example, if you remember something clearly, but they keep telling you it never happened.
The phrase "dying to" is often used to emphasize a strong desire, it's an informal way to say 'I really want to'. It's like a feeling of excitement about something that is going to happen in the near future.
In the clip, 'I've been dying to speak' means that Sasha has been very eager or excited to say something for a while.
'kind of' is an informal way of saying 'a little' or 'somewhat'. It softens the statement, making it less direct. Instead of saying 'I'm tired', which is stronger, Joanne says 'I'm kind of tired' means she is a bit tired, but maybe not completely exhausted.
'up to you' means that the decision or choice is yours to make. The speaker is giving the other person the freedom to decide. Joanne says she doesn't want to influence or control Noah's choice.
'desperately' means extremely, or very much, or trying anything to change a situation. For example, "I was desperately trying to finish my work" means you were trying very hard.
'blow off' is a phrasal verb that means to cancel plans, or not show up when you were supposed to, or to decide not to do something you are expected to do.
'nightmare' here is not literally means a bad dream, it’s used to describe a person who is very difficult to deal with.
'yell' means to shout something, usually when you are angry, in pain, or excited.