Daily English Phrases
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Entries in agreement (9)

Monday
May022011

“I don't blame you.”

I don't blame you.

You live in a small town. You're talking to your teenage nephew, who lives in the same small town. He says he wants to move somewhere else as soon as possible. You can understand why he wants to do that, so you say:

I don't blame you.

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Friday
Dec242010

“OK, fair enough.”

Your boss has to much work to do, so you volunteer to take some of his responsibilities. He doesn't want to give you those responsibilities. He explains that it is easier to organize everything if he does it himself. You don't think that's really true, but you can't argue much because he's the boss. You respond:

OK, fair enough.

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Thursday
Dec092010

“You can't beat face-to-face communication, you know?”

You and a friend are having a discussion. You're talking about the way that young people tend to prefer text messages, email, and social media instead of direct conversations. You want to tell your friend that you think direct communication is much better. You say:

You can't beat face-to-faced communication, you know?

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Saturday
Oct022010

“These do look good for a mobile phone.”

You're looking at photos on your friend's new mobile phone. Your friend mentions how impressed he's been with the quality of the photos that the phone takes. You agree that the photos look good. You say

These do look good for a mobile phone.

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Wednesday
Sep222010

“Yeah, well they've certainly added a lot of staff recently.”

During your lunch break at work, you're chatting with a coworker about one of your company's competitors. Your coworker is worried about the competitor and mentions that they are getting bigger. You're not as worried about them, but you do agree that the competitor has added more staff. You say:

Yeah, well they've certainly added a lot of staff recently.

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Wednesday
Sep012010

“Yeah, I mean, what does he want us to do? Call him every time we make a little change?”

Someone from another department at work complained about how your team doesn't notify him when you make changes to a certain document. You're talking with one of your team members. She says that you shouldn't have to notify this person when you make changes, because it would take up too much of your time. You want to agree, so you say:
Yeah, I mean, what does he want us to do? Call him every time we make a little change?

Yeah, I mean...

The phrase "I mean" doesn't have a strong meaning of its own. Instead, it is used to express certain feelings about a topic. One of the reasons to use "I mean" is to try to get the listener to sympathize with your feelings and what you're saying. Because "I mean..." emphasizes that you're stating your own personal feelings, it seems like you're asking the listener to understand those feelings. Here's another example. You would say this when talking to your
I really think I'm ready to take on more responsibility. I mean, I've been working there for over six years. It's not like I'm inexperienced.

(Question?) (Example?)

In the statement at top, the speaker asks a question and then gives an unreasonable example answer, also formed as a question:
What does he want us to do? Call him every time we make a little change?
You ask a question in this way to disagree with what you think someone else is saying, or to make fun of the ideas that they have. In the example above, the meaning is something like, "I can't believe he wants us to contact him when we change that document. What a bad idea!" Here's another example. When a guy is trying to act like he is strong and heroic, but you're annoyed by it, you can make fun of him by saying:
Who do you think you are? Prince Charming or something?
(Prince Charming is the prince who rescues Snow White in the children's story "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves") If someone continues to be mad at you even after you've apologized several times, you can ask:
What do you want me to do? Get down on my knees and beg?

what does (someone) want (me/us) to do?

You probably already know what this phrase means, but it's good to remember this all together as a set phrase because it's common in spoken English:
What do you want me to do? What does she want us to do?

a little (something)

The word "little" can mean "small", but it also brings to mind the idea of being unimportant.
I'm just asking for one little favor. Can't you do that for me just this once?
In the example at top, the speaker doesn't think that most of the changes she makes are important, so she calls them "little".
Tuesday
May042010

“Yeah, it's a huge environmental disaster.”

Memorize

You're talking with a coworker about a large oil spill. She is talking about how big of a problem it is. You agree, so you say:

Yeah, it's a huge environmental disaster.

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Wednesday
Mar172010

“I'm sure we can come to an agreement.”

Memorize

A villain on a TV show wants to make the hero do something, so he has kidnapped the hero's girlfriend. The villain threatens the hero by saying:

I'm sure we can come to an agreement.

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Wednesday
Mar172010

“Do we have an agreement?”

Memorize

Your teenage son has been misbehaving at school. You want him to start behaving better, so you tell him that if he behaves well at school, you'll let him get a new cell phone. But if he doesn't behave, he'll be punished. He seems to agree with that plan. You hold out your hand to shake hands with him, and ask:

So do we have an agreement?

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