“My coach used to tell us, 'You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.'”

Your friend is trying to decide whether to send an application to a graduate school that he wants to get into. He really wants to go there but doesn't think that he'll be accepted. You want to convince him to apply. You say:

My coach used to tell us, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

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“Look on the bright side. You've still got your health and your family.”

Your friend just lost his job. You're having a drink with him and talking to him about it. You want to say something to encourage him. You say:

Look on the bright side. You've still got your health and your family.

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“Think of this as an opportunity.”

Your friend lost his job. You're talking with him about it and having a drink together. You want to tell him something to cheer him up. You say:

Think of this as an opportunity.

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“Come on! You've got to at least give it a shot.”

There's an art competition that you were thinking about entering, but now you're thinking you won't enter it because you don't have a chance of winning. You tell your friend that you're not going to enter, but she disagrees. She says:

Come on! You've got to at least give it a shot.

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“Great job today, guys. Keep up the good work.”

You are a coach for your daughter's soccer team. Your team won a match and everyone played well. You want to make everyone feel proud and encourage them. You say:

Great job today, guys. Keep up the good work.

great job

You say this when someone does something really well. You say it to your children, your employees, your team mates, or anyone who you feel comfortable complimenting in this way.

It's more common to say "good job". So when you say "great job" it sounds like an even stronger compliment.

A slightly more proper way of saying this is:

"You did a great job."

But just "Great job" is more common in spoken conversation.

If you want to specify what you're complimenting the person for, you can say "great job on (something)":

Great job on that presentation, Betty.

guys

In English, there's not a really good word for addressing a group of people. In different parts of the country, people use different expressions when talking to a group. The expression I suggest is "guys". For example, at a restaurant with a large group of friends you can say:

Hey guys, are you ready to order?

"Guys" technically means a group of men, but it's usually OK to use it for groups of men and women, or even for groups of all women.

Keep up the good work.

You say this when someone is doing a good job and you want to encourage them to continue. It's used by a person of higher authority talking to a person under them. For example, a teacher to a student, a coach to a player, a manager to an employee, or a parent to a child. If you use it to a person who's not under your authority, it can sound rude.

You usually say this phrase at the end of the conversation, after you have talked about the good things that the person did. For example:

• Boss: Katie, I really like the way that you designed this. The colors really work well together. I think this is going to look great.
• Katie: Oh, thank you.
• Boss. You've really been doing some great stuff lately. Keep up the good work.

A good response to this is, "Thanks, I will."