“He has a reputation for being kind of eccentric.”

It's time to sign up for classes for the next semester at your university. A classmate asks if you know anything about a certain professor. You've never taken his classes, but you've heard that he dresses and acts a little strange. You say:

He has a reputation for being kind of eccentric.

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“Is it just me, or was that a bit of a letdown?”

You saw a fireworks show that wasn’t as good as you hoped it would be. After the show, you say to your friend who watched it with you:

Is it just me, or was that a bit of a letdown?

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“It sounds vaguely familiar.”

You and a friend are going to have lunch together. She asks if you've heard of a restaurant called "Pedro's Cafe". The name reminds you of something, but you don't remember what kind of restaurant it is, and you can't remember if you've eaten there. You say:

It sounds vaguely familiar.

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“They set a pretty high bar for me.”

You're talking to a new friend about your relationship with your parents. They are both very successful people professionally: your father is a doctor, and your mother is a judge. You tell your friend:

They set a pretty high bar for me.

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“Not exactly, but I did get some promising leads.”

You're a salesperson. You just got back from a conference. Your boss asks if you made any sales. You didn't, but you met several people who you think you might be able to sell to successfully. You say:

Not exactly, but I did get some promising leads.

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“She was asking something about her travel arrangements, but I didn't quite get what she wanted.”

You got a confusing e-mail from someone at work. She asked a question, but you didn't understand what she wanted to know. Now you're explaining the situation to your boss. You say:

She was asking something about her travel arrangements, but I didn't quite get what she wanted.

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“It just wasn't very believable.”

You watched a movie. You weren't able to enjoy it because you thought the characters and the setting were to unrealistic. You're discussing the movie with your friend, and you say:

It just wasn't very believable.

just (not)(adjective)

"Just not" expresses the feeling that, even though you want something to be true, it's not true in reality. There's a phrase that was made famous by the TV show "Sex and the City", and later used as the title for a movie:

He's just not that into you.

Being "into" someone means that you like them a lot. This sentence was told to a woman who was worrying about why a man who she'd gone on a date with hadn't called her back. When she heard "He's just not that into you," it convinced her to stop worrying about it.

(a story) (is) believable

The word "believable" can be used to describe a story that's realistic enough for you to accept. When you see or hear it, it makes you feel like it could be real (although you know that it's not real). "Believable" is mostly used to talk about stories like movies, TV shows, and books. The opposite of "believable" is "not believable". You've probably heard the word "unbelievable", but that word means "amazing" or "wonderful", so its different from "not believable". People don't use the word "believable" to talk about stories, explanations, or descriptions of real events. When someone describes a real-life event and you think that it might be true, you say that it "seems plausible":

That seems plausible.

When it seems like it probably isn't true, you say that it's "not plausible":

Yeah, he says that they agreed to pay him five thousand dollars, but that just doesn't seem plausible.

“That's not very environmentally conscious of me, is it?”

You admitted to a friend that you usually drink bottled water, even though you know that the bottles are bad for the environment. Your friend is very interested in environmental issues. You want to show that you feel a little guilty about it. You say:

That's not very environmentally conscious of me, is it?

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“I'm kind of shy when it comes to the opposite sex.”

You're a guy who doesn't have a girlfriend. You're talking to your friend who's quite popular with women. You are trying to explain your problem, which is that you are shy with women. But in other ways you're not that shy. You say:

I'm kind of shy when it comes to the opposite sex.

kind of (adjective)

"Kind of" means "a little" or "somewhat". It's often used in spoken English.

The pronunciation of "kind of" sounds like "kinda".

(be) shy

A person who "is shy" is afraid to talk to people that they don't already know well.

(adjective) when it comes to (something)

When you say that you're "shy when it comes to ___", it means that you're shy in that specific area, although you're not necessarily shy in other areas.

This phrase can be used for all kinds of different adjectives, not just "shy". For example:

He's really good when it comes to sports that require speed.

the opposite sex

If you're a woman, "the opposite sex" is men; if you're a man, "the opposite sex" is women. You usually use this phrase when you're talking about how men and women relate to each other.