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Friday
Jul292011

“That's a drag.”

English Lesson: That's a drag

You're talking to your friend on the phone. He tells you that he lost his wallet. You can imagine how annoying and difficult that is. You say:

That's a drag.

That's a drag.

"That's a drag" means "That's too bad" or "That sucks". You say these expressions when someone tells you about bad things that have happened to them.

You can use "That's a drag" to talk about situations that are kind of bad, but not too horrible. For example, here are some situations where "That's a drag" is a good response:

  • Your friend says that she wasn't able to get tickets to the concert that she wanted to go to.
  • Your coworker's car broke down, and he has to pay a thousand dollars to get it fixed. 
  • Your son's homework was deleted because his computer crashed. Now he has to do it again.

For more serious situations, use a different expression. For example, if someone's father has passed away, you should say something like this:

Oh, Steven. I'm so, so sorry to hear that.

The word "drag" was once a slang expression, but has become common.

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