“Jeez, how awkward is this? It hurts to watch!”

English Lesson: Jeez, how awkward is this? It hurts to watch!

You're watching a reality TV show. One of the people on the show is asking another person out on a date, but he's doing a really bad job and you can see that it's making everyone on the show uncomfortable. You comment on it.

Jeez, how awkward is this? It hurts to watch!

Want Video and Sound? Follow us on YouTube

(an) awkward (situation)

An "awkward" situation is uncomfortable because you don't know how to act. In the example at top, the speaker feels awkward because he has already said "goodbye" but now they have to walk with each other. So he doesn't know if he needs to say "goodbye" again, or just stop talking to the coworker.

Some other examples of "awkward" situations are:

  • You're on a first date with someone and you run out of things to talk about.
  • You're giving a presentation, and the person who introduces you calls you by the wrong name.
  • You find out that your teenage son has been having sex, and you have to talk to him about it.

Of course, you don't directly say "This is awkward" in all of those situations. But you would use the word "awkward" to describe the situation when you're telling another person about it.

Jeez!

This is an exclamation that you say when you're annoyed:

Jeez! Can we stop talking about your work and move on to some other topic please?

Sometimes you can also use it when you're surprised by something. For example, if someone walks up behind you and startles you, say this:

Jeez! You scared me!

"Jeez!" is short for "Jesus!" but you don't need to be Christian to say it. There may be some very strictly religious people who think it's wrong to say "Jeez!" or "Jesus!" when you're annoyed, but for the most part "Jeez!" is OK to say in any kind of situation - with friends, with coworkers, or even with people you don't know well.

How (adjective) is this?

The phrase "How ___ is this?" means "This is very ___." For example, you can say that something is easy this way:

How easy is this?

Or you can say that something is really annoying:

Oh my God, how annoying is this!?

When you use this phrase, you expect the people who you're talking to to agree with you.

A: How fun is this?

B: I know, right? So fun!

This is a casual phrase that you can use with friends, coworkers, or family members.

(Something) hurts to watch.

When you see someone else who's in physical pain or emotional pain, it makes you feel uncomfortable too. In that case, you can say that the situation "hurts to watch".

For example, imagine that you went to a comedy show but one of the comedians wasn't funny at all. It made the audience feel uncomfortable. You can describe the situation like this:

This one comedian was so bad, it hurt to watch.

When something painful is happening live in front of you, you can say:

This hurts to watch!