“Just watch it... you'll get the gist.”

English Lesson: Just watch it... you'll get the gist.

You want to show your friend a video in another language. You tell your friend that by watching, he can understand it enough without the dialogue.

Just watch it... you'll get the gist.

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Just (do something)

This is an order to do something. You're telling someone to do only what you ask, without discussing it or protesting. Some examples:

Just shut up.

Just listen!

Can you just stop it please?

This can seem commanding, but in the right situation, it can also seem helpful:

Just be confident. You'll be fine!

get the gist (of something)

To "get the gist" of something means to understand it a little bit, or to understand the general idea of something. Use it like this:

A: Do you understand?

B: Yeah, I get the gist.

You can "get the gist" of things like:

  • the idea of a T.V. show
  • how to play a game
  • how to do a task at work

It doesn't make sense to say that someone "gets the gist" of a large subject like mathematics or psychology.

If you want to name the topic that a person understands, use "of ___":

He got the gist of how to do it with just a couple of minutes of explanation.