Lots of Idioms!

In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to ride our bikes into Brooklyn to make some pizza. And of course, you’ll learn some American English pronunciation on the way, including the idioms to catch up and to fill in. Oh boy!This is my bicycle, Jenny. I didn’t name

her, she came named. Tonight we’re going to go for a bike ride into Brooklyn. Brooklyn is the borough just east of Manhattan (one of the boroughs just east of Manhattan). So let’s look at Brooklyn. It has two O’s. Now, there are four different ways to pronounce two O’s: oo, as in boo, uh as in book, uh as in blood, and oh as in brooch. So how is it pronounced in Brooklyn? Uh, uh, Brooklyn. What’s your guess? The answer is: it’s the same as the vowel in ‘book’. Brooklyn. Now. Let’s get going before it gets dark. It’s about a 45-minute bike ride from my home in Manhattan to my friend’s home in Brooklyn. It involves taking the Manhattan bridge over the East River.

>> Hey.

It’s seven o’clock on the nose, seven o’clock sharp. Those idioms mean, of course, exactly seven o’clock. We’re right on time. We’re very punctual. Punk – chew – ul. Let’s go Sara.

>> So we rode our bikes in from Brooklyn.
>> No! In from Manhattan!
>> We rode our bikes from Manhattan into Brooklyn — because it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other. So we’re making some dinner, we’re making pizza, and we’re going to catch up.
>> Um-hm, we’re going to catch up.
>> We’re going to catch up.
>> Find out what’s going on in each other’s lives.
>> That’s right. Catch up. An idiom that you would use if you haven’t seen somebody in a while, and you want to know what’s going on. You would say, let’s catch up. You could also say, fill me in. What else could you say? Ketchup, by the way, spelled this way, is also a condiment.

>> This girl can cook. You remember — from the turkey.

Cook. Does that ‘uh’ sound sound familiar? It’s the same sound as in ‘book’ and ‘Brooklyn’. Listen again.

>> This girl can cook. You remember — from the turkey.
>> Oh boy.
>> Oh boy. I like that phrase.
>> Oh boy?
>> It’s a good one. What, do you say that when you’re exasperated? Oh boy.
>> Overwhelmed, like when you’re overwhelmed?
>> It’s a good one. Oh boy.
>> Or excited.
>> Or excited. Oh boy!

>> Is this done Beads? I don’t know?
>> Yeah, no, I mean, yeah, I think, well. The first pie always takes longer because of the oven.

Did you hear how I said ‘cuz of the oven’? Cuzof, cuzof, cuzof. If I said that out of the context of a sentence, nobody would know what I was talking about. But as a part of the whole, that’s they way it makes sense to say it. Cuzof. We reduce it, it’s low in pitch, cuzofthe, cuzofthe, cuzofthe oven. Then the ‘oven’ is the stressed word. So, this is very important in English: that the function words, the less important words, are low in pitch, strung together, maybe reduced, to contrast with the shape of the stressed word: cuzofthe oven.

>> So, when it’s pretty much cooked. Actually, when it’s cooked.
>> Hold on, did you, did you guys notice, she just said ‘pretty’, with a flap T. Can you say that again?
>> What? It’s pretty much?
>> Yeah, but say it at the camera!
>> Pretty much.
>> Thank you for the demonstration.
>> You’re welcome!
>> Ok, when it’s pretty much cooked?
>> When it’s pretty much cooked, we’re going to bring it out, and we’re going to put arugula—
>> Hold on. Did you notice? She’s using ‘gonna’. We’re gonna bring it out, we’re gonna put arugula.
>> Yes, we’re going to put arugula, and we’re going to put prosciutto, and we’re going to crumble some more blue cheese and we’re going to drizzle it with honey.
>> Wow, that sounds amazing, and it was such a good demonstration of using ‘gonna’. Thank you.
>> You’re welcome.

>> This looks pretty good. Pretty good.
>> Pretty: flap T!
>> Ok. Let’s slice this baby up.

>> My favorite topping: pepperoni. I like it almost as much as I like buying shoes.

Then we made a second pizza, totally different from the first, and sat down to a nice meal. After the lovely evening, it was time to say good-bye.

>> Bye! Thank you so much!
>> Bye! You’re welcome.
>> It was good to see you, it was so good to catch up!
>> It was good to catch up.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

Don’t stop there. Have fun with my real-life English videos. Or get more comfortable with the IPA in this play list. Learn about the online courses I offer, or check out my latest video.