30 Tough but Very Important Advanced English Phrases for Daily Use

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hello everyone

and welcome back to english with lucy

today i am going to teach you 30

tough but important advanced phrases

that you can use to expand your

vocabulary these are phrases that you

can use

in daily conversation they are advanced

they’re at roughly

c1 level but i think that you can use

them in a natural

and confident way to further help your

understanding

and your learning i have created a free

pdf for you to download

and it also includes a quiz so you can

test your learning

if you would like to download that free

pdf and quiz

all you’ve got to do is click on the

link in the description box

enter your name and your email address

you sign up to my mailing list

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your inbox

and then every week after that you will

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the pdf for my weekly lessons

automatically

so let’s begin i’m going to give you the

phrase

i’m going to show you how to pronounce

it with a phonetic transcription

i’ll give you the meaning and i will

give you an

example of the phrase in use these are

all phrases that you’ll hear

native speakers say on a regular basis

but they’re not necessarily things that

you learn in a textbook

you have to learn them in context which

is why i’m providing you with examples

number one a fraction of

a fraction of a fraction of something

is a small or tiny part or amount of

something

an example the plastic folders were a

fraction of the price of the

leather ones that’s a much more advanced

way of saying

cheaper a fraction of the price number

two

is all things considered all things

considered

this means taking everything into

account

all things considered i think we’ve done

a really good job

number three has a similar meaning it’s

not exactly the same though

it’s all in all all in all

it means overall or

mostly all in all i think the response

to the campaign

was very positive number four is

to be bound to to be bound to now you

might notice that i’m saying

to but in the phonetic transcription

i’ve put

and previously i said of all of these

phrases

would typically be used within a longer

sentence

so you would usually use the weak forms

to be bound to something

is to be certain to or to be destined to

an example you’re bound to hear back

from them

soon you’re certain to hear back from

them soon they will help you

they’re bound to help you it’s a really

common expression

number five is to be down to

to be down to this means to be

as a result of for example

the drop in profit was down to the bad

weather over christmas

the drop in profit was as a result of

the bad weather down to the bad weather

i wonder what that was down to i wonder

what that was

as a result of it’s a really nice phrase

number six is to drive somebody up the

wall to drive someone up the wall

and this is to annoy someone or to make

them crazy

my mum always used to say it to me

you’re driving me up the wall lucy

you’re annoying me so much you’re

driving me crazy an example

people who throw their rubbish out of

their car window drive me

up the wall no word of a lie just today

i went on a run

outside the farm and someone had

unloaded what looked like

the entirety of the day’s litter from

mcdonald’s

it’s always mcdonald’s isn’t it number

seven a really nice one

i say this a lot it’s easier said than

done

that’s easier said than done this simply

means

not very easy if something isn’t very

easy it’s easier to say it

than it is to do it an example

i’d like to give our boss some

constructive criticism but that’s easier

said than done

meaning it’s not very easy to criticize

your boss

number eight is for the most part

for the most part this means usually

or in most cases an example i find

running

for the most part very enjoyable usually

in most cases apart from when i fall

over

which is what i did the other day i got

completely muddy my phone landed in a

puddle it wasn’t a good day

but for the most part i enjoy running

number 10

and number 11 go together we have number

10 which is

in high spirits in high spirits which

means

in a cheerful or energetic mood

for example the winning team was in high

spirits

after the award ceremony then we have

number 11 which is the opposite can you

guess what it is

it’s in low spirits in low spirits

and this means in a sad or

fatigued despondent mood

she was in low spirits due to her recent

breakup

this is a more advanced way of saying

someone’s in a bad or a good mood

number 12 is just around the corner

just around the corner that actually

makes sense number 12

is just around the corner it’s here now

it means coming very soon if something

is just around the corner

it’s coming very soon an example i felt

stressed when i realized my driving test

is just around the corner number 13

is to make a point of doing something

to make a point of doing something and

this

is to always do something or to take

particular care to do something

an example she always makes a point of

treating

everyone as equals she always takes

particular care to make sure

everyone is treated fairly number 14

is to make ends meet to make ends meet

this means to earn enough money to live

on to earn

just enough money to live on an example

always struggle to make ends meet

towards the end of the year

we struggle to have enough money because

christmas is expensive

number 15 is to miss the point

to miss the point this means to fail to

understand the essential or important

part of something

i think you’ve completely missed the

point there you haven’t understood

the important part of what i was saying

you focused on something else

number 16 is narrow-minded

narrow-minded this means prejudiced

or not willing to listen to the views of

others

an example her father-in-law is

extremely narrow-minded and is unable to

that it’s no longer the 1900s

number 17 is on hand

on hand and this means present or

available

an example the counselor is always on

hand to offer a shoulder to cry on

eighteen is on the face of it on the

face of it

and this means apparently but without

knowing all of the relevant facts

an example on the face of it she seems

to have settled in well i don’t fully

know but it seems that she has number 19

is on the verge of on the verge of

this means very near to doing something

or experiencing something

and we nearly always use this with

tears if someone’s on the verge of tears

then they

are nearly crying number 20

this one is very popular people are

liking this one at the moment

it is part and parcel part and parcel

it’s a great one it’s fun to say

this means an essential or integral

component

for example stress is part and parcel of

this profession

it’s an essential component it wouldn’t

be this profession if it wasn’t for

stress i’m not talking about being a

youtuber

i’m thinking of professions such as

being a nurse or something like that

number 21 is to pose a question to pose

a question and this means to raise a

question

and it’s commonly used in the phrase

this poses the question

this raises the question this brings up

the query and topic an example

this poses the question should we be

following the regulations

number 22 is remarkably complex

no i’m not saying it is remarkably

complex the

is remarkably complex it just works with

the number

this means very complicated with lots of

intricate details

these words just go together beautifully

it’s remarkably complex

i love the word remarkably an example

the mosaic was remarkably complex and

beautiful

23 is a roller coaster of emotions

a roller coaster of emotion this means

full of highs and lows happiness sadness

fear shock everything an example

i experience a rollercoaster of emotions

whenever i visit the opera

which is never i’ve never visited the

opera i must

do that post covid number 24

love this one i think you should use

this at every opportunity

it is short and sharp short and sharp

this means quick and concise very brief

an example let’s keep this zoom meeting

short and sharp

quick and concise no one wants to be

here so let’s just make it quick and

efficient

number 25 is to sit on the fence to sit

on the fence and this means to avoid

making a decision or choice for example

she likes to sit on the fence to avoid

confrontation

number 26 is to steal the show to steal

the show

this means to attract the most attention

and praise

for example the last interviewee totally

stole the show

they received the most attention the

best attention

they created the best impression number

is to take great pleasure in doing

something

and this means to really enjoy doing

something

sometimes at the expense of others

you can also use the negative form i

take no great pleasure in doing this

if you want to express that you really

don’t get any enjoyment from doing

something that might

negatively affect others an example

she took great pleasure in telling him

he was fired

so she enjoyed breaking his heart but

you know maybe he did something bad

maybe he deserved it who knows

but she took pleasure in it number 28

is to walk on eggshells to walk on

eggshells

this means to be extremely cautious

about one’s words or actions

if you walk on eggshells around somebody

it means you’re choosing your words

you’re desperately trying to not make

them angry or to offend them

an example the boss has a terrible

temper so everyone walks on eggshells

around him

number 29 is without a care in the world

without to care in the world and this

means without

any worries without worrying about

anything

an example i am always anxious and

there’s my husband without a care in the

world he never worries about anything

number 30 we made it it is

worth your weight in gold or worth

something’s weight in gold

if something or someone is worth their

weight in gold

it means that they are very valuable

helpful or

irreplaceable for example we can’t lose

our receptionist she’s worth her weight

in gold she’s amazing she’s so helpful

and useful

it is now time for you to complete the

quiz

so if you’d like to do that you’ve got

to download the free pdf i’ve got

everything we discussed today and the

quiz questions and feel free to show off

your results in the comments section

down below

just click on the link in the

description box you enter your name and

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if you are looking to improve your

listening and you want to

expand your vocabulary i’d just like to

remind you that i also have my vlogging

channel where i vlog

my life here on an english farm in the

countryside

and every vlog is completely fully

subtitled for your learning you can also

connect with me on my social media i’ve

got my instagram

at lucy and my wonderful website which

has got a fantastic pronunciation tool

it is englishwithlucy.co.uk

i will see you soon for another lesson i

don’t know why this requires

extra lipstick it’s because i mean

business

there’s my tiny hair brush here we are i

think i’ve made that look worse

i think you’ve completely missed the

point there you haven’t understood

the important thing this means

an essential or integral is it

integral or integral it must be integral

i’m thinking of the spanish word for

whole

grain aren’t i

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integral integral integral

integral i’ve spent my whole life saying

integral

no integral let me search a different

dictionary i always trust cambridge

integral

integral an example let’s keep this

if you are looking for further listening

practice and you want to

further expand your go go

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you