13 English Idioms for DOUBT UNCERTAINTY
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Hey there I’m Emma from mmmEnglish.
This lesson today is all about natural English
expressions that you can use in everyday conversation.
I’ve got thirteen idioms that will help you to express
doubt and uncertainty which is really useful right
because we don’t always have all the answers do we?
I don’t care who you are you don’t know everything,
you don’t always know exactly what you should do
so these expressions are going to help you in those
moments and we’ll focus on three different situations
where these expressions will be useful for you.
Firstly, when you’re still thinking about a situation
you know you haven’t decided on the outcome yet.
You’re still forming your opinion.
But then there are other times when you genuinely
don’t know what the outcome will be.
So in those situations, instead of saying “I don’t know”
you know which can be a little unhelpful
or unprofessional,
I’ve got some expressions to help you there and then
of course, there are always times when you actually
need to change your mind,
make a different decision to the one that you’ve
already made so we’ll get to those as well.
So let’s get started by thinking about the times when we
have a decision to make
but we’re still deciding what to do,
you know, we’re still forming our opinions.
We’re not quite sure yet.
Once we decide, we’ll know exactly what we need to do
right there’s no problem then.
It’s deciding that’s the hard part
because you’re always gonna have two options right,
two or more options.
So this expression is a really useful one when someone
is going from this to this to this.
We say that they are toing and froing.
Going backwards and forwards from one to the other
you know, when it’s really difficult to decide
what you’re actually gonna do.
Come on, we’ve been toing and froing on this all week
let’s just make a call.
Let’s decide what to do.
You can say that you are in two minds when you
are having difficulty deciding what to do.
And this is a really great one to use at work
in a professional context so instead of saying
“I don’t know”
which is negative and it doesn’t really make you seem
very professional or helpful but by saying that you’re in
two minds about something suggests that you’re
actively thinking about it.
Tim suggested we hire a new developer,
but I’m in two minds.
I’m unsure. I’m still thinking about
whether that’s the right thing to do.
To put feelers out.
What is that?
This is really useful when you want the advice
or opinions of others before you make your decision.
So you’re trying to discover what other people think
and often you’re doing this discreetly you know,
when you put the feelers out you would just
ask a few people quietly, not send out a huge group
email just to ask for everyone’s input.
You’re just asking for a few people just to see
if what you’re thinking is the right sort of thing.
So imagine you’re organising the staff office party.
You’re not sure what everyone might want to do,
bowling, river cruise. There’s lots of options.
So you could say
I might put the feelers out to see what the team thinks.
You know, before doing something and organising it,
you’re gonna try and discover what everyone else thinks
by just asking a few people, making a few discreet
inquiries to see if what you’re thinking
is also what everyone else is thinking.
Alright so what on earth is a quandary?
If you’re in a quandary.
A quandary. Say it with me. It’s a bit tricky.
Quandary.
This is a really great expression when you’re stuck
and you can’t actually decide what to do you know.
Imagine if you received two job offers,
one is a really interesting job.
The work is interesting but it doesn’t pay well.
The other is a really well-paying job but the work is
kind of boring so it’s hard to decide right? You could say
I’m in a real quandary over which job to accept.
I want to know. Have you ever been in a quandary?
I want you to think about that.
Have you ever been in a quandary?
Write me a sentence using that expression
in the comments below.
It’s a new one I’m sure, for many of you so try it out.
Alright I’m sure you’ve heard this one before.
It’s a very common expression ‘to sleep on it’.
So if someone is expecting you to make a decision
but you need a little bit more time to think about it,
then this idiom is perfect and by using it,
you’re asking for some more time until the next day
to think something over before making that decision
so you sleep on it.
So this isn’t just about what to have for lunch tomorrow,
it’s usually a big important decision like
accepting funding from investors or maybe your boss
offers you a new position
but it’s in an office in another country.
So when you hear that idea, you might be really positive
and say “Wow what an amazing opportunity” but
it’s a really big decision, you know, it means
new friends, relocating so you might say something like
“I really appreciate your offer but if you don’t mind,
I need to sleep on it.”
So you can talk to your family about it. You can
do some research about the country and you know this
new place that you’re moving to,
to help you make the decision.
Or if you have an awesome boss, then they might say
“Do you know what? Why don’t you sleep on it?
Let me know your decision tomorrow.”
Okay so there are definitely times when we are
really unsure of an outcome
and because of that we don’t want to commit to a
decision right? So to express that uncertainty
there are a few different things that you can say
and of course, one of those is that you’re on the fence.
You know, when you are faced with a choice,
you’ve got two different options and you need to make
a decision and you’re thinking about those two different
options but you haven’t decided yet you know.
Both are good options so you’re here you’re on the fence
and usually this expression when you have,
maybe when you have to choose a side you know
or you feel strongly about something. Are you for
or against it? Are you in are you out?
So let me ask a question.
Do you think that children should have mobile phones?
So if your answer is firmly yes or no, good for you.
You don’t need to worry but if you catch yourself
thinking well it is good to have access to the Internet,
the education you know. If they ever are in trouble then
they have a way to call for help etcetera, right?
So you might have to say
“Do you know what? I think I’m on the fence.”
Can you think of a time when you were
on the fence about something?
I want you to see if you can write a sentence
about it in the comments below.
Think about a time when you really weren’t sure if you
agreed or disagreed with something. Let me know.
So that was a useful expression when you are in control
of the outcome. You get to make the decision right
but if you’re not in control of the outcome
and you’re trying to predict something,
what the result will be, then you can say
“It could go either way.”
Imagine that you’re watching a football match
and the scores are even, there’s only one minute left
and the result really could go either way you know,
there are two possible outcomes.
Team A wins or team B wins unless you play soccer
which I think you can have a draw as well so
this is Australian football, right?
You can’t have a draw okay. Team A wins or team B wins
and it’s actually not clear which result is more likely.
So you can use this expression in a sporting context
like that but also in other contexts too especially
where there’s some level of competition
and you’re not sure what the result will be.
I think it would be two kids arguing about a toy
or two applicants for the same position,
applying for the same job at work.
So if you have something like a plan or a decision
and it’s up in the air, it means that it hasn’t been decided
yet or it hasn’t been settled yet
but the thing is this expression is a little negative.
I’m wondering if you can guess why.
It doesn’t actually suggest any action, you know,
the result is out of your control,
you’re just waiting to hear
what the result will be.
So usually if something is up in the air, it makes you
feel a little uncomfortable or a little uneasy like
what’s gonna happen?
My company’s announced that they’re making
redundancies at the end of the month
but we don’t know how many,
we don’t know from which department
and it’s so hard to stay focused with everything
so up in the air. I don’t know if I’ll have a job next month.
Without funding to move forward, the project’s
really up in the air.
The jury’s out or it’s still out.
This expression means that something is being
considered but no decision has been reached yet okay?
Now in case, this word is a little new for you.
A jury is the group of people who decide the verdict
in a court.
So the judge is the main guy but this group of people,
that’s the jury. They’re the ones who decide if someone
is innocent or guilty and if you’ve watched
any Law & Order shows on Netflix,
you’ll know that after the jury have all the evidence,
they leave the courtroom to discuss and to make
their decision.
Sometimes it can take days or even weeks.
But while the jury is out, out of the room,
there’s no decision right?
We don’t have any idea what the outcome will be
so that’s where this expression comes from.
Will Australia open its international borders
again in 2020?
Well, the jury’s still out on that one!
And you can express that same idea a little more
formally by saying that the result remains to be seen
so we don’t know what the result will be yet.
The government’s pledge to fund three new schools
but the location of each school remains to be seen.
Okay so there are just a few more to go my friends.
We’re talking about doubt and uncertainty
and how to express that in English so naturally
when you feel uncertain and you’re doubting yourself
and the decisions that you’ve made in the past,
maybe you change those decisions you know,
and if you’re changing your mind constantly
going from one to the other, then we say that you
chop and change
from this to this to this to this.
But unlike toing and froing where
you’re switching between different opinions or
different ideas
well this expression is more about actions and decisions
so when you keep changing the plan.
And chopping and changing is definitely a negative
thing you, know it often creates confusion.
Are we doing this? Are we doing that?
Are we going there? Are we going there?
So usually when you’re using this expression,
you’re expressing frustration, right?
Are we printing the designs on yellow t-shirts?
Who knows? Jess has been chopping and changing
our ideas for weeks.
I wish she’d just make up her mind
so that we can get them printed.
What if you have made a decision to do something?
To buy a house, to quit your job, to start a family, well,
that’s great but then you start to panic.
Is that really what I want? Maybe I rushed into this
decision. Maybe I need more time.
So that’s when you get cold feet.
I’m not really sure where this expression comes from
exactly but I love it. I’ve always imagined that
you’ve had this amazing wonderful idea to go for a swim
at the beach. The ocean looks beautiful
so you run down, ready to get in
and as soon as your feet hit the water,
you realise it’s actually freezing cold.
You start thinking oh should I keep going further?
Is this a good idea? Am I gonna regret it?
That’s what I imagine when I use this expression.
So when you get cold feet about something,
usually you begin to hesitate about it, you know
you’re no longer sure whether you
really want to do it or not.
You start to think oh is this the right thing to do?
And usually it relates to a big decision,
something that makes you nervous.
I wanted to bid at the auction but at the last minute,
I got cold feet.
Can you think of a time when you got cold feet
and you actually hesitated or maybe you didn’t
do something because you thought it was a bad idea?
Let me know it down in the comments.
To have second thoughts.
Now this is another idiom that has a very similar
meaning to ‘to get cold feet’
You can also say
“I wanted to bid at the auction
but I had second thoughts.”
So it’s used when you want to change your opinion
about something you know and you start to doubt your
your opinion or your ideas.
Now it’s not quite as strong as getting cold feet.
It doesn’t have to be about a really serious decision.
It’s just when you change your mind so it might be
I thought the sailing club would be a great venue
for our wedding but I’ve been down to check it now and
I’m having second thoughts.
I’ll have the pumpkin pizza please.
On second thoughts, I might try the fish.
So there you have it. That was thirteen English idioms
that you can use when you feel uncertain
or unsure about something.
I hope that you enjoyed it. If you did, make sure you
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So most of the idioms that I shared with you today
will help you to sound more professional at work,
especially when you’re not sure what to do but you
want to seem like you’re in control of a situation.
And definitely all of them are very common
everyday expressions that you can start using right now.
So keep learning with me here in this lesson or
practise your speaking skills and pronunciation with me
in this lesson right here.
I will see you in there!