On this podcast, you’ll learn some colloquial expressions to refer to what you’re talking about, like ‘talk at cross purposes’, ‘what it boils down to’ and ‘to make head or tail of something’ so that you can speak English in a more natural way.

Voice message from Ricardo from Alicante
You do sound better than in your last voice message.

XIn the plot of today’s subjectX – As far as today’s subject is concerned / Moving on to today’s subject / Referring to the podcast about Legends / I’d just like to mention../touch on..

Six Great British Legends: https://inglespodcast.com/380

Diego Corrientes Mateos (1757 – 1781) was a Spanish bandit famous for his generosity to the poor.
In 1780, Charles III of Spain offered 100 gold pieces to anyone who captured Corrientes Mateos dead or alive.
Corrientes Mateos fled to Portugal but was captured by the governor of Seville and a band of Portuguese under Captain Arias.
After being brought back to Seville, he was tried and sentenced to death by hanging.
After his death, his body was cut into pieces and sent to the different provinces where he had been active.
His head stayed in Seville and was buried in the Church of San Roque, where it was found in the 20th Century during restoration work.

Voice message from Juan from Argentina who recently passed his English exam.
To say the least (pronunciation)
Talking at cross purposes (pronunciation)

Voice message from Adriana from Colombia who is living in Chile.

I urge you (pronunciation)
‘take it from me’
‘wrapping up my message’
You nailed it!

“Take it from me” was from episode AIRC371 on Colloquial expressions – Part 1

8 more common colloquial expressions

To say the least – used as an understatement (implying the reality is more extreme, usually worse). – ‘His performance was disappointing to say the least’ / ‘Accommodation was basic to say the least.’ Always has a negative connotation.

To make small talk – conversations about basic, superficial topics. ‘I’m not very good at making small talk.’

A real/good talking-to – a severe talk with someone who has done something wrong – ‘Reza gave his student a good talking-to about doing her homework on time.’

Get/come to the point – to stop talking about unimportant details and say what is most important – ‘We haven’t got all day, so please get to the point.’

To make head or tail of something (usually in the negative) – ‘I couldn’t make head (n)or tail of this new piece of software.’

To talk shop – talk about your job – When English teachers get together, they often talk shop and use TEFL jargon.

Talking at cross purposes – misunderstand. Talk about different things. Not be ‘on the same page’ When she said the food was really hot, I thought she meant the temperature, so I waited for it to cool. But she meant it was spicy hot – with load of chillies. We were talking at cross purposes.

What it boils down to is… – to be reduced or simplified to the basic, essential or fundamental thing – most things boil down to money.

…and now it’s your turn to practise your English.
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