“I hate knowing that” is a phrase we use to express our discomfort or dislike for a particular fact. For example, in today‘s lesson, the speaker says, “I hated knowing that I was adding to the systematic suffering and exploitation of animals.” In this case, the speaker knew that he was adding to the suffering of animals and, because he disliked this fact, decided to change his habits.

Likewise, we can use the opposite phrase “I like knowing that” to express knowledge that we like having. For instance, “I liked knowing that I could get support if I needed it.”

“This” and “that” are a pair of words that by now you are quite familiar with. Today we’d like to talk about a great use for both of these words: complaining!

This type of complaining is especially useful when your complaint is that another person always talks about the same things.

You can use the same word before “this” and “that.” For example, he’s always talking about “money this and money that.” But you can also change one of the words, like we see in today’s dialogue: “social construct this” and “postmodern that.”

You might have learned that “to catch up to someone or something” means to reach an equal level, status or point of progress. For example, “It will be a long while yet before I catch up to Mark’s level. “

But in today’s dialogue, “catch up to someone” refers to the moment when a person experiences the negative consequences of an innate or biological problem or prolonged behavior. We frequently use it for things such as age. For instance, “I can’t run as fast as I could before. I think my age is finally catching up to me.” Likewise, in the dialogue, Brendan said, “Maybe my heredity is finally catching up to me.” Here he means that he’s finally experiencing the negative problems that he’s inherited from his parents: baldness.

Note that you can also use the preposition “with.” “If you smoke a pack a day, it will eventually catch up with you.”

The phrase “do/work wonders” means that something has an extremely strong effect, and it‘s almost always something that’s beneficial. The verb “do” or “work” are both used, and when talking in generalities, we often say “can do/work wonders.” Just be careful to remember that “wonders” is always in the plural form in this phrase.

In today‘s lesson we saw the phrase “be at the mercy of.” We use this phrase when we don‘t have complete control over something. Ultimately, the result is up to something that has power over us. It’s commonly used when no matter how hard we try, it depends on something else whether we are successful.

For example, in this lesson, the internet connection ultimately has power over his smart home devices. If the internet connection is lost, there’s nothing he can do.

A noun or gerund always follows the phrase.

In today’s dialogue we see the sentence “just because the gift economy is big business doesn’t preclude me from feeling joy.” This means that although A may be true, it doesn’t follow that B is also true.

This is a pretty useful pattern for when you are debating with people. Patrick argues that the gift economy is a way for big businesses to make money. Rob’s counterpoint is that while that may be true, the consequences of that do not mean that he cannot still feel joy in giving.

We’re not limited to the word “preclude” in this pattern. A more common pattern is: Just because A doesn’t mean B. This means that although A may be true, it doesn’t follow that B is also true. We can use other words that are synonymous with mean, such as “imply” or “indicate.”

The phrase “if you say so” is used to express insincere agreement or disbelief. This phrase is similar to saying “I don’t believe you/I don’t agree, but I won’t argue with you either.” For instance, in today’s dialogue, Luke listed all the positive effects that caffeine has on him. However, Cody doesn’t believe that the actual effects are as positive as Luke has claimed, so he responds with “If you say so.”

Other phrases that can be used to express insincere agreement or skepticism include “whatever you say,” and “so they say.” For example: A: “I heard that the new guy that they hired is a real hot-shot.” B: “So they say.” In this case, “so they say” implies that other people are saying this, but the speaker doesn’t believe the rumours.

The phrase “who would have thought” is used to express surprise about information or the result of a situation. It essentially means that in the past, no one would have thought or imagined that this would happen.

For example, in today’s lesson, the speaker said, “Who’d have thought that nearly a century later, millions of Americans would tune in every Thanksgiving morning to usher in the holiday season?” Here, the speaker is expressing his surprise that the event continues to be such a big deal today.

Cars are a big part of North American life. As such, a lot of our idioms come from cars and driving.

When you’re “in the driver’s seat,” for example, you are in control. But as many people who are in the driver’s seat know, there is no shortage of people who want to challenge you for control.

As such, the term “backseat driver” refers to someone who tries to establish and maintain control over every situation.

Similarly, the phrase “A takes a backseat to B” means that A is less important than B, or is forced to take a lesser position than B.

In today’s lesson, Kathy sarcastically said, “You should talk.” Because it’s sarcasm, the meaning is actually “you shouldn’t talk.” In the dialogue, Carter has the same problem that he criticizes others about, so Kathy uses this expression to point out his double standard. It’s a common expression but should be used carefully, as sarcasm always has the possibility of being rude.

There are also a few variations:

1. You’re one to talk. 

The following variations are in the negative form, and thus not sarcastic, but literal: