Transcript of AE 1046 - 5 Expressions to Sound Australian

G'day, you mob. Pete here, from Aussie English. Today, I'm going to teach you five expressions that you need to know if you want to sound like an Aussie. Are you ready? Let's go. All right, so I'm going to teach you five expressions that were recently their own episodes on the Aussie English podcast.

Each time I go through one of these expressions, I will show you the image of the podcast episode up on the screen here, and you'll be able to click the link as well up top here somewhere if you want to go and listen to that full episode.

Don't forget to go down below and download the worksheet for this episode, where you'll be able to see all of the different expressions, you'll get example sentences, definitions, everything like that so that you can study whilst watching this episode or listening to it on the podcast.

Lastly, guys, don't forget to stay to the end of this video because I have an advanced listen and repeat exercise where you'll be able to work on your speaking skills.

Anyway, let's get into number one. So, expression number one is "like a shag on a rock, like a shag on a rock, like a shag on a rock". If you feel "like a shag on a rock" or you look "like a shag on a rock" it is that you feel or look isolated, you feel or look exposed. So, a good example from the episode that I used here on the podcast was that, if you went out on a date, say you matched with someone on Tinder, you know, you hit it off.

You thought, oh, it'd be great to go on a first date. You ask them out, you go to the café, and they don't show up. You feel isolated, exposed, alone, right. You feel "like a shag on a rock". If someone walked past and saw you looking sad, looking around, looking lonely. They might say, "man, that guy looks like a shag on a rock." And this is a very, very Australian expression. You are unlikely to hear this in the US or the UK.

Okay. Number two, "a fish out of water, a fish out of water". If you feel like "a fish out of water", it's that you feel like you're in a situation that is completely new to you, right. You don't feel comfortable with the circumstances that you're in. I feel like a bit of "a fish out of water". So, a good example might be imagine trying a new sport for the first time.

So, for instance, I'm not a swimmer, but if I went to the pool nearby and I started getting swimming lessons to try and learn how to swim competitively. Initially I'm going to feel like "a fish out of water". Although I guess it's kind of ironic, right. Because I am a land animal that's gone into the water and I'm feeling like "a fish out of water" despite being in the water, right.

Go figure. I guess a fish leaving the water feels like "a fish out of water". Me going into the water, I feel like "a fish out of water" in the water. All right, number three, "in the same boat". So, to be "in the same boat" as someone else. If you're "in the same boat" as someone else, you are in the same situation as someone else, right. You guys share the same circumstances.

So, a good example from this episode on the podcast, where we went through this expression, "in the same boat" was, imagine that you've just been dumped by your boyfriend or girlfriend, right. They've broken up with you dramatically. You ring your friend to hopefully get a sympathetic ear, so that you can maybe bitch to them a little bit about breaking up and you know how you feel.

And if that friend tells you, mate, my boyfriend or girlfriend just dumped me. Both of you are "in the same boat". You've both just been dumped by your partners. You are in the same situation. You are in the same circumstances. You're "in the same boat".

Number four, "to have nothing to show for it, to have nothing to show for it". So, this doesn't have to be "it", it could be "to have nothing to show for something". So, I don't have anything to show for all the work I did. You can use it with other nouns, not just the pronoun "it".

If you "have nothing to show for it or nothing to show for something", this is that you have won no benefit or advantage from effort that you've put into something. So, you've worked really, really hard at something to try and achieve something, to maybe get an advantage in some area. And if it doesn't pan out, if you get zero in the end, you get no results for your efforts.

"You have nothing to show for it. You have nothing to show for your efforts, for your work, for everything you did". So, a good example might be you take out your life savings out of the bank, you go down to the local casino and you piss all of your money away on blackjack, right. You waste all of your money, you spend it all, you gamble it all away. When you go home and talk to your missus, right. Talk to your wife.

Good Australian expression there for you, "your missus". And you tell her, I kind of lost everything. "You have nothing to show for, you know, going gambling". You went gambling and "you have nothing to show for it". You've lost everything.

All right, number five. This one's a very informal expression that you can use when things go wrong. When everything starts going wrong, "shit hits the fan", right. The idea there being that you or someone has thrown shit at the fan, and it just goes everywhere. A pretty uncomfortable situation, I can imagine.

So, yeah, this expression is used to describe what happens when people find out about something private, when it becomes public or just when everything goes wrong, right. "Shit hits the fan". So, from the previous example, where you've gone gambling and you've spent your life savings, you've gambled it all away and you have nothing to show for it.

I can imagine that if that were me and I came home and told my wife, Kel, you know, sorry, took out all our savings and pissed it away. Have nothing to show for it. "Shit is going to hit the fan". My wife is going to go ballistic. She is going to lose her cool. She is going to get so angry. "Shit is going to hit the fan".

So, there you go, guys. There are five expressions. Let's go through them again, "like a shag on a rock, a fish out of water, in the same boat, to have nothing to show for something, and for shit to hit the fan".

Now before you go, let's go through a little listen and repeat exercise where I'm going to use each of these phrases, each of these expressions, these idioms in a phrase, repeat after me or use this as a shadowing exercise so that you can learn these expressions and work on your pronunciation and speaking skills at the same time.

Let's go. "I felt like a shag on a rock tonight when my date stood me up. I felt like a shag on a rock tonight when my date stood me up. So, my friend asked me to go ice skating instead, man, I felt like a fish out of water. So, my friend asked me to go ice skating instead, man, I felt like a fish out of water. He wasn't very good at ice skating, either, so we were in the same boat.

He wasn't very good at ice skating, either, so we were in the same boat. Apparently, he'd had a few lessons, but he had nothing to show for it. Apparently, he'd had a few lessons, but he had nothing to show for it. We lost control and crashed into a group of people and shit hit the fan. We lost control and crashed into a group of people and shit hit the fan."

Good work, guys. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Don't forget to go and grab the worksheet so that you can study all the different expressions. You can see the definitions, you'll have the example sentences, and this little exercise at the end. And if you're learning Australian English, be sure to go and check out this video here and I'll see you next time. Ciao.