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Today, I’d like to write about the short expression “in no time”. We use it when we want to say that something will happen very quickly. Let me give you some ways to use it in sentences.

If we take the bullet train, we’ll get to Osaka in no time.

I just bought some new kitchen machines. Now I can prepare dinner in no time.

If you study French at this school, you’ll be fluent in no time.

This car repair shop is great. They fixed my car’s engine in no time at all.

We only use this expression in grammatically positive sentences.

Sometimes, we add “at all” to the end of this expression. This is done to emphasize it and make it stronger. This is the case of my fourth example.

This is an example of exaggeration in English because, obviously, any action will take at least a little time to be accomplished.

Please note that we always use the word “no” in this expression instead of “not”. Generally, we use “no” in front of a noun, and we use “not” in front of a verb or adjective.

This expression can be used in both casual business situations and daily conversations.

Today, I’d like to write about the term “on the other hand”. We use it when we want to talk about something which goes against something that has already been said. Let me give you some ways to use it in sentences.

Peter is very talented. On the other hand, he’s also very lazy.

A: Rebecca said you were late today.
B: I was only two minutes late. She, on the other hand, has been ten minutes late three times this week.

This house is quite expensive for me now. On the other hand, it would be a good investment for the future.

I don’t like American movies so much. American TV shows, on the other hand, are very interesting.

We can use this term in grammatically positive and negative sentences, but it’s not used in questions.

As you can see from my examples, “on the other hand” is used in a second sentence and is used to contradict something in the first sentence.

It can be placed at the beginning of the second sentence or in the middle. It it’s in the middle, there must be commas around it.

This term can be used in both business situations and daily conversations.

This time around I would like to write about the expression “lose one’s cool”. We use it when we want to talk about a person who loses their ability to remain calm in a stressful situation. Here are some ways to use it in sentences.

Jack is a very calm person. He never loses his cool.

My friend got fired from his job because he lost his cool with one of the clients.

Bill can be a very aggressive person, but you shouldn’t lose your cool with him. If he says something offensive, just ignore him.

I need to get some air. I’m very upset right now because of what Jerry just said, and I feel like I’m going to lose my cool.

So, if a person loses their cool, they can either get upset or angry about something. The difference is that if a person gets upset, they have an emotional reaction to a bad situation, but if they get angry, they have an aggressive reaction to the situation. Therefore, being upset is much more passive in feeling than being angry.

Generally speaking, if a person loses their cool by getting upset, they cry. If a person loses their cool by getting angry, they will shout or could possibly do something a little violent like hitting someone or breaking something.

Today, I’d like to write about the short expression “border on”. We use it when we want to say that something is almost as bad as something else. Let me give you some ways to use it in sentences.

I think borrowing something without permission borders on stealing.

You exaggerated how long it would take you to finish the project. That borders on lying!

That hotel named itself after a very famous and luxurious hotel, so they could trick people into staying there. As far as I’m concerned, that borders on fraud.

In my opinion, yelling at a child doesn’t border on child abuse; it is child abuse!

We can use this expression in all types of sentences, but it’s most commonly used in grammatically positive sentences. Sometimes, it’s used in grammatically negative sentences, as in my last example.

As you can see from my examples, after the preposition “on”, we always put a noun or a verb in the –ing form. This word is almost always negative in feeling. Also, please note that the situations described are usually very serious in nature. From my examples, “stealing”, “lying”, “fraud”, and “child abuse” are all serious and negative actions.

We always use this expression to emphasize that something is bad by comparing it to something worse. When we say something bad “borders on” a worse thing, we’re saying that it comes very close to being the same thing although there is a slight difference that makes it not quite as bad. For example, in my first example sentence, the meaning is: borrowing something without permission is bad, and it comes close to stealing, but it’s not quite as bad as stealing.

Today, I’d like to write about the expression “be an acquired taste”. We use it when we want to talk about something that many people don’t like at first but, later, they begin to like it. Here are some examples of how to use it in sentences.

For me, beer was an acquired taste. I didn’t like it at first, but now I quite enjoy it.

A: I don’t like sushi!

B: Well, sushi is an acquired taste for many people. You might start to like it in the future.

I know you don’t like country music now, but it’s an acquired taste. You shouldn’t give up on it yet.

When we say that something is “an acquired taste”, it doesn’t mean that everyone will start to like it at a later date. It only means that some people have that experience, so it’s possible that the person will start to like it later.

We can use this to talk about food and drink as well as other things such as music, movies, art, etc.

The word “acquire” is a more formal way to say “get”. Therefore, if we “acquire” a taste for something, it means we get or develop a liking for it over a longer period of time.

Hello again.

I know it’s been a very long time since my last post, but I’ve decided to try to start writing my English teaching blog again. I won’t be able to write as often as I did in the past but I will try to update it about twice a month or so.

For the first lesson back, I want to teach you the expression “needless to say”. We use it when we want to say that something is so obvious, it’s not necessary to say it, but we will say it anyway. Here are some example sentences using it.

My friend just got engaged to the man she loves so, needless to say, she’s very happy.

Bill just punched the boss in the face. Needless to say, he was fired.

The shoes that the clerk showed me were purple and too small so, needless to say, I didn’t buy them.

I spent all day carrying boxes up to the fifth floor. Needless to say, I’m exhausted.

As you can see from my examples, we either put “needless to say” after the word “so” or at the beginning of a second sentence after explaining the situation in a first sentence. If we use it after “so”, we put commas around the expression as a way to indicate that it’s additional information and is not necessary for the sentence to make sense.

Generally speaking, we don’t use the word “needless” except in this expression, especially when talking about personal situations. Therefore, we don’t say something like, “The extra time is needless”. This sounds very strange. Instead, we say, “I don’t need the extra time.” or “The extra time isn’t necessary.”

I hope everyone has a very happy 2014!

Well, it’s the last day of the year, so I’d like to write one last blog entry for 2011. It is the expression “goes without saying”, and it’s used when we want to assure another person about something. For example:

We’re very sorry about sending you the wrong item. We’ll send you the correct one immediately, and it goes without saying that there will be no delivery charge.

A: When we go out for my birthday, are you going to pay for dinner?

B: Oh, that goes without saying! It’s your birthday!

It goes without saying that I will do my very best at this job! Thank you for giving it to me.

As you can see from my examples, we usually put the word “it” at the beginning of this expression. However, if we use it as a response to another person, as in my second example, we use the word “that” instead.

When we say something “goes without saying”, we’re basically saying that it’s so obvious that it shouldn’t have to be said. However, we say it anyway in order to make the other feel assured about it.