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Unit 2: English In A Minute
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Session 45

Have you ever wondered how to use words like 'forever' and 'dying for' to exaggerate? Watch Sian explain in this English In A Minute.

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    Activity 1
  1. Activity 1

Activity 1

4 Ways to exaggerate like a Brit

Let Sian teach you 4 ways to exaggerate like a Brit in this English In A Minute.

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Sian

British people love to exaggerate.

We say things aren't literally true in order to make an impact.

We use forever to say that something takes a very, very long time.

Sorry I'm late. I was stuck in traffic forever.

We use the phrase dying for to say that we really, really need something. Obviously, we're not literally dying.

I'm dying for a cup of coffee.

If something is hurting a lot, we can exaggerate using the phrase it's killing me or it's killing. Again, we are not literally being killed.

My tooth is killing me.

We exaggerate by using very, very large numbers like thousands and millions.

Again, this is not literal - it's just a way to say a lot.

I'm so busy. I've got thousands of emails to reply to.

I bet you are dying to watch more of these videos.

There are thousands more on our website.

 

 

4 ways to exaggerate like a Brit

We use forever to say that something takes a long time.

  • It takes forever to explain anything to him.
  • He never seems to stop talking and every story he tells feels like it goes on forever.

We use dying for to say that we really need or want something. 

  • I'm dying for a cup of tea.
  • She said she's dying for a pizza.

We use the expressions it's killing me or it's killing to say that something is very painful. 

  • I fell over and my back is killing me.
  • My ears are killing me.

We use large numbers like thousands and millions to exaggerate amounts.

  • I've told you the same thing millions of times.
  • He's always got thousands of meetings.

 

 

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