Advanced English Conversations - Robert Allans, Ahmet Mustafaoglu, Metin Emir 2019

Set (64) - Let’s not take it to heart anyway!

Dialogue

David: I’ve made up my mind to quit. James’s such a nag. He keeps hounding me.

Steven: We’re in the same boat. Jessie won’t get off my back as well.

She’s bossing me around as if I’m a little kid.

David: At least Jessie is a bit open-minded. You can simply ask her to knock it off.

Steven: Right! James is a pill. He is constantly harping on the same stuff. He’s going to send you to the Looney bin if you don’t put a stop to his farce.

David: Let’s not take it to heart anyway! If Jessie keeps nitpicking, you should take what she says with a pinch of salt.

Vocabulary

A nag: a persistently urging person.

Hound someone: to bother; to annoy

In the same boat: in a similar situation.

Get off one’s back: to leave someone alone, don't bother.

Boss someone around: to give orders to another person rudely.

Open-minded: (adj) willing to consider new ideas; unprejudiced.

Knock it off: to stop.

A pill: an annoying, disagreeable person.

Harp on: to dwell on one subject, repeat, persist.

Looney bin: insane asylum; mental hospital.

Farce: an event or situation that is absurd or disorganized.

Take something to heart: to consider seriously.

Nitpicks: to find faults in details that are not important.

take something with a pinch of salt: regard something as exaggerated; believe only part of something.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the correct phrases;

a nag

hound someone

in the same boat

get off one’s back

boss someone around

open-minded

knock it off

a pill

take something with a pinch of salt

harp on

Looney bin

farce

take something to heart

nitpicks

a. The way mechanics charge for their services sometimes seems like a ..........

b. If you spent less time .........., you'd get more work done.

c. I shall keep .......... about it until we get the answers.

d. You can't .......... me .......... just because Mom isn't here!

e. He kept .......... her until she agreed to see the movie.

f. You have to .......... everything she says .........., because she tends to exaggerate.

g. Don't ask her! Do you want to send your mum to the ..........?

h. Doctors these days tend to be more .......... about alternative medicine.

i. The press .......... the president about the country's involvement in the foreign war.

j. He really .......... when I asked him to reconsider.

k. ..........., you two! I don't want to see any more fighting.

l. If you lose your job, I'll lose mine, so we're both ..........

m. I guess I can be .......... sometimes, but I really do appreciate your concern.

n. He wanted his mom to .......... about marriage.