This mini episode teaches you a useful English expression: “any way you slice it.”
Episode 132 of the Everybody ESL teaches you the interesting English expression “any way you slice it.” What does it mean, and how do you use it? Find out here. And send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
I want to teach you an interesting expression today. And that expression is “Any way you slice it.” Any way you slice it.
That’s “any”—a-n-y, “way”—w-a-y, “you”—y-o-u, “slice”—s-l-i-c-e, “it”—i-t. “Any way you slice it.”
Now what does “any way you slice it” mean? Well, it really doesn't have anything to do with slicing. Do you know what slicing is? To cut something into pieces with a knife. That is slicing. So in the kitchen, you might slice bread or you might slice potatoes when you're getting ready to cook. But “any way you slice it” really doesn't have anything to do with bread or potatoes or anything like that.
So what does “any way you slice it” mean? It means “This thing is true no matter what you think about it,” “This thing is true no matter how you describe it, no matter what your opinion is, this thing is still a fact. It is still true.” Let me give you an example of “any way you slice it” used in a sentence.
I could say this: “Any way you slice it, Serena Williams is the best women's tennis player ever.” “Any way you slice it, Serena Williams is the best women's tennis player ever.”
What I'm saying when I say, “Any way you slice it” is “I don't care what you consider. I don't care how you think about this topic. It doesn't matter. No matter how you think about it, no matter what things you think are most important, no matter what your opinion is about this, this fact is true: Serena Williams is the best women's tennis player ever.”
I think people use “any way you slice it” as a way of saying that something is obviously true. It's a way of expressing confidence in your position.
“Any way you slice it.” I think this is an interesting expression, and you might find a good time to use it soon.