Everybody ESL

Episode 152 (mini)

Episode Summary

This mini episode teaches you the useful expression “bent out of shape.”

Episode Notes

Episode 152 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you how  to use the expression “bent out of shape.” 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.)

Episode Transcription

The expression I'm going to teach you today is bent out of shape. Bent out of shape.

That’s bent—b-e-n-t. Out of. Shape—s-h-a-p-e. Bent out of shape. To be bent out of shape means “to be very annoyed, to be very angry, to be in a very bad mood.”

If somebody is making you feel angry, or is annoying you, or is putting you in a very bad mood, you can say that you are bent out of shape.

Here are some sentences that use this expression:

• I don't know why you're so bent out of shape—all I said was that I needed to borrow $100. I don't know why you're so bent out of shape—all I said was that I needed to borrow $100.
• The long, boring meeting at work left me feeling bent out of shape. The long, boring meeting at work left me feeling bent out of shape.
• When his father criticized him, he got all bent out of shape. When his father criticized him, he got all bent out of shape.

In all of these sentences you can really see the meaning of bent out of shape. It means “very annoyed, very angry, or in a very bad mood.” And now you can use bent out of shape, a very useful expression to know.