In this mini episode, you will learn the common, useful expression “oh well.”
Episode 286 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the useful (and very common) expression “oh well.” 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.)
Intro
“This is Soongjae from Gyeonggi, Korea. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 286 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you a very short expression. This expression is only two words long.
The expression is “Oh well.” Oh well. That’s o-h, w-e-l-l. “Oh well.”
You have probably seen or heard this expression before. But maybe you are not exactly sure how to use it. Maybe you’re not exactly sure what it means. And if so, then it’s a good thing that I’m here. Because I am going to teach you how to use this simple and useful expression.
I think this is a great example of an idiom. It is an idiom because you cannot figure out or understand the meaning of this expression just by looking at each part. If you just look at each part, you will have no idea what this expression means. It is impossible to predict the meaning of this expression. You must learn it as one whole piece. What does this one whole piece mean? What does the expression “Oh well” mean?
The expression “Oh well” means “I see that this is something bad, and I accept it. I accept that this is something bad because I have no choice. I must accept it. I cannot change the situation, so I will accept it.”
And it can also mean “I think you should accept this bad situation.”
Let me give you an example of a situation where someone might use the expression “Oh well.”
Let’s say that your friend was going to come to your house to pick you up and take you out to dinner. You were going to go to dinner with your friend. But on the night when your friend was going to come and pick you up to take you to dinner, it started to snow, and it started to snow a lot.
And so your friend was not able to drive to your house to come get you. Your friend sent you a text that said, “There is too much snow. I’m sorry—we cannot go out to dinner tonight.”
And you answer, “Oh well. We’ll try again next week.”
When you say, “Oh well,” what you are saying is, “I understand. This is a bad situation, but I understand. I accept it. There’s nothing we can do.” In this case, you are saying, “The snow made it impossible for you to drive to my house. I understand. That’s too bad, but I accept it.”
That’s what “Oh well” means. It means “This is a bad or negative situation. This is unfortunate. But I accept it.” Or it can mean, “I think you should accept it.”
“Oh well” is a very common and useful expression that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 286 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Soongjae recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!