In this mini episode, you will learn the strange old expression “Be that as it may.”
Episode 371 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the strange old expression “Be that as it may.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions 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 371 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 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 strange expression. This expression always feels a little bit old-fashioned or formal. I don’t think it’s something that you will hear a lot in conversation. But you might hear it sometimes, and I think you can still find it in written English.
The expression is “Be that as it may.” Be that as it may.
That’s b-e, t-h-a-t, a-s, i-t, m-a-y. Be that as it may.
Whatdo you think it means? Can you figure out the meaning just by looking at all of the parts? “Be that as it may.” I don’t think that I could figure out what that expression means just by looking at each word. It seems like kind of a mystery to me.
“Be that as it may.” It doesn’t even really look like an English sentence or like an English expression. The words are all English. They’re all simple words. But when we put them together in that way, I don’t think I could know what it meant.
This is what “Be that as it may” means: “Be that as it may” means “Even if that thing is true.”
That’s what it means. It means “Even if that other thing is true.” It’s a way of saying, “Okay, that might be true, but let’s look at this thing.” Or “That thing might be true, but I think this other thing is important.” Or “That thing might be true, but let’s not forget this thing.”
It almost has the feeling of nevertheless or although.
It’s kind of a way of saying, “That thing might be true—or maybe it’s not true—but I would like to tell you about this.” Or “I would like you to remember that this is important.”
Even this explanation is confusing and strange. So let me give you an example of a situation where somebody might use the phrase “Be that as it may.”
Imagine somebody at work. This person’s boss has given him a very difficult assignment: he has to write this very complicated report in only one hour. And this employee is complaining about this assignment. He says, “One hour? That’s not enough time! That’s not fair. How can the boss think that I will be able to finish this report in one hour? It’s just not fair.”
And when she hears this, his coworker says, “Be that as it may, the boss still wants it in one hour.” Be that as it may, the boss still wants this report in one hour. In other words, “Well, that might be true, but…” Or “Yes, I see what you mean when you say that that is unfair. However, you still need to do it.” Or “Yes, I know what you’re saying, but if that’s what the boss wants, then I guess you have to do it.”
So, in this example, “Be that as it may” is a way of saying, “Well, even if that is true—even if what you are saying is true, even if your complaint is a good complaint—let’s not forget this other thing: let’s not forget that you still need to finish this assignment.”
I hope it makes a little bit more sense after you hear this example of how we use this phrase.
That is “Be that as it may,” a strange but interesting expression that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 371 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments 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!