In this mini episode, you will learn the expression “There’s nothing to it.”
Episode 383 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the expression “There’s nothing to it.” 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
“Hi! This is Liyah, from Korea. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 383 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 common and useful phrase. And the phrase is “There’s nothing to it.” There’s nothing to it. That’s t-h-e-r-e-apostrophe-s, n-o-t-h-i-n-g, t-o, i-t. There’s nothing to it.
What does this phrase mean, and when do we use it?
“There’s nothing to it” means when we are talking about some thing—some situation or some activity—there is nothing difficult about it. There are no difficult or complicated details. There is nothing to worry about. There is nothing to think about. There’s nothing complicated or difficult.
And so, “There’s nothing to it” is another way of saying, “That thing is easy,” or “That thing is simple. We do not need to know a lot in order to do this thing.”
Let me give you an example of a situation where somebody might use the phrase “There’s nothing to it.”
Let’s say that the dishwasher in your house is broken. Something inside the dishwasher broke, and now it doesn’t work. You don’t know how to fix it. You don’t know anything about dishwashers. When you mention this to your friend, he says, “Oh, I can fix your dishwasher.” And you say, “You can? You know how to fix a dishwasher?” And your friend says, “Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing to it.” There’s nothing to it.
In other words, when it comes to fixing your dishwasher, there is nothing complicated about it. There are no complicated details. It is simple. There’s nothing to it.
There is one more thing you should know about this expression. Because this is such a common expression, sometimes people will shorten it. Instead of saying, “There’s nothing to it,” they will say, “Nothing to it.” Nothing to it.
Even if you omit the word there’s and just say, “Nothing to it,” people will still understand.
And that is “There’s nothing to it” (or “Nothing to it”), a common and useful expression that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 383 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 Liyah 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!