In this mini episode, you will learn the useful phrase “not to mention.”
Episode 402 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the useful phrase “not to mention.” 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 Roza, from Iran, Kurdistan Province. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 402 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 an interesting and common phrase. The phrase is “not to mention.” Not to mention.
That’s spelled n-o-t, t-o, m-e-n-t-i-o-n. Not to mention.
What does “not to mention” mean, and how do we use it?
It might not sound like it, but “not to mention” means “Here is an additional piece of information,” “Here is an additional part of my argument,” or “Here is another part of the point that I am making.”
We use “not to mention” when we are going to add another piece of information. And we are saying, “This piece of information is not actually necessary. I have already made my point,” or “I have already made my argument,” or “I have already given you all the information you need. But here is one more piece of information. It might not be necessary, but I’m going to tell you anyway.”
That might sound a little bit complicated. Let me give you an example of a situation where somebody might use the phrase “not to mention.”
Let’s say that I am talking about my friend who I think is a great musician. I am telling you all about her and all of the things she can do and all of the things she knows about music. And I say this: “She is so talented, she can play the piano, the violin, and the guitar, not to mention the flute and the trumpet.” Why did I say, “Not to mention the flute and the trumpet”? I could have just added those to the list of all of the instruments my friend knows how to play, but I didn’t.
Instead, I acted like that was extra information. “I have already told you what I wanted to tell you about my friend and how she can play many instruments. I already made my point, but I decided I wanted to give even more information. It wasn’t really necessary. I already explained why I thought she knew so much about music, but it was extra information. It was something additional that I wanted you to know.”
And so “not to mention” is a way of introducing extra information, information that helps us make our point a little better, or makes our argument a little bit stronger.
And that is “not to mention,” a very useful and common phrase that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 402 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 Roza 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!