What is a "Second-guess"?

Yishu H.

Hello, and welcome to Speak good English with me, Yishu. Still, today we are going to talk about a piece of authentic real English phrase. If you don’t know what’s going to happen next, you have to guess. Can you guess what our phase is today?

 

Actually, our expression today has something to do with guess, and it’s about guessing - twice! It’s called “second-guess”. When you ‘second-guess’ something, you try to guess in advance what someone will do or what will happen.

 

Let’s hear some examples to have a better understanding.

  • As the weather is so unpredictable, we have to second-guess what customers will be eating in our cafe.
  • I had to second-guess what my manager was planning and make my own decisions.
  • There’s no point second-guessing the score, both teams are playing really well.

 

This is Speak good English with Yishu, and we’re hearing about the phrase ‘second-guess’, which means to guess what someone will do. So, can you second-guess what our next episode will be? Will it be a news story or still a new phrase? 

 

Ok, that's our piece of authentic English for today. See you soon and let’s find out the answer next time! Bye bye~

 

Hello, and welcome to Speak good English with me, Yishu. For the last four days, we talked about news around the world. Yes, today’s we are back on our piece of authentic English. We are going to learn a new phrase today. My friend is entering his pot into a pottery competition. When I tell him to ‘smash it’, I don’t actually want him to break it! So, what do I mean? Let’s find out together.

 

Actually, when I say ‘go and smash it!’, I don’t mean physically smash it – I mean, go and win. When we tell someone to ‘smash it’ we don’t always mean 'break it'. It can mean 'to succeed or do something very well'. We say it to give encouragement. 

 

Let’s hear some examples to have a better understanding.

  • My favorite football team has smashed it and won the cup! 
  • She’s smashed it in her exams and passed every single one. 
  • You’ve trained so hard for the race; you’re going to smash it.

 

This is Speak good English with Yishu., and we’re hearing about the phrase ‘smash it’, which describes succeeding in something or doing something very well. And let’s hope my friend smashes it in his pottery competition. 

 

Ok, that's our piece of authentic English for today. See you soon and bye!

 

 

Key words and phrases

have something to do with: be connected with

This column was published by the author in their personal capacity.
The opinions expressed in this column are the author's own and do not reflect the view of Cafetalk.

Kurstitel

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Chinesisch/Mandarin   Native
Englisch   Near-Native
Japanisch   Proficient

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