2026-02-06
4 分钟Let's look at two useful phrases in English that you might not know.
The phrases that I'm talking about are play it by ear and the last straw.
These are phrases that I say and that many native English speakers say,
but I almost never hear English learners say them.
So let me teach you how to use them.
Remember that if you need the transcript for this episode, it's in the description below,
and you can find the link to my training in the description as well.
Okay, let's start with the phrase, play it by ear.
When you play it by ear, it means that you act or do things without planning them in advance.
More specifically,
we use this phrase when we want to say that we're not going to make a strict plan for something,
but rather we'll make a decision, do something, or deal with something when the situation happens.
Let me give you an example.
Let's pretend that you're planning a trip and you're not sure
if you'll have time to go to two museums on the same day.
Because you're not sure if you'll have time to go to both museums or just one of the museums,
you might say something like, I'm not sure if we'll have time to go to both museums that day.
We can just play it by ear.
What you're saying is that you'll make that decision at that time in the moment instead of making a strict plan right now.
You're gonna play it by ear.