EFE learning modules / Storytelling & Conversations

Storytelling & Conversations - Developing the ability to tell engaging stories and describing past events

Common Expressions Back to Catalog

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To cut a long story short

/ቱ ካት ኤ ሎንግ ስቶሪ ሾርት/

በግርድፉ ለመናገር

To omit details and get to the main point.

ዝርዝር ሁኔታዎችን በመተው ወደ ዋናው ነጥብ መድረስ።

In Practice

"To cut a long story short, we ended up missing the flight."
"I could tell you everything, but to cut a long story short, he won."
Fluent Tip

Used when the speaker wants to speed up the narration.

To spin a yarn

/ቱ ስፒን ኤ ያርን/

ረጅም ተረት መተረክ

To tell a long and far-fetched story.

ረጅም እና ለማመን የሚያስቸግር ታሪክ መናገር።

In Practice

"My grandfather loved to spin a yarn about his days at sea."
"Don't listen to him; he is just spinning a yarn."
Fluent Tip

Informal storytelling, often implying exaggeration.

To bring someone up to speed

/ቱ ብሪንግ ሰምዋን አፕ ቱ ስፒድ/

ወቅታዊ መረጃ መስጠት

To give someone the latest information about a situation.

ለአንድ ሰው ስለ ሁኔታው የቅርብ ጊዜ መረጃ መስጠት።

In Practice

"I missed the start of the meeting; can you bring me up to speed?"
"Let me bring you up to speed on what happened yesterday."
Fluent Tip

Professional or social context to catch someone up.

The crux of the matter

/ዘ ክረክስ ኦፍ ዘ ማተር/

የጉዳዩ ዋና ነጥብ

The most important part of a story or problem.

የአንድ ታሪክ ወይም ችግር በጣም አስፈላጊው ክፍል።

In Practice

"The crux of the matter is that we ran out of money."
"Let's get to the crux of the matter."
Fluent Tip

To identify the central theme of a conversation.

To walk down memory lane

/ቱ ዎክ ዳውን ሜሞሪ ሌን/

ትዝታዎችን መለስ ብሎ ማስታወስ

To remember and talk about past events.

ያለፉ ክስተቶችን ማስታወስ እና ማውራት።

In Practice

"Looking at these photos is like a walk down memory lane."
"We spent the evening walking down memory lane."
Fluent Tip

Nostalgic storytelling.

To ring a bell

/ቱ ሪንግ ኤ ቤል/

የሚያውቁት ይመስላል

To sound familiar, even if you can't remember details.

ዝርዝሩ ባይታወስም የተለመደ መስሎ መሰማት።

In Practice

"His name rings a bell, but I can't remember where we met."
"Does that story ring a bell?"
Fluent Tip

Conversational response to a familiar topic.

To paint a picture

/ቱ ፔይንት ኤ ፒክቸር/

በዝርዝር መግለጽ

To describe something in a very detailed and vivid way.

አንድን ነገር በጣም ዝርዝር እና ግልጽ በሆነ መንገድ መግለጽ።

In Practice

"She painted a picture of a beautiful island for us."
"His description painted a vivid picture of the scene."
Fluent Tip

Descriptive storytelling.

In a nutshell

/ኢን ኤ ናትሼል/

ባጭሩ

In a very brief and concise way.

በጣም አጭር እና ግልጽ በሆነ መንገድ።

In Practice

"That's the plan in a nutshell."
"In a nutshell, we are moving to a new office."
Fluent Tip

Summarizing a story or explanation.

To speak of the devil

/ቱ ስፒክ ኦፍ ዘ ዴቭል/

ስለ ሰውዬው ሲያወሩ መምጣቱ

When the person you are talking about appears unexpectedly.

ስለ አንድ ሰው እያወሩ ሳለ በድንገት ሲመጣ።

In Practice

"Speak of the devil! We were just talking about you."
"I haven't seen her in years, but speak of the devil, here she is!"
Fluent Tip

Common in casual conversation.

Off the record

/ኦፍ ዘ ሪኮርድ/

ላልተወሰነ ወሬ (ሚስጥራዊ)

Information that is not to be published or quoted.

ሊታተም ወይም ሊጠቀስ የማይገባ መረጃ።

In Practice

"He told me off the record that the company is failing."
"This is strictly off the record."
Fluent Tip

Conversations involving secrets or sensitive info.

To get to the point

/ቱ ጌት ቱ ዘ ፖይንት/

ወደ ዋናው ጉዳይ መግባት

To stop talking about unimportant things and address the main issue.

ስለ ኢምንት ነገሮች ማውራት ማቆም እና ወደ ዋናው ጉዳይ መግባት።

In Practice

"Please get to the point; we don't have much time."
"He finally got to the point after twenty minutes."
Fluent Tip

Used when a storyteller is taking too long.

To take with a grain of salt

/ቱ ቴክ ዊዝ ኤ ግሬይን ኦፍ ሶልት/

በጥንቃቄ መቀበል

To not completely believe something that is told to you.

የተነገረህን ነገር ሙሉ በሙሉ አለማመን።

In Practice

"You should take his stories with a grain of salt."
"I took her advice with a grain of salt."
Fluent Tip

Evaluating a story's truthfulness.