Welcome to the English we speak with.
Me, Neil and me, Fei Fei.
In this episode, we're looking at the expression under your breath.
It means say something so quietly that no one else can hear exactly what you're saying.
We use it to describe when someone complains or makes negative comments to themselves.
We often talk under our breath to let people know we are unhappy or angry about something,
but don't want them to hear the words we're saying.
Yes.
And it can be a quite unpleasant, pleasant or nasty situation.
We could be saying negative things about someone and we don't want them to hear exactly what we're saying.
Yes.
Last night I was watching a terrible film with Ja Ying.
I said, I hate this film under my breath.
I wanted her to know I wasn't enjoying it, but I said it under my breath so she didn't know my exact feelings.
While we often use it for complaints or negative comments,
sometimes we can use it to describe when we talk to ourselves directly.
Yes.
So yesterday I played a game of table tennis against Rob.
I said under my breath, I'm going to beat you, Rob.
This is to encourage myself.