Speaker 1: Have you ever let it slip or let it rip?
Maybe you need to tell someone to let it go
or just let it all hang out, And of course
you can just let it be. Let's dive in.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast Episode eight twenty seven.
Let me let you know about let. Hello and welcome,
thanks for joining me for another episode of the Happy
English Podcast. I'm your English teacher Michael, and I'm so
glad you could join me here. Today we're going to
dig into a group of phrases and phrasal verbs that
all have one little word in common. Let. Now let
might seem like a small, simple verb, but trust me,
when you put it together with the right words, it
opens up a whole lot of meaning and expression. So
today we're going to talk about eight phrases and phrasal
verbs with let that'll help you sound more natural, more confident,
and more fluent. And don't worry. As always, I'll give
you plenty of examples and we'll keep it light and casual.
Let's get started, all right. First up, we have let
it all hang out now. I like this one because
it's got a fun kind of energy. When you let
it all hang out, it means you're just being yourself,
no pressure, no filters, you're not trying to impress anyone.
Think about it. It's the weekend, your home in sweatpants,
no makeup. Maybe your hair's a mess you didn't shave.
That's letting it all hang out. Or maybe you're on
vacation with friends, no work emails, no alarms. Yeah, that's
the vibe. You're gonna let it all hang out pool side,
and sometimes after a couple of drinks, people really start
to let it all hang out, like on the dance
floor at a wedding. The next one is let it be.
That's right, let it be. And yeah, you might be
hearing that Beatles song in your head right now. This
phrase is all about step being back. Let it be
means don't interfere, don't fix it, just leave the situation alone.
Let's say your friend is upset and you're thinking of
texting them, but you're not sure if it'll help. Sometimes
it's better to just let it be, Or maybe one
of your coworkers is being grumpy. You want to argue,
but really it's not worth it. Just let it be.
It's a calm phrase, it's peaceful. Let it be tells
us that sometimes doing nothing is the right thing. The
next situational phrase is let it rest. Let it rest
is great for those situations where something's been talked about
too much. Maybe there's been an argument, or someone just
won't stop complaining. You might say, hey, we already talked
about this, let it rest. Or maybe your coworker keeps
bringing up that mistake you made last week. At some
point you just want to say, come on, let it rest.
Or every time you see that one friend, he's still
complaining about his ex wife. It's the same complaint since
they split up three years ago. Let it rest. It's
a polite way of saying, can you stop talking about it,
and can we talk about something else? Please let it rest,
And since we're talking about talking, let's talk about let
it slip. We use let it slip when someone accidentally
says something they weren't supposed to say, or they accidentally
tell someone something that was supposed to be a secret. Yeah,
they let it slip. Like maybe your friend Tom is
planning a surprise party for your other friend Debbie's birthday,
and then you bump into Debbie at the store. Without thinking,
you say, oh, yeah, you'll see everyone on Saturday. Whoops,
you let it slip. The words slipped out of your mouth.
Or someone says, hey, don't tell Katie about the promotion.
But five minutes later you say something and realize, yep,
it's too late. It just slipped out. Ye, it happens. Sometimes.
I love the next one because it's full of energy.
I'm talking about let it rip. Let it rip means
go for it, do something at full speed, full power,
no holding back. Picture someone about to give a speech
or start a race, you might say, all right, let
it rip. Or when a guitar it's like Eddie van
Halen jumps into a guitar solo. You know that moment
when they just go all in, full power. Yeah, they're
letting it rip. Even at a traffic light the second
it turned green, she let it rip. This one's bold,
it's fun, and it's confident. Now here's a pair of
related phrases, let it go and let something go. They
sound the same, but the meaning changes. A bit depending
on the situation. Let's start with the emotional one. When
you let it go, you're choosing not to react. Maybe
something annoyed you, but you decide it's not worth the argument.
You just let it go. You find out from a
friend that behind your back, your ex says something rude,
Let it go. There's no point in getting upset. Your
coworker made a weird comment, Just let it go. Or
maybe your company made a change to the schedule not
your favorite, but it's not the end of the world,
so you let it go. Now, the more literal version,
let something go is about physically releasing something. You're holding
a rope, a dog, a balloon, and then you open
your hand and let it go. Like when I was
trying to fly a kite. It seemed like the wind
was right, so I let it go. Or when I
bring my dog to the backyard, open the fence, unhook
the leash, and I let him go. It's a simple phrase,
but very common. And finally, the last let phrase is
a little more serious. Let someone go. This is a
polite or formal way to say someone was laid off
or fired from their job. You might hear something on
the news like a spokesman for ABC company announced that
they had to let ten percent of the staff go
last week because of budget cuts, or the accounting manager
was let go after the company found out he had
another job on the side. It's a softer way of
saying it, but the meaning is clear. They lost their job. Okay,
keep in mind, the best way to remember English like
this and any other word or phrase in English is
to take that word or phrase, write it in a
sentence that's true for you or true in your world,
and then memorize your sentences. And let me say this.
You can get more practice using your English when you
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Happy English podcast in the past and in the future.
And on top of that, each episode has exercises where
you can practice this English point with speaking and writing
checked by me. To learn more, well, just visit Myhappy
English dot com and choose podcast lesson eight twenty seven. Remember,
learning in other language is not easy, but it's not impossible,
and I'm here to help you. On your journey.
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