Hi, there.

Hoje eu falo sobre idioms super comuns com a palavra question. Enjoy!


Transcrição
Hi there. You're listening to the new episode of the Inglês Online podcast. Thank you for telling everyone you know about this podcast and, enjoy!

So let's say you're planning your holidays - you're looking forward to them. You've been browsing the Internet, looking for nice destinations but it turns out you're going to your favourite beach town as always. You can't wait! You're so excited about the holidays that you can't help but ask Sally, your boss, where she's headed for her holidays this year.

Sally looks at you and says "Holidays? Holidays are out of the question for me this year. With one manager in hospital and the new manager I'm responsible for training, I can't even think of taking time off before January." Wow. You feel bad for Sally, obviously, but like she said - holidays are completely out of the question for her at this moment.

So notice how we say this in English - out of the question. Slightly different from what we say in Portuguese, right? A few more examples: I don't like sushi. That's true, by the way. Having a sushi dinner for me would be out of the question. I'm not a fan of horror movies. In fact, I never watch them. So getting me to go with you to the cinema to watch a violent horror movie - it's out of the question! Don't even try. Don't waste your time.

Alright - so let's move on to our second idiom of today: there's no question. There's no question for me that soda drinks do not quench my thirst. On a hot day I need water, no question about it. Notice that in Brazil we use the word "dúvida" for the same kind of expression, right? So there's no question you can't always translate Brazilian or Portuguese expressions literally into English, and vice-versa. Many times I see writers translating English expressions literally into Portuguese - which frankly just makes their text harder to comprehend. There's no question our mother-tongue is rich and varied enough that we can find whatever words we need to put our point across.

So that one is really easy - there's no question. Now here's an interesting term with the word question before we wrap things up: a loaded question. A loaded question is a question that requires... a loaded answer. How so? Well, imagine you run into your friend Jane, who's just separated from her husband of fifteen years. You ask her if she's alright and then your second question is "Do you miss your ex-husband?" Jane immediately says "Oh, that's a loaded question." The reason she says that is, she still feels vulnerable, she's confused, she's a bit depressed but, on the other hand, relieved that she can now move on... It is a bit difficult for her to express how she feels because so many emotions are involved. That is why this is a loaded question.

You can also say a question is loaded when it's not necessarily about personal emotions, but still about a difficult or complicated topic and demands a difficult or complicated answer. Maybe you just bumped into your friend Tom who owns a company, and he tells you the company has been in the red for the past six months. So you ask him "Are going to let some people go?" Tom says "That's a loaded question. I've been struggling about what to do and have not made a decision yet." So you can tell that is a difficult subject for Tom - as we would expect. He's probably been thinking a lot about it and, because it's not easy, hasn't decided what to do at this point. And that's why he said "That's a loaded question."

So that's all for today. Let me know what things are out of the question as far as you're concerned, and talk to you next time!

Key expressions

out of the question
there's no question
a loaded question

Vocabulary

I didn't get the reference = não entendi a referência

quench my thirst = mata(m) a minha sede

in the red = no vermelho

put a point across = comunicar uma ideia