Free 500 frases en inglés realmente útiles (La serie completa) by Jenny Smith Page B

daily lives. However, now there are lots of different types of these shows and some of them are anything but based on reality.

    Phrases:
    To not mince one’s words: to say things directly. This is used when you tell the truth and do not try to be polite to make people feel better.
    Example: Even though my boss seems a bit rude and never minces his words, at least you know where you stand with him.

    A national pastime: this is used to describe an activity that a certain nationality is well known for. It is often used for something slightly unusual.
    Example 1: Moaning about the weather is a national pastime in Britain.
    Example 2: Being overly polite is almost a national pastime in Canada.

    To be a fly on the wall: the main way to use this phrase is ‘ I’d love to be a fly on the wall when ……is/was happening ’. This means that you would like to secretly observe a certain situation. For example, ‘ I hate George, I’d love to have been a fly on the wall when he got fired ’. This means that you would have liked to watch this thing happen.
    Note: In the story above we used ‘ fly on the wall documentary’ this is a documentary that observes the everyday life of people.
    Example 1: I hear that she is going to confront her husband about the affair tonight. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when that happens.
    Example 2: Recently there are more and more fly on the wall documentaries on TV. I think it’s because they are cheap to make.

    In the loosest sense of the word: this means that ‘technically’ something is true but in reality things are a bit different.
    Example 1: In my opinion car racing is only a sport in the loosest sense of the word, I mean even golf is more active than that.
    Example 2: You could call me an American but only in the loosest sense of the word. I mean I was born there and have an American passport, but I’ve lived my whole life in England so I consider myself to be British.

    To be anything but: this means that the thing is definitely not as described. So A is the total opposite of B .
    Example 1: In the advertisement it says that the film is suitable for children, but it is anything but. I mean there was lots of violence and bad language.
    Example 2: I thought the film was anything but boring, even though all the reviews said it was. I thought that it was really interesting.

Part Two

    There are hundreds of different shows but as far as I can tell there are roughly only three types.

    Type one: This one is a type of competition. Basically they get a group of people together and they have to do activities to win a prize. The most famous is called ‘Big Brother’. This is where a group of people have to live together in a house for a certain amount of time. They are complexly cut off from the outside world and have no entertainment other than to talk to each other. Usually what happens is certain small groups emerge and then all they do is sit around gossiping about each other. Also after a while everyone gets cabin fever and starts to act up . It’s really boring to watch but people love the voyeuristic aspect of the show and get completely hooked on it.

    Type two: This type is similar to the one above but it follows ‘normal people’ around in their everyday life. There is no competition aspect but it still seems fake. These people often become sort of celebrities (even though they have no real talent!) and tend to milk their 15 minutes as much as they can by doing advertisements and endorsement deals with various brands. The most popular of these shows are ‘Made in Chelsea’ which is a ‘semi-reality’ show about rich 20-somethings and ‘The Only Way is Essex’ which is basically the same thing but about poorer 20-somethings.

    Type three: This one I can just about stand. This is where they place cameras in schools or hospitals and the like, and show what life is like in this type of environment. These programmes have a bit more value as they kind of show the ‘