25 Phrases You Need to Understand TV Shows and Movies

Have you ever been watching your favorite TV show, movie, or Netflix series and you hear a phrase or some words that you know, but you don't understand how it's being used in the show? In today's English lesson, I'm going to teach you 25 phrases that will help you as an English learner understand what the speakers are actually saying when you watch your favorite sitcom, your favorite drama, maybe a reality show. These phrases are constantly used in television and shows online, so these phrases will help you understand the speakers. I'll teach you how to actually use these in your own conversations and I'll teach you some mistakes that you should avoid when using these phrases. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to actually use television shows and movies to learn more English and to follow along with the speakers better. Let's get started with this lesson and make sure to visit englishwithkayla.com if you're interested in joining my monthly course. All right, let's get started. The first phrase is a reaction. Let's talk about some reactions and some emotional phrases that you'll hear constantly used in shows and movies. First, the phrase is, no way, no way, no way, no way. So I use this in my everyday life, but it's very dramatic, so you'll hear it a lot in television shows and movies as well. So if someone says, I just won a million dollars, you might say, no way. This can show excitement, or if you say, no way, this can mean disbelief. So even though this is a very simple phrase, no way, it can express a lot of different things. So this phrase, it can be used in a very simple way in your everyday life just to express that you're excited by something. Even if you're just chatting with a friend and they say, oh yeah, I got a small raise at work the other day, you might say, oh no way, that's awesome. No way can express excitement or disbelief. Someone might say some really disappointing or really sad news like, my dog died last week. You might say, oh no way, I'm so sorry to hear that. It's your disbelief because it's shocking, it's maybe sudden, but you're not saying like, I don't believe you, you're just saying, I'm in disbelief, or you know, it's very surprising tragically to hear that. This next phrase, it can be used in a similar way. The phrase is, get out of here. Get out of here, get out of here. This can mean you are really surprised again by some news, or it can mean that you are, you know, saying that they're kidding, they're joking, like you don't think they're telling the truth. Someone might say, oh I was at a coffee shop the other day and Taylor Swift walked in. You might say, get out of here, that was not Taylor Swift because she's such a big celebrity, like you don't believe them. Or you might use the phrase as, get out of here, meaning like, I'm so excited to hear this news, I totally believe you here. So it's a really similar phrase in the fact that you can use it in different ways again to express different emotions. And this phrase is not typically rude, it doesn't mean like literally leave, it's just an expression, it's just an idiom meaning like, are you kidding, I can't believe you, that's shocking, or it's exciting. This next phrase I think is used a majority of the time in television shows and movies. I don't actually say this in my real life, it's very dramatic, it's something that you would write a character saying, but keep in mind because you'll need to know it if you're watching the show and your favorite character says this. The phrase is, give me a break. Give me a break. The classic example that I can think of that this phrase would come up in is if a student in a television show said, oh I did my homework but my dog ate it, you might say, give me a break, meaning like, that's ridiculous, I don't believe you, like, give me a break from this silly thing that you're saying. So if you don't believe someone's excuse or explanation, or if you see this in a television show, they'll say, give me a break, like, please don't lie to me, it's kind of sarcastic, like, I don't believe you at all, give me a break. This next phrase is very common on shows and movies, but I also use this one all of the time in my daily life. If you are frustrated with something, you might use the phrase, you've got to be kidding me. You've got to be kidding me. So I, as a mom, will make food for my kids that they love. They have eaten the food many times. Let's say it's like chicken nuggets, or let's say they say they love grapes, and I get this food and I give it to them and then they say, I don't like this. Now, I try not to act way too frustrated, but I'll say in my head, like, you've got to be kidding me, like, you just ate that yesterday, or you just ate that last week. If you're a parent or if you're around kids, you will probably understand this. But it's just like frustration, like, I can't believe it, I can't believe, like, you're doing this frustrated thing. Or let's say you're at the airplane, leave, and it says it's canceled. You might say, you've got to be kidding me, like, why is this happening? I'm in disbelief. I'm very frustrated. So you would not use this phrase for excitement. You would really only use it for frustration or being annoyed at something. This last very emotional phrase I'm going to teach you is one that, again, can be used for either excitement or kind of frustration or, you know, disbelief. The phrase is, are you serious? Are you serious? So you can really change the tone here. So you have to listen carefully when an English speaker uses this phrase. When someone says, are you serious? It means, like, are you, are you being for real? Are you true? You are using this phrase, especially on a show or in a movie, to be like, is this real news? I don't believe it because either it's really good or it's really bad. Like, they have cancer. Are you serious? You're very disappointed. You're very sad. You're hoping that's not true. But typically, you know, when you're using this phrase, you're using it in a real conversation. Or someone might say, I just won $10,000. Are you serious? So this is another very flexible phrase. In everyday life, if I ask someone, hey, can we talk? It just means, like, do you have time to talk? Or, like, could we, you know, move away and have a private conversation? In a television show or a movie, I swear they always use the phrase, we need to talk, to introduce a very serious conversation. It's kind of to let the audience know that they're about to have a very serious conversation. So this is used very frequently on shows and movies. If someone on a show or in a movie says, honey, we need to talk. We need to talk. It means they're about to have a very serious conversation that might create some tension. So usually it's kind of starting an argument or it's going to be something that the other person doesn't like. Maybe they're even going to break up if it's a romantic relationship with the other person. Honey, we need to talk. I can't be with you anymore. So it would be a very serious phrase in a television show or in a movie. This isn't a neutral phrase, especially if it's used on shows or movies. It's very serious and usually it's negative news. But in real life, I might say to my husband, hey, can we talk for a second? I'll just be kind of going over the plan of the day or just telling him about something that's important. It doesn't mean that it's necessarily bad in real life. On shows, when people are expressing their feelings, you might hear them use the phrase, it's complicated. It's complicated. It's a very dramatic phrase. It's definitely used more often in shows and in movies. In real life, sometimes people, when they start dating and they don't know for sure yet if they're a girlfriend, boyfriend, you know, they haven't totally committed, they might say, oh, it's a little bit complicated. But it's not used so seriously like it is on television. So when people say it's complicated, it usually means their feelings are difficult to explain or the relationship with someone is difficult to explain. And I think that writers on movies and television shows use this phrase so often because by saying it's complicated, it just means that they're not explaining all the details right now. So they might just use it for brevity to make things quicker when they're having a conversation in a movie. In real life, if you say, yeah, I'm over it, it just means you're not worried about it anymore. You're not going to have any more bad feelings about something. I'm over it. It's fine. I'm not disappointed anymore. In television, you know, again, it's a very dramatic phrase like, I'm over it. They're very, very dramatic about it. It just means that you've moved on and you don't care about something anymore, especially if something deeply affected you in the past. For instance, like a breakup from a relationship, you might say, I'm over him or I'm over her. Or in real life, you know, you might have some disappointing news. Maybe you didn't get the job that you wanted and you're disappointed about it for a few days, but you might say, well, I'm over it now. I'm already applying to new jobs. To say I'm over something in television and movies, it means you have moved on emotionally. You're not so distraught over anything anymore. And in real life, it just means like we're not disappointed and we don't care anymore. This next phrase is very similar. Get over it. Get over it. If you tell someone to get over it, it means don't dwell on something. Don't worry about it. Don't keep thinking about it. Just move on. So like you need to get over the relationship. This means you need to stop thinking about your last breakup or you need to get over this person, like stop being with them. Okay, so this phrase, I will say it's kind of equivalent or it's equal to telling someone to relax. It's not actually going to help a situation. It's not going to make a person relax by saying, just relax. Like, just get over it. It can be kind of rude in real life to say, like, just get over it. It means, you know, you're kind of not really acknowledging the person's feelings and you're being kind of rude. In television shows and movies, if two people are having an argument, one person might say, well, just get over it. Like, you're kind of being rude in this situation. And of course, on shows, they're going to be extra dramatic, especially if they're yelling at each other. Use this phrase, get over it. A similar phrase is, it's no big deal or it's not a big deal. If you say this to someone, again, you're telling them, like, don't worry about this. Don't be upset about it. It's not a big deal. It can be really rude to say this, like, well, stop, you know, complaining about it. It's not a big deal. Or stop crying about it. It's not a big deal. Again, this is used in a really rude way. In real life, we actually use this in a more polite way. Let's say someone is at your house and they spill a little bit of coffee and they're really worried about it. They're profusely apologizing. They're saying, I'm so sorry. You might say, it's no big deal. It's not a big deal. Don't worry about it. So here, you're actually just being polite with the phrase, like, don't, you know, be so distressed. It's not a big deal. I'm not upset with you. But on shows and in movies, this is used as a really dramatic way to say, like, you know, you shouldn't have your feelings so hurt by something. It's not a big deal. Usually in real life, this phrase is kind and comforting. These next phrases are kind of interesting. I took these phrases from when there's a problem in a show or there's a very dramatic moment. Again, in shows and movies, you're going to hear the English speakers speak way more dramatically than they would in real life. And that includes the phrases. These phrases are very dramatic. The first phrase is, what have you gotten yourself into? Joel, what have you gotten yourself into? So this is when we are asking someone, like, how did you get into this problem? Like, this problem is very big. How did this happen to you? So maybe in a crime movie, someone might, you know, start committing crimes or they might get involved with something very illegal and a person might say, what have you gotten yourself into? Like, this is very big trouble. It's a very big problem. A lot of times in my real life, I use this phrase. I might say, oh, what have I gotten myself into? If I commit to something, that's a bigger responsibility than I originally thought. All around, this phrase is only used if someone has created a situation that is hard to manage or they have created a problem for themselves. It's not used when, you know, you could do something with someone else. It's only on you when you say, what have you gotten yourself into? It's only on the person you're asking. And like I said, sometimes I ask myself, oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into? Especially if I start, like, a project that is just way more work than I originally imagined. Around my house, especially if I start, you know, painting a room and all of a sudden I'm sweating and I'm like, this is a bigger project. This is more work than I thought. I might say, what have I gotten myself into? One really ominous or warning phrase that you'll hear in some of your favorite television shows, especially if it's a drama, is you're in trouble. You're in trouble. It's just kind of a warning phrase that there's going to be consequences, especially in crime shows. You know, if you do this, you're going to be in trouble. You're going to be in big trouble. In real life, I feel like we don't use this phrase as much. It is pretty dramatic, but occasionally you'll hear someone say like, hey, if you don't work hard, you're going to be in trouble. Like, you're not going to get this done. It doesn't mean trouble with the law or, like, actual consequences that someone's imposing, but, like, more so natural consequences. Like, if you don't study hard, you're going to be in trouble when it comes to the test. So it means, like, you're not going to do well. Again, sometimes when we just feel very defeated, when things are going very wrong and everything's disorganized, in our real life, we'll just say, this is such a mess. This is a mess. It means that you're in a situation that has become disorganized or is not working out the way you wanted it to. In a television show, people will say, this is a mess. This is a mess. When, you know, relationships are kind of broken or people are fighting, it's used in a very dramatic way. Of course, if you're talking about how clean something is, you could use this phrase very literally to say, this is a mess. But I would say it's almost more common to say, this is a mess when things are, you know, being problematic and disorganized in your life. Another phrase that's definitely more used on shows is, you're in deep trouble or we're in deep trouble. This means that there is a very, very serious problem. This goes a step further than just saying, oh, I'm in trouble. If you have, you know, some consequences or something bad is going to happen, or let's say in a show they are stranded in a desert or stranded on a boat and they have no way of contacting people, they could say, we're in deep trouble. So deep is just an emphasis word here for trouble. Sometimes in shows when two people are having a very heated or very emotional conversation, someone will say, don't make this worse. Like two people are about to break up and one person says, please, you can't leave me. Like, I'm so sad, whatever. The other person might say, don't make this worse or don't make this any harder. Please don't make this worse. It's a very dramatic phrase, meaning don't create like additional emotions or problems for me. Now we're at our phrases that are just our everyday casual phrases. The first phrase is hang on. Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. Hang on in our real everyday life means, hey, just wait, just wait for a second. Very casual. In a television show, it'll be, hang on, I need to think, or hang on, I need to process this emotion. So again, we're thinking about how we're using these in a dramatic way on television shows and in movies. And a lot of times in movies, if there's a dramatic moment when someone is waiting to be saved by another person, let's say they're literally hanging on a cliff, they're about to drop, they're about to fall, or, you know, they're in some sort of danger. The person who is trying to save them might say, hang on, like, don't fall or try to stay alive. You know, they're saying, wait, like, hang on. A lot of times when there's a wedding in a movie that needs to be stopped, you might hear someone say, hang on, stop the wedding. That means, wait, like, don't get something like that. So this phrase, it's very fun to learn how to use this phrase in a dramatic way. And of course, I just use it in my everyday life to mean like, oh, wait a second, hang on, before we leave, I need to do this. That means just wait. Another phrase that's used just as commonly and casually is, give me a second. This means just wait very briefly. In movies, it will be like, give me a second, I need to think. Same dramatic way it's used. Instead of just saying, like, I need to think or please wait, we're using it in a more dramatic way in shows and in movies. And of course, my kids always take this literally as, it's been one second, but it really just means wait briefly, please. A very common response when someone says, do you want this? Or do you need something? You might say, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. This means I'm fine or no thank you. It's used just as the same in television shows and in movies. It's one of the most common American responses to something like, oh, hey, can I help you? No, I'm good, thanks. And this just means I'm okay, I'm fine. In shows, it can be used a little bit dramatically like, are you all right? Like after someone has a fall or an accident or crash or I'm good, I'm good. Meaning I'm fine. In my everyday life, when someone says some sort of argument or they make some sort of point and I'm going to accept that, like, I'm not going to argue with them. It sounds like it makes sense. I might say, no, fair enough, fair enough. And again, this is used in the exact same way on shows as well. That's fair enough. Meaning whatever argument or whatever point the person made, you can accept without any sort of argument or talking back at all. If you use this phrase in a show or even in your everyday life, it's not meaning that you agree with them. You would say that whatever they just said makes sense. Let's say someone says, oh, I can't come to dinner because I have to work. You're disappointed and you're thinking maybe you could take off work or somehow you could come later or whatever it might be, but you're not going to argue with them because there's really no point. So you might say, fair enough. So it's not that you completely agree, but you're not going to argue and it makes sense. All right, the last phrases in this lesson. These are such television show and movie phrases. The first phrase is, you owe me one. You owe me one. So when someone does a favor and a show for someone that they really had to be talked into, they're helping someone out and they didn't really want to do it, they will often say, you owe me one. Like, you owe me a favor since I really didn't want to do this. And it's just showing in the television show or in the movie that the person, you know, had to be convinced to do something against their will, basically. And now they're saying, you owe me a favor. But instead we use this phrase, you owe me one. If someone is messing with you, it means they're kind of pulling a prank or they're just kind of joking with you. Many times in your real everyday conversations or on a show or movie, someone will be kind of playfully, like, pulling a prank on someone. They might say, oh, like, you didn't know, like, we have to work Saturday, Sunday, all day. And they'll be like, really? I didn't know we had to work all day. That's terrible. And the person might say, no, I'm just messing with you. Like, I'll see you on Monday. I'm just messing with you. So again, it's just kind of like, you're pulling a prank on someone or you're telling them something that isn't true just to kind of have a joke or just to kind of make the person worried for a minute. That's what we refer to as messing with someone in English. I can picture a movie where someone is like, yeah, you can take my car, like, just be really careful. And then they come back and they say, oh, I actually dented up your car. They might say, why are you serious? And the person would say, no, I'm just messing with you. Meaning, like, I just am pulling a prank on you. I didn't really damage your car. If you don't believe something in English, you can use this next phrase. You can say, I don't buy it. I don't buy it. It just means I'm not convinced. I don't believe it. I think this person is lying or they are not telling the full truth or they're kind of being dramatic or saying something that isn't quite true. So this could be something small, like a person who is chronically lying. They're chronically late, meaning they're always late. They would say, well, I was late because of traffic. Like, it wasn't my fault. You might say, I'm not buying it. You're late every single day. Or sometimes in television shows or movies, someone might be flaunting their wealth. They might have a lot of designer clothing and bags. And one person might say, I don't buy it. I don't think they actually have that much money. So it just means you're being very skeptical of something when you say this phrase. This last phrase, it's definitely kind of cheesy. It's more corny. We don't use it in our everyday life a ton. It's more of a show or movie phrase. The phrase is, don't push it. So a classic conversation in a show would be like a kid being like, can I stay out till midnight? And the parents say, well, you can stay out till 10. And the kid might say, how about 11? Parents might say, hey, don't push it. This means like, don't try to take advantage of us, you know, giving you a late year curfew or don't try to push the boundaries here. The same could be said if someone's like asking for money and they say, hey, can I borrow $10? The person says, sure. And they'll say, how about 20 actually? And the person might say, hey, don't push it. Meaning like, I've already been generous. I've already been kind. Don't try to take advantage of me. So this phrase, it's definitely used more in shows and movies than in your real life. Next time you watch a show or you're watching a movie, look for these phrases. You'll hear them all the time. I tried to pick out the most common ones that I could think of. If you have more, let me know in the comments and I'll teach them in an upcoming video. And always, please make sure to visit my website, englishwithkayla.com. You can find my lessons there in my monthly membership. I'll go beyond what I just teach in the video and give you the PDF resources. I'll give you a quiz and you have the opportunity to ask questions there as well. Thank you again for watching. I'll see you guys in the next lesson. Make sure to check out the one on screen if you're in the mood to keep learning English with me. Goodbye.