Unit 1: English Expressions
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Session 12
Listen to find out how to use an everyday English expression.
በዕለት ተዕለት ንግግር ውስጥ ግልጋሎት የሚሰጡ የእንግሊዝኛ አገላለፆችን እንድት መጠቀም እንደሚችሉ ይህንን ያዳምጡ።
Activity 1
Cold feet
Look at the Session Vocabulary – make sure you know what these words mean:
- Recognition
- Confidence
- Pay rise
Listen to Rob talking to Li about his job. As you listen, think about these questions:
1. Is Rob happy at work?
2. Does he want to speak to his boss?
3. Does he speak to his boss?
Listen to find out the answers. Then check them on the transcript below.

ጤና ይስጥልን፤ እንኳን አዳዲስ የእንግሊዝኛ አገላለፆችን እንዲማሩ ወደምናግዝበት English Expressions በደህና መጡ። ዛሬ “Cold feet” “እየቆየ ጥርጣሬ መግባት” ወይንም “የመተማመን መሸርሸር” የሚለውን የእንግሊዝኛ አገላለጽ መጠቀምን እንማራለን። ምን ማለት ይመስልዎታል?. . . እርግጠኛ አይደሉም? እሺ፥ መስማትዎን ይቀጥሉ። በሮብ እና ሊ መካከል የሚከናወነውን ልውውጥ ያዳምጡ። በሚያዳምጡበት ጊዜ ሮብ ለምን እንደተበሳጨ ለማወቅ ይሞክሩ። ሮብ ስላበሳጨው ጉዳይ እንዳች ነገር ለማድረግ እየተዘገጀ መሆን ያለመሆኑንም ልብ ይበሉ።
Li
Hi Rob. How are you today?
Rob
Hello Li. I'm really angry.
Li
Why?
Rob
Well, because I work very hard, I get results, I do much more than I really should, and nobody notices - I don't get any recognition.
Li
Yes, you do work hard, Rob. You should earn a fortune!
Rob
I know. You see - that's it! I'm going to go and see the boss right now! I am going to ask for a pay rise!
Li
Good on you, Rob. Right now?
Rob
Yes, right now!
(brief silence)
ሮብ የተበሳጨው ለሚሰራው ሥራ ምንም ዓይነት “recognition” እውቅና እያገኝ እንዳልሆነ ስለተሰማው ነው። “boss” ከአለቃው ጋር ሊገናኝ እና “pay rise” የደምወዝ ጭማሪ ሊጠይቅ እንደሆነ ይናገራል። እንዳለውም ይህንን ማድረግ ያለማድረጉን ለማወቅ ማዳመጥዎን ይቀጥሉ።
Li
Rob... you're not going anywhere?
Rob
Er, yes, I know.
Li
So what are you waiting for?
Rob
Well, actually, I'm getting cold feet.
Li
That's no problem at all. Let's see…I have a solution right here… There you go. Take these.
Rob
Thick, woolly socks?
Li
Yes. You should feel warm when talking to a tough boss like ours! Come on, use these.
Rob
It's okay.There's nothing wrong with my feet, Li. In English, when we say we've got cold feet we mean we lack the confidence or courage to do something.
ሮብ ወደአለቃው ሄዶ ስለደምወዝ ጭማሪ ሊያናግራቸው ነበር። ነገር ግን ይህንን ለማድረግ ድፍረቱን አጣ። መተማመኑ ተሸረሸረ 'cold feet' ገባው። 'Cold feet' ስንል ልናከናውን የወጠንነውን ጉዳይ ለመፈፀም ድፍረቱን ወይንም በራስ መተማመኑን አጥተናል ማለት ነው። የጥርጣሬ መግባት አንድን ነገር ከማከናወን ጋር በተያያዘ ከሚፈጠር የጭንቀት ወይንም መረባበሽ ስሜት ጋር የሚያያዝ ነው። ብዙ ጊዜ ሰዎች እንዲህ ያለ ጥርጣሬ የሚገጥማቸው ህይወትን በአያሌው ከሚቀይሩ ጋብቻን ወይንም የሥራ ለውጥን ከመሳሰሉ ውሳኔዎች በፊት ነው። 'Cold feet' በተለምዶ ግልጋሎትን የሚሰጠው ‘get’ ከተባለው ቃል ጋር ሲሆን 'get cold feet' እንላለን፤ ነገር ግን 'have' ከተሰኘው ቃል ጋርም አብሮ ስለሚያገለግል 'have cold feet' ማለትም እንችላለን
Examples
After making an offer to buy a new house, Jack and Jill had cold feet about going ahead with it as they were worried about the small size of the house.
The company directors were getting cold feet as many experts expressed their concerns about the financial benefits of the deal.
Mary knew Tony had bought her an engagement ring and was planning to propose on Valentine's Day. She just hoped he wouldn't get cold feet before then.
Li
So you're afraid of going into our boss's office.
Rob
Yes, I must admit I am a bit.
Li
Maybe next week you can approach the boss and remind him what a good worker you are.
Rob
Good idea. Maybe that's the right way to do it.
Li
One thing is true: your cold feet saved you from your hot head.
Rob
Yes, indeed!
እንግዲህ፥ መቼስ ሮብ ወደ አለቃው ቢሮ ሄዶ ቢሆን ኖሮ ምን ሊከሰት እንደሚችል ባውቅ በወደድኩ። ሊ እንዳለችው 'cold feet' ማጋጠሙ፥ ሊከሰት ከሚችለው 'hot head' ታድጎታል። 'hot head' ከሁለት ቃላት ነው የተመሠረተው ከ hot እና ከ head። ይህ የአገላለፅ ዘይቤ አንድ ሰው በንዴት መጦፉን የሚገልፅ ነው። ያው ሮብ በንዴት ይጦፍ ነበር ይሆናል፥ ሆኖም እርግጡ ነገር ስለችግሮቹ አለቃውን ለማናገር ድፍረቱን ያጣ መሆኑ ነው። ለተጨማሪ “English Expressions” በሚቀጠለው ዝግጅታችን ይጠብቁን።
Answers
1. No, Rob is not happy at work.
2. Yes, he wants to speak to his boss.
3. No, he does not enough confidence to do this.
How do I use it?
We usually use the verbs get or have with cold feet. They both have irregular past simple and past participle forms. Look at these examples:
He really wanted to ask her out, but got cold feet at the last minute.
Weren't you going to move house?
I had cold feet - I stayed where I am.
I really want to climb that mountain, but I'm getting cold feet now I can see how high it is.
Cold feet
3 Questions
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ።
ሓገዝ
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ።
ኣመት
cold’ የሚለው ቃል ከዚህ ቃል ጋር መጣመር አለበት።Question 1 of 3
ሓገዝ
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ።
ኣመት
ስለገባው ሰው ሳይሆን አንድን ነገር ለማድረግ ድፍረትን ወይንም በራስ መተማመንን ስለማጣት ነው።Question 2 of 3
ሓገዝ
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ።
ኣመት
‘cold feet’ በፊት ምን ግስን ተጠቀሙ?Question 3 of 3
Excellent!Great job!ሕማቕ ዕድል!ዘመዝገብኩምዎ ነጥቢ ...:
Over to you!
Do you sometimes get cold feet? When does it happen? Come and tell us on our Facebook group.
Join us for our next episode of English Expressions, when we will learn more useful language and practise your listening skills.
ተጨማሪ ጠቃሚ አገላለፆችን ለመማር እና የማዳመጥ ክህሎትዎን በመለማመድ ለማዳበር በቀጣዩ የእንግሊዝኛ አገላለፆች ዝግጅታችን ይጠብቁን።
Session Vocabulary
Recognition
ዕውቅናFortune
ዕጣ ፈንታ፥ ሐብትPay rise
የደምወዝ ጭማሪTough
ጠንካራ፥ ከባድConfidence
በራስ መተማመን፥ ልበ ሙሉነት