Hello, everyone. This is Shuang from Anhui, China, and you are listening to Everybody ESL.
Welcome to episode 419 of Everybody ESL, The podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English.
My name is Ben, and I have a mini -episode for you today where I am going to teach you about one English topic.
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Okay, let's get on with this mini -episode.
episode. In this episode, I am going to teach you an interesting and common expression.
The expression is, not by a long shot.
Not by a long shot.
That's N -O -T -B -Y -A -L -O -N -G -S -H -O -T, not by a long shot.
If you don't know what this expression means, I don't think there is any way you could guess or predict or figure out the meaning.
Not by a long shot means not at all or definitely not.
We can use this expression when we want to say that something is not at all true true or not at all the case or not even a little bit true.
Let me give you two examples of situations where we can use the phrase, not by a long shot.
Imagine that you have a friend who works for a big company, and every year, your friend applies for a transfer to work in the main office, the main office in New York City.
Unfortunately, each time your friend applies for a transfer, she doesn't get it.
Somebody else is selected for this transfer to the main office.
Each time, your friend is not selected.
This has happened many times.
And finally, after your friend doesn't get selected again, you ask her, Are you going to give up?
Are you going to stop trying to get this transfer?
And she answers, Give up?
Not by a long shot.
When she says, Not by a long shot, she means definitely not, not at all.
I am definitely not ready to quit.
It. My efforts to win this transfer are definitely not over.
I am definitely not stopping yet.
That's what she means when she says, not by a long shot.
Here's another example.
Let's say that you are on a hike.
You are trying to walk to the top of a mountain.
As you are walking on the trail, you see somebody else ahead of you, and finally you walk up to him and you ask him, is this your first time walking to the top of the mountain?
And he says, my first time?
No, not by a long shot.
What does he mean? Why does he say no, not by a long shot?
He means, this is definitely not my first time walking to the top of the mountain.
He is saying, my first time?
No, not at all. This is definitely not my first time.
This is how we use the expression not by a long shot.
We use it to mean not at all or definitely not.
It might sound like a strange expression.
It's not clear why this expression means what it means, but it is a common expression.
I think it is the kind of thing you will hear in natural conversations.
And that is, not by a long shot, an interesting and common expression that I think you should know.
This is the end of Episode 419 of Everybody ESL.
Remember, if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes, the same way Shuang recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode, send an email to everybodyesl at gmail dot com.
I'll be back soon with a new episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning.
I'll see you soon. Goodbye!
Thank you.
