Jiaying Hello and welcome to The English We Speak with you, Neil….
Neil … and you, Jiaying.
Jiaying And, as always, we’ll be teaching you a useful and informal English phrase or word.
Neil Obvs!
Jiaying Excuse me?
Neil Obvs! Isn’t that what we always do?
Jiaying Err, yes Neil, I suppose we do. So, what are we teaching today?
Neil Isn’t that obvs?
Jiaying Oh, I get it. You want to talk about the word ‘obvs’, obvs! ‘Obvs’ is a short or slang way of saying ‘obviously’ – which means ‘in a way that’s clear or easy to understand’. So, Neil, shall we hear some examples of this word?
Neil Obvs!
Examples If you’re making tea, you’ll find the milk in the fridge – obvs!
Our football team is the best in the world – obvs!
It’s obvs that you’ve forgotten my birthday – you didn’t buy me a present!
Jiaying This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we’re talking about a short and slang form of the word ‘obviously’ which is, Neil?
Neil Obvs – obviously!
Jiaying As you can see, it can sound a bit rude when you say it to someone – so be careful who you say it to.
Neil Who would get offended by a small word like ‘obvs’?
Jiaying Well, some things aren’t always obvious to everyone. Like today is your turn to make the tea – obvs!
Neil How rude!
Jiaying Thanks, Neil.
Neil OK, I’ll go and make the tea. Bye.