Jiaying Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Jiaying…
Neil …and I’m Neil.
Jiaying Have you seen Rob today? He seems really sad.
Neil Ahhh yes – he went to the shop, but sadly they had run out of biscuits… and then….
Jiaying Ahhh that’s why he’s sad – say no more!
Neil That’s rude! I was going to tell you about what happened next – but then I won’t if you don’t want me to speak any more!
Jiaying No, Neil – I said ‘say no more’ – which is an expression used when we understand what someone is trying to say and there is no need for any further explanation.
Neil That makes sense – you know what I think would be a good idea? I could do with a coffee.
Jiaying Say no more. I’ll put the kettle on while we listen to these examples.
Examples Roger’s in a really bad mood? Say no more – I’ll stay out of his way.
Thanks for telling me about the big meeting. Say no more - I’ll be there.
When I told the decorator I wasn’t happy with the colour of the walls, he just said ‘say no more’ and repainted it.
Jiaying You’re listening to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we’re talking about the expression ‘say no more’. We use this expression to say we understand what someone is suggesting and there is no need for further explanation.
Neil Yes. If we’re trying to tell a story or imply our opinion on it, we can say ‘say no more’ to show we understand their feelings towards it. For example – this coffee tastes a bit interesting.
Jiaying Say no more – I’ll make a new one!
Neil Ha! You totally understood that I thought the coffee was terrible.
Jiaying I did – but now you really did explain what you were thinking! Ouch!
Neil Sorry Jiaying – I really should have stopped speaking – sorry!
Jiaying That’s OK! Bye, Neil!
Neil Bye!