To put it mildly

To put it mildly

All right so last week we had two simple words that were easy to use; today we have an expression that is actually pretty hard to use, but I bet you can do it with some practice. The expression is “to put it mildly.” So “mild” is a word to mean, kind of light, not strong. Mild weather is warm, but not too warm, really comfortable. Mild salsa is not spicy. Actually I like that. Think about a hot salsa and a mild salsa. And now think about a very strong opinion you have about something—like, an opinion that, if it were a salsa, would be a really hot habanero salsa. Maybe you hate the billboards on the streets of London; you think they’re ugly and too commercialized. You think the phone company is abusing the system and taking advantage of the public. You think they’re lying when they say they’re providing a good service to the public. They’re just in it for the money. Okay, that’s like a very strong hot habanero salsa opinion. Now we want to take this opinion down and we want to make it a refreshing mild tomato salsa: not quite as strong. You’re going to say your opinion, but you’re going to put it mildly. And—and—this is important—you’re going to say you’re putting it mildly, as a signal to the other person that your opinion is actually a little stronger.

I love doing this—it’s a way to express an opinion in an inoffensive way and just like wink at the other person and imply that your true opinion might actually be a little stronger than the words you said.

So think back to how you heard it. When I was ready to give my opinion about the phone booths in London, I said that the new design with digital advertising all over it was “not in the spirit of the original law” that gave phone companies the right to put phone booths on the street. I said it was not in the spirit of the law, meaning that, maybe this isn’t exactly what the law was intended to do. That’s a pretty mild opinion. But then when I said, “to put it mildly,” I’m signaling to you that my opinion is probably a little stronger than what I actually said.

So think about that and listen again: The phone companies started putting kiosks every hundred feet in London to take advantage of the advertising opportunity. That is, to put it mildly, not in the spirit of the original law that protects phone companies. Did you notice that? I’m kind of winking to you, signaling to you, that I actually have a stronger opinion than what I said.

Let me give you a few more examples. When I was in Mexico, I found myself in the Zocalo metro station at rush hour, and the trains were really crowded, with people pushing their way off and onto the cars. That was, to put it mildly, an uncomfortable experience. What am I tell you here when I say “to put it mildly”? I’m telling you that it was actually more than just an uncomfortable experience. Maybe it was unsettling, maybe it was unsafe, who knows—I’m not saying in that sentence. But by saying, “to put it mildly” I’m signaling to you that my true opinion is stronger than the actual words I’m saying.

There are only six months left until Great Britain officially exits the European Union. The two sides have not yet come to an agreement and Britain appears to be unprepared for what’s to come. And that’s putting it mildly. This is another example of where I’m telling you, you know, I could have used some stronger language here, but I put it mildly instead. I’m leaving it to your imagination to think what I might have said had I not purposely used mild language there.

Okay – that was a hard one. You know, I felt a little bad at the end of the last episode since upside and downside are maybe not the hardest things to understand, to put it mildly, but I hope I made up for it today.

Before we go, I have some news for those of you who live in Mexico. You remember back in episode 47, at PlainEnglish.com/47, we talked about electric scooters that are all over San Francisco and some other cities in the United States? Well last Sunday morning, as I was sitting at a café on what would be the east side of Parque México, near where I was staying, I was enjoying a nice latte and some huevos bañados, and right in front of me, I mean right in front of my face on the sidewalk, were four green electric scooters. And I remember thinking, well, that didn’t take long. So if you haven’t heard that episode yet—it’s all about these electric scooters that don’t need to be returned to any location and they’re rented by the hour. And they are now in Mexico, if you can believe it. Go back and listen if you haven’t heard that episode, PlainEnglish.com/47.

And JR, the producer, and I will be back on Thursday with yet another episode. If you like listening to English and you’re confident in your abilities, you might consider trying an audiobook. And if you want to try one for free, you can get a free audiobook with a trial subscription to Audible. If you want to get that free audiobook, just go to PlainEnglish.com/book and you’ll be taken to a web site that has all the details.

That’s it for today—see you back here on Thursday.