OK. So, I love our first idiom of today. I love that I’m talking about it on this podcast because, you’ll see, it’s not a difficult expression to understand and it’s not hard to say or pronounce at all! However, it’s not really an idiom that lots of students learn – I don’t see it really being taught even to intermediate students… Maybe even advanced students! So, let’s get started.
Now, I don’t know if you know what mussels are – they’re a kind of seafood. And granted, lots of people love oysters and mussels, and all kinds of seafood and that’s all fine; other people however can’t stand the idea of it. And for the sake of this little story, you are now one of them.
OK, on with the story: so you hate mussels. And you were really looking forward to eating that sandwich. Now your friend has told you that there are mussels mixed in with the cheese and… that is just so off-putting to you! Knowing that there’s a bunch of mussels in the middle of that yummy-looking sandwich is seriously off-putting. Quite simply, you don’t want to eat that sandwich anymore. You’re looking at it differently now. It’s not the same sandwich. That beautiful image of the sandwich that was making you salivate has now been shattered, just like a glass window being hit by a million rocks. OK, I think you get the idea.
If this has been hard for you to imagine because you’re someone who loves mussels, just picture a food that you really dislike and imagine that someone stuffed that thing in the middle of your favourite sandwich or something. Let’s pick a different food… Say, tomatoes. Some people can’t stand tomatoes – I’ve met a few of them in my life.
So, listen to this: tomatoes put you off. They’re off-putting to you and another way of saying it is, tomatoes put you off. Basically, “off-putting” is the adjective, so you say that something is off-putting to you or to your cousin, to your friend and so on. And then, you can talk about that thing that is off-putting to you by saying that… it puts you off.
Sometimes a dish doesn’t look very good. It may taste delicious, but its appearance is off-putting and it makes you not want to eat it. The appearance puts you off eating that food.
Smell is something that can frequently put people off doing something. So here’s my question for you: what is the one ingredient that puts you off eating a dish, if that ingredient is present? Tell me! See you soon.
off putting tem o mesmo sentido que put off?
Aww – thanks :) Obrigada por passar aqui e comentar, Monallisa. É ótimo saber que nosso material ajuda. Abs!
Hi Ana! I just loved this idiom. My parents had a normal marriage. However, sometimes My mom would complain about so many things that put me off marrying no one!! rsrsrsrs – A question: picture this – I’ve been divorced for 10 years. Never had another relationship. Exactly because the idea of having a date again put me off getting ready for it, and getting out of the house. Can I say that? Can I use this idiom this way?
Yes, you can :-) You go it!