šŸ‘®ā€ā™‚ļø Stopped by the police

#072

A couple of weeks ago, I got stopped by the police.

I was cycling when, suddenly, I heard a whistle.

A policeman was pointing at me.

He wagged his finger, called me over, and told me off.

My crime? Not using the bike lane.

The police are clamping down on this behaviour.

But luckily there was no fine—just a slap on the wrist.

Just like your mother might have done when you were a child. (Or maybe your parents made you sit on the naughty step).

ā€œA slap on the wristā€ is just something we say when someone gets a light punishment—when we could have been in trouble, but got off easily.

(The policeman didn’t actually slap me—just imagine!)

So I thanked him and cycled off.

Best to stick to the bike lanes from now on, I thought.

Take care out there - They are becoming stricter

This week’s three tips:

SOMETHING TO AVOID 🫣

šŸ¤¦šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø ā€œHe didn’t put me a fineā€

You might say La policĆ­a no me puso una multa in Spanish, but in English, we don’t use put with fines. Instead, we give someone a fine or use fine as a verb.

I don’t think they fined anyone that day

āœ… ā€œHe didn’t give me a fineā€

Remember in English you give someone a fine not put. You could also talk about getting a fine.

Once, I got a fine for parking on the street without a ticket

SOMETHING TO SOUND CONFIDENT šŸ§

šŸ‘” Business expressions

ā€œNo harm no foulā€

An expression used to say that no real damage was done, so there’s no need to worry or take action.

I accidentally replied to the wrong email thread, but it wasn’t confidential. No harm, no foul.

SOMETHING TO READ šŸ‘€

  • Old hag - Vieja bruja

  • Bully boy - Matón

  • To gag - Amordazar

  • Tone down - Bajar el tono

  • Pile pressure on - Presionar

  • Hand over - Entregar

Keep learning,

The Crystal Clear English Team

Schedule a demo or call with us

Please give us your opinion about this newsletter by replying to us āœ‰ļø

and remember to follow us on social media 🫶

Reply

or to participate.