Greetings Advanced English learners!

Today, I am looking at how you can improve your fluency with a simple technique and you can start today. Yes, today! Ready? Let’s start.

Have a look at the painting below. What do you think? Do you like it?

Photo by Mayur Deshpande

You might reply, It’s good.

Perhaps, you would say, Yes, I really like it. It’s really good.

Then again, maybe you don’t like it. I don’t like it.

You may think that he’s a terrible artist.  He’s a terrible artist.

These are all perfectly normal, correct, but dull comments. Let’s see if we can add some interest to the responses; spice them up a little:

Now look at the photo below. Two business associates are happily working together.

Photo by krakenimages

They’re clearly feeling positive about some work agreement or success. What do you think they are saying? Which caption (a or b) better suits their mood:

a) He: You will be pleased!  She: You’re right.
or
b) He: You won’t be sorry!  She: You’re not wrong.

Did you choose b)? I’m hoping that you can see that by choosing comments and responses that have ironic understatement rather than always just stating the obvious, you will elevate your English. Instantly. It will give your speech a nuance, a subtle tone. Can you hear him saying, You won’t be sorry! Remember that negative contractions carry more stress than positive ones. Compare: I’ll do it later. / I’m not doing it now. 

Imagine how your tone can vary just using the expression ‘not bad’: It’s not bad, but … (it’s pretty boring, ordinary). It’s not bad, not bad at all! (It’s great!)

This type of understatement is called litotes and it is common in everyday English. The fact that it is indirect focuses attention on it. 

Litotes is very easy to use. Instead of stating something directly, state that the opposite is not true. 

Here are some more examples. Think about how you would say these expressions with litotes. Try reading them aloud:

They don’t exactly have an ordinary relationship. Photo by JJ Jordan

Now that I’ve brought litotes to your attention, I’m sure you will hear many of the above-type figures of speech.

Unlike idioms, they are not fixed sayings; although some, like ‘It’s not rocket science’, are very common. Just think of what you want to say and then state that the opposite is not true. 

Don’t be shy! It’s not rocket science! Start today!

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