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Spoken English Course Day 11

Spoken English Course Day 11

Date: Mar 06 2011

Topic: Speaking

Author: andylu2

Lesson

Hi again.

I was watching a movie this morning and I heard a phrase that is used a lot in spoken English.  It's the kind of phrase that might not get taught in school because it may be a bit sensitive or embarrassing for some people.  I think it's really important to teach these kinds of things anyway because language is filled with all kinds of topics, both sensitive and non sensitive.  If you truly want to speak and understand native speakers, someone needs to teach you everything.  

You may have heard this one but there are a few ways to describe it and I'll try to be as flexible as I can when using it.

The whole phrase is "Coming out of the closet".

This is when a gay person, usually a man, openly admits to his friends and family that he is gay.  This is a big deal for a lot of people because not everyone in society is accepting of it.

I guess in history, people had to "sneak around" and when someone came in the room, the other man would be hiding in the closet.  When he "comes out of the closet" everyone knows at that time.

The other, and perhaps more common phrase, is just "coming out".  It's just a short form for coming out of the closet.

An example:

His best university friend came out of the closet last year.  He sent a group email to his family and friends telling everyone about him.

Anyway, you'll definitely hear this phrase or similar versions of it when you listening to native English.  Anytime you hear about someone "still being in the closet" you will know what they are talking about.

Thanks for all the comments and likes as usual.  It keeps me going and keeps me in writing this stuff for you guys.  I hope you check out all my lessons on here as I try to make one every day.  Here is English speaking lesson 9 for an example.

Here is a truly great course on spoken English

Comments

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sofree

sofree

China

Interesting. Literally translated, it's the same meaning in Chinese.

05:58 AM Mar 10 2011 |

lynn629

lynn629

China

Hi andy!

It's really good phrase for us to enlarge our vocabulary.

Thanks anyway.  Any kind of topics, pls share us more. I learnt a lot from u and ur lesseon.

09:46 AM Mar 07 2011 |

Jungmi

Jungmi

South Korea

A close friend of mine is gay and he still hasn't come out of the closet fully.  He did come out to me though.  I think he'll fully "come out" soon. 

Thanks for teaching this phrase.  I think I did hear it and didn't understand it before.  Anyway, very helpful again for us.

07:35 AM Mar 07 2011 |

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