 15. Spoken English Expressions with the word NO from espressoenglish.net The phrases in this lesson are more informal English. They are expressions that you might not learn in a textbook but which are used in everyday speaking. 1. No big deal. No biggie. These phrases are used in response to a problem to say that the problem is not a big one. 2. Imagine you are going to take a trip to Paris and you ask your secretary to change the flight so that you can return one day earlier but she is not successful. She can tell you, I'm sorry I wasn't able to change the flight and you can respond, no big deal, I don't mind spending an extra day in Paris. 2. No contest. Say this expression when talking about a competition or a comparison in which one person or option is obviously better than the other. There is no possibility of the other person or option winning. For example, which restaurant is better, Subway or McDonald's? Subway, no contest. McDonald's food is disgusting. The expression no contest means that Subway is clearly superior. 3. No dice. This is a very informal expression that means it isn't or wasn't possible. For example, I tried to fix my car myself but no dice, I'll have to take it to the mechanic. In this context, no dice means it wasn't possible to fix my car myself. 4. No hard feelings. This expression means I'm not angry. You can say it in response to a situation that might have made you angry. For example, if your friend says, I'm really sorry about missing your birthday party and forgetting to call you, you can say, that's okay, no hard feelings to express that you are not angry. 5. No harm done. This means there was no damage or negative effects from a situation that could have caused negative effects. For example, if you're helping somebody install a computer program and the person makes a mistake during the installation, they can say, oh no, I accidentally cancelled the installation of the software. What do I do now? You can say, no harm done, just click on the program again to restart the installation. It means that their mistake did not cause any damage. 6. No ifs, ands, or buts. This expression means that there will be no discussion, debate, negotiation, or doubt. Parents often use this phrase with their children. For example, you can't watch TV until you finish your homework. No ifs, ands, or buts. 7. No kidding. This expression has two meanings. You can say it when you are a little bit surprised. For example, if a colleague tells you, I spent a year volunteering in Nicaragua, you can respond, no kidding, what kind of work were you doing there? No kidding is similar to, wow, it's an expression of small surprise. Another meaning of no kidding is when something is very obviously true and you agree with it. For example, if your friend comments, everything in that store is overpriced, and you agree, you can say, no kidding, 200 bucks for a pair of jeans is ridiculous. In this context, the phrase no kidding means that you agree with the true statement that your friend said. 8. This is no laughing matter. Use this expression when people are laughing or joking and you want them to be more serious about a topic. For example, imagine that someone in your office always forgets to flush the toilet and your boss calls a meeting about the topic, but all your coworkers are laughing about the situation. The boss can say, this is no laughing matter, folks. Not only is it unhygienic, but it also makes a bad impression when we have visitors to our office. 9. No offense. Use this expression before or after a comment that could be offensive to someone who is there in that moment. For example, if John is talking to a group of men which includes one woman, he could say, most women are way too emotional. No offense, Laura. This means that he doesn't want the woman, Laura, to be offended by his comment. Laura can respond, none taken. That means I am not offended. 10. No pain, no gain. This expression means that if you want to improve, you need to work so hard that it hurts. It is usually used in the context of sports or exercise. For example, I ran 10 miles yesterday and now my legs are really sore. But hey, no pain, no gain, right? 11. No sweat. This means there will be no difficulty or no problem. If your co-worker gives you a project and asks, can you get this done by tomorrow? You can say, sure, no sweat. That means it will be easy. There will be no difficulty. 12. No way. This expression has three different meanings. The first one is no possibility. For example, there's no way we can get home by 8. It's already 7.30 in the traffic's terrible so the drive will take at least an hour. In this case, the phrase no way means no possibility. No way is also used as an exclamation to say no, definitely no. For example, would you lend your car to Dan? No way. He's a terrible driver. He's had two accidents in the past month. The expression no way is a strong form of the word no. Finally, no way can be used to express strong surprise. For example, if your friend says, did you hear that Sarah dropped out of college? And this information surprises you. You can say, no way. She was always such a dedicated student. I wonder what happened. 13. No wonder. This expression means it is not surprising. Say it when you can see a logical connection between a cause and effect. For example, no wonder the baby's crying. His diaper needs to be changed. 14. I'm in no mood to. This expression means I don't have the patience or energy to do something. For example, after a tough day at work I was in no mood to socialize so I spent the evening relaxing at home. 15. No strings attached. This expression is used to describe a gift, donation or offer without any special conditions or hidden requirements. Here's an example. An offer with strings attached is you can buy this cell phone for $99 instead of $3.99 but you have to sign a two-year contract with monthly payments. The contract is a special requirement so we say this offer has strings attached. An example of an offer with no strings attached is this cell phone is normally $3.99 but today it's on sale for $99. In this case you can buy the cell phone for $99 and there are no hidden requirements or special conditions. It is no strings attached. Thanks for watching English Tips from Espresso English. If you liked this video please share it.