BBC Learning English
How to &
Complain (informal)
Jackie: Hello, welcome to bbclearningenglish.com with me, Jackie Dalton. In a
previous How to, we looked at how to tell someone you re not happy
about something and ask them to change their behaviour in a polite way,
with phrases like  Would you mind& ?
Insert
Neil, I hope you don t mind me mentioning this& but, would you mind keeping the
toilet seat down after you ve used the toilet?
Jackie: In this programme, we look at more direct ways to tell someone you re
unhappy with their behaviour - expressions that might come up in very
informal contexts. If you re not already in an argument when you use
this kind of language, you ll probably end up in one pretty soon, because
the expressions we re going to look at in this programme are aggressive
and likely to upset whoever you re speaking to. Callum and William live
together and they re beginning to annoy each other&
Callum + William
- Oh not again! Will, will you for once in your life, please do the washing up!
- I did it, I did it on Sunday!
- Yeah, but it s Friday now, for goodness sake! I m just fed up with the way you
leave everything lying around in the kitchen because nobody can cook anything there
without cleaning up your mess first and I m just sick and tired of it!
Jackie: As we heard, Callum is not happy with William because he never seems
to do the washing up. One expression Callum uses to show his anger is
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 for goodness sake! The phrase shows he s really annoyed, frustrated
and exasperated.  For goodness sake! We can also tell he s annoyed by
the tone of his voice: there s quite a difference between&
 For goodness sake! Which sounds a bit annoyed, but quite relaxed, and
 For goodness sake! Which sounds like the person is very angry!
Callum
Yeah, but it s Friday now, for goodness sake! I m just fed up with the way you leave
everything lying around in the kitchen
Jackie: Another expression he uses is  I m fed up with&  Listen to some more
examples with  fed up with& 
Examples
I m fed up with him!
I m fed up with the trains always being late!
I m fed up with the way she leaves her rubbish on the floor!
I am fed up with you bringing your boring  I won t say  boring & boring friends
round.
Jackie: Let s listen to Callum again. This time, listen out for the expression he
uses at the end of his outburst.
Callum
I m just fed up with the way you leave everything lying around in the kitchen because
nobody can cook anything there without cleaning up your mess first and I m just sick
and tired of it!
Jackie: He ends with  I m sick and tired of it! This means more or less the same
thing as  I m fed up with it! You could also just say:  I m tired of it! Or,
 I m sick of it! Or even,  I m sick of you& ! A bit like William does
here&
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William
I m sick of you always going on at me about these stupid things that don t matter!
Jackie: We often use the word  always when we want to make accusations or
complaints about something which someone does often.
William and Callum
- You re always leaving it for me.
- But why is it, why is it that it s always you that tells me what to do.
Jackie:  Never comes up quite often too&  You never do the washing up!
 You never say you love me! In this next clip, we re going to hear three
separate expressions to show annoyance. See if you can spot them.
Callum
What really gets under my skin is I just hate the way you come home late and make
so much noise when I m in bed. I m sick of it!
Jackie: Did you spot them? The first one was,  what really gets under my
skin&  it s a way of saying that something really irritates you and makes
you angry.
Callum
What really gets under my skin&
Jackie: It s followed straight away by another expression of annoyance:  I hate
the way you& 
Callum
What really gets under my skin is I just hate the way you come home late.
Jackie: And  I m sick of it!
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Callum
I m sick of it!
Jackie: If Callum hates the way William makes a lot of noise at night, William
hates the way Callum makes a lot of noise in the mornings.
William
Well, if we re talking about noise, how about this:  mrroooo, that s the noise that I hear
every morning at about six o clock with you blow-drying your hair, Callum. And yet,
every-  mrroooo! I m sick of that! It's got to stop because it just can t carry on! I ve
had enough!
Jackie: William uses the expressions:  It's got to stop!  It can t carry on! and
 I ve had enough! Firm and clear phrases to deliver your message that
you want someone to stop doing something.
William
It's got to stop because it just can t carry on! I ve had enough!
Jackie: So let s end with a recap of those expressions:
For goodness sake! You never&
I m fed up with the way you& What really gets under my skin is&
I m sick of& I just hate the way you &
I m tired of& It's got to stop!
I m sick and tired of& It just can t carry on!
You always& I ve had enough!
Jackie: And that s where we ll end this week s programme!
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