Common American Phrases in Everyday Contexts (109 page)

I'm busy
.
Do not bother me now.; I cannot attend to your needs now.
B
OB
: Can I talk to you? B
ILL
: I'm busy. B
OB
: It's important. B
ILL
: Sorry, I'm busy!
F
RED
: Can you help me with this? B
ILL
: I'm busy. Can it wait a minute? F
RED
: Sure. No rush.

I'm cool
.
I'm fine. (Slang.)
B
OB
: How you been? F
RED
: I'm cool, man. Yourself? B
OB
: The same
.
F
ATHER
: How are you, son? B
ILL
: I'm cool, Dad. F
ATHER
(misunderstanding): I'll turn up the heat.

I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't
.
There are problems if I do something and problems if I don't do it.
I can't win. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't
.
No matter whether I go or stay, I am in trouble. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.

(I'm) delighted to have you (here)
.
AND
(We're) delighted to have you (here)
.
You're welcome here any time.; Glad you could come. (See also (It's) good to have you here.)
B
ILL
: Thank you for inviting me for dinner, Mr. Franklin. B
ILL
: I'm delighted to have you
.
“We're delighted to see you,” said Tom's grandparents. “It's so nice to have you here for a visit.
”

(I'm) delighted to make your acquaintance
.
I am very glad to meet you.
T
OM
: My name is Tom. I work in the advertising department. M
ARY
: I'm Mary. I work in accounting. Delighted to make your acquaintance. T
OM
: Yeah. Good to meet you
.
F
RED
: Sue, this is Bob. He'll be working with us on the Wilson project. S
UE
: I'm delighted to make your acquaintance, Bob. B
OB
: My pleasure.

(I'm) doing okay. 1
.
I'm just fine.
B
OB
: How you doing? B
ILL
: Doing okay. And you? B
OB
: Things could be worse
.
M
ARY
: How are things going? S
UE
: I'm doing fine, thanks. And you? M
ARY
: Doing okay
.
2
.
I'm doing as well as can be expected.; I'm feeling better.
M
ARY
: How are you feeling? S
UE
: I'm doing okay—as well as can be expected
.
T
OM
: I hope you're feeling better. S
ALLY
: I'm doing okay, thanks.