I'm still working on it

I have a helpful little phrase you can use when dining in restaurants in the U.S.

When you’re near the end of a meal, perhaps finishing your entree, your server might ask if he/she can take your plate or if you would like a box to take leftovers home (a doggie bag). If you are still eating, simply say, “I’m still working on it.” This is an informal way to tell your server that you haven’t finished eating and you don't want your plate removed yet. (Conversely, your server might ask you first, “Are you still working on that?”)


I don’t think eating is work at all but “I’m still working on it” is something we say in this type of situation. Of course you can always be literal and formal and tell your server that you haven’t finished eating, or that you’re still eating, but using the idiom will have you speaking like a local.

I’m Good

The expression “I’m good” is convenient, but not in the way you may think--not in its literal meaning. Informally, “I’m good” is a way to say “No, thank you” or “I’m fine” or “I don’t need it.”

If you’re an English learner visiting the USA, you may hear a conversation that goes like this:

Waitress/Waiter: Would you like some more coffee?
Customer: I’m good (meaning “No, thank you”).

OR

Do you need any help carrying those bags?
No, I’m good (meaning “I don’t need any help”).

This is a typical example of the idiomatic way we often speak and using “I’m good” will show that you know American English rather well.

In-laws (plural)

When you get married, your relatives by marriage are called in-laws. There is the mother-in-law, the father-in-law and, to them, you are a daughter-in-law or a son-in-law. If your spouse has more than one brother or sister, how do you refer to in-laws in the plural form?

For example, if one brother-in-law loves to barbecue and another brother-in-law makes the most wonderful pasta dishes, you can say that your brothers-in-law are excellent cooks. We add the letter “s” to the noun. This is true for any in-law in the plural form:

sisters-in-law
brothers-in-law
daughters-in-law
sons-in-law
mothers-in-law
fathers-in-law
cousins-in-law

This rule is for smaller groups. If you want to make things easy for yourself, just call them all “my in-laws”. Here we add the “s” at the end of “law” because “in-laws” is a collective noun, referring to the whole group.

- My "in-laws" have invited us on a cruise to the Bahamas.
- Elisa gets along very well with her "in-laws".
- Daniele’s "in-laws" have a family reunion every two years.

Little Free Library

Do you have a Little Free Library in your neighborhood? It’s not what you might be thinking. A Little Free Library isn’t a big building full of books. It is, seriously, a really, really small library that is usually housed in a wooden box that looks like a tiny schoolhouse.

These little libraries are located in the fronts of publicly accessable locations like schools, shops, healthcare facilities, etc., but I most often see Little Free Libraries in the front yards of people’s private homes, facing the street, full of books for anyone to borrow. I always marvel at the commitment of those who decide to make the little library a prominent feature of their home.

The Little Free Library movement started in 2009 when a gentleman from Wisconsin built one as a tribute to his mother, a former school teacher who loved reading. He filled it with books and put it on a post in his front yard. This developed into a mission to promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide. Anyone who has the desire can install the library; you can build one yourself or buy one.

I see on the interactive map that there are a few countries in Europe that have two or three little libraries. Italy has 23! Do you have one in your part of the world?