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The English We Speak

From BBC learning English.

com. Hello I'm Rob and I'm Fay Faye and this is the English we speak.

Now Fay Faye did you try out that new cafe on the way to work today?

Yes I did I was really impressed. The new cafe has a

great range of food and friendly staff. So have you tried it Rob? Oh yeah I've been there

twice now but well it's no great shakes.

No great shakes. That's the best thing about it.

They sell amazing banana milkshakes.

Mm.

No, no, I wasn't talking about the shakes.

I was referring to the cafe generally.

There's nowhere to sit, the cues along, and they didn't put enough froth on my skinny cappuccino so it's no great

Shakes in other words it's not very good oh so no great shakes is an expression that means it's not very good. So you're not impressed?

I'm afraid not. And no Great Shakes also means ordinary, which describes this cafe.

Let's hear some more examples of this phrase in action.

My sister puts on a good dinner party, but she's no great shakes when it comes to

cooking.

That new singer has a great voice, but he's no great shakes at playing the guitar.

The film sequel is no greatakes compared with the first one.

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