Feifei Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them as well. I’m Feifei, and I’m joined by Beth.
Beth Hi Feifei, how are you?
Feifei I’m very well, thank you, Beth. So, I saw an interesting expression online the other day. It’s ‘in my travel era’. It’s a very creative expression, isn’t it? I’ve also seen ‘in my gothic literature era’, ‘in my sporty era’, things like that. Beth, what does it mean?
Beth Well, people use it to describe the main thing that they are focussed on at the moment. So, for example, if you saw ‘in my travel era’, well, if you’re travelling for a few months and upload pictures as you travel, then you might write this caption – ‘I’m in my travel era’. It’s really common to see it online, but people do say it as well.
Feifei So it’s a fun and creative way of saying you’re really into something in a particular period of life. It could be for a short time, or a longer time. Are you in any era at the moment, Beth?
Beth Hmm, I don’t know. Well, I’ve been reading some books about art recently, and I visited some art galleries, so I guess I could say I’m in my art era. Yeah, maybe. What about you, Feifei?
Feifei Hmm. Last year I was really into knitting, so I could say I was in my knitting era.
Beth Oh, very nice. Well, here are some more examples of the expression ‘in my era’.
Examples I recently joined a choir, so I guess you could say I’m in my singing era.
Right now, I think I’m in my gardening era. The weekend comes round and I just can’t wait to start digging.
I spent the whole weekend baking cupcakes and pies. I must be in my baking era!
Beth So, this can be quite a jokey expression, and it shouldn’t be taken too literally. You might stay at home and watch films all day in your pyjamas and tell your friends that you’re in your lazy era. It doesn’t mean you’re actually spending an era being lazy!
Feifei No. It just means you’re really into one particular thing at the moment, almost like giving it a chapter title in the book of your life.
Beth That’s right. So, to recap, we’ve learnt ‘in my era’ which describes what you’re focussed on at a particular time in your life.
Feifei And that’s all from us. We’ll be back next time with another useful English phrase. Bye-bye.
Beth Bye!