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what it boils down to

what it boils down to

Date: Jun 10 2021

Themes: Celebrity, Pop Culture

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

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“All the choices in her life boil down to whether or not to live.”

Author Gayle Forman, talking about a character in her book If I Stay

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

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what something really means, basics

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

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Cooking rice is pretty simple. Put one part rice and two or three parts water into a pot on the stove and turn up the heat. When the water starts bubbling, it’s boiling, so it’s time to turn down the heat and let the rice simmer. Depending on what kind of rice you’re making, 15 minutes to an hour will be long enough for all the water to disappear. Even though you started with a pot full of water, what it boils down to is lots of fluffy rice.

Oftentimes, when people tell stories or talk about complex topics, they don’t have time to give every single piece of information they know. For example, instead of telling his buddies everything his boss said, a man might just let them know what it boils down to is that he got a promotion. A mom who spends all day at home with her kids might not explain how many times she cleans up messes, but she might say what it boils down to is that she needs a night off. Whenever people talk about what something boils down to, they are focusing on the important information, not all the extra details.

Author Gayle Forman knows a lot about the book If I Stay. Everything, in fact, since she wrote it. However, because she doesn’t want to spoil the plot for people who might read the book, she says what it boils down to is that the main character has to decide whether or not to live.

Are there certain topics where all you want to tell people is what it boils down to? When is it OK to tell somebody every detail?

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

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“His book was long, but what it boiled down to was his interest in ending gun violence.”

What it boils down to is that if you want me to work, I want to be paid.”

“My philosophy on life can change, but what it boils down to is be kind to others and they will be kind to you.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

AURA The most important part of something..
by AURA
be most important get reduced to the main matter
by chriszm

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Comments

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bkmiller69

bkmiller69

United States

when are you going to Sanchung?

12:58 PM May 03 2015 |

baimchik

Russian Federation

the main idea

11:26 AM Sep 17 2014 |

Marcel We

Marcel We

Germany

I my opinion “what it boils down to … ” is a really useful phrase. You can use it to summarize something in a relly short sentence or to inform others about what’s most important about a story or an event or even to tell the meaning about a topic which is actually quite complex. As you can see you can use the phrase in many different ways. Sometimes my friends ask me things like “How has been your weekend?” ... In fact, they just ask me out of politness. So, often it’s sufficient just to tell whether it was good or not (and about something really interesting if that had been the case).

05:33 PM Sep 11 2014 |

1 person likes this

 julito

julito

Argentina

If anybody is interested in learning a new language shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes while communicating with native people. Nobody wants to feel embarrassed mispronouncing a word but it is the only way to progress to fluency. What it boils down to is fine to read and learn grammar but oral communication is essential if we want to master a new language.

04:30 PM Sep 11 2014 |

Seiyf_khawas

Turkey

for me , what it boils down to is to love life..to feel rivers inside of us…to see other beauties around us ..help and support people ..

11:31 AM Sep 11 2014 |

2 people like this

S&W

S&W

China

I’m kind of dislike someone ask me private questions ,All the answers i gave boils down to i am fine.



10:16 AM Sep 11 2014 |

Aluke

Aluke

Nigeria

I studied Computer Science in university and oftentimes people ask me what it is really about. But, you see, Computer Science is a very broad field, comprising of many diverse sub disciplines, and it isn’t exactly easy to give a concise summary that can cover all bases, so I just informed them that CS boils down to the science of making interesting and fun computer based tools! :D

09:37 AM Sep 11 2014 |

1 person likes this

Aluke

Aluke

Nigeria

I studied Computer Science in university and oftentimes people ask me what it is really about. But, you see, Computer Science is a very broad field, comprising of many diverse sub disciplines, and it isn’t exactly easy to give a concise summary that can cover all bases, so I just informed them that CS boils down to the science of making interesting and fun computer based tools! :D

09:36 AM Sep 11 2014 |

2 people like this

Ditti

Ditti

Hungary

It doesn’t matter how much time I spend on learning English, what it boils down to is that my knowledge has improved a lot, and the main point is that I love to do it very much.

06:38 AM Sep 11 2014 |

vik32

vik32

India

yes oftentimes you might avoid sharing every piece of info in detail then you will just say what it boils down to…like in my case whenever i go for a vacation lots of people ask me how was the trip and all then i would just say what it boils down to was a fansatic stay and worth going once.

05:12 AM Sep 11 2014 |

Michele1

Michele1

Italy

One of the most frequently question our friends often ask us, is ” how has been your day ?” We can’t tell them all we have done all the day,because we will need a lot of time to explain them and ,surely,they are not interested about every details of our way we spent the day. In these cases, we make a synthesis of the day and that means what it boils down to ; an example of what it boils down to might be ” I had a very hard day”. ( I believe,maybe I am wrong..)


09:04 PM Sep 10 2014 |

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