In this lesson, you will learn 25 fresh phrases you can add to your daily conversations to break out of the routine of sticking to the same few lines. These phrases are popular in the UK but used pretty universally.

PART 1: First, let's discuss the phrases we can use when we meet someone that we either do or do not know.

1. It's nice to bump into you.

You would use this phrase if you are at the very least familiar with a person, so maybe you know of them. To know of someone is to have heard about them, to know their name, but we normally say this when we do, at the very latest, know of someone.

If you have seen someone recently, you can say, “it's nice to bump into you again”. Now, the literal meaning of ‘to bump into someone’ is to collide with someone, for example, “I bumped into someone at the supermarket and dropped my milk” for example. However, in this context, the context of meeting someone, ‘to bump into someone’ means to meet someone unexpectedly.

Example:

I bumped into your mum at the swimming pool.

Meaning:

I unexpectedly met your mum.

2. It's great to finally meet you in person.

This a phrase that we use if we don't know someone. We haven't met them before, but we have maybe heard of them before or we have communicated with them digitally. Maybe we've been talking over email, or something like that. I say this so much after the pandemic. I met so many people online, over Zoom, and now I can finally meet them in real life.

3. Speak of the devil.

This phrase has a very specific usage. This is said when a person appears just after being mentioned.

Example:

If I'm talking to a colleague about someone's excellent presentation, and then that person appears, I could say—

"Speak of the devil; we were just talking about your excellent presentation."

This can be a great way to make someone new feel included, especially if you have been complimenting them behind their back.

4. I've heard so much about you.

Number four, another one to use if you haven't met someone before but you want to pay them a nice compliment. Obviously, only say this if you actually have heard good things said about this person.

Good responses to this:

“All good things, I hope.” Or “All positive, I hope.”

5. I don't think we've crossed paths before.

And the last one, number five, is a nice way of saying, "I don't know who you are, so please introduce yourself to me." It avoids an awkward situation.

To cross paths with someone is to meet someone by chance. And if we haven't crossed paths before, well, we've never met. But I think it's a little bit nicer than saying, "Who are you? I don't know who you are."

PART 2: Okay, next section. Let's say for now that you have met someone that you do know; you're going to want to catch up with them. And to catch up with someone is to talk about everything that's happened since you last saw each other.

6. How is everything going?

If you can't specifically remember what they've been doing, "How is everything going?", is a great way to let them lead the conversation. It gives them room to open up. This might refer to their family, their work, their personal life, romantic life, who knows. But you can let them lead the conversation because they decide what ‘everything’ is.

7. What have you been up to?

This is a really friendly phrase. If you are 'up to something', it means that you are doing something mischievous. You're doing something troublesome. This phrase is very warm and friendly. It's saying 'what trouble have you been causing? What have you been doing?' It's something that we use a lot with children or animals. We use it with friends as well. It's very casual, but it's not inappropriate for professional situations, but it is appropriate if you know the person quite well.

Example:

I often say to my friend—

"What have you been up to Diego?"

Good responses to this:

“Oh, not much.”

“I've not been up too much.”

8. What have I missed? Fill me in!

So if you haven't caught up with someone for a while, this is a good way to ask them what has happened since you last spoke. To fill someone in is to give someone missing information or to inform someone more fully of a situation. So if I'm saying, ‘fill me in’, I'm saying, tell me all this missing information.

9. We've got so much to catch up on.

This means, "we've got so much to talk about". So much has happened since we last saw each other.

10. There's so much to say, but I can't go into it now.

This is one that you can use if you've seen or met someone that you know you need to spend a long time talking to, but it's not the right time. 'To go into something' is to discuss or explain something in a careful and detailed way. This implies that there are lots and lots of details, too many for now. Maybe it would be impolite to talk a lot; maybe there are some people around that shouldn't hear what you're talking about. It's a good one to use or to have up your sleeve—to have something ready for later.