Lindsay McMahon
"The English Adventurer"

Do you use Amazon a lot, or do you go out to shop?

Has the pandemic changed this at all?

Do you get a lot of deliveries?

This is a service and a trend that shows no signs of stopping because people’s shopping habits have changed.

Today we are talking about deliveries, and you will learn how to talk about them in your conversations as it seems to be such a pertinent topic these days.

Get Your Transcripts Today!

Make sure you understand every word you hear on All Ears English.

Bring your English to the advanced level with new vocabulary and natural expressions.

Subscribe and get the transcripts delivered by email.

Learn to speak naturally with the American accent.

Click here to subscribe and save 50%

Delivery Has Become So Common

Delivery has become such a common part of our everyday lives.

Perhaps you were somebody who got deliveries often before the pandemic, or maybe this whole thing has caused you to rely on this service even more.

Your shopping habits may have changed because you may be searching out things that are based on convenience these days.

Delivery is a great service because it means that you never have to leave your house, and you get whatever you need right at your doorstep.

You may pay extra for this, but that may be a cost that is well worth the convenience depending on your lifestyle.

It’s interesting to see all the different companies that have started to offer delivery as a service option, and how well they are doing with it.

Today we are going to talk about idioms/terms with the word “delivery” since so much depends on delivery nowadays.

You may have had some experience with delivery over time, especially in recent days.

  • Amazon: This is a company that is founded on deliveries as that’s their whole platform. Amazon is the leader in deliveries and home deliveries, and they have become a leader in the field that isn’t going away anytime soon.
  • Groceries: More and more grocery stores are starting to offer home delivery. This helps to keep people out of the actual stores, and allows you to have the convenience of ordering what you want delivered right to your door.
  • The election in the US: Even ballots were mailed and delivered this year for the election. As more and more people want to limit how much they come out of their houses, this offered a way to vote without having to be around a lot of people.
  • Food delivery: You can order almost any food that you like delivered to your home these days. Some restaurants do it directly, but others use a service such as Grub Hub or Uber Eats to handle the delivery of the food that people want prepared and delivered to their door.

Delivery is here to stay, and whether you use it a lot or not, you still want to know how to talk about it.

Idioms That Talk About Delivery

For as common as delivery is these days, there are several terms that talk about it.

You want to learn what these are so that you know how to use them in conversation.

Though some more directly speak to the actual delivery process than others, these are all idioms that you may use in this area.

Check them out and see how they work, and then you can start using them in your conversations since this is such a pertinent topic.

  • Special delivery: This is speaking about an important delivery, and is often something that you have been waiting anxiously for. It may be something that you had rushed to be delivered to you, or it may just be something you have been searching out or waiting for. You may also hear it used for when a baby is born as well. You may tend to pay more to get delivery at important or key times or days. You could use this in a couple of different ways which we’ll show you. You could say “Wow, I just found out you have a special delivery downstairs. You have to go see it!” You could also say “I heard your special delivery came! Congrats! What is her name?
  • To deliver on something: This means that you do what needs to be done or what you have to do. It is to say that you have follow through and you will come through with whatever the task is. You will make things happen, and so you are dependable and people really see that and know that about you. You may also hear this phrase used with the word promise as they tie closely together. You might hear “It’s important to deliver on your promise to help her with her job interview.”
  • To deliver: This is saying that somebody did a good job on something. You are saying that they came through on something or that they really made a difference in some significant way. You could say “You really came through and you were able to deliver that presentation in a fantastic way.”
  • Signed, sealed, delivered: This is giving validation or saying that something is real, official, and done. It’s like giving validation or saying that something is final or completed. It also happens to be a song as well. You may say something like “Okay, so I guess the car is all mine now. Signed, sealed, delivered!”

Roleplay To Help

In this roleplay, Lindsay and I are roommates about to get the mail.

Lindsay: “Michelle- there’s a special delivery for you at the front door!”

Michelle: “Oh my goodness! A diamond watch! My mom is so thoughtful.”

Lindsay: “Seriously! She delivered!”

Michelle: “Yeah really. I guess I’ll officially send her her gift now. Signed, sealed, delivered.”

Lindsay: “I have to make sure I deliver on my promise to send MY mom a good gift this year, since I forgot last year.”

Michelle: “Don’t forget!”

Takeaway

These are very common and very useful terms, so you want to get to know them and start to use them in the right conversations.

We also talked about delivery within our culture, as that’s such a common thing right now that so many people are using.

Let us know how it is in your country—is delivery as common and therefore talked about?

Learning these terms and how to talk about something as common as delivery will help you a lot in conversations.

This is a sign of the times and a service so many of us use, and now you know how to talk about it in the best way possible.

If you have any questions, please leave them below in the comments section.

We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

  • Badges (1)
  • Badges-1 (1)
  • Badges-2 (1)
  • US_ListenOn_AmazonMusic_button_black_RGB_5X
  • App-Store-Button
  • google-play-badge
  • Badges (1)
  • Badges-1 (1)
  • Badges-2 (1)
  • US_ListenOn_AmazonMusic_button_black_RGB_5X