Total Phrases- 4535
1 of 402

In-negative / Explaining url

Throwing out a bag of laundry by mistake

  1. How was I supposed to know?
  2. What did I do this time?
  3. That never would have occurred to me.
  4. I wish I had known.
  5. I had no way of knowing.
  6. OK, I’m not perfect.
  7. I apologize profusely.
  8. It was totally unintentional.
  9. There’s nothing I can do about it now.
  10. My humble apologies.
  11. Sorry about that.
  12. If I knew what I was doing, I certainly wouldn’t have done it.
  13. I certainly didn’t do it on purpose.
  14. They looked so similar that I had no way of knowing.
  15. It came as a surprise to me.
  16. I’m awfully sorry.
  17. How was I supposed to know that?

Throwing out a bag of laundry by mistake

In-negative / Explaining
2 of 402

In-negative / Explaining url

Waking up after being drunk

  1. When I woke up I was so disoriented that at first I couldn’t remember where I was.
  2. I don’t know what to tell you.
  3. I’m wiped out.
  4. My head is pounding.
  5. I feel totally depleted.
  6. I went into a tailspin.
  7. I’m going to take a short walk outside just to clear my head.
  8. I was caught red-handed.
  9. I’ve been caught with my hand in the cookie jar.
  10. The bottom line is that I just couldn’t help it.
  11. Don’t remind me.
  12. I feel like I’ve been dragging myself around all day.
  13. I need more shut-eye.
  14. It knocked the wind knocked out of me.

Waking up after being drunk

In-negative / Explaining
3 of 402

In-positive / Determination url

Therapist with patient

  1. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
  2. This is an opportunity of a lifetime.
  3. I’m going to tell it to you straight, even if it means bursting your balloon.
  4. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
  5. There’s nothing that we can’t do if we put our minds to it.
  6. Let’s not give up before we start.
  7. There are so many false starts, but it’s important that we don’t give up hope.
  8. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.
  9. It doesn’t have to be that way.
  10. Unfortunately we often have to learn the hard way.
  11. Let’s start tying up loose ends.
  12. All beginnings are hard.
  13. Often just when we think it will be clear sailing from here on in, POW – something unexpected comes from out of the blue to blow our well laid plans to smithereens, and suddenly it’s back to the drawing board, forcing us to rethink the whole thing through from start to finish, from soup to nuts.

Therapist with patient

In-positive / Determination
4 of 402

Out-positive / Agreement url

Do you agree that people should leave their phones at the desk when eating in a restaurant?

  1. I think that would improve the situation.
  2. I think they should give it a try.
  3. My personal experience bears you out.
  4. You're right on point.
  5. I think you’re onto something.
  6. That goes without saying.
  7. That’s a good point.

Do you agree that people should leave their phones at the desk when eating in a restaurant?

Out-positive / Agreement
5 of 402

Out-neutral / Observation url

About Others – Negative-2

  1. She’s as skinny as a rail.
  2. She’s as cold as a fish.
  3. He’s loosing his nerve.
  4. She’s gone overboard, and I don’t see that there’s any restraint in what she’s doing.
  5. He’s torn apart inside.
  6. She’s crying her eyes out.
  7. She wouldn’t lift a finger.
  8. I don’t think he’ll be very pleased.
  9. I feel bad for him.
  10. He’s really off the wall.
  11. He’s having trouble making ends meet.
  12. His stomach’s a bottomless pit.
  13. He thinks that everything is coming to him.

About Others – Negative-2

Out-neutral / Observation
6 of 402

In-positive / Confidence url

Looking for something

  1. Something will turn up.
  2. We’re on the right track.
  3. It was exactly where I thought it would be.
  4. Something’s going to turn up.
  5. If we’re patient and methodical, I’m sure this will have a happy ending.

Looking for something

In-positive / Confidence
7 of 402

In-positive / Surprise url

A friend leaves town without telling anyone

  1. He’s vanished into thin air.
  2. He suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth.
  3. It happened in a way that we least expected.
  4. I’m in a state of shock.
  5. You’ve got to be kidding me.
  6. I had a sneaking suspicion that this was going to happen.
  7. I would never have suspected that.
  8. Woah, I am shocked.

A friend leaves town without telling anyone

In-positive / Surprise
8 of 402

In-positive / Realizing url

Realizing that the maid has been stealing money

  1. There’s no way around it.
  2. I hate to admit it.
  3. It slipped out of her mouth and she showed his true colors.
  4. I now see her as she really is.
  5. I’ve had a hunch for the longest time.
  6. It’s finally out in the clear for everyone to see.
  7. She finally let the cat out of the bag and told us what really happened.
  8. I heard it through the grape vine.
  9. I suspected as much.
  10. I should have known.
  11. I know it sounds far-fetched, but I kid you not.
  12. Perhaps I should have seen that coming.
  13. In retrospect, I was blind as a bat.

Realizing that the maid has been stealing money

In-positive / Realizing
9 of 402

Out-positive / Agreement url

What do you think of our making a budget to keep track of our expenses?

  1. You took the words right out of my mouth.
  2. I think that it makes a lot of sense.
  3. It would certainly be a step in the right direction.
  4. That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking.
  5. You’re probably right.
  6. I agree that this is what we need right now.
  7. Great minds think alike.
  8. Yes that makes sense, that stands to reason.

What do you think of our making a budget to keep track of our expenses?

Out-positive / Agreement
10 of 402

Out-positive / Encouragement url

For a friend who invested in a stock that did well and then crashed

  1. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
  2. You can cope with it.
  3. You can turn it into a growth and learning experience.
  4. You can rest assured that if I were in your shoes, I would have done exactly what you did.
  5. It certainly started off with the bang.
  6. Don’t worry, hang on tight, it’s going to be all right.
  7. You’re acting as cool as a cucumber.
  8. I guess whatever goes up, must come down.

For a friend who invested in a stock that did well and then crashed

Out-positive / Encouragement
11 of 402

In-positive / Hope url

Looking for a lost dog

  1. I’m sure that something will come up.
  2. Let’s hope for the best.
  3. I certainly hope so.
  4. With a bit of luck perhaps it will all work out fine in the end.
  5. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.
  6. Anything’s possible.
  7. Even if it doesn’t turn out for the best, we’ll eventually recover.
  8. Even in the worst scenario, we’ll be back on our feet in no time at all.
  9. You never know.
  10. There’s always hope.
  11. The darkest time is just before the dawn.
  12. Hopefully we will soon see light at the end of the tunnel.

Looking for a lost dog

In-positive / Hope
12 of 402

In-neutral / Acceptance url

Not catching a fish

  1. Kiss this one goodbye.
  2. It’s not like I have much of a choice.
  3. I’ll be darned if I can help it.
  4. That’s the way it is.
  5. It’s not that bad.
  6. There’s not much I can do about it now.
  7. I’m going to let bygones be bygones.

Not catching a fish

In-neutral / Acceptance