In-negative / Doubt url
Police questioning thief
- Your story doesn’t hold water.
- Can you please run that by me again?
- That’s hard to believe.
- You expect me to believe that?
- There’s something fishy about your story.
- You’re lying through his teeth.
- What you’re tell me just doesn’t wash.
- Do you expect me to believe that cock and bull story?
- That’s nothing new.
- It’s too late for that.
- I think you’ve been up to no good.
- You can talk till you’re blue in the face, I just don’t buy it.
Police questioning thief
Out-neutral / Advice url
Stronger-1
- Stand on you own two feet.
- You’ve got to believe in yourself.
- Having a positive attitude is half the battle.
- Put your foot down.
- Fend for yourself.
- Put a smile on your face.
- Take it like a man.
- Hang in there.
- Show your true colors.
- Give it your best shot.
- You’re going to need to crack down.
Stronger-1
Out-positive / Friendship url
Saying goodbye-1
- Glad I caught you just before you were about to leave.
- Keep me posted.
- Have a good day.
- Enjoy yourself.
- Have a great day.
- See you soon.
- I’ll be in touch.
- OK, I’d better run.
- See you later alligator.
- Got to run.
- See you around.
- Sleep tight and don’t let the bedbugs bite.
- We’ll have to get together more often.
- It was great seeing you again.
- Don’t make yourself a stranger.
Saying goodbye-1
In-positive / Confidence url
Handing in a task to boss ahead of schedule
- I’m on a roll.
- I’ve been as busy as a bee.
- I’ve gotten the hang of it.
- You ain’t seen nothing yet.
- In order to get this to happen, I had to jump through hoops.
- Sign, sealed and delivered.
- Well that takes care of that.
- What did I tell you?
Handing in a task to boss ahead of schedule
In-positive / Confidence url
After someone else buys the house they wanted
- Something better will come along.
- I could see that coming from a mile away.
- There’s plenty of fish in the sea.
- I’m confident that it’ll work out for the best in the end.
- There’s more where that came from.
- Experiences like this make us stronger.
- We’ll keep our eyes peeled for the next opportunity that comes our way.
- It was bound to happen sooner or later.
After someone else buys the house they wanted
In-neutral / Caution url
Remembering being lost in the woods
- The memory makes my skin crawl.
- That was a hair raising experience.
- For a while it was touch and go.
- It all came down to the wire.
- I was in trouble up to my ears.
- It was the moment of truth.
- It kind of snuck up on me.
- Just the memory sends a chill up and down my spine.
- There’s a big difference between what I expected and what actually happened.
- There was no easy way out.
- It seemed like an eternity.
- I wasn't counting on it happening the way it did.
- The way it turned out was totally unexpected.
Remembering being lost in the woods
Out-neutral / Negotiating url
We don’t agree
- Let’s call the whole thing off.
- We don’t see things eye to eye.
- Let’s just drop the whole thing.
- This is not going anywhere.
- It takes two to tangle.
- We don’t seem to be getting anywhere.
- My patience has worn thin.
- Just you wait and see.
- We’re just wasting our time.
- This is an exercise in futility.
- I’m not going to waste any more time talking to you about this.
- We come from two completely different worlds.
- I’ll pass on the offer, and take a rain check.
- I’m not sure if we’re seeing eye to eye about this.
- We’re talking at cross purposes.
- This is highway robbery!
We don’t agree
Out-positive / Friendship url
Asking for a favor
- Can I ask you for a huge favor?
- Can you give me a hand?
- I could use your help with something I’m doing.
- Do you have any free time to give me some help?
- I’m confused about something, and I’d appreciate it if you could help clear things up.
- I'm so glad I reached you, because you’re a hard person to get a hold of.
- Just tell me one thing.
- Can I have a word with you?
- Could you spare a minute?
Asking for a favor
In-positive / Realizing url
The day after a stock market crash
- I may not understand all the details, but I get the general idea and see the big picture.
- I could see it coming a mile away.
- It stands to reason.
- By process of elimination it’s the only answer that makes sense.
- So there you have it.
- I had a hunch we were getting very close to the end.
- We’ve been all through this before, and it’s deja-vu all over again.
- By the time it dawned on us, it was too late.
- It looks like we’re going to have to start from scratch.
- These things just sneak up on you.
- I see this as a wakeup call.
- This really taught me a lesson that I won’t quickly forget.
- I'm going to have to re-examine and think through all of my assumptions.
- It's very sobering.
- It happened when I least suspected it.
- I wonder why I didn't see that coming.
- I turned a blind eye to all the warning signals.
The day after a stock market crash
In-negative / Explaining url
Coming home drunk
- I couldn’t help myself.
- I guess things got to me.
- I did it on the spur of the moment.
- My head is spinning.
- I’m about to drop.
- Unfortunately it’s become my security blanket.
- It’s been a rough night.
- I feel like a worn out dish rag.
- With a little bit of luck things will soon get back to normal.
- The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
- I could use some moral support.
- I hate to admit it, but it was beyond my control.
- I’ve never had any problems in that area before.
- There’s a first time for everything.
- You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
- I'm going through a rough time.
Coming home drunk
In-positive / Hope url
The score is tied towards the end of a baseball game
- I can hardly wait.
- We’ll see.
- That’s not such a long time to wait.
- It will be cause for a celebration.
- I wouldn’t miss this for the world.
- Victory and success feel so tantalizingly close, that I can almost taste it.
- Cross your fingers.
- I’m counting on it.
- Even if the news isn’t what we’re hoping for, better luck next time.
- I can’t stand the suspense, and the sooner we find out the better.
- It looks like we might have a winner very soon.
The score is tied towards the end of a baseball game
Out-neutral / Observation url
About Others – Positive-1
- He knows the ropes.
- He knows everything there is to know about it.
- He’s young at heart.
- He has a friend in high places.
- They’re rolling in dough.
- He’s going to take on the whole world.
- It’s a whole lot for him to handle, and considering what he’s been through, I think he’s holding up pretty well under the circumstances.
- She can take care of herself.
- It’s just another example of hometown boy makes good.
- You’ve got to give them credit.
- He’s a chip off the old block.
- They’re like two peas in a pod.
- He’s got money to burn.
- He’s in a class all by himself.
- He’s a man of means.
- He’s an upstanding citizen.
About Others – Positive-1