تیلور سوئیفت - ME

I know that I’m a handful, baby, uh.

I’m a handful:

Informally speaking, if someone is a handful, they are very difficult to deal with or control.

Example : Her older son is calm and responsible, but the little one is a bit a handful.

A handful is literally the amount of something that can be held in one hand.

It can also refer to a small number of people or things.

Example : Put about a handful of chocolate chips in the cookies.

She invited all her friends to her party, but only a handful of them turned up (come).

Baby:

As used in the song; baby is a term of endearment-that is, a loving word used for calling the people you’re intimate with.

In the case of the word baby,  it’s mostly used between two people who are romantically involved.

Sometimes we reduce it to babe.

Example : Why are you up so early, babe?

Hey honey, do you think we should invite your parents for dinner?

(Honey as a term of endearment).

As we see later in the song, one can also say baby doll.

However, this is less common nowadays.

It would be used more to refer to women than men.

I know I never think before I jump.

I never think before I jump:

Here,Taylor is actually speaking metaphorical (figuratively).

If you don’t think before you jump, in this figurative sense, you act impulsively, taking risks without thinking about the consequences.

Learn a lot more about how to use figurative expression in English to sound more native-like with this lesson with the Jonas Brothers:

And there’s a lot of cool checks out there.

And there’s a lot of cool checks out there = an-ther-zuh lodda cool checks out there.

And there’s a lot of cool checks out there.

Ladies, chicks:

Lady and chick are both alternative, colloquial ways to say “woman”, particularly a young woman.

Keep in mind-chick is a bit more slangy than lady.

Example : That chick over there with the sunglasses is beautiful.

An equivalent of a man would be guy, which we also see in this song.

Example: The ladies had cocktail and chatted while the guys were watching the football game.

I know that I

Went psycho on the phone.

Narrator: Went psycho on the phone:

Tge word psycho is a term for someone who is mentally unstable (insane).

Now, while it can be used in a more serious context when referring o people who are actually affected by a mental disease (a psychopath,it is also used as slang to refer to moments when one acts very irrational, like a crazy person (to go psycho).

To go psycho on the phone is to act in such a way while speaking on the phone.

Example : His little sister went psycho when he stole her candy.

Pronunciation note:

The P in Psycho is completely silent.

Psycho [si-co]

I never leave well enough alone

And trouble’s going to follow where I go.

Narrator: Never leave well enough alone:

If something is well enough, it means that it is satisfactory.

Example : l like her well enough, but I wasn’t convinced to ask her out on a date.

If you never leave well enough alone, it means you are not content with something being satisfactory.

In other words, you want things to be exceptional or even perfect.

Tylor probably means that she can’t be happy that her relationship is going well, she wants it to be more exciting.

I promise that you’ll never find another like me.

I promise that you’ll never find another like me = I promise tha-chu’ll never find another like me.

I promise that you’ll never find another like me.

I’m the only one of me.

Baby that’s the fun of me.

Narrator : I’m the only one of me:

This is another way to say I’m completely unique.

Another similar and more common expression is one-of-a-kind, we can use it to describe both people and things.

Example : Emilia Clarke is one-of-a-kind.

She’s beautiful and a terrific actress.

This model of the Audi R8 one-of-a-kind.

They haven’t made any other like it.

That’s the fun of me:

The aspect of something that makes it entertaining.

So she is saying that what makes her amusing as a person is the fact that she is unique.

Example :

A: I don’t like Monopoly.

There’s too much strategy involved.

B: What? That’s the fun of it!

As summed up by these two lines, the message of the song is probably that each of our uniqueness is what makes us fun, great, and special.

I’m the only one of me.

I’m the only one of me = I’m the only won-uh-me.

I’m the only one of me.

I know I tend to make it about me.

Narrator :

to make it about (somebody):

To connect something that happened to a specific person, even though they might not be related or at fault.

If you make it about yourself, as Brandon does here, it means that you are taking something personally (whether or not it is actually related to you).

Example : Stop trying to make it about you.

My decision has nothing to do with you!

She makes everything about her.

She doesn’t even think about anyone else.

Tend to:

To have the tendency to; to be likely (though not definite) to behave in a particular way or have a particular characteristic.

Example : We tend to get cold winters and warm, dry summers in this part of the country.

British people traditionally tend to not display much emotion in public.

I know I tend to make it about me.

I know I tend to make it about me = I know I ten-do may-kit abou-me.

I know I tend to make it about me.

I know you never get just what you see.

But I will never bore you, baby.

Narrator :

To bore (somebody):

To talk or act in a way that makes somebody else lose interest in what you are saying/doing.

This verb is more commonly heard in the form of expressions such as “to bore somebody out of their mind, or “bore somebody to tears”.

Which are more emphatic, but means the same as just “to bore”.

Example : I’m note going to bore you with all details.

The movie bored me to tears.

And there’s a lot of lame guys out there.

Lame:

The opposite of cool.

Boring, not trendy or fashionable.

Example : Those shoes are lame.

Our new English teacher is always making lame jokes.

And never want to see you walk away.

Walk away:

Phrasal verb meaning literally to walk in the opposite direction of something or figuratively (as in the song) to leave or abandon someone.

Example :

Literal:

As we were walking away from the beach, I found a $20 bill in the sand.

Figurative:

You should never just walk away from a fight.

Let me keep you company.

Let me keep you company = lemme kee-pyu company.

Let me keep you company.

Keep you company:

To accompany (to stay with) or spend time with someone in order to prevent them from feeling lonely or bored.

Example : Can you keep me company for a while?

I don’t want to be alone.

You’re the only one of you.

You’re the only one of you = Your the only won-uh-you.

You’re the only one of you

Girl, there ain’t no ‘I’ in team, but you know, there is a ‘me’.

There ain’t no ‘I’ in team, but you know, there’s a ‘me’ :

The expression There is no “I” in “Team” is common in sports or the workplace to say that when you are participating in a group effort (team), you can’t be selfish or only think about yourself (I).

It does this by saying that the letter I, which is also the first person subject pronoun, is not found in the spelling of “Team”.

The song tgen contradicts this common expression by saying that although team does not have the letter I, it does have the letters M and E, which can make the first person object pronoun,  “me”.

Strike the band up, one, two, three.

Strike the band up:

A band is a group that plays music to animate a crowd, for example, at a sporting event.

This phrasal verb is a specific jargon in this context.

To strike the band up means to make the band start playing a piece of music.

A more common use of strike up means to start a casual conversation.

Example : I struck up a conversation with the barista at the café.