Jason: It's been a while since we've seen each other. It's great to see you!
Jen: Same here! It’s great to see you too. How have you been?
Jason: Oh, I couldn’t be better!
Jen: That’s awesome! We have a lot to catch up on.

본문에서 Jason이 “It's been a while since we've seen each other. It's great to see you! 와, 정말 오랜만이다. 진짜 반갑다.” 하자 제가 “Same here! It’s great to see you too. How have you been? 나도 반가워! 어떻게 지냈니?”라고 했습니다.

이어 Jason이 “Oh, I couldn’t be better! 아, 난 정말 잘 지내.”라고 하자 제가 “That’s awesome! We have a lot to catch up on. 잘 지낸다니 다행이구나. 오랜만이라 할 말이 참 많을 거다.”라고 대답했습니다. Now keep today’s expression ‘couldn’t be better’ in mind and let’s hear the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Jason: It's been a while since we've seen each other. It's great to see you!
Jen: Same here! It’s great to see you too. How have you been?
Jason: Oh, I couldn’t be better!
Jen: That’s awesome! We have a lot to catch up on.

오늘의 표현은 couldn’t be better입니다. 영어에서 가장 흔한 인사말이 ‘How are you?’ 또는 ‘How are you doing?’입니다. 여기에 대해서는 여러 가지로 대답할 수 있습니다. 그 가운데 몇 가지를 살펴보면 ‘I’m fine.’ ‘Not bad.’ ‘I’m hanging in there.’ 등이 있습니다.

최근에 제가 오랜만에 본 친구에게 “How are you doing? 어떻게 지내니?”라고 묻자 제 친구가 “아주 잘 지내고 있어.” 라고 말을 하더군요. 이런 대답을 들으니까 저도 기분이 참 좋더라고요. 이렇게 아주 잘 지낸다고 할 때 쓰는 영어 표현이 couldn’t be better입니다. 이보다 더 좋을 순 없다는 표현인데요. '정말 좋다, 매우 좋다, 최상이다’라는 뜻입니다.

When you are asked how you are doing and everything is great on your end, you can say “It couldn’t be better!” This means that everything is great and there is nothing that can be done to improve it. This expression is usually used after someone asks how you are doing.

오늘 본문에서 저와 Jason이 오래간만에 만나서인지 서로 어떻게 지냈는지 궁금해합니다. 제가 Jason에게 어떻게 지냈느냐고 묻자 Jason이 아주 잘 지냈다고 했죠. “Oh I couldn’t be better!”라고요.

Now let me give you an example sentence using today’s expression. “I’m doing so well! It couldn’t be better.”라고 하면 “정말 잘 지내. 최상이야!” 라는 뜻이 됩니다. 이 표현 잘 기억하시고요. 오늘의 대화를 마지막으로 들어보겠습니다. Now that you know what today’s expression means, let’s listen to the conversation for the last time.

Jason: It's been a while since we've seen each other. It's great to see you!
Jen: Same here! It’s great to see you too. How have you been?
Jason: Oh, I couldn’t be better!
Jen: That’s awesome! We have a lot to catch up on.

Let’s review. The expression ‘couldn’t be better’ means that everything is great and there is nothing that can be done to improve it. COULDN’T BE BETTER. Now try using this expression on your own.