English Help Online's Blog

Sometimes we use the words “dead” or “die” in various expressions in English. I wrote about “dead” before and mentioned that we can use it to describe a place like a bar or restaurant where there are not many customers. Today’s expression, “I’m dying to…” uses the word “die” but is quite different in feeling.

We use “I’m dying to” do something when we want to talk about something that we want to do very much. For example:

I’m dying to see the new Johnny Depp movie! It’s supposed to be really good!

I’m dying to go to Paris! I’ve always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower up close.

My wife and I are dying to try that new Thai restaurant! We love Thai food!

I’m dying to get out of the office! This has been such a hard day at work!

So, when we use this expression, it’s usually for a positive situation such as in the first three examples. However, sometimes this situation can be negative such as in the last example of the person wanting to leave the office because it was a hard and stressful day.