A bro is a short word for brother, and it is often used to address boys or men other than brothers, especially good friends. The expression come on is used in many different situations; here it emphasizes what is being said. Give me a break means stop doing/saying that because it irritates me. No big deal expresses the speaker's opinion that nothing really important has happened.
Anyway, I'd like to talk more in detail about the second sentence: I only talked to Jane yesterday. Sentences with only can sometimes sound ambiguous (can be understood in more than one way). Here, the sense can be:
I didn't do anything else with Jane - I only talked to her.
I didn't talk to anobody else - I talked only to Jane.
I didn't talk to Jane any other time - I talked to her only yesterday.
In writing, we can put only directly before the words it refers to make the meaning clear. In speech, we stress the part of the sentence that only refers to:
I only talked to Jane yesterday.
I only talked to Jane yesterday.
I only talked to Jane yesterday.
We have lessons on Saturday as well. This sentence can also mean three different things:
We have lessons on Saturdays as well. (in addition to other people)
We have lessons on Saturdays as well. (in addition to other activities)
We have lessons on Saturdays as well. (in addition to other days)
Instead of as well as, we can use too (at the end of the sentence - We have lessons on Saturdays too), or also (usually before the main verb - We also have lessons on Saturdays).
Look at those children's shoes. Again, the sentence is ambiguous out of context. The possessive children's shoes can be understood as shoes designed for children, or as shoes that belong to certain children.
Similarly, the possessive a photo of Martin's can be understood in two different ways - either as a photo belonging to Martin, or as a photo taken by Martin. On the other hand, the expression a photo of Martin can only be understood as a photo in which Martin can be seen. If we use pronouns, the expressions are a photo of his (= a photo of Martin's) versus a photo of him (= a photo of Martin).
John is too stupid to teach. Can you see the ambiguity? In one meaning, John is a teacher who is not intelligent enough to teach other people. In another meaning, John is a student who is not bright enough to be taught (= to learn anything from somebody else).
In a similar way, the sentence A decathlon is really difficult to train can mean that it is not easy to prepare either yourself or somebody else for a decathlon (= a sporting event in which men compete in ten different athletic events, and in which the Czech athlete Roman Šebrle is the world record holder - unless I'm mistaken. Women compete in seven events - a heptathlon.)
In one of the Headway books, a boy saw an old man in a funny hat in a ghost story. Here funny probably doesn't mean amusing, but strange. The sentence A funny thing happened to me can such also mean something strange happened to me.
The sentence Lucy called yesterday can cause confusion too. Call with no object can mean both telephone and visit.
I am an English teacher as I teach English, but somebody elso who is also an English teacher might teach no English, in fact, but, let's say, French. In that case, he/she is a teacher who comes from England. The difference should be shown by the stress placed on the different words when speaking: an English teacher (that's me - a Slovak English teacher) versus an English teacher (that's our example English French teacher).
I don't read any books. This sentence usually means: I read no books. However, it can also mean: I only read books which are special to me. The meaning can easily be made clear by adding just: I don't read just any books. The expression not just can also be used in the singular: It isn't just any day - it's my wedding day!
Jane didn't dance because Peter was there. Can you see the two possible meanings here? Paradoxically, they are the opposites - Peter's presence either was or wasn't Jane's reason for not dancing. If we put the because-clause at the beginning, the meaning is clear: Because Peter was there, Jane didn't dance.
Enjoy the holidays!
