A. Conversation Expressions
A1. As I was saying, I haven’t seen her for years. (takes the conversation back to an earlier point)
A2. As I/ you say, we have to get there early to get a seat. (repeats and confirms something someone has already said)
A3. Talking of skiing, whatever happened to bill Jakes? (starting a new topic, but linking it to the present one)
A4. If you ask me, she’s heading for trouble. (if you want my opinion (even if no-one has asked for it))
A5. That reminds me, I haven’t rung George yet. (something in the conversation reminds you of something important)
A6. Come to think of it, did he give me his number after all? I think he may have forgotten. (something in the conversation makes you realise there may be a problem/ query about something)
B. Key Words
B1. This is it.: this is an important point. We talked about this and that, or this, that and the other: various unimportant matters
B2. That’s it: that’s the last thing, we’ve finished. So, that’s that, then: that is agreed, settled, finalized
C. Modifying Statement
C1. If the worst comes the worst, we’ll have to cancel the holiday. (it the situation gets very bad indeed)
C2. If all else fails, we could fax them. (if nothing else succeeds)
C3. What with one thing and another, I haven’t had time to reply to her letter. (because of a lot of different circumstances)
C4. When it comes to restaurants, this town’s not that good. (in the matter of restaurants)
C5. As far as I’m concerned, we can eat any time. (as far as it affects me/ from my point of view)
C6. As luck would have it, she was out when we called. (by chance)
(Source: English Vocabulary in Use, Cambridge University Press)