help out

You use "help out" to talk about assisting with a project or a task to be done. It has a positive, cheerful sound.

Thanks for helping out!

get defensive (about something)

"Getting defensive" means acting like someone is emotionally attacking you. Here are a few examples of people "getting defensive":

• You are eating dinner at your sister's house, and you put some extra salt on your food. She says, "What, is my cooking not good enough for you?"
• You give some suggestions to your employee about how to organize her e-mail better. She argues back against every point that you make, and seems upset about it.

all (adjective)

In casual speech, putting "all" in front of an adjective can make it sound more negative. Use it to talk about things that you don't like or that annoy you. For example:

Don't get all impatient.

She likes to act all shy when you first meet her, but within ten minutes she'll be talking your ear off.

He gave me his old computer, but it's all old and crappy.

You can even make positive descriptions sound negative using "all":

Why are you being all nice to me today? Do you want something from me?

Every time (someone) (does something), (something happens)

This expression describes a situation that often happens, especially a negative situtation:

Every time I ask her to help out, she gets all angry and defensive!

Every time we eat here, they screw up our order.

So what do you say when something good consistently happens? "Always"

You're always smiling whenever we see her.