Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English
We Speak, I'm Feifei...
Rob: ... and hello, I'm Rob.
Feifei: Errr, what is that smell?
Rob: Smell? I can't smell anything.
Feifei: There is definitely a terrible smell,
like mouldy cheese. What's in that bag, Rob?
Rob: Oh, this bag! You're right, it is
cheese. Beautiful, delicious Stilton cheese
in fact. Would you like some?
Feifei: No! So why have you got a bag of
mouldy cheese?
Rob: Well, I stopped at the cheese shop
on the way to the office and saw this
cheese was half price - and you probably
know, I have a good nose for a bargain.
Feifei: I don't think so, Rob - judging by
this cheese, you have a bad nose - it
smells awful!
Rob: No, Feifei. When you have a nose - or
even a good nose - for something, it's not
about your sense of smell. It describes
someone who is naturally good at finding
and recognising something - in my case,
finding a bargain!
Feifei: I'm not so sure about that, Rob!
Well, I have a good nose for finding
examples - so here they are...
Examples: We need to sell more
newspapers, so we need to find a
reporter with a good nose for a story.
I have a good nose for learning languages
and was fluent in Spanish in just a year!
My mum's got a nose for bargains and
booked us all flights to Italy for just fifty
pounds each.
Feifei: This is The English We Speak from
BBC Learning English and we're finding
out about the phrase 'to have a good nose
(for something)'. Rob claims to have one,
but I'm not so sure. So how much did
you pay for this cheese, Rob?
Rob: Only 20 pounds - it was half price!
Feifei: That's because it's old - look, it's
going green! Sorry, Rob - this cannot stay
in the studio. It stinks - out it goes.
Rob: That's not very nice.
Feifei: Hold on, I can still smell something
bad. It's your socks! Look, you haven't got
your shoes on. Urghhh!
Rob: Wow, Feifei, you really have got a
good nose - a good nose for bad smells!
Feifei: Your bad smells, Rob!
Rob: Time to go. Bye.
Feifei: Bye.