Hello and welcome to The English We Speak
with me, Feifei…
…and me, Roy.
In this programme, we have an expression to
describe when someone is very tired and has
used all their energy. It can also be used
for things when they’re out of battery or
fuel. Speaking of which, Roy - you look exhausted!
Thanks, Feifei! Do I look that bad? I do
feel tired though!
Roy, you look like you’re running on fumes.
You mean my car has run out of petrol? I usually
say my car is running on fumes when the fuel
needle shows empty, but somehow the
car keeps going!
Yes, the phrase ‘running on fumes’ does
relate to cars, but we also use it to talk
about people! You look like you have no energy,
so you’re running on fumes!
I suppose I am. It must be all the hard work
I’m doing to help people learn English.
Hard work?! I saw you sleeping at your desk
the other day!
Exactly! I was so tired and running on fumes
that I fell asleep!
Hmmm anyway, let’s listen to these examples…
He’s been working so hard at work recently,
he’s running on fumes. I’m worried about
him.
Towards the end of the match, the footballer
said she was running on fumes.
I was running on fumes yesterday. I couldn’t
concentrate in the meeting.
This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning
English. We’re talking about the expression
‘running on fumes’, which describes a
situation where you have no energy, but you
keep going. So why else are you so tired?
Well, I have a baby and he cries a lot. I
spend all night looking after him, so I have
no energy.
Ahhh, that makes sense. Why didn’t you call
me to say you you’d be in work later?
Well my phone was running out of battery.
It was running on fumes.
Sounds like everything in your life is
running on fumes! You. your car, your phone!
True, but I’m really impressed you compared
me with a car earlier. If I were a car, I’d
probably be a really expensive sports car.
Roy, if you were a car, you probably wouldn’t
even have all four wheels. Bye!
Bye.