Hello and welcome to The English
We Speak. I'm Feifei.
And I'm Rob! Now, for this
programme, we are going
to need two sounds! A slap ...
And, a bang ...
Very strange! A slap ...
And a bang ...
Yes! It's a clue for our authentic
English expression.
Slap-bang - is that an expression?
It is when you want to describe
something that is directly or
exactly in a particular place.
It's often used with the short phrase -
'in the middle of something'.
Very precise. So the expression
'slap-bang' is an informal way of
saying exactly in a certain place'?
So not a bit to the left, or a bit
to the right?
No, slap-bang- means 'exactly'.
And we are slap-bang in the
middle of this programme, so
let s have some examples...
He scored an amazing goal - the
ball went slap-bang into the
middle of the net!
I couldn't find my phone anywhere,
and there it was - slap-bang
in the middle of the table!
If you take the train to Edinburgh,
you'll see the castle slap-bang in front
of you when you come out of the station.
This is The English We Speak from
BBC Learning English, and we're
talking about the expression
'slap-bang' which means exactly
or directly in a particular place.
And you don t need to make
the slap ...
Or bang ...
sound every time you say it!
Well, Rob, I m off to meet some
friends at a pub which is
slap-bang in the middle of town.
OK - anybody I know?
Oh just Neil, Roy, Sam and
Georgina from the office.
And I'm not invited?
Well, that is a bit of a slap in the face.
'A slap in the face' - good phrase,
Rob, meaning an insult that you
weren't expecting. But, sorry.
You're still not invited.
OK, then. I'll stay here and play
with these sound effects. Bye.
Bye, Rob.