Feifei: Hello, this The English We Speak.
I'm Feifei...
Rob: ...and don't you know who I am?!
I am Rob.
Feifei: Yes, we all know that, Rob.
Rob: But I am THE Rob - Rob of
The English We Speak.
There is nobody else like me.
Feifei: Yeah, yeah, yeah - don't milk it!
Rob: Eh? Come on, show me
some respect. Ouch, I seem to have
pulled a muscle - ooo, that hurts.
Feifei: Come on, Rob. You hardly moved.
Rob: Ouch, it's in my lower back. It's so
painful, I don't know if I can carry on.
Feifei: You are milking it again!
Rob: Feifei - what am I 'milking' exactly?
Feifei: Everything! 'To milk it' means to
take full advantage of a situation usually
to gain sympathy, respect or kindness.
Sometimes, like Rob, you fake something
to get attention
- that's when we say 'You're milking it'.
Rob: Are you talking about me?
Feifei: Of course I am, Rob. Let's hear
some examples of
other people 'milking it'...
OK, don't milk it, Sam! You've told me
a hundred times you've got tickets
for the World Cup final.
Tom's had a week off work with a cold -
I think he's milking it now.
Since her promotion, Freya keeps
bossing us around and telling us
to call her 'Miss Brown'
- she's really milking it!
Feifei: You're listening to The English
We Speak from BBC Learning English,
and we're talking about the phrase
'to milk it'. This means to take
full advantage of a situation
usually to gain sympathy, respect
or kindness. So Rob, have you got
what 'milking it' means?
Rob: I do, and I seemed to have recovered
from pulled muscle but I've become so...
thirsty, I was wondering...
Feifei: ...if I could get you a drink of milk?
Rob: No, Feifei. I was thinking of
a cup of coffee. You are so very kind
and generous.
Feifei: You are milking it again, Rob.
Actually, I've got just the thing for you.
Hold on...
Meet Daisy!
Daisy: Moo... moo...
Rob: A cow!!! How do I milk that?
Feifei: I'd start down there somewhere.
Good luck.
Rob: Bye.
Daisy: Moo... moo...