Feifei: Welcome to The English We Speak.
It's Feifei here with Rob, and we're in a bit
of a rush…
Rob: …yes yes, I've hurt my foot and we've
got to get to hospital. Ouch!
Feifei: Ooo, it looks nasty Rob – all red
and swollen. It was a good job I was
driving by when you hurt it.
Rob: Yes yes, thanks for the lift, Feifei. But it
really is hurting, so could you step on it,
please?
Feifei: What?
Rob: Step on it!
Feifei: Oh, OK. If you say so.
Rob: Ow! That was painful – what did you
do that for?
Feifei: You said 'step on it' – I thought that
was an odd request, but I did.
Rob: No, Feifei! I meant drive faster –
that's what 'step on it' means. It's what
you say to someone to ask them to hurry.
That hurt so much.
Feifei: Oops, sorry! Right, well hold on
tight, Rob. I will step on it while we hear
some examples…
Taxi! Could you take me to the
station, please? And could step on it? I'm late!
Our coach told us to step on it if we
wanted to get to the match on time.
Please step on it, otherwise we're going to
miss the plane.
Feifei: This is The English We Speak from
BBC Learning English. And we're finding
out about the phrase 'step on it', which
means 'go faster' or 'hurry up'.
Well, we're nearly at the hospital, Rob.
Rob: Good good, because my foot hurts
so much – I need urgent medical
attention.
Feifei: How exactly did you hurt it?
Rob: I was playing football and another
player stepped on my big toe. It was so painful.
Feifei: What! So you've got me to 'step on
it' – and drive at high speed – because
someone stepped on your big toe?
This isn't an emergency, Rob - you can get out and walk.
Rob: That's not very nice.
Feifei: You had better step on it, Rob –
the casualty department shuts in five
minutes. Bye.
Rob: Bye.