Hello, and welcome to The English We Speak.
With me Feifei.
And don't you know who I am?!
I am Rob.
Yes, we all know that, Rob.
But I am THE Rob, Rob of
The English We Speak.
There is nobody else like me.
Yeah, yeah, yeah - don't milk it!
Eh? Come on, show me
some respect. Ouch, I seem to have
pulled a muscle. Oooh, that hurts.
Come on, Rob. You hardly moved.
Ouch, it's in my lower back. It's so
painful, I don't know if I can carry on.
You are milking it again!
Feifei, what am I 'milking' exactly?
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'.
Are you talking about me?
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!
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?
I do, and I seemed to have recovered
from pulled muscle but I've become so...
thirsty, I was wondering...
...if I could get you a drink of milk?
No, Feifei. I was thinking of
a cup of coffee. You are so very kind
and generous.
You are milking it again, Rob.
Actually, I've got just the thing for you.
Hold on...
Meet Daisy!
Moo. Moo.
A cow!! How do I milk that?
I'd start down there somewhere.
Good luck.
Bye.
Moo. moo.
Hello, this is The English
We Speak. I'm Feifei.
And hello, I'm Rob.
Why have you brought a bowl of
fruit into the studio?
I'm not feeling great and
you know fruit is packed with
vitamin C, so I thought eating
some would do me good.
Hmm, I see. Well, I'm sorry
you're not feeling great, but we have got
a programme to do and
an English phrase to teach.
If you don't mind, I might just read
a few lines from the script today to save
my voice. Perhaps I could just
read the funny lines?
No Rob! You can't just
cherry-pick what you want to say.
Cherry-pick? No Feifei, there aren't
any cherries in my fruit bowl so
I won't be picking any.
I wasn't referring to your fruit.
When you cherry-pick something,
it means you choose only what's best or
most desirable out of a group of
things or a group of people.
But Rob, you're not going to do that, are you?
Errr... shall we hear some examples
of other cherry pickers?
Josh says he cherry-picked the players for
his football team based on
their skills but
I know it's because they were his friends!
We need to cherry-pick the best food
for our new restaurant. We really
want to impress our customers.
It seems unfair that our school
has cherry-picked the best students
to attend the conference.
We should all have a chance to go.
You're listening to The English
We Speak from BBC Learning English
and we're talking about the phrase 'to
cherry-pick', which means to choose
the best or most desirable things from
a group. And Rob wants to cherry-pick
only the best lines to read from
this script. It's a bit unfair, Rob...
I was just trying to save
my voice but I will do my best.
Would you like a piece of fruit
from the bowl, Feifei?
Oh, OK then. Err, that banana
is a bit mouldy.
That orange is a bit yellow.
I'll have this apple please.
Hmm, looks like you're cherry-picking the
best piece of fruit. Right, well,
now that you've got my delicious apple,
do you mind
if I go now, I'm really not feeling great.
Oh go on, Rob. But next time
I'm going to cherry-pick who I present
with - someone who wants a bite of the
cherry to work with me.
'A bite of the cherry' means a chance
or opportunity. I need someone
with a bit more... stamina.
See ya.
Bye.
Hello and welcome to The English
We Speak. I'm Feifei.
And I'm Rob. Feifei, feeling hungry?
Rob, they smell amazing!
Almost there. We're having a special
treat today... waffles!
Rob is making waffles: those lovely,
crispy little cakes with raised squares on
the surface.
Absolutely! My favourite. But what
are we going to put on them?
Oh that's simple: strawberries and
syrup. What about you?
OK, I'm not so sure. I mean, I used to
always love them with honey
and bananas. But they do taste
amazing with melted chocolate. Or with
cream. You know, I recently tried one with
peanut butter - not a good experience.
I guess strawberries would be
worth trying. Or mango.
But only if the mangoes are fresh.
Rob?
Yes?
Can you stop waffling on?
Ah, very clever. Perfect time to use
that phrase! I do need to stop waffling on,
don't I?
Yes, please. To 'waffle on' means
to talk and talk without saying anything
very useful or interesting.
I am sometimes guilty of that.
Let's hear a few more examples.
I think I did really badly in the interview.
I wasn't sure how to answer the
questions, so I just waffled on.
Meetings with Frank are frustrating.
He always waffles on about unimportant
things. Someone needs to have
a word with him.
I used to find her blog really interesting
and inspiring but these days
she just waffles on about her pet tortoise.
There we are. To waffle on.
At least we don't waffle on in this programme,
do we Rob?
Well, I must admit that sometimes
people have said I do talk rather a lot,
especially when it's about travel or
languages... which reminds me I really
should book my next holiday...
I've been considering Croatia, though I...
Rob?
Ah. Am I waffling on?
I'm afraid so.
Ooh, it's waffle time!
Great. Hopefully these tasty
waffles will keep you quiet for a while.
Are you saying the waffles will
stop me waffling on?
Yup! Now, enough talk.
Oh, these waffles are delicious.
Not bad, eh?!
Bye.
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.
I'm Feifei.
And I’m Neil.
Errr, Neil why are you still here?
I thought you were driving to Manchester.
and Rob was going to present the programme.
Feifei, have you looked
outside the window?
Errr, no. Should I?
It's a pea-souper out there!
You want me to look out of the window
at PEA SOUP?
Is there a big bowl of it or something?
No, there's no soup, it's an informal
way of describing thick fog.
It's so thick you can hardly see through it.
And that's why I can't drive to Manchester.
That is a shame.
But why a pea-souper?
I guess because, like pea soup, it's
thick and a dark cloudy colour.
Hmm, well I'd rather eat pea soup
than be in it! I think we had better hear
some examples of this strange phrase.
It looks like our flight is
delayed until this pea-souper clears.
It's a real pea-souper today. When I was
driving here I couldn't even see the car
in front of me.
There's no way I'm cycling in this pea-souper.
It's far too dangerous.
This is The English We Speak from
BBC Learning English. And I'm with Neil, who
can't travel because of a pea-souper – that's
a very thick fog, that's hard to see through.
Sometimes you can refer to it as 'smog',
if it's fog mixed with air pollution.
Yes, that's horrible stuff to be in.
Well Neil, if you can't go to Manchester,
what are we going to do?
Well, let's have lunch together.
Yes, but what are we going to eat?
Pea soup of course!
It's that kind of day.
Oh look, the fog is clearing.
Maybe you can drive after all!
Hmm, I'll get my coat. Bye.
See ya.
Hello and welcome to
The English We Speak with me, Feifei.
Hehe, oh, and me, Rob.
Rob, could we have
your attention please?
Sorry, I'm just snacking.
You know you can't
eat in the studio.
I'm not eating anything - I'm
snacking on some funny cat videos.
Sorry, they're really short.
I won't be long.
What, Feifei? Why the angry face?
Because we are here to talk
about an authentic English phrase.
OK, OK, well here is one
for you: snackable.
It describes short online articles, videos
and other content that are quick
and easy to read or watch.
Just like these cat videos.
And you are demonstrating it very
well, Rob! I guess it's like eating a snack
- quick and easy?
Yes, very snackable.
Just like these examples.
Because my free time is short, it's good to
find some snackable videos
I can watch on
my smartphone while I wait for the bus.
The short city guides I found on the
internet are very snackable and
great for planning
my trip around Africa.
These days videos are often less than
a minute long so that they're
snackable and appeal
to a younger audience.
You're listening to The English
We Speak from BBC Learning English,
and we're talking about
the word 'snackable', which is a term
used to describe short online content
that is easy and quick to watch or read.
And the great thing about
snackable content, Feifei, is
you can do it whilst doing
other things, like presenting
this programme.
You mean you can multitask.
That means do more than
one thing at a time. Well I can do that too!
Now where's my smartphone?
Err, Feifei, what are you doing?
Reading a short but interesting
article about working
with annoying presenters.
You're not snacking on that, you're
feasting on it! Now come on
and help me finish the programme.
OK. Thanks for joining us, and we hope
you found this programme snackable.
Bye. Now do you want to see these
kittens doing really funny tricks?
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.
I'm Feifei.
And hello, I'm Rob.
(Sniff sniff) Rob, what's the smell?
Are you cooking something?
Yes. It's my favourite - roast beef. Yummy!
Roast beef?! This isn't really
the time to be cooking.
Well, you said let's do 'roast' today so
I thought I'd make a start.
Just got to do the roast potatoes now.
Rob, stop! I meant let's do the word 'roast'.
Oh right. Well, this is a good
example of roasting.
No, Rob. It's not the meaning I had in mind.
'Roasting' is not just about
cooking food in an oven.
We can 'roast' people by
criticising them harshly.
So, Rob, you were very foolish
to start cooking something while
we're presenting a programme!
Oh, am I being 'roasted' now?
You sure are, but you're not alone.
Here are some examples...
We had to roast the teacher
after she was seen shopping
when she was supposed to
be off work with flu!
After my PowerPoint presentation froze
during an important meeting,
my boss gave me a roasting.
She was roasted by her friends after
she posted pictures of herself
on social media showing
off her 'amazing' suntan.
This is The English We Speak from
BBC Learning English and we're
talking about the word 'roast',
which means 'to criticise severely'.
I'm sure you're used to
being roasted, Rob?
Well, if you mean I am hot and smell
delicious, then I am very roasted!
Excuse me?
Feifei, another meaning of 'roast' is to
tease someone in a light-hearted
way or give a funny
comeback when someone
tries to humiliate you.
Oh, ha ha! But hold on, Rob,
I can smell something else...
Oh no, I left the oven on and now
the food is burning. Help!
Rob, you are really stupid
and you can't cook either.
That's me roasted! Bye.
Bye.
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.
I'm Feifei.
And I’m hungry. I mean Neil.
Feifei, why did you book this studio
recording session at midday?
I'm starving!
Do you fancy going for lunch?
I've heard that new chicken restaurant
just down the road is excellent!
Not sure about that.
Oh, have you been there before?
Yes, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Oh really? So the food's bad? Everyone says it's great!
Well, the food was great...
Eh? The food was great but it left a
bad taste in your mouth?
I don't understand!
Let me explain.
If something leaves a bad taste in your mouth,
it means you've had a bad experience
and the memory is unpleasant.
Oh I see. So, what went wrong?
The bill was twice as much as it should have been!
Ah, I get it now!
We use the expression ‘it leaves a bad
taste in your mouth’ when we have a
negative experience and feel bad or
angry about it afterwards.
Like being ripped off in a restaurant!
Come on, Neil. Let's hear some examples.
Then we can go for lunch somewhere
that doesn't rip me off!
I refuse to go back to that hotel. They were so rude!
It left a bad taste in my mouth.
When my boss sent me that angry
email last thing on Friday,
it left a bad taste in my mouth.
It left a bad taste in my mouth when
I got fined for going just one
mile an hour over the speed limit!
This is The English We Speak
from BBC Learning English.
And I'm with Neil, who was wondering why
I've got a bad taste in my mouth
when it's got nothing to do with food.
We use the expression ‘it leaves a bad
taste in your mouth' when we have a negative
experience and feel bad or angry
about it afterwards.
So, is it time for lunch?
Yes, Neil! I really want you to come
and try that new tofu place.
The food is just delicious and the service is excellent!
So, will it leave a good taste in my mouth?
It sure will! Bye.
Bye.
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak
with me, Feifei.
And me, Roy.
We may sound a little different.
That's because we are not able to record in
our normal studios during the coronavirus outbreak.
In this programme, we have a word
that is used to say when someone
is upset over something minor or trivial.
Speaking of which, you got
really upset when
the vending machine didn't have any of
those sweets you like this morning!
I really like 'unicorn truffles'.
You have no idea how good they are.
It ruined my day!
Everyone likes 'unicorn truffles' but
there's no need to get overly upset about it
They're just sweets!
You were so salty this morning!
What do you mean salty? You mean I was
sweaty? I sweat when I get stressed.
No, Roy. 'Salty' means you got upset over nothing.
They're just sweets. If you're that
desperate for them, you should go to the
supermarket before work like I did.
Wait, you've got some 'unicorn truffles'!?
Can I have one, please?
You can have one, and only one.
Anyway, let's listen to these examples.
She was so salty when she lost the board game.
It's really not that important.
He was so salty yesterday when nobody
wanted to go to lunch with him.
I'm sorry, it was a bad joke but there's
no need to get salty about it!
This is The English We Speak from
BBC Learning English and we're
talking about the word 'salty'.
And now Roy, you're salty because
I won't give you more sweets!
Feifei, you have a bag full of 'unicorn
truffles'! You could open
a sweet shop you have that many.
So, I'm not being salty.
I don't think it's unreasonable
to be upset that you won't
give me one more sweet!
Fine, but only because I'm a nice person!
Talking about being salty,
did you see Rob this morning?
Yes! Why was he so angry?!
I saw him hitting the keyboard!
He was so angry with you, Feifei.
Haha that's because I unplugged
his computer! He couldn't turn it on!
So, when I told him
that I'd done it as a joke,
he got really salty.
Haha, you're the best, Feifei!
You love playing practical jokes on people.
Well, I need to get back to my desk.
Wait?! I can't move!
I'm stuck to the chair!
Yes! I know. I put lots of superglue on
your chair before you sat down!
Don't get salty about it!
Here have a couple of 'unicorn
truffles' to cheer you up!
Thanks Feifei, but I really need to go back to work.
Can you get me off this chair, please?
Bye, Roy.
Bye.
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.
I'm Feifei.
And I'm Neil.
Hey Neil, would you like to try
one of my homemade cookies?
Well, we shouldn't really eat while
we're presenting but... go on then.
I made them last night and I
thought I'd try them out on you!
You've got a sweet tooth so
I know you can't resist!
OK then. Mmmm.
Well, what do you think?
Well, they're... OK. Perhaps not the
best I've ever had.
Oh, so you think my cooking isn't great?
Let's say it's something to chew on.
Right! So you're saying my
homemade cookies are chewy?
No, I'm not. In fact they're... crunchy.
But when someone says they need to
chew on something, it's an informal way
to say they need to think about it
before making a decision.
Well, Neil, I will chew on response
to your insult about my cooking while we
hear some examples.
Our extension plans are great but we
need to chew on it before we give them
the go-ahead.
Hmm, it's very expensive to fly to
Australia for a holiday.
Let's chew on it shall we?
My boyfriend asked me to marry him and
I said I'd chew on it.
He didn't seem that pleased!
This is The English We Speak and
Neil has been using the expression
'to chew on something' or
'something to chew on' which
means to think about something before
making a decision. And Neil, I've made
a decision about what to say to you!
Oh yes?
If you don't like my cooking,
I will not be inviting you to
my dinner party tonight.
Oh Feifei! Ah well, at least
I'll avoid your cooking.
I'm not cooking. We're getting
a takeaway curry and lots of wine.
I suppose you could
come... if you pay for the take away?
Hmm, that is something I don't need
to chew on. The answer's 'no'.
I'll stay at home and bake my own cookies!
See ya.
Bye.
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.
I'm Feifei.
And I'm Rob.
Hey Rob, thanks for this ice cream.
I love ice cream but why are
we eating it now?
As a treat, Feifei! This is my homemade ice cream.
Yum. It tastes good.
Tastes good, you say? Just good?
Well, it's not bad.
Not bad?! Honestly Feifei, there is no pleasing
you sometimes. Is there something missing?
Rob, it's awesomesauce!
You want sauce on it?
Why didn't you say?
What do you want? Strawberry?
Chocolate? Caramel?
No, I was actually being nice.
Awesomesauce is an informal way
to describe something that is
extremely good or amazing.
It was a compliment, Rob!
Listen to these other examples
of 'awesomesauce'.
My wife is awesomesauce.
She's just served me breakfast
in bed as it's my birthday!
This peanut butter and banana
milkshake is awesomesauce.
Can I have some more, please?
Hey! I got top grades in all my exams.
Awesomesauce!
You're listening to The English We Speak
from BBC Learning English
and we're looking at the word
awesomesauce, which is an informal
way of describing that something is
extremely good, amazing or incredible.
And your homemade ice cream
is amazing, Rob!
Oh, thanks very much.
I don't know what to say.
You can also say 'awesomesauce'.
The word can also be used to say
you're very very pleased with something.
OK then. Awesomesauce! If it's that
good, I must try some too with
strawberry sauce on.
You must, Rob, it tastes great!
Oh no, not awesomesauce.
What's wrong?
I didn't put it back in the freezer.
It's melted!
You had better go and make
some more. Bye.
Bye bye!
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.
I'm Feifei.
And hello, I'm Rob. Erm, Feifei, why
were you in the cafe with the boss earlier?
Was I?
Come on. I saw you having lunch
with the boss. Nobody ever
has lunch with him.
OK, I admit it. I was having lunch
with the boss. What's wrong with that?
Well, we all know there is
a promotion in the department on offer
and you are obviously trying
to curry favour with the boss so that
you get the job. Honestly!
Hold on. I can assure you I was
NOT having curry with the boss.
It was just a sandwich.
Feifei, if you 'curry favour with
someone' you are not eating curry.
It means you are 'trying to get someone -
the boss - to like you or even give you
something'.
Something like a promotion.
I was not! But I like the expression.
OK. Well, let's hear some examples
of people currying favour with someone else.
I know what you're up to! You're trying to
curry favour with the manager by telling
her what a great job she's doing!
The company tried to curry favour with its
employees by giving them all a pay rise.
He's trying to get free tickets to the gig
by currying favour with the tour manager.
It won't work!
This is The English We Speak from
BBC Learning English and we're talking
about the phrase 'to curry favour (with
someone)' which means to try and get
someone to like
you or give you something.
Another way of saying it is you are
'trying to keep in with' someone.
It's all a bit false, Rob, trying
to make someone like you which is why I
was NOT trying to curry favour
with the boss.
You won't get the promotion anyway.
We were actually talking about you!
Oh yes?
He wanted my advice on whether
he should give the promotion to you.
To me! Well, come on then,
what did he say?
You'll need to curry favour with me,
if you want to know that!
How about dinner? I know a nice
little curry house just around the corner.
Bye.
Bye bye.
Hi everyone, we hope you enjoyed that video.
And thank you very much for watching.
We have so many more just like it so
if you don't want to miss a single one
make sure to subscribe and
we will see you regularly.
Hope to see you soon. Bye guys!