BOX SET: English vocabulary mega-class! 🤩 The human body 2 👀 🧠🦵

Hello and welcome to The  English We Speak. I'm Feifei.

And I'm Rob...

Rob why are you sounding so fed up?

Well, I've just had a meeting about my work  with my boss and his feedback wasn't very good.

Oh no, what did he say?

He said I had a very relaxed attitude to work.

Oh Rob, don't take it to heart. He's not  good at giving constructive feedback.

My heart is fine, thanks Feifei,  it's just my feelings that are hurt.

I'm sure, but I wasn't referring  to your heart literally. If someone  

'takes something to heart' it means  'they react to someone's criticism  

or advice personally and seriously  so that they become upset by it'.

Cheer up Rob! You're not the only one who's been  taking things to heart. Listen to these examples:

'Don't take her comments to heart; I thought  your performance at the show was excellent.'

'He was only joking about your  shoes. Don't take it to heart.'

'Freya tends to take things to heart, so  be careful how you deliver your feedback.'

This is The English We Speak  from BBC Learning English.  

Rob has had some negative feedback  from the boss and taken it to heart,  

which means he's taken advice or  criticism personally and very seriously.

But Rob, don't worry, maybe  the boss was trying to be kind.

But he said I had a relaxed attitude  to work and that means lazy.

Not necessarily. Maybe he meant  you don't find work stressful.

Really? Do you think so? Maybe you're right. I  am being too sensitive. I won't take it to heart

That's right. Don't take things to heart.

Welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Beth.

And I'm Jiaying.

We have an expression about  upsetting or annoying someone  

by involving yourself in something  that is not your responsibility.

The expression is 'tread on someone's toes'.

'tread on someone's toes'.

When you're dancing, it's not right to tread on  someone else's toes. It's not what you're supposed  

to do. Although, we're not actually talking  about really treading on someone's toes here.

Can you give us some context here, Beth?

Well, remember when I was upset last week? It was  

because you led the meeting  that I was supposed to lead.

Oh no, I'm sorry. I guess I did  tread on your toes. It wasn't  

my job to lead the meeting but I did it anyway.

Don't worry, it's okay. I  trod on your toes last summer.

True! It was my job to organise the BBC  Learning English barbecue. You knew that,  

but you organised it anyway without talking  to me. You shouldn't have trodden on my toes.

I'm really sorry about that. Now,  that wasn't a very serious problem,  

but treading on someone's toes can be a serious  thing. It could ruin your chances at work,  

for instance. Let's hear some more examples:

'I can't believe he pitched your business  idea. He doesn't care about treading on toes.'

'My mum is upset that you made my  birthday cake. She does it every year,  

so she thinks you're treading on her toes.'

'I want to start working on the budget, but I  don't want to tread on the accountant's toes.'

You're listening to The English We Speak From  BBC Learning English and we're learning the  

expression tread on someone's toes, which  is a way of saying someone has involved  

themselves in something that is not their  responsibility, which is annoying or upsetting.

A similar expression is 'step on someone's toes'.

And both are frequently used in  relation to work and business  

because of the connection  to responsibility and tasks.

Note that the past of 'step'  is regular - 'stepped'. But  

the past of 'tread' is irregular - 'trod'.

So, last week you trod on my toes.

Yes, and I've already apologised. Time to go, bye!

Bye!

Hello and welcome to The  English We Speak with me Feifei.

And me, Phil!

We have an expression which is about hard work,  

especially if it's physically  quite hard. It's 'elbow grease'.

'elbow grease'. I think you should give  us an example of how to use it Phil.

Okay: 'My car is absolutely filthy. I need  to get it clean. It's hard work and there  

are some bits that won't be easy to clean. But,  with a bit of elbow grease, I can get it done.'

It's amazing what you can achieve  with a bit of elbow grease!

Yes, sometimes hard work can be satisfying. I  thought digging up my garden was going to be a  

horrible job, but with a bit of elbow  grease I got it done fairly quickly.

People are always looking for the easy way out,  

but sometimes the only way to get something  done is good old-fashioned elbow grease.

There's nothing wrong with a bit of hard  work. Let's hear some more examples:

'The kitchen looks sparkling now, but it  took a lot of elbow grease to get there.'

'The sports teams are only successful because  

of the elbow grease put in by the  volunteers coaches and organisers.'

'You call those shoes polished? You  need a bit more elbow grease than that!'

You're listening to The English We  Speak from BBC Learning English and  

we're learning the expression elbow grease,  which means hard usually physical work.

It's often used to talk about the  effort needed to clean things, well!

That's probably the most common  context and we also often use  

it because we think that hard work is a  good honest thing. It's seen as positive.

It's often used by people who think  you shouldn't be afraid of a bit of  

elbow grease. In fact, we often use  'a bit' or 'a little' in front of  

it to suggest that this kind of hard  work shouldn't be too much for people.

Anyway, it's taking quite a bit of  elbow grease to record this episode,  

so I think I need to go and have a rest.

You call that elbow grease? Some people...  Anyway, see you next time! Bye-bye!

Bye!

Hello and welcome to The English  We Speak with me Jiaying.

And me, Rob.

Jiaying, why is it everyone in  our office keeps disappearing?

What do you mean?

Well, every time I want to talk to someone  I can't find them! Like Roy, for example.  

I need to talk to him about something, but  he's nowhere to be seen. Have you seen him?

No, I've not seen hide nor hair of him!

You mean, he's hiding from me?

No, Rob. If we say we've not seen 'hide nor  

hair of someone' it simply means 'we've  not seen them anywhere for some time'.

Do you need to see him urgently?

Yes, I wanted him to read out  some examples, but Neil will do:

'I haven't seen hide nor hair of Suki  all week, maybe she's on holiday.'

'We haven't seen hide nor hair of  the builders since we paid them.'

'We didn't see hide nor hair of the manager  the whole time we were in the office!'

This is The English We Speak  from BBC Learning English and  

we're learning about the expression  to not see hide nor hair of someone,  

which means to have not seen someone around  for some time, like they've disappeared.

Rob, I hope Roy really hasn't  disappeared! Should we look for him?

No, it's okay, he'll turn up.

He has Rob! He's over there  and he's had a haircut.

Oh, he's had it all cut off.  Now we really won't see hide  

nor any hair of him if he disappears again.

No, anyway Rob, I meant to ask you if  I could have that £10 back I lent you?

Oh, maybe I won't see hide nor  hair of him for sometime. Bye!

Hello and welcome to The  English We Speak with me Feifei,

And me, Phil. We have an expression which is about  

a bad thing appearing or starting  to happen. It's 'rear its head'.

'rear its head'. I think we need to hear this  one. Can you give us an example of how we use it?

Okay! I bought a new computer last week.

Sounds great!

No, not great. I can't get it to work  properly; the speakers don't work,  

it has a virus. Every time I think I  fixed it a new problem rears its head.

Oh no, that's typical, isn't it?

I always find when I need to do something  important IT problems rear their heads.

I'm learning that I need to be better prepared,  

so that when any problems rear their  ugly heads I can sort them out.

Well, it's always good to be prepared.  Let's listen to these examples:

'Attendance on the course was good until colds  and flu reared their heads in the winter.'

'I was working outside until the wet weather  reared its head and I had to go inside.'

'Food prices were going down until  drought reared its ugly head.'

You're listening to The English We Speak from  BBC Learning English and we're learning the  

expression rear its head. It's used to  talk about something bad appearing and,  

as you may have heard in one of the examples,  we can also say say 'rear its ugly head'.

Yes, we don't use it to talk about good things.  It's always problems that rear their ugly heads.

And I think the end of this program is rearing  its ugly head now, so we have to end here.

Yes, we'll see you next time. Bye!

Bye-bye.

Hello and welcome to The English  We Speak with me Jiaying.

And hello, I'm Rob!

Rob, are you excited about the  big football match this weekend?

Oh, I am! Especially as my  team, Manchester pool FC United,  

are playing. They've had a great  season, so they should win.

So Rob, you think they'll win hands down?

Well, they are very good, but they  won't be playing with their hands,  

just their feet, otherwise it'll be handball.

I know Rob. If we say someone will  'win hands down', it means 'they  

will win easily or decisively'. So,  if your team are as good as you say  

they are, there is nothing to  worry about. Good luck anyway!

It's not about luck. It's about  skill, and my team has lots of it!

If you say so Rob. Let's have some  examples of 'win hands down', shall we?

Yes!

'After all the training you've done,  you'll win the race hands down.'

'The competition was tough, but in the end  you won the chess tournament hands down.'

'We've prepared very well, so we  should win the match hands down.'

This is The English We Speak from  BBC Learning English. We're learning  

about the phrase to win hands down,  which means to win easily. And Rob,  

hopefully your team will  win hands down this weekend.

Yes, but without using any hands.

But, hold on, haven't you heard? Your main player  has twisted his ankle! He's out of the game.

No way! I was hoping he'd score a few  goals... Maybe we won't win hands down,  

after all. What can we say instead?

There are lots of win-related phrases,  

but the most suitable one for now  is 'you win some, you lose some'.

Well, I still hope this time we win!

Good luck!

Bye.

Hello and welcome to The  English We Speak with me Feifei.

And me, Phil. We have an expression about  

things that scare you - they  'make your hair stand on end'.

'make your hair stand on end'. I'm  not sure I'm brave enough to find  

out how you use this one. Go on, tell  us what makes your hair stand on end.

I can't stand mice and my house is full of them!  When I see one it makes my hair stand on end.

I don't even want to think about  it, but what about other times?  

What other things are you scared of?  What makes your hair stand on end?

You know when you see great big spiders,  

really hairy ones, even if I just think  of them, they make my hair stand on end.

Is it just animals that you're scared of? Is  

there anything else that can  make your hair stand on end?

Okay, maybe heights. I remember being high up on  a mountain and looking down at the rocks below;  

it really made my hair stand on end.

Has anyone ever said that you're easily  scared? Let's hear some more examples:

'Being on a scary fairground  ride makes my hair stand on end.'

'Hearing footsteps outside my window on  a dark night made my hair stand on end.'

'If I saw a shark while I was swimming in  the sea, it would make my hair stand on end.'

You're listening to the English We Speak from  BBC Learning English and we're learning the  

expression make your hair stand on end. It's  used to talk about things that scare you.

We can replace 'your' with other  pronouns like 'my, his, her',  

so we can say 'make my hair stand on  end' or 'make his hair stand on end'.

And another way that we say  it is that 'something makes  

the hairs on the back of your neck stand up'.

And, seeing as you've said that mice spiders  and heights all make the hairs on the back  

of your neck stand up, remind me never to  go on a walk in the countryside with you.

I think I need to stay in the city,  

too many things in the countryside make  the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

So, you'll definitely be here  to record the next terrifying  

episode of The English We  Speak. See you next time!

Bye.

Welcome to the English we speak with me Jiaying.

And me, Neil...

Are you okay Neil? You look really tired.

I am, but my best friend is living with me and  he's a nightmare! He never does the washing  

up. He plays his guitar all day, which he's  rubbish at. I'm just so stressed. I can't relax.

Sounds like he's living rent-free in your head.

What? No Jiaying, rent is important and he pays  

that. He's just annoying to live with.  Why do you think he doesn't pay rent?

No Neil, I said 'live rent-free in  your head'. We use this expression  

to say 'we can't stop thinking  about something or someone'.

It can be used to talk about things or  people you love, or that annoy you. It  

commonly relates to thinking about something  or someone to the point of becoming obsessed.

Ah, that makes sense. I thought  you were saying I have a big head,  

and someone could live in it. I  didn't think that comment through.

Well, now you know! We can talk  more about it after these examples:

'Juan loves Kika so much she  lives rent-free in his head.'

'The moment we lost the football  final lives rent-free in my head.  

I can't stop thinking about what could have been.'

'You need to stop thinking about your argument  with him. He's living rent-free in your head.'

You're listening to the English We  Speak from BBC Learning English,  

and we're talking about the expression  live rent-free in one's head.

We use this expression to talk about something  or someone we can't stop thinking about.

Yes, for example: 'I became totally  obsessed with videos on decorating  

cakes and they lived rent-free  in my head. I loved it so much.'

Instead of saying live rent-free in your head,  

you could say 'can't get something  or someone out of your mind'.

Like my best friend; I can't  stop thinking about him.

Yes, he's really annoying you. Have  you decided what to do with him?

I have. I told him your address and  now he's coming to live with you.

Oh no! Then he'll be living rent-free in my head.

Just joking, I'd never do that.

Bye Neil.

Bye.