Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
00:07
Feifei: Welcome to The English We Speak,
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I'm Feifei.
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Rob: And I'm Rob!
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Feifei: A very messy and scruffy Rob,
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if I may say so. Did you not have
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time to brush your hair today?
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Rob: Feifei, things are a bit difficult
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at the moment. I'm having
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some work done on my house.
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Feifei: And has your hairbrush
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gone missing?
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Rob: No, no. I'm not living at home
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at the moment - I'm sleeping where
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anyone has a spare sofa.
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It was Neil's house on Monday, Paul's
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on Tuesday, Sam's on Wednesday...
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Feifei: I get it. You are couch surfing.
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Rob: Yes - even though I don't own
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a surfboard! But I am moving from
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one couch - or sofa - to
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another, which is a bit like surfing!
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00:49
Feifei: Yes, when someone is
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couch surfing it means they temporarily
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stay in other people's houses
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for free - often sleeping on the sofa
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or couch - because they don't have their
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own home. But no surfboard needed!
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Rob: No, not unless you want to use one
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as a bed! Let's hear
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some more examples...
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Since I left university, I haven't been able
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to find a job so I've been couch surfing at
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my friends' to try and save money.
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I've been couch surfing around the world.
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It's a great way to meet other people and
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it makes travelling affordable.
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I've had an argument with my girlfriend,
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so I'm moving out. Do you mind
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if I couch surf
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with you guys for a few weeks? Please!
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01:41
Feifei: This is The English We Speak
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from BBC Learning English
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and we're talking about
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the phrase 'couch surfing'. This describes
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temporarily staying at different people's
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homes for free because you haven't got
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your own home to stay in.
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It's not great if you
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haven't got your own place to live in
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but luckily for you, Rob,
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the work on your house
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is temporary, and you'll be back
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living at home soon.
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02:07
Rob: Well, maybe not.
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Feifei: Oh! Why's that?
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Rob: Well, the builder has found
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a lot of the woodwork to be rotten
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and it needs replacing - and that
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could takes weeks. So I was wondering...
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Feifei: You want to couch surf
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at my house? The answer is no!
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I don't want you carrying
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out the other meaning of couch surfing.
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Rob: And what's that?
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Feifei: Couch surfing can sometimes
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mean just lying on the sofa
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watching TV or browsing
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the internet on your laptop.
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Rob: Yeah. But I'd do the washing up.
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Feifei: The answer is still no! Bye, Rob.
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Rob: Bye everyone.
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