Slap-bang - The English We Speak

Hello and welcome to The English

We Speak. I'm Feifei.

And I'm Rob! Now, for this

programme, we are going

to need two sounds! A slap ...

And, a bang ...

Very strange! A slap ...

And a bang ...

Yes! It's a clue for our authentic

English expression.

Slap-bang - is that an expression?

It is when you want to describe

something that is directly or

exactly in a particular place.

It's often used with the short phrase -

'in the middle of something'.

Very precise. So the expression

'slap-bang' is an informal way of

saying exactly in a certain place'?

So not a bit to the left, or a bit

to the right?

No, slap-bang- means 'exactly'.

And we are slap-bang in the

middle of this programme, so

let s have some examples...

He scored an amazing goal - the

ball went slap-bang into the

middle of the net!

I couldn't find my phone anywhere,

and there it was - slap-bang

in the middle of the table!

If you take the train to Edinburgh,

you'll see the castle slap-bang in front

of you when you come out of the station.

This is The English We Speak from

BBC Learning English, and we're

talking about the expression

'slap-bang' which means exactly

or directly in a particular place.

And you don t need to make

the slap ...

Or bang ...

sound every time you say it!

Well, Rob, I m off to meet some

friends at a pub which is

slap-bang in the middle of town.

OK - anybody I know?

Oh just Neil, Roy, Sam and

Georgina from the office.

And I'm not invited?

Well, that is a bit of a slap in the face.

'A slap in the face' - good phrase,

Rob, meaning an insult that you

weren't expecting. But, sorry.

You're still not invited.

OK, then. I'll stay here and play

with these sound effects. Bye.

Bye, Rob.