What does 'eat your heart out' mean?

Feifei: Hello and welcome to

The English We Speak. I'm Feifei...

Rob: ...and I'm Rob. Hello!

In this programme, as you know,

we like to add a little humour

while teaching our phrases.

Feifei: Yes, usually it involves

a misunderstanding. For example,

we often pretend that one of the

presenters doesn't understand

the phrase.

Rob: Yes, they take it too literally:

they only understand its

word-for-word meaning.

Feifei: But with this phrase,

that would just be too horrible.

Rob: And disgusting.

Feifei: And not to mention -

physically impossible.

Rob: So let's not go there.

Today's phrase is: eat your heart out.

Feifei: Scary, huh? Thankfully,

it has nothing to do with eating

an important part of your body.

Rob: It's an unusual expression.

When people say it, they often

follow it with the name

of a famous or successful person

that they want to be compared to.

Feifei: But why? It's easiest to explain

with an example. Imagine you are

painting a picture.

When you finish, you say:

Feifei: Eat your heart out, Picasso!

Rob: And what you are saying is that

your painting is better than Picasso's.

Feifei: But, because Picasso was

a true master and your own work

is probably not at the same level, most

likely you would be saying this as a joke!

Rob: And that's how people often use it:

as a joke. After doing

something impressive, they say

'eat your heart out' followed

by someone who is famous

for doing that thing.

Feifei: For example, after cooking

a fantastic meal, they might say

'eat your heart out', and the name of

a celebrity chef. Even if they don't think

their cooking is better than the chef's.

Rob: It's almost like a fun way

of expressing pride in your work,

without sounding too arrogant.

I think it's best if we hear

a few more examples.

A: What a goal! How did you score that?!

B: Not bad huh?

Eat your heart out, Ronaldo!

I've been practising all month

and think I'm getting pretty good.

Want to hear me sing?

OK, here goes...

Eat your heart out, Beyonce!

A: Would you mind helping me lift this table?

B: No problem, I'll do it.

Eat your heart out, Hulk!

A: Hey, it's just a table,

you're not an Avenger!

Rob: This is The English We Speak

from BBC Learning English.

So there we are - humorously

comparing someone's football skills

to Ronaldo's, their singing ability

to Beyonce's and their

strength to Hulk from the movies.

And we've resisted all temptation to

create a situation where we ask

Feifei to actually eat a heart.

Feifei: Thank goodness.

I really don't feel hungry in any case.

Rob: Neither do I. Bye!