Full English - #41- What does 'burn your bridges' mean? Listen and learn (With Captions)

Oh hello there welcome to another full English  lesson with me Mr Duncan. I hope you are feeling  

good today. What is full English?, I hear you  ask. Full English can be about anything connected  

to the English language. New words, new  expressions, new ways of using familiar words.  

Perhaps that is the reason why we are here.  Before I begin, I have a little brainteaser  

for you. What common word can be used alongside  these five words? Down, wet, super, place,  

and stall. I will give you the answer at the end  of today’s episode, so get your thinking caps on!

Here is an interesting phrase. Have you ever been  in a situation where you’ve reached ‘the point of  

no return’? To be in a position where you find  yourself unable to go back on something you have  

said or done is to be at the point of no return.  A moment of anger or frustration might cause you  

to say or do something which you cannot go back  on. It cannot be undone. There is no way back.  

“I told my boss he can stick his  job where the sun doesn’t shine.”  

“I got so angry at my neighbour and said  some very hurtful things to her.” We can  

also say that you have ‘burnt your bridges’.  An action that causes irreversible consequences  

might be described as ‘burning your bridges’.  Those actions are irrevocable, irreversible,  

final, irretrievable, and permanent. They can’t  be undone. Sometimes it is best to choose your  

words and actions carefully, or else you might  find yourself stuck with the consequences of  

a situation where there is no going back.  You have reached the point of no return.

It’s time to take a look at another buzzword.  A buzzword is a word or phrase that is popular  

during a certain period or is often used. Today’s  buzzword is… litigate. The word ‘litigate’ is a  

verb that means to go ahead or proceed with legal  action against someone. The action of litigation  

is the process of taking a person to  court, due to a perceived wrongdoing,  

or in an attempt to receive payment for damages or  some other form of recompense. The word lawsuit is  

often used when naming this action. You issue a  lawsuit and you begin the process of litigation.  

We might also use the word ‘sue’, when legal  action is carried out against someone. Normally  

this involves the claiming of money for damages  caused to a person’s reputation or good name. 

Here are two words that begin with the same letter  but have very different meanings. The words are  

‘help’ and ‘hinder’. To help or offer help is  to give assistance or offer to aid someone with  

a task of some sort. An action that is useful to  someone can be described as help. You give help.  

You offer help. You are helping someone. Then  there is the word ‘hinder’, which means to prevent  

or obstruct someone. To distract or interfere  with the smooth flow of something is ‘hinder’.  

You hold something back by getting in the way.  A hindrance might occur when two actions clash.  

Two different languages being used at the  same time might hinder a conversation.  

So help and hinder can be used as opposites.  One is useful, whilst the other is not.

Can you see where I am standing? I am  behind bars. The bars on these railings  

are in the way. They are partially blocking my  view and are preventing me from moving forward.  

Bars are often used as a safety measure.  Gates and fences might have bars on them.  

Windows sometimes have bars so as to prevent  break-ins, or in the case of prisons,  

break-outs. You can ‘bar’ someone as an action.  To ban or list someone as not welcome can be  

described as barring. You might be barred from  your local pub for bad behaviour. To be added to  

a list of people who are not allowed to enter  a place or join a group is described as being  

‘barred’. “I have been barred from the local pub  for fighting with the manager.” Then there is the  

expression ‘raise the bar’, which refers to the  standard or level of something being increased.  

The ‘bar’ is used figuratively to show  the expected standard of something.  

So by raising the bar, you are increasing the  standard or difficulty of something. Of course  

the opposite can also be true. It is possible  to ‘lower the bar’ when standards are being  

lowered. The quality of something is not as  high as it used to be. The bar has been lowered.  

The phrase ‘behind bars’ is often used to describe  a person who is serving a prison sentence.  

They are literally behind bars.

Well sadly we have come to the end  of another Full English lesson. 

At the start of this video I asked  you to work out what common words  

can be used with each of the following words. Down, wet, super, place, and stall. The answer  

is…market! You can have down market,  

which means cheap with no frills. 

You can have wet market, which  is a place where fish is sold. 

You can have supermarket, which  is a large food retail store. 

You can have market place which is and area  where traders gather to sell their goods. 

And you can have market stall, which is a position  where a trader will sell their goods from. 

I hope you have enjoyed  today's Full English lesson  

and I hope also that you will  join me very soon for another one. 

This is Mr Duncan in the birthplace of  English, that is of course England saying, 

thanks for watching, see you  again soon and of course... 

ta ta for now