5 more useful American baseball idioms - and one British one (Part 2)

Welcome back to another video on baseball idioms.

Yeah. Now Vicki last time I never actually told them how to play baseball.

Yeah, you did. I didn't. You did. I didn't. You did. I didn't.

Baseball is very easy. Here's what happens. The batter hits the ball and then runs around

the four bases. The bases. Yeah. And they briefly touch each one

The batter needs to get to each base before

the ball. Hang on. These are the bases. Yeah.

If the batter touches base before the ball, they're still in the game.

But if they don't, they're out. So they have to make contact with the bases.

Exactly. OK. I'll talk to Pete about this. And I'll

contact our suppliers. And I'll find out about the packaging.

Let's all keep in touch. Yes. We need to know what we're all doing.

Can you both let me know how you make out? Yes. Let's touch base soon.

Why don't we meet again on Friday? Yeah. So here's an idiom: touch base.

It means maintain contact to make sure everyone has the same information.

Can we touch base soon? It's been a while since we spoke. Great. Let's meet on Monday.

What happens if a batter doesn't touch a base? That's a problem.

If they're off base and the other team catches the ball, the batter could be out.

You don't want to be caught off base. Caught off base.

Why have we got all that ice cream in stock? Well, the weather forecast said it would be

hot on Saturday. So you bought lots of ice cream. We thought

we'd sell lots. But then the weather turned bad. It caught

us off base. Off base. You don't want to be caught off base

That's when something unexpected and bad happens.

Our next idiom: caught off base. Yeah, you want to be prepared.

The other team is going to position someone at each base so they can try to stop you from

making a home run. Uhuh. They'll try to cover all the bases.

Cover all the bases. I know this one. So if it's sunny we'll eat outside. Yep. And

if it's raining we'll eat inside. Yep, and if it's snowing we'll cancel the

party. Yeah. Good. I think we've covered all the bases.

Yeah. It means deal with all the possibilities.

Plan ahead so there are no shocks or bad surprises. You know we use a lot of these idioms in the

UK too. But here's an idiom that I've only heard in

the US. Hey Jennifer. Hi Jay. I'm calling about the

video. Oh yeah? How's it going? Do you have the pictures? The pictures?

Yeah, you were gonna get some images. Oh, you're waiting for me to send the pictures.

Yeah. I'm sorry. I've really dropped the ball on

this one. You said 'dropped the ball'.

Yeah, I meant I hadn't done what I was supposed to do.

Dropping the ball is about a failure, making an error.

That's right. Now I never drop the ball normally. No, but you did then. That was an idiom I

hadn't heard in the UK. I know. We threw you a curve ball, didn't we?

Curve ball. That's another one.

OK. I want detailed plans before that meeting. Yeah, yeah. I want to know exactly what's

happening. Yeah, yeah. I don't want any surprises. Don't worry.

I won't throw you any curve balls. In British English we'd say 'curved ball'.

Yes. It means do something unexpected, something that's surprising.

But it's a nasty surprise. Yes, a curve ball is usually unpleasant for the batter .

It's devious. You think it's going one way but then it goes another.

It's a trick. Yeah. It's like American baseball idioms then. They can be tricky. Yep.

OK. We've got to stop now but we haven't finished. Please check back later because we'll have

another video on baseball idioms. And don't worry. We'll cover all the bases.

'Cause in British English we say 'curved ball'. Yep. It comes from cricket.

But the ball's not curved. It's... it's round. No, no, no. It's... it's curved as in the

adjective. E -D. It's the past participle adjective.

A curve ball follows a curved path so it's a curve ball. It's a compund noun. Curve ball.