The English We Speak: Cut corners

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.

This podcast is sponsored by PocketHose.

I'm a mom and a homeowner, so I feel like I'm always outside using a hose for something,

and I used to go through a new hose every year because of kings and tangles.

I'm definitely not gentle with my hose. I drag it across the driveway around the yard,

and I just wanted something that's easy and durable.

That's why the PocketHose Ballistic has honestly been such a great upgrade for me.

It's super lightweight, easy to manage, and easy to store.

You turn the water on and it grows, and when you turn the water off,

it shrinks back down to pocket size.

And I love that it's reinforced with a liquid crystal polymer used in bulletproof vests,

so it feels really tough and long-lasting.

For a limited time, when you purchase a new PocketHose Ballistic,

you'll get a free 360-degree rotating pocket pivot and a free thumb drive nozzle.

Go to pockethose.com-podcast.

That's pockethose.com-podcast for your two free gifts with purchase.

PocketHose.com-slashpodcast.

Are you really buying a car online on Auto Trader right now?

Really, I can get super-specific with dealer listings and see cars based on my budget.

You can really have it delivered.

Or pick it up.

Mommy, look!

Kid is walking up the slide.

Really?

Auto Trader.

Buy your car online, really.

Thanks for listening to this episode.

Have you heard our new podcast Beating Speaking Anxiety?

It's all about how to fight your fears of speaking English.

Maybe you're scared of making mistakes.

Worried you won't understand people?

Or worried you can't be yourself when speaking English?

Each episode tackles a different fear with experts to help you improve your speaking confidence.

Search Learning English Conversations in your podcast app to find the latest episodes.

Hello and welcome to the English We Speak, where we explain expressions used by fluent English

speakers so that you can use them too.

I'm Feifei and I'm joined by Georgie.

How are you?

I'm very well, thank you, Feifei. How are you?

Well, I'm a bit annoyed.

I had some decorators paint the living room, but there are bits missing and they've not

done a great job tidying up either.

They really can't corners.

Ugh, that is so annoying.

But Feifei, you've just used an interesting phrase, cut corners.

So why don't we learn that in this programme?

Let's do it, Georgie.

Well, I think it would be useful to first think about this phrase literally, don't you think?

Yes, I agree.

So let's imagine an athletics track.

It's oval shaped with multiple lanes.

Now, if you're running in the outside lane, you run a longer distance, don't you?

That's right.

So after the start of a race, runners usually want to cross to one of the inner lanes so that they

can run the shorter distance and make it easier.

They take a shortcut, and the best place to do that is in the corner of the running track.

Exactly, so the runners are cutting corners to make things easier.

So that's the literal use.

What about metaphorical?

Well, it's similar.

If you cut corners when doing a task, you take a metaphorical shortcut.

You do it in an easier, quicker or cheaper way.

But often, this means that the results is not as good.

Like what happened with my decorators.

Yes, cutting corners has quite negative connotations,

like you're not doing something properly.

Let's hear some more examples.

The client we're hosting this reception for is really important to us.

So we can't cut corners on this.

It has to be perfect.

You can't cut corners with health and safety.

You need to do things properly, or someone could get hurt.

I was under a lot of time pressure for this project, so I had to cut a few corners.

I hope that's okay.

So cutting corners is about taking the easy, quick or cheap route,

which means that sometimes the job is not done properly.

Are there any phrases which mean the opposite?

There are.

So instead of cutting corners, you can go the extra mile,

or go above and beyond.

Both of these mean more than just doing things properly.

They mean you do more than what's expected of you.

Well, we hope our listeners feel that we go above and beyond

with our English language teaching.

Let's recap.

We learned cut corners, which means you choose the easiest, quickest,

or cheapest way of doing something, which sometimes means you don't do it properly.

Join us again next time.

Goodbye.

Bye.

Are you really buying a car online on auto trader right now?

Really, I can get super specific with dealer listings and see cars based on my budget.

You can really have a delivered.

Or pick it up.

Mommy, look!

Kid is walking up the slide.

Really?

Auto trader.

Buy your car online.

Really?