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Transcript:

 

Hi, everyone! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.

Today we are going to continue to talk about idioms and specific vocabulary related to movies in English.

And with a point of view lesson, you will learn grammar in context without memorizing any boring rules. I’ll tell you a story

twice from different grammar points. I can change the tense or the person. And like that, you will learn grammar in context.

Please, visit SpeakEnglishPodcast.com to get the transcript of today’s episode. 

Before we start, let’s remember the 5 expressions you learned in the last episode.

Get the show on the road

Means to begin an activity or journey.

To kick off a show, or kickoff

To kick off a show means to start a performance or the first performance among many others.

Popcorn movie
It’s a movie to watch just for entertainment.

Live up to the hype

If a movie lives up to the hype, it is as good as the public anticipates.

Sell out
If tickets are sold out, it means that all available tickets for a movie, concert, etc., have been sold.

Now let’s learn some new vocabulary and expressions:

1. To make a clown of yourself

Clowns are usually funny and entertaining people who do all sorts of things to make people laugh. 

I’m scared of clowns, and I’m sure many other people are too. So, if you make a fool of yourself, you’re doing something that makes people laugh without meaning to.

It means you make a mistake that makes people laugh, maybe you stutter or even forget what you were going to say. 

So, we use this expression when someone appears foolish or someone who knows very little.

Examples:

1. Jack was so worried about making a clown of himself, he got so nervous that he ended up calling off his performance.

To call off means to cancel an event or agreement.

“He should not have tried to call his ex, he made a clown of himself.“

2. To be in the limelight

The expression to be in the limelight

comes from an old practice from the theater scene. Limelight was a bright white light made by heating oxygen and hydrogen and placing a piece of lime into it. It was used for stage lighting.

But what does it mean?

If you are in the limelight, you are in the public eye. Therefore, people will be interested in your personal life.

They will want to know who you hang out with and what you do in your free time. As a result, the paparazzi and reporters are likely to surround you often.

Examples:

“Tom tried avoiding the press as much as possible, but he was in the limelight all the time because of his new blockbuster movie.”

“Many people love being in the limelight, but I get nervous on stage.”

3. To crave the limelight

Well, we have already seen what it means to be in the limelight, but let’s find out what it means to crave the limelight. 

To crave something means to feel a strong desire for something or someone.

Therefore, if you crave the limelight, it means that you really like to be the center of attention.

Celebrities, politicians, but also regular people sometimes crave the limelight.

Example:

“My friend wasn’t a person who craved the limelight until her book became a bestseller. That’s when she got used to the attention.”

4. Break a leg

This expression comes from the world of theater. Actors were superstitious because they believed that saying “good luck” would actually bring them bad luck, so people started using the expression “break a leg” instead.

Examples:

“Break a leg!” I shouted to my sister before the beginning of the play.

“You’re so talented you don’t need luck but make sure you break a leg!”

Ok, that’s it for today, but let’s first go over the expression we have learned today.

1. To make a clown of yourself
2. To be in the limelight

3.  To crave the limelight

4.  Break a leg

Before I move on to the next section, go and get the transcript of this episode at SpeakEnglishPodcast.com/podcast

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