Hello and welcome to English with Lucy. Today we have another topic:“Four common British expressions.” Now, before we get started, make sure you connect with me on all my social media which is right here. You can subscribe to my YouTube. You can also like me on Facebook. And for my Chinese followers, I have my Weibo account as well.

Four Common British Expressions:

“A piece of cake.”

And this is very similar to “Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy,” which we've discussed in a former video.   And basically, it means very easy.   So I might come out of an easy exam saving, “That exam was a piece of cake. ”

“Break a leg!”

It actually looks really rather cruel, but I promise you it's positive.   And “Break a leg!” means “Good luck!” So before a race, before a job interview, before a test, instead of saying “Good luck!” I might say “Break a leg!”

“It cost an arm and a leg.”

And this basically means something was really expensive.   If I say, “My bag cost an arm and a leg,” I mean it cost a lot of money.

“To call it a day.”

And this means “to end a task”.   So, for example, “I'm feeling a bit tired. I think I'll call it a day. ”That means “I think I'll stop here.   Let's finish.”

Thank you so much for watching this program of “Four Common British Expressions.” I hope you like it, and I hope you've learned something.

“Tear them apart ! ”“Kill the fool! Murder the referee(裁判)!”

These are common remarks one may hear at various sporting events. At the time they are made, they may seem innocent enough. But let’s not kid ourselves. They have been known to influence behavior in such a way as to lead to real bloodshed. Volumes have been written about the way words affect us. It has been shown that words having certain connotation(涵义)may cause us to react in ways quite foreign to what we consider to be our usual humanistic behavior. I see the term “opponent” as one of those words. Perhaps the time has come to delete(删除) it from sports terrors.

The dictionary meaning of the term “opponent” is “enemy”; “one who opposes your interests. ” Thus, when a player meets an opponent, he or she may tend to treat that opponent as an enemy. At such times, winning may be the most important, and every action, no matter how rude, may be considered acceptable. I remember an incident in a handball game when a referee refused a player’s request for a time out for a glove change because he did not consider them wet enough. The player started to rub his gloves across his wet T-shirt and then shouted, “Are they wet enough now?”

In the heat of battle players have been observed to throw themselves across the court without considering the consequences(后果) that such a move might have on anyone in their way. I have also seen a player reacting to his opponent’s intentional and illegal blocking by deliberately(故意地) hitting him with the ball as hard as he could during the play. Off the court, they are good friends. Does that make any sense? It certainly gives proof of a court attitude which goes against normal behavior.

Therefore, I believe it is time we elevated(提升)the game to the level where it belongs, thereby setting an example to the rest of the sporting world. Replacing the term ”opponent“ with ”associate“ could be an ideal way to start.

The dictionary meaning of the term “associate“ is” colleague, “friend”, “companion”. Think about it! You may soon see and possibly feel the difference in your reaction to the term “associate“” rather than ”opponent".

When a language dies, so does a unique way of seeing the world. Time is running out for many tongues. Experts estimate that of the 6,700 or so languages spoken around the world, 40% could disappear by the end of the century. The UN has designated 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages to draw attention to the danger. Slowly, countries are developing more resources to the issue.

Canada aims to pass an Indigenous Language Act before its elections in October 2019. The act would give more than 65 languages spoken by First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples national recognition and teaching resources. In government-funded boarding schools, which operated from the 1880s to 1996, indigenous children faced beatings or electric shocks if they were caught using their native languages. “We want to put the same amount of effort to revitalise indigenous languages as Canada put to wipe them out,” says Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Legal recognition for a language is the first step in bringing a native culture back from the brink (边缘). Maori is one of the success stories. When it became one of New Zealand’s official languages in 1987, less than 20% of the Maori population spoke it well enough to be regarded as native speakers. Today it is off the endangered list.

The second step is to teach a new generation of native speakers. Technology is a big help. Duolingo, a popular language-learning app, recently added Hawaiian and Navajo to its courses. BASAbali, a wiki documenting Balinese, uses Facebook to reach speakers in rural areas. Say it in Saami is an online dictionary that translates modern lingo into languages spoken by the Sami people in Northern Europe.

Saving rare languages needs people to champion them. Bali now asks officials to use Balinese on Thursdays. The UN year will kick-start projects that could save thousands of tongues. The challenge in 2019 will be to get others to listen and start talking.