British English - Learn new expressions & check your listening comprehension

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Today's speaker - Chris 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 thanks mate! Full Transcript: Today's native speaker says he didn't let his nerves get to him. What does he mean by that? Let's listen and try and find out more. Okay so let's take a listen to what today's native speaker said. The topic is a company meeting. We'll listen for about 30 seconds and then go through the script. If you're ready let's take a listen. My place of work always has these weekly meetings. Each week a different member of Staff gets up there and gives a small talk. Usually about something positive like team building or self-improvement... Anyway, if no one volunteers then the managers picks someone at random. I'd kind of prepared something just in case but I'd never volunteered before. I figured it would look better than getting called on so I bit the bullet and just went for it. And actually it wasn't so bad. The speech itself wasn't particularly special but I was pretty proud that I volunteered and didn't let my nerves get to me. Okay so let's take a closer look at that. My place of work always has these weekly meetings and each week a different member of Staff gets up there and gives a small talk. So getting up there is implying that the person is presenting to the public. It means that they're getting up on a stage. It doesn't always mean that. There doesn't necessarily have to be a stage but we have this idea of talking or expressing yourself to a group of people. For example you're funnier than the comedian you should get up there. In that example there is some kind of stage. And there's also get out there - now the difference between the two is if someone's getting themselves out there... then... they want to be a bit more social. If you want your friend to get out there - maybe they're single, maybe they need to start dating again. You'd say oh you need to get yourself out there. And gives a small talk... Now saying a small talk instead of just small talk changes the meaning completely. So a small talk - noun - is a formal presentation or some kind of business pitch. He gave a talk about newly discovered fossils. So this is presenting in front of people. Perhaps on a stage again. Versus Small Talk, which is talking about the weather, hobbies or anything just to avoid an awkward silence. For example I don't like small talk. So just missing that 'a' in there can make a world of difference. Now hopefully from the context of being at work hopefully we picked up that it is a small talk... Usually about something positive like team building or self-improvement. Anyway, if no one volunteers then the managers pick someone at random. You can say at random, randomly. Basically it looks like everybody's just looking at their feet. Nobody wants to volunteer. Okay... Dave, how about you? I'd kind of prepared something just in case but I've never volunteered before. I figured it would look better than getting called on. So firstly we say I figured. Now it's not exactly the same as saying I figured out the answer or I figured out a problem. We often use it just to mean giving an opinion. For example I figured it was best to leave him alone. That's not like a right or wrong answer but we often use it that way. And that's exactly how the speaker is using it here. It means I thought or I sensed... I figured it would look better than getting called on. And getting called on... I believe it's more used in America. I'm not entirely sure but I do hear it from time to time. It's to be asked to answer a question or do something. This is something quite official - either in a meeting or at school. For example the teacher called on James but he didn't know the answer. So what he's saying is he thought that volunteering, to offer something, would look better or seem better to the the boss or the managers than if they had just called on him and said okay we're choosing you at random. So I bit the bullet and just went for it. Now bit the bullet is an expression you may or may not have heard before. It means to do something unpleasant you don't want to do or like a bold move. Just bite the bullet already, you'll be glad when it's over. It's not a very... It's usually not a pleasant thing. It's something that maybe you're a little bit scared to do, a little bit anxious. So you might also say to just do it, just get it over with or even 'take the plunge' is another similar expression. So... and then he said and just went for it which is basically saying the same thing twice. Biting the bullet means to just go for it so he's just adding stress. He's just kind of saying the same thing again. So I bit the bullet and just went for it. It's quite common to hear those together. And actually it wasn't so bad. Now that makes sense because he's saying "actually I was surprised. I thought it was going to be bad. That's why I said bit the bullet. But actually it wasn't". The speech itself wasn't particularly special but I was pretty proud that I volunteered and didn't let my nerves get to me. Now if we look at letting your nerves get to you - it means to let yourself become nervous. "I wasn't prepared which was probably why my nerves got to me". And please be careful not to mistake it with 'to get on my nerves' which means to get angry or to get really uh frustrated. So that's again something to be careful of. But if we look back here. Why is he feeling proud? Not because of the speech or not because of what he said. He was proud because he volunteered and that was the thing that he was nervous about doing. Which is why he said he bit the bullet. So that's it for this video. If you'd like to go back again you can shadow it, you can play around with the speed thanks to KZbin, and take another listen. See if you can follow and understand a bit more. [The bits] you didn't get last time (I misspoke). And of course if you want to use one of the examples and make your own example sentence then please do so in the comments and I'll take a look. But that's it for today. Thanks very much for watching and I'll see you next time.