What English phrases really mean

This BBC podcast is supported by Ads outside the UK. Gets doch im hanfak. We are making kajere, with kef tu das hanfak. On big lives we take a single cultural icon.

People like Jane Fonda, George Michael, Little Richard. And we pull apart the story behind the image. And we do this by digging through the BBC's vast archives. Discovering forgotten interviews that changed exactly how we see these giants of our culture.

We're here for the messy, the brilliant, the human version of our heroes. heroes. I'm Emmanuel Jochi and Kyri and this is Big Lives. The Senate Big Lives, wherever you get your podcasts.

Understand new stories in English with our learning English from the news podcast. In each episode we talk about one big new story and the vocabulary and the headlines that will help you understand it. Follow the biggest stories in the world and improve your English.

search for learning English from the news in your podcast app or visit BBCLearningEnglish.com. 6 new English from BBCLearningEnglish.com. Hello, this is 6 minute English from BBCLearningEnglish. I'm Pippa and I'm Beth. In English, what we say and what we mean are sometimes two very different things. We often use exaggeration for

emphasis or for humour, something known as hyperbally. For example, people say I am so hungry I could eat a horse but of course no one really could. Here's presenter Michael Rosen and linguist, Derek Bowsfield discussing one example of hyperbally on BBC Radio 4's word of mouth. People do to absolutely not meet me. Yeah, or as my daughters would say, I've had a mirror today. I

want to say a mirror which is obviously short and for nightmare. What it basically means is they've had a mild and potentially slightly humorous occurrence at work. You might cool an unpleasant or difficult experience and nightmare. Derek's daughter used the word, mere, short for nightmare to describe her terrible day at work, but she was exaggerating. Her day wasn't really terrible,

more like strange or annoying. Can you remember a time when what you said wasn't really what you meant that? Well sometimes we say hi you're right which means hi are you all right like are you okay but actually we don't really want to hear the answer it just means hello doesn't that hmm yeah i have a friend who actually just says all right and they just mean hello they don't mean are you okay they don't want

I want to hear about my day. No. If you're having a bad day, they don't want to know. They're just saying, hello. In this episode, we'll be finding out more about how the meaning of words changes in English. As usual, we'll be learning some useful new words and phrases. And remember, you'll find all the vocabulary from this episode on our website, bbslearningenglish.com.

But first, I have a question for you, Beth. The word hyperbally comes from two ancient Greek words. who per and balo. But what is their literal meaning? Is it A to overthrow? B to over speak or C to over think? I have no idea, Piper. I am going to say to over speak. Okay, we'll find out the answer at the end of the program. It's not just high perbly that changes

the meaning of words. It's opposite something called understatement has the same effect too. The statement involves de-entrecising something. For example, imagine you were served in an awful meal in a restaurant, but instead of saying how bad the feed was, you just said it was less than perfect.

Here's linguist Derek Bousfield discussing understatement on BBC Radio Falls, Word of mouth. We love understatement as a way of signalling that something which more serious has gone on it, it's a kind of performative sadonic, not taking oneself too seriously.

identity when you do that. Because taking yourself too seriously is a no-knowing British culture, and so linguistically not taking yourself too seriously is really the dumb thing. Understatement is valued in British culture, unlike taking yourself too seriously. If you take yourself too seriously, you think you're more important than you really are. In Britain, this is a no-know

a way of behaving that is not socially acceptable. In other words, it's not the done thing, meaning it's not what you're expected to do in a particular social situation. Another area where the meaning of words can be easily misunderstood is apologizing. Here, Michael Rosen responds to an imaginary situation where his toe gets accidentally stepped on

by Derek Bousefield for BBC Radio 4 programme, Word of mouth. Imagine I stepped on your toe and I said, oh my, I'm really sorry and you said, it's all good. Oh, right. That probably means he doesn't. Yes, I'm actually a bit nifed. A little bit annoyed, but then I don't want to have a barney with you. You're a stranger.

So I don't want to get into a whole thing. So I say, yeah, it's all good. It's all good. Exactly. It's a bit like, I mean, that's a British English one that an equivalent American English one would be no worries. If someone tells you it's all good, they could actually be feeling miffed, an adjective meaning slightly annoyed or hurt by someone's behaviour.

But no matter how annoyed you are, you probably don't want to get into a barney, a loud argument or quarrel, so you say something like, it's all good, or no worries, and move on. As an English learner, unclear word meanings are a challenge. What depends on the situation and on the relationship between speaker and listener?

So don't be shy, get talking to others in English. And if you make a mistake, say no worries and carry on. Okay, Piper, I think it's time to reveal the answer to your question. Yes, you thought the ancient Greek words, Huper and Balo meant over speak.

But the answer was actually A to overthrow. paper means beyond and below means I throw. Oh well. Okay let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with

Mare, short for nightmare, meaning an unpleasant or difficult experience. If you take yourself too seriously, you consider yourself and your actions more important than they really are.