VOA · Words and Their Stories
Advanced · C1learner speed5:132024-07-25public domain
Words and Their Stories is VOA's classic program about American English expressions and idioms — where phrases like 'break the ice' come from and how to use them. Native-like idioms in slow, clear speech: a rare combination for learners.
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01And now, words and their stories from VOA Learning English.
02Today, we talk about those times when things do not go as planned.
03All the planning in the world does not guarantee that your plans will happen the way you had planned.
04Things can happen that are outside of your control.
05To talk about those times when things go awry, American English has two directional expressions.
06Go south and go sideways.
07Let's start with go south.
08If something goes south, it stops working or falls apart.
09It can also mean that something decreases in value or loses quality.
10We often use it to describe a situation where everything has gone wrong.
11Loses your reservation.
12That makes for a vacation that has gone south.
13Now, let's hear two friends use this expression.
14So, how is your friend's new bakery doing?
15She opened it earlier this year, right?
16She did.
17But then she ran into trouble.
18Her investor pulled out.
19And then her head baker quit.
20So, her business went south pretty quickly after that.
21Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
22But I'm not surprised.
23You need a lot of money up front to start a business.
24And for a bakery, you definitely need a baker.
25Well, it didn't help that another bakery with lower prices opened down the street.
26Her business was bound to go south after that.
27Sideways is another direction you don't want your projects or efforts to go.
28As a direction word, sideways means to go to either side, not forward or backward.
29As an idiomatic expression, to go sideways also means things do not go as planned.
30But this expression can be used a little differently from going south.
31Often, when things go sideways, they go wrong in strange ways.
32In other words, things get weird.
33Sometimes you want things to go sideways.
34For example, a good story often goes sideways.
35You think it's going to go in one direction, but then there is a plot twist.
36Situations change, and the story goes in an unexpected direction.
37Used this way, going sideways, is a good thing.
38But what about on a family camping trip?
39Let's hear this expression used in that situation.
40How was your family camping trip?
41It was okay, but some really strange things happened.
42Nature things.
43Tell me more.
44What happened?
45Well, the first night, a raccoon stole all my food.
46The second night, while I slept, spiders spun webs all over my tent.
47And then, on the third day, while I was swimming in the lake, a fish bit me.
48That is a lot of weird nature stuff.
49I didn't even know fish could bite.
50Me neither.
51But I guess on a camping trip that's gone sideways, anything is possible.
52And that's the end of this Words and Their Stories.
53Until next time, I'm Ana Mateo.
54The End of the Week The End of the Week The End of the Week The End of the Week The End of the Week The End of the Week
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