179.- A close shave. PROFESOR.

 

 

 

 

 

Summary

Rob is nearly knocked off his bike but he describes his near miss with an expression that confuses Feifei. What has shaving got to do with it? Find out in the programme.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript

Feifei
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak with me Feifei…

Rob
…and me Rob. Hello.

Feifei
Erm, Rob, are you OK? You’ve got some cuts on your face.

Rob
Oh well, yes, I’ve had a bit of a bad morning.

Feifei           
I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?

Rob
I was cycling into the office and some idiot ran out in the road, right in front of me.

Feifei
Crikey – did you hit him?

Rob
No – but it was a close shave.

Feifei
A close shave? Did he have a razor?!

Rob
No Feifei – that would have hurt. This is an expression that describes a dangerous or unpleasant situation that has only just been avoided. It almost happened… but it didn’t.

Feifei
Lucky for you! So you’re saying you nearly had an accident but you didn’t? 

Rob
Exactly. Let’s hear some more examples of this phrase…

Examples
We ran to catch the train – it was a close shave but we just managed to get on.

I had a close shave when a fast car just missed me as I was crossing the road.

It was close shave but I don’t think my mum saw us smoking.

Feifei
So, a close shave describes a situation where you have a narrow escape from something bad. So you had a narrow escape this morning Rob?

Rob
I did. Why don’t people look when they cross the road?! I could have ended up falling off my bike and being hit by a bus.

Feifei
But hold on Rob – if you didn’t fall off your bike, why have you got those cuts on your face?

Rob
Oh… these! Well, I had a shave this morning and used a blunt razor.

Feifei
Ouch! So you really did have ‘a close shave’!

Rob
Ha ha. You’re as sharp as a razor Feifei! I mean intelligent or sharp-witted.

Feifei
Unlike your razor.

Both
Bye!