Hello and welcome to the English Like A Native podcast.
My name is Anna and you're listening to week 44, day one of Your English Five A Day, the second season.
Is your English fire burning in the pit of your stomach?
Well, I do hope it is.
And if it isn't, if the fire is dying down, then I'm here to throw some kindling onto your fire so it burns brightly.
Because with that passion, you can form the habit that you need in order to finally achieve fluency.
So here I am with my kindling.
All you have to do is sit back and listen.
Remember that you can always visit the vocabulary we're covering today and all the vocabulary from the entire season and the previous season by jumping into our vocabulary vault.
I'll leave a link to that.
It's free to access.
It's in the show notes.
So now let's begin, as we always do, with a snapshot of what's to come.
Everyone in the garage was paid cash in hand, so we all knew to keep our mouths shut when inspectors came by.
When rumours spread that there was a grass among us, I quietly tucked my wages away, just in case.
In hindsight, I should have left the job sooner.
Honesty would have cost less than loyalty.
OK, let's dissect that vocabulary, starting with the noun grass.
G-R-A-S-S.
Now, I'm not talking about that lovely green stuff that we like to roll around on.
This is a grass, an informer.
Someone who tells authorities about someone else's wrongdoing.
There is a negative connotation to this noun.
You would imagine that telling the police about criminal activity is a good thing to do.
It's a good thing in that case to be a grass.
But when you call someone a grass, it's negative.
For example, if a group of friends agree to do something a little bit naughty together.
They're going to go somewhere.
Maybe their parents have said they're not allowed to go.
They're teenagers.
They're not allowed to go to the field, but they decide together they'll secretly go to the field.
If one of those friends then later reveals to their parents that they went to the field, then that person is a grass.
They've let the cat out of the bag.
They've revealed the secret that they promised to keep.
They are now a grass.
So here's another example.
Nobody likes a grass.
You shouldn't tell the teacher who broke the window.
OK, next we have the idiom keep your mouth shut.
Keep your mouth shut.
Four words.
Keep, K-E-E-P, your, Y-O-U-R, mouth, M-O-U-T-H, shut.
S H U T. Keep your mouth shut.
This is a very strong request or order asking you not to say anything.
Remain silent, particularly about something.
It doesn't mean that you have to be silent completely.
It just means don't say anything about the secret.
Don't reveal any details about this thing.
So, for example, if I am planning to move abroad but I haven't yet told my best friend, if my partner and I go and see my best friend for lunch and I don't want my partner to let my best friend know, I might say keep your mouth shut about moving abroad.
It's a bit harsh and I probably wouldn't personally say that to anyone I like because it's a little bit rude.
It's a little bit direct.
But what I'm asking my partner is, not to say anything about that particular subject.
I don't expect them to sit through lunch completely silent.
That would be very rude and a bit odd.
Okay, here's another example.
If you want to keep your job, you'd better keep your mouth shut about what you saw.
Next, we have the adverb cash in hand.
Cash in hand.
Three words.
Cash.
C-A-S-H.
In.
Hand, H-A-N-D.
If something is paid cash in hand, then it's paid using cash directly.
So there's no official records or documentation.
I'm not making a digital payment.
I'm paying in cash.
So there are many local service people gardeners or plumbers or builders who prefer to be paid cash, cash in hand, because that way they can decide whether or not to tell the taxman.
It's a little bit naughty.
But it does happen.
I'm sure you know of someone who would prefer to be paid cash in hand.
So here's an example.
The gardener preferred to be paid cash in hand at the end of each day.
Next, we have the collocation in hindsight.
In hindsight.
We spell hindsight H-I-N-D-S-I-G-H-T in hindsight.
This means looking back at a past event with the understanding that you have now, rather than how you saw it before.
So, looking back at a past event with the understanding you have now, with the benefit of knowing what happened afterwards,
For example, if I bake a humongous cake for my son's birthday, but half the children don't eat cake.
Some of the children didn't even attend the party and none of the parents wanted to cheat by eating cake before dinner.
And I'm left with a huge amount of cake to then take home and do something with.
In hindsight.
So after the party now, knowing what I know, In hindsight I should have made a smaller cake.
Here's another example.
In hindsight, I should have saved more money when I was younger.
Next and last on today's list of fabulous phrases, we have a phrasal verb, tuck away.
Tuck away.
Two words, tuck, T-U-C-K, away, A-W-A-Y.
To tuck away is to store or save something carefully in a safe place.
For example, she tucked away a portion of her salary each month for emergencies.
Now, the only thing I tuck away these days for emergencies is a bar of chocolate.
I have it safely tucked away in my bottom drawer so that no one can snaffle it.
And when no one's looking, I nibble away.
OK, that's our five.
So let's do a quick recap.
We started with the noun grass.
To be a grass is to be an informer, someone who tells authorities about someone else's wrongdoing.
A grass.
Then we had the idiom keep your mouth shut, which is asking someone to remain silent about something.
Keep your mouth shut.
We have the adverb cash in hand, which is when you're paid using cash directly, not digitally.
There are no official records.
You are paid cash in hand.
We have the collocation in hindsight, which is when you look back at a past event with your current understanding, with the benefit of knowing what happened afterwards in hindsight.
And we finished with the phrasal verb tuck away.
To store or save something carefully in a safe place.
Tuck away.
Now, I'd like you to raise your voice and repeat out loud after me.
A grass.
A grass.
Keep your mouth shut.
Keep your mouth shut.
Cash in hand.
Cash in hand.
In hindsight.
In hindsight.
Tuck away.
Tuck away.
Fabulous.
Alright, now you know the target vocabulary, listen to the snapshot once more.
Everyone in the garage was paid cash in hand, so we all knew to keep our mouths shut when inspectors came by.
When rumours spread that there was a grass among us, I quietly tucked my wages away just in case.
In hindsight, I should have left the job sooner.
Honesty would have cost less than loyalty.
Now I'd like you to keep your ears open and see if you can spot our target vocabulary as we head into my favourite part of the episode.
That's right, it's story time.
Liam needed money.
His landlord wanted the rent and his cupboards were empty.
So when his mate Danny mentioned a job at a warehouse, Liam didn't ask too many questions.
It's easy work, Danny said.
Moving boxes, sorting stock.
They pay cash in hand every Friday.
The warehouse sat on an industrial estate on the edge of town.
Inside, it was enormous and cold.
Rows of metal shelves stretched to the ceiling, packed with boxes of trainers phones, laptops and designer bags.
Just move everything from the loading bays to the correct shelves, his new boss Matt told him.
Matt wore expensive clothes and had cold eyes.
And keep your mouth shut about what you see here.
Understand?
Liam nodded.
He needed this job.
For the first week, everything seemed normal.
Liam arrived at six. worked until two and collected his wages in £20 notes.
He tucked the money away in a box under his bed, grateful to have it.
But questions started forming in his mind.
Why were there no company logos on the boxes?
Why did some of the trainers still have security tags attached?
Why did vans arrive in the middle of the night?
In his second week, Liam found a phone that had been left on.
He picked it up and saw messages from someone called Samira.
Please, if you find this, call the police.
It was stolen from my car.
His stomach dropped.
He looked around the warehouse with new eyes.
This wasn't a normal business.
These goods were stolen.
That night, Liam couldn't sleep.
He thought about Samira and her phone.
He thought about all the other people who'd had their property taken.
But he also thought about his rent and his empty fridge.
In hindsight, the signs had been obvious from the start.
The cash payments, Matt's warnings, the way the other workers never talked about their personal lives.
He'd been stupid not to see it.
The next morning, Danny pulled him aside.
Matt thinks you're asking too many questions, Danny said quietly.
Be careful, mate.
Nobody here is a grass and nobody wants one working alongside them.
Liam felt fear run through him.
What would happen if he went to the police?
What would happen if he didn't?
He made it through that Friday. collected his wages and walked out of the warehouse.
He had several £20 notes in his pocket.
In his mind was a decision he had to make.
Could he keep working there, knowing the truth?
Or would he risk everything and do the right thing?
Liam stood at the bus stop the money heavy in his pocket and wondered if he'd already crossed a line he couldn't come back from.
What would you do in that scenario?
All right.
That is the end of today's episode.
I do hope that you enjoyed it.
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So until tomorrow, take very good care of yourself and goodbye.
