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We talk trash.
Hello and welcome to Authentic, Real English, where we explain expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too.
I'm Feifei and I'm joined by Georgie and that is an interesting hairstyle, Georgie.
Oh Feifei, I was really bored of my usual hairstyle, so I tried something different today, but it was a really difficult hairstyle to do and I ended up making a real pig's ear of it.
Oh, well, you could try again tomorrow.
So why would you mention a pig's ear when you're talking about a bad hairstyle?
Well, that's what we're going to learn in this programme.
What does it mean to make a pig's ear of something?
Well, if you make a pig's ear of something, you do something badly.
You've messed it up.
So I tried really hard to give myself a cool hairstyle, but I made a pig's ear of it.
My hair is a mess.
This is an informal, light-hearted idiom that you'll most likely hear in British English.
It can be used in a variety of contexts, can't it?
Yes, it can.
Feifei, when was the last time you saw someone make a pig's ear of something?
Well, the other day I saw someone trying to park their car in a tiny space and they tried to come in and out, forwards and backwards about five times and in the end they just parked diagonally.
Wow, sounds like they made a pig's ear of that.
OK, let's hear some more examples.
I had to do a presentation at work the other day, but I messed up my words and made a right pig's ear of it.
So I made my friend a birthday cake last week, but I made a bit of a pig's ear of it because I forgot to put the eggs in.
Whoops.
Look at those shelves.
Not one of them straight.
I've made a right pig's ear of them, haven't I?
你正在收听的是BBC英语教学的地道英语节目,刚刚我们一起学习了表达make a pig's ear of something的用法。 Make a pig's ear of something这个表达听上去十分滑稽,它被用来比喻把某事弄得一团糟,做得很失败,完全搞砸了。
Now, there are some ways you can modify this idiom to add emphasis.
You can add the word real and say you made a real pig's ear of that.
是的,在使用中我们可以在 pig's ear 前加上表示程度的副词 right 或者 real 来加强语气。 比如 make a real pig's ear of it 或者 make a right pig's ear of it。
OK, let's recap.
We learnt make a pig's ear of something, which means to do something badly and totally mess it up.
Thanks for joining us.
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Goodbye.
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Hello, it's Ray Winstone.
I'm here to tell you about my podcast on BBC Radio 4, History's Toughest Heroes.
I've got stories about the pioneers, the rebels, the outcasts who define tough.
And that was the first time that anybody ever ran a car up that fast with no tires on.
It almost feels like your eyeballs are going to come out of your head.
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Subscribe to History's Toughest Heroes wherever you get your podcast.