Hello everyone, this is Helen from Shenzhen, China.
And you're listening to Everybody ESL. Thank you.
Welcome to episode 428. of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English. practice their English, or just learn more English.
My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today. where I am going to teach you about one English topic.
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Okay, let's get on with this mini episode.
In this episode, I am going to teach you a very common idiom.
The idiom is a taste of your own medicine.
A taste of your own medicine. taste t-a-s-t-e of your own M-E-D-I-C-I-N-E.
A taste of your own medicine. What do you think this might mean, a taste of your own medicine? you might not be able to guess what this means exactly.
We use it in situations where somebody experiences the same bad treatment or bad behavior that they usually give to other people.
Does that sound too complicated? I don't think it's actually very complicated, but that explanation might make it seem like it's complicated.
Let me give you an example of a situation where we might use the phrase, a taste of your own medicine.
Imagine there is a person you know who always gossips about other people.
In other words, she always talks about other people's private business. talking about and thinking about the bad things that they're doing or the things that they might not want people This friend is always gossiping.
Now, let's imagine that somebody else is gossiping about that person.
Somebody else is spreading rumors about that person.
Somebody else is sharing private, personal information about that person. we might say that person is getting a taste of her own medicine.
She is getting a taste of her own medicine.
We use this expression here because this person is now receiving the same bad treatment that she gives other people.
It's a little bit strange that we use medicine in this negative way in this idiom.
Medicine is usually a positive thing. Medicine helps us.
It makes us feel better or it helps to cure some kind of illness. may be the reason we use medicine in this idiom. is because medicine often has a very bad taste.
And so, when we say you are getting a taste of your own medicine, we mean you are tasting that same unpleasant, bitter thing that you give to other people.
Even though I described this idiom as getting a taste of your own medicine, It really works for any pronoun.
So you can say, I am getting a taste of... my own medicine, or she is getting a taste of her own medicine.
You are getting a taste of your own medicine.
He... is getting a taste of his own medicine. and so on.
It does not always have to be your own medicine.
And that is a taste of your own medicine, a common and useful idiom. that I think you should know.
This is the end of episode 428 of Everybody ESL.
Remember, if you have questions about English or if you have comments for me, Or if you would like to record an introduction, that I can play at the beginning of future episodes the same way Helen recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode, send an email to everybodyesl at gmail.com.
I'll be back soon with a new episode and until then, keep going, keep practicing and keep learning.
I'll see you soon. Goodbye.
