Hi everyone, this is Ali from China.
You're listening to Everybody ESL.
Welcome to episode 453 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 an interesting phrase.
The phrase is burst your bubble.
Burst your bubble.
That's B-U-R-S-T-Y-O-U-R bubble.
B-U-B-B-L-E, burst your bubble.
Of course, it's not always your bubble.
It could be burst his bubble, burst her bubble, burst my bubble, burst their bubble, and so on.
What does this expression mean?
What does it mean to burst someone's bubble?
First of all, what does burst mean?
What does it mean to burst something?
To burst something means to pop something, to ruin it by popping it.
When we talk about bursting something, we might be talking about a balloon or, as in this expression, a bubble.
We use burst your bubble to mean to making someone feel bad by telling them the truth about something.
Imagine that somebody believes something that is not true and that untrue belief makes them feel happy.
Maybe it's some kind of fantasy they have, or just an incorrect belief about something.
If you tell them the truth about their incorrect belief or about their fantasy and they feel bad as a result, then we could say that you have burst their bubble.
You will often hear this phrase burst your bubble used as part of a larger sentence that starts with something like this
I'm sorry to burst your bubble but, Or I hate to burst your bubble but, And then telling them the truth about something.
Here's an example of a situation where you might hear someone say, burst your bubble.
Let's say that your friend is very excited because it is winter and your friend loves winter activities like ice skating.
Your friend is very excited imagining going ice skating this weekend.
You have looked at the weather report and you know that it will not be cold enough for ice skating anytime soon.
You know that your friend is wrong when she is having these happy thoughts or happy fantasies about going ice skating this weekend.
You might say to your friend I hate to burst your bubble, but It is not going to be cold enough for ice skating this weekend.
I hate to burst your bubble, but In other words, I know you're very happy about this incorrect belief or this fantasy, but now I'm telling you the truth, even though I know it might make you feel sad or disappointed.
I guess we use this expression because a bubble is something that is very pretty and also very fragile.
It is very easy to pop a bubble.
And that is burst your bubble, an interesting phrase that I think you should know.
This is the end of episode 453 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, Ellie recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode.
Send an email to everybodyesl at gmailcom.
I'll be back soon with another episode.
And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning.
I'll see you soon.
Goodbye.
