Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello plus member. How are you? I hope you're well. Oh, can you hear that motorbike in the background? Hopefully not. I tried to make the studio space as quiet as possible so all you can hear is my voice. I've even turned off the heater, which is, you know, quite unfortunate because it's quite cold. I'm recording this at the end of October and it's definitely turning chilly.

Speaker 1: 0:28

But today we've got an interesting little bonus episode that's related to bikes. Bicycles were one of the inventions that we discussed. In that we discussed as if I'm two people why do I say that? Bicycles were one of the inventions I talked about within the episode that I released yesterday the amazing inventions episode and I used to love riding my bike, absolutely loved it. So I thought I would give you some common idioms and a bit of slang that we often use related to the word bike.

Speaker 1: 1:08

So, as I said, I always loved riding my bike. I loved hmm, that's in the past tense. I mean, I still love riding a bike. I just don't have one right now. I haven't ridden a bike for quite a while. I do ride the exercise bike when I go to the gym. That's usually my warm up is to hop on a bike and cycle away for 20 minutes to get my heart rate up and warm up my body. But no, I haven't had a bike for maybe three years now. I do need to get one. I will get one before Christmas, because we are definitely at that point now where I need to be getting back on my bike.

Speaker 1: 1:50

So, yes, I used to love riding my bike, particularly when I was a teenager, and that's because it gave me independence. You know, at a point when I couldn't drive and I didn't have a car, I was still at school and I didn't really have much money I wasn't given that much in terms of pocket money and so I couldn't get the bus really because I'd have to pay a fare and so my bike gave me independence. I was able to go and cycle to my friend's house who lived three or four blocks away. I could cycle up to the supermarket if I needed to go and get some milk. When I was a teenager, I lived with my father for a while. My mother and father were separated and he was working often, and so I would kind of have to make myself some dinner or whatever, and sometimes we were out of food, so I'd have to cycle up to the supermarket and get something to eat and also, you know, cycle into town where you go to the shops and hang out and have fun the things you do when you're a teenager. So it was my lifeline really. It was my independence really relied upon this bicycle that I had.

Speaker 1: 3:05

And it was during those years as a teenager hanging out with my friends with our bikes, that I learned how to ride non-handed, which means I could ride a bike without putting my hands on the handlebars. I don't think I could do that anymore. I was really good at it at one point when I was a teenager because I spent so long trying to work out how to do it. And it only works if you have like a boys bike where the crossbar of the frame comes directly across, so it's kind of like a horizontal bar. It doesn't work on a ladies bike because a ladies bike frame has kind of like a diagonal bar that goes lower from it, goes from the handlebars kind of down towards the pedals rather than from the handlebars towards the seat. So you need to have like a male bike with a nice straight horizontal crossbar and that way you can kind of squeeze your knees together and use your knees to steer or at least to stabilise the bike. That's the trick your knees become the stabiliser. At least that's how it worked for me and that's what allowed me to then take my hands off the handlebars. And yeah, I love doing that. That was great fun. I felt really special just riding down the street sitting up on my bike. I see kids doing it these days and I'm always like you're so cool, I wish I could do that.

Speaker 1: 4:30

And it's also when I learned how to give a backie. Now, to give someone a backie on your bike is to have someone sit on your seat while you stand and ride, so you're giving them a ride. So sometimes I cycle around to my friend's house and she for some reason didn't have her bike and she'd like say to me hey, should we go and see our other friend? Let's take your bike, can you give me a backie? So yeah, yeah, sure. So she'd hop on my seat and hold on to the back of the saddle and I would stand up and pedal away to get her to where we needed to go. So to give a backie, we would also sometimes put people on the handlebars Very dangerous, but I think about it now. It's a very dangerous thing to do. I think at one point I might have tried having someone on my handlebars and someone on my seat. It's very hard to cycle that way and I'm sure it's not good for the tyre pressure. It's a lot of weight on one bike, but that's what we did. You know you throw caution to the wind when you're that age. You don't care, you just do what you want to do.

Speaker 1: 5:37

So the phrases that I'm going to introduce to you are number one on your bike, on your bike Now. Technically it's on your bike, but we tend to make your quite weak. So when we're speaking, we say on your bike, on your bike Now. This is a way of telling someone to go away or to get lost. It's not very nice. On your bike, on your bike, go away. You might use this more in a kind of jovial way. If someone says something that you don't believe, maybe you think they're joking with you, or maybe they're making fun of you for some reason, and you might roll your eyes with a little smile and go on your bike, go away, leave me alone. You're being unkind now. Stop it On your bike.

Speaker 1: 6:36

The next phrase is to get back in the saddle. To get back in the saddle. Now, this could relate to horse riding, but it can also relate to cycling. To get back in the saddle means to get back up and try again when you've been knocked down or unsuccessful. So, for example, literally if you fall off your bike, you fall to the ground, you scrape your knees, you have a bit of a shock and you're frightened. Then the best thing to do is to get back in the saddle. You need to get back on the bike so that you don't develop a long-term fear of the bike.

Speaker 1: 7:18

But we also use this phrase metaphorically to talk about anything. You know, if you are working in a really high-pressure job and, for whatever reason, you suddenly get to a point where you can't do it anymore, you need some time off because you're super stressed, you're heading for a breakdown, you need to stop. So you take four weeks off and then you get to a point where you're feeling better and you know you either have to get back in the saddle or completely change your career, do something completely different, because you're starting to feel nervous about going back to work. So the best thing to do is get back in the saddle. So to return to the thing that caused the problem in the first place and just try and cope with it.

Speaker 1: 8:05

The next phrase is to backpedal, to backpedal If you backpedal, do you remember backpedaling on your bike? You actually turn the wheels backwards, turn the pedals backwards, but nothing would happen. It wouldn't actually make you go backwards. But when we talk about backpedaling, we're actually talking about reversing or going backwards on your opinion or your actions. So let's say that I am a headmistress of a very prestigious secondary school and I say that the girls in the school are not allowed to wear their jumpers during the summer months. But then so many parents and students complain, and teachers alike complain to you that this is a ridiculous rule, that even during the summer we have some very cold spells and it should be completely up to the students whether or not they feel warm or comfortable enough to be in their blouses or their shirts and if they want to wear their jumpers, they should be allowed to wear their jumpers. So if that were the case, if I had enough pushback, then I might have to backpedal and make another announcement, saying since my previous announcement about jumpers in the summer months, it has come to my attention that perhaps there are some occasions during the summer where a jumper would be appropriate. Or I am going to say that jumpers can be worn at any time in the year and it is completely up to the student whether a jumper is required. So in that case, I am backpedalling. I am backpedalling. I am going back on something that I have said.

Speaker 1: 9:58

The next phrase is to freewheel. Now, to freewheel is to do something or behave in a very relaxed and casual way without making much effort. So you are just freewheeling, just like. Oh and I love this when you are on your bike and you are cycling really hard and you come to a point where there is a slight downward slope Laughter Wow, screenaser looks great and it is so firm to accommodate we or a big hill, and you just stop pedaling and you pick up speed and you're just going. You've got so much momentum and you're just enjoying it. You sit up and you allow the wind to just blow through your hair and you can just breathe and enjoy it. I love that. So that's freewheeling. If you're just doing something in a really relaxed and casual way, without making much effort, you're freewheeling.

Speaker 1: 10:55

Now, you might have heard the phrase that something is like riding a bike, and this means that it's really easy. It's easy to remember. It's something you've done before, that perhaps you haven't done for a long time, but that it will come back to you, just like riding a bike. So imagine you haven't been on your bike for five years, but you cycled a lot as a child. You're not going to forget how to ride a bike. It's kind of muscle memory you've. You've learned it. It's a physical skill. You can't forget how to ride a bike. So when you get back on a bike, super easy. Well, you know, there's a lot of things in life that are the same. If you don't do them for a long time, the chances are when you come back to it you'll still be able to do it.

Speaker 1: 11:43

Language is probably different. If you don't use your language for a long time, then you're likely to forget. I'm talking about second languages, not native languages. Like I, you know, can barely remember any of the languages that I've been learning over the years. At one point I could speak conversational Croatian, for example, and now I can only remember a couple of words because I haven't used it in over a decade and my partner was fluent in Thai and I'm sure he would struggle now to speak Thai to someone. So that's probably one thing. That's not like riding a bike. You would have to work hard to regain your level. The same with gymnastics I can probably do a few skills, but because with gymnastics you need a certain amount of, like, muscular strength and that strength and flexibility for me has definitely declined during my absence in the gym, then going back to gymnastics will not be like riding a bike. When I finally return to gymnastics it will be a painful experience, but I won't let that put me off. I will go back one day.

Speaker 1: 13:01

And so the final phrase that I wanted to introduce to you was a slang phrase, and it's calling someone a bike or the town bike. If and it's usually a lady if you, if you or someone else refers to a lady as the town bike, then it's not very nice. You're saying that they are a promiscuous woman, someone who and this, actually, I have heard this used for men as well, but it is predominantly women, because and I'm being very blunt with you here it means that she sleeps around or they sleep around, they have sex with lots of different people, because you, you know, you ride a bike and often, from a sexual point of view, we refer to the position of sex as a woman being ridden. You ride a woman. This is all getting a bit deep. So, yes, if someone is quite promiscuous, moves around lots of many different intimate partners, then you could describe them as being a bit of a bike. So the town bike yeah, not a nice phrase to use, so to avoid using it. But if you hear it, you know what's being suggested.

Speaker 1: 14:20

So let's look over those again. We have on your bike meaning to get lost, to go away, to get back in the saddle, to return to something after a fail or after a fall or after something that made you feel bad. So let's get back to it so that you're not scared. To return To backpedal, which is to reverse on your actions or your opinions or something you've said. To freewheel, which is to act in a relaxed and casual way and do something without making much effort. I'm just freewheeling To return to something and to know that it's as easy as riding a bike. It will come back to you. You'll remember everything as soon as you start doing it. It's as easy as riding a bike and to call someone the town bike or simply a bike. So that brings me to the end of this little bicycle episode. I do hope you found it useful. Until next time, take very good care and goodbye, or should I say goodbye, bye, guys.