Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you are listening to a series called Your English Five a Day, where we deep dive into five pieces of vocabulary every day of the working week from Monday through to Friday. This particular day is Week Eight, Day Three, and our list begins with the adjective recurring, recurring. We spell this R E C U R R I N G. Recurring. If something is described as recurring then it happens many times, over and over again. Okay. Here is an example sentence."My son suffers from a recurring nightmare that he is trapped in a cave and it's freezing cold." Personally, I do suffer with a recurring ailment. I am quite prone to mouth ulcers. It's genetic, we've had it investigated, and unfortunately when I become run down, I'm tired and overworked, then my mouth erupts into all these awful sores, which is not ideal when you are a podcaster or a pronunciation teacher. So I have recurring ulcers. Recurring ulcers. Do you have any recurring ailments or anything recurring in your life? Number two on our list of five is the adjective ironic, ironic. We spell this I R O N I C, ironic. Ironic means using words that suggest the opposite of what you intend, usually in order to be humorous. This word always makes me think of the Alanis Morissette song,'Ironic'. And she says things like, an old man turns 98. He won the lottery and then died the next day. That's ironic. Or, getting a death row pardon two minutes too late. Or a free ride, you're offered a free ride after you've paid. Oh no! And the good advice that you didn't take it's just ironic, ironic. And here is an example sentence."It's ironic that you ask me to write an article about successful relationships the day after my long term boyfriend dumps me." Okay, moving on to number three. We have a noun perception, perception. We spell this P E R C E P T I O N, perception. Perception. Perception is a belief or opinion often held by many people and based on how things seem. So it's your belief based on how things seem, not necessarily based on truth. Here's an example sentence."There is a general perception that exams are becoming easier to pass." Have you ever held a perception that has turned out to be incorrect? Or has anyone been able to change your perception? We often have a perception of a person that over time can change as we get to know them a little better and understand them a little better. Alright. So, next we have number four, a noun, but this is also slang, and it is couch potato. It's spelt C O U C H, couch, like sofa, or settee, a couch. Potato, just like the vegetable, P O T A T O, potato. Couch potato. If someone describes you as a couch potato, then they're saying you're a person who watches a lot of television, sitting on your couch being inactive, just watching. So it would describe someone who's perhaps a bit lazy or at the time being lazy. So an active person could be a couch potato on occasion. I've certainly been known to be a couch potato particularly in the evenings. I'm a bit of a couch potato. Here's an example sentence."Oh, I was a real couch potato last week, I just couldn't motivate myself to get out there and do anything." Last on our list is the phrasal verb squeeze in, squeeze in. How do you spell squeeze in? Well, it's S Q U E E Z E, squeeze. In, I N. Squeeze in. Okay. So to squeeze something or someone in is to manage to do something or see someone in a very short period of time, usually when you are very busy. So if your schedule doesn't really allow the time to meet someone for coffee, but you really, really want to meet them for coffee, you'll say to them,"I will try to squeeze you in." Or if you don't have much time to exercise in the morning, but you really need to exercise, you might try and squeeze in a 20-minute walk or a 10-minute stretch session in your office before taking your first call of the day. So to squeeze something in is to make something happen or see someone when you're very, very busy. Here's another example sentence."I'm very busy this week, but I could squeeze you in at 2.30 on Tuesday." And that was our five for today. So let's do a quick recap. We had the adjective recurring, to happen over and over again. We had the adjective ironic, words that suggest the opposite of what you intend, and it's often to be funny. Then we had the noun perception, which is a belief or an opinion based on how things seem to be. We have the noun couch potato, which is a person who sits on the couch and watches a lot of TV, doesn't do very much. And the phrasal verb squeeze in, so to fit in to a busy schedule, something that you want to do or someone that you want to see. Let's do one more round for pronunciation purposes. Please repeat after me. Recurring. Ironic. Perception. Couch potato. Squeeze in. Very good. Let's bring all of those words together in one story. You know how it is, trying to fit in everything that life throws at you on a daily basis. Well, here's a nice little story about a lady who did just that. Marissa, a mother of three, who had to juggle corporate life, family duties, and her hobby of flower arranging. She was a busy woman, who loved her family, her job, and her flowers, and although every day presented a new challenge, she was determined to make it work. As with most people who spin too many plates, things soon began to drop, and with that came stress and general feelings of dissatisfaction in life. On reflection, Marissa realised that she had been neglecting her hobby of flower arranging. She had been so busy with work and family that she had forgotten about the joy that flowers brought her. She decided to make a change and started to squeeze in some time for her favourite activity. It was ironic that the thing that brought her the most joy was the thing that she had been neglecting. She started to see things in a new light and realised that her perception of what was important had been skewed. She had been so focused on work and family that she'd forgotten about the things that made her happy. Determined to make flower arranging a recurring part of her life, she started to make time for it every single day, even if it was just for a few minutes. She found that it helped her to relax and unwind after a long day at work. She was no longer a couch potato at weekends, but a woman who was passionate about her hobby. She found that she was more productive at work and more present with her family when she took the time to do things that made her happy. In conclusion, this mother of three learned that it's important to make time for the things that bring you joy. It may seem like a small thing, but it can make a big difference in your life. So, go ahead and squeeze in some time for your hobbies. You won't regret it! And that brings us to the end of today's session. Thank you so much for joining me. I do hope you found today useful. Until next time, take very good care and goodbye.