Hello and welcome to The English Like A Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 28, Day 2 of Your English Five A Day. In this series, I'm hoping to grow your vocabulary by introducing five items every day of the working week from Monday to Friday. If that's not enough, there's also a bigger episode released on Saturday. And if you need even more, Plus Members get access to a bonus episode on Sunday. If you want to know more about Plus Membership, I'll leave a link in the show notes. So let's start today's list with the adjective underlying. Underlying. We spell this U N D E R L Y I N G. Underlying. Underlying. If something is described as underlying, then it's something that's hidden or not easily seen. This is often used when talking about conditions or health problems. For example, my son had a problem with eczema for the first year of his life and it took quite a while for us to discover that he had underlying health conditions. He had allergies to different things that were causing the eczema that we were completely unaware of. Again, underlying is often also coupled with the word issue or underlying problem when referring to anything that may have a hidden issue or a hidden problem. Here's an example,"The underlying issue in many rocky relationships is a lack of trust." Alright, moving on. The next item is a noun and it is pinkie promise. Pinkie promise. We spell this pinkie, P I N K I E. Promise, P R O M I S E. Pinkie promise. A pinkie promise is a common phrase used between friends to solidify a promise, and it usually is accompanied by each person linking their little fingers together. So, your pinkie is like a slang term for your little finger. That's your pinkie. So when you say, I promise, using this phrase, you'd say pinkie promise while holding up your little finger and then the other person will hold up their little finger and you'll connect your little fingers, like shaking hands, but just with your pinkies and you agree, you accept the promise and you agree to it. Pinkie promise. I promise. Okay, here's an example sentence,"I pinkie promise to keep your secret safe and never tell anyone!" So pinkie promise is often associated with younger people. It's definitely something that you would expect a child to say, or maybe a teenager, or maybe an adult to a child, or maybe an adult to an adult in a very familiar and cute way. Let's move on. The next item on our list is a verb and it is ditch. Ditch. We spell this D I T C H. Ditch. To ditch something or someone is to get rid of it or abandon it. It's like you put it down and you walk away. So if I am out on a date, and it's going really badly... I would never do this, but if I was having a terrible time and I really didn't like the person, as we are getting to our venue, I might just walk in the opposite direction and just leave him wherever it is that we were, just leave him behind. Then he could use the word ditch. She ditched me. She just ditched me in the middle of London. I didn't know what was going on. Of course I would never do that. I'm much more respectful than that. Or I might decide to ditch a project if it's too overwhelming and I can't cope with it. I might just ditch it. Just abandon it, walk away, never think about it again. Have you ever been ditched? Or have you ever ditched something? Here's another example,"I had to ditch my old car because it kept breaking down." Right, next on the list is another verb and it is Reminisce. Reminisce. We spell this R E M I N I S C E. Reminisce. To reminisce is to remember a past event or experience with a sense of happiness. It's not just about recalling the past, it's about reliving it and thinking about it in a way that makes you feel happy. You reminisce. You don't reminisce about bad experiences, but you do reminisce about nice things. Things that you enjoyed. Times that you are fond of. Here's an example,"As we flipped through old photo albums, we couldn't help but reminisce about our childhood holidays." Okay, last on the list is an idiom, and it is to have someone's back. To have someone's back. Have, H A V E, someone's back. Someone's, S O M E O N E S, someone's back, B A C K. To have someone's back is to support and protect another person in any situation. So you're basically saying, I'm there to protect you if you need it. I have your back. Sometimes you might hear someone saying, I've got your back. I've got your back. I have your back or I have got your back. Okay. So this is like when you have a bond with someone. So it might be a family member or a very good friend. It could even be a work colleague that you're saying you're going to protect. I'll look after you. Don't you worry. I've got your back. I have your back on this. Okay, here's an example,"I know you've been going through hard times recently, but don't worry, I've got your back." It's always nice to know when someone's got your back. It's nice to feel supported. Alright, let's now recap today's list. We started with the adjective underlying, underlying, which describes something that's hidden or not easily seen. Then we have the noun pinkie promise, which is a common phrase used between friends to solidify a promise. We had the verb, ditch, to ditch, which is to get rid of something or abandon it. Then we had the verb reminisce, which is to remember the past with a sense of happiness. And we had the idiom to have someone's back, which is to support and protect another person in any situation because you care about them. Alright, let's do this for pronunciation. Please repeat after me. Underlying. Underlying. Pinkie promise. Pinkie promise. Ditch. Ditch. Reminisce. Reminisce. Have someone's back. Have someone's back. Very good. Alright, let me now test your memory. If I want to tell someone they can rely on me and make a very special vow. What common phrase could I use, especially if I'm a younger person, what common phrase would I use while holding up my little finger? Pinkie promise. I pinkie promise. But if I broke my promise and you decided, well, that's a terrible thing to do to break your pinkie promise. We shook pinkies and everything. You might now decide to get rid of me as a friend, to abandon me because I'm a terrible friend. What verb could we use here to abandon me? What verb would you use instead? To ditch. Yes, to ditch me. And that's understandable. I broke my pinkie promise. Therefore, you are well within your rights to ditch me. And after you've ditched me, I might think back to our friendship and the times we spent together with a sense of happiness. What verb could I use to describe this type of remembering? Reminisce. I'm reminiscing about the past before I broke my pinkie promise and before you ditched me. What should have happened is I should have supported you and protected you in any situation. What idiom could I use here to describe what I should have done? I should have had your back. I should have had your back, but I didn't have your back. But I should have done. We were best friends. That's what friends are for. But, after considering what went wrong, I realised that there was a hidden issue. An issue that no one really knew about, that I probably should have brought up and addressed much earlier. What adjective can I use to describe this hidden issue? Underlying issue. Yes, there was an underlying issue all along which was my severe anxiety. My severe anxiety meant that I was being very selfish and thinking about myself and not others, which made me a terrible friend. I didn't have my friend's back. I broke a pinkie promise. She ditched me, which is understandable. I then had to address my underlying issues. And, you know, having reminisced about our wonderful friendship, I decided that I was going to go and make it up to my friend. I was going to win her over again. Okay, let's bring these items together in context, in today's story time. It was the last day of the summer holidays and the three best friends, Sadie, Kiera and Ellie, gathered in the park to say their goodbyes. They had spent a wonderful two months together, exploring their small town, having sleepovers, and creating memories that would last a lifetime. As they sat on the swings, the girls reminisced about all the fun they had had and the adventures they went on. They laughed and joked, but there was an underlying sense of sadness knowing that tomorrow they would have to go back to school and their daily routines, not seeing each other every day. Sadie was the first to break the silence, I can't believe it's over. I wish we could spend more time together," she said with a sad expression on her face. Kiera nodded in agreement,"Me too. This has been the best summer ever." Ellie wiped a tear and said,"I'm going to miss you guys so much. But we'll always have these memories." The girls shared a group hug, not wanting to let go. They promised to keep in touch and make plans to see each other whenever they could. They even wrote a friends' contract stating that they pinkie promised to never stop being friends. They vowed to never ditch one another and to never lie to each other. They sealed the contract with their fingerprints and each signed their name. As the sun began to set, the girls knew it was time to say their final goodbyes. They exchanged heartfelt messages and promised to never forget the bond they shared. As they walked away in different directions, Sadie, Kiera, and Ellie felt empty knowing that their summer together had come to an end. But they also knew that they had formed a special friendship that would last a lifetime, and they were grateful for the time they had spent together. And as they looked back one last time, they knew that no matter where life took them, they would always have each other's backs, and their bond would never be broken. They are already planning to travel the world when they leave school. They just need to figure out how to pay for it all. And that brings us to the end of today's episode. Thank you so much for listening. And if you enjoyed it, please spend a moment giving this a like, rating or review. And remember to tell your friends about The English Like A Native Podcast. Until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.