Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 43, Day 2 of Your English Five a Day. What are we doing here? Well, I'm keeping you company for the next 15 minutes, but we're also improving your English. We're working on your listening skills and hopefully expanding your vocabulary. So let's get straight into it with an idiom, and it is in line for something. In line for something. We spell this in, I N. Line, L I N E. For something. Now you might be thinking,"Hang on a minute. Is this deja vu? Am I hearing things? Didn't we have in line for something yesterday?" No. Yesterday we had in line with. Today, it's in line for. If you are in line for something, it means that you're likely to get a job or a benefit of some sort. It's likely going to happen. It's very possible that it's going to happen. You are in line for a job or you are in line for a big bonus that might happen in your company they might do bonuses and there might be some mentions and comments that make you think,"Yes, I'm going to get a big bonus this year. Woohoo! That'll be great." You are in line for. Or perhaps you're going to be made a member of the board, or perhaps you're going to be awarded Sportsman of the Year. You are in line for an award. Remember to be in line with, which we had yesterday, is all about following a set of rules or following your own principles to be in line with what you believe and what you try to do in your life to be in line with it. In line for is to be likely to get a job or a benefit. Here's another example,"My boss told me that I'm in line for a promotion. Woohoo!" Next on the list is the phrase on edge, on edge. We spell this on, O N. Edge, E D G E. On edge. If you are on edge, it means that you're nervous and you're not relaxed. If you are walking down the street, and you start to hear lots of shouting, and very aggressive talk, and then you come around the corner and you see a big group of people and they're getting quite violent. They're screaming at each other. There's about ten of them and they're all starting to have a bit of a fight and they're pushing each other around. Some people are throwing punches and it's getting louder and louder, and you can see other people kind of coming into the group, all starting to get involved. It's going to turn into a big riot. You would feel on edge. I once drove my car down a street and all these fans started pouring out from a football stadium close by. There'd been quite an intense match going on and all these fans were pouring out into the street. It was very late at night. These fans were quite drunk. And I was suddenly on edge because these fans were not respecting the road, they were not respecting my vehicle, they were not respecting me, they were being quite aggressive, quite rude, walking in the road, surrounding my car. I dared to beep at them in order to ask them to move, and then some of them turned quite aggressive. It was awful. I was very much on edge. I was very nervous about what was going to happen. In fact, I'd probably say I was quite scared. But that's all in the past. I came out unscathed. So, here's another example,"He was on edge waiting for his exam results to see if he had got into university." Oh, I remember those days. Are you waiting for exam results? Next on the list is the idiom odd one out. Odd one out. We spell this O D D, odd. One, O N E. Out, O U T. Odd one out. The odd one out is the person or the thing that is different from all the others. It doesn't fit easily into that group or set. Here's an example sentence,"I have always felt like the odd one out in my family. They all work in finance, but I am more into baking than banking." Next on the list is the adjective insecure. Insecure. In-se-cure. We spell this I N S E C U R E. Insecure. Insecure means that you're not confident about yourself or your abilities or your relationships with other people. So, you don't feel safe in a relationship, or you don't feel like you're able to do something. You feel insecure. Here's an example sentence,"It is widely understood that bullies are insecure people." I think we all have felt or feel insecure at some point. I was quite insecure when I was a younger woman. And as a teenager, certainly, I think many teenagers have their insecurities. And perhaps when you're trying to speak a second language you might find there are situations when you feel quite insecure in your communication skills. Next and last on the list is another idiom and it is step up, step up. We spell this step, S T E P. Up, U P. A step up is an improvement or an increase over what went before. So here's an example to help you understand this,"My new job at the hotel front desk is a step up from my previous one as a hotel cleaner." So this new job is a big improvement on what the job was before."My new pay packet is a big step up from my previous pay packet." So that would suggest that this pay packet is much better, much higher. It's a big increase on the previous pay packet. Okay, so that's our five for today. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the idiom in line for something, which means you're likely to get a job or some form of benefit. Then we had the phrase on edge, which means nervous and not relaxed. Then we had the idiom odd one out, which means a person, or a thing is different to the others within a group. Then we had the adjective insecure, which means that you're not confident about yourself or your abilities or your relationships. And we had step up, a step up, which is an improvement or increase over what went before. So, let's now do this for pronunciation purposes. Please repeat after me. In line for something. In line for something. On edge. On edge. Odd one out. Odd one out. Insecure. Insecure. Step up. Step up. Fantastic. Okay, what's the adjective that we would use for someone who's not confident about their abilities to do something? They feel insecure. Yes. And if I have a set of six glasses, but one glass is a different shape, what idiom could I use to describe this slightly different glass that doesn't quite fit with the set? It's the odd one out. Absolutely. Now, if I am sitting at home and suddenly there's a bang, bang, bang on the door, I'm instantly going to feel quite nervous. I'm certainly not going to feel relaxed. Who's banging at my door like that? What phrase would we use to describe how I feel? On edge. Yes. If someone randomly starts banging aggressively on your door, it will put you on edge. And if I am told that it's quite likely I'm going to get the job that I've applied for. What idiom could we use to say that I'm likely to get the job? I'm in line for the job. Fantastic. I'm in line for the job. And this job will be great because I'm currently being paid£400 a week, but this job will pay me£600 a week. That's quite a big increase. What idiom could I use to describe this increase? Yes, it's a step up from my previous job, which is fantastic. So, listen out for these items once again in today's storytime. Graham sat at his desk, nervously tapping his fingers on the keyboard. He had been working as a junior programmer at TechSolutions for three years, and now he was in line for a promotion. His boss had told him last week that he was being seriously considered for the position of senior developer. The news had made Graham both excited and anxious. On one hand, he was thrilled to be recognised for his hard work. On the other hand, he felt like the odd one out compared to his colleagues. Unlike most of them, Graham didn't have a computer science degree. He had learned coding through online courses and practical experience. Although he was likely to get the senior developer role, yesterday, Graham had gone through a tough job interview for the promotion. He had answered questions about complex coding problems and explained his approach to teamwork. Now, all he could do was wait for the results. As he tried to focus on his current project, Graham's mind kept wandering. He thought about how much the promotion would mean to him. It would be a big step up in his career and would prove that his non-traditional background wasn't a disadvantage. Graham's colleague, Olivia, noticed his distraction."Are you okay?" she asked."You seem a bit on edge today." Graham smiled weakly."Just waiting to hear about the promotion," he admitted."I'm not sure if I'll get it." Olivia gave him an encouraging look."Don't worry," she said."You're one of the hardest workers here. They'd be lucky to have you in that role." Her words made Graham feel a little less insecure. He took a deep breath and turned back to his computer. Whatever the outcome, he knew he had done his best. Now, he just had to be patient and hope for good news. And that brings us to the end of today's episode. I do hope you found it useful. If you did, please take a moment to leave a like, a rating, or review. If you do like to watch and listen at the same time, then please head over to the YouTube channel English Like a Native Podcast and make sure you subscribe there. And if you'd like more structured learning with me and my team, then head over to englishlikeanative.co.uk. Until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.