Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 46, Day 2 of Your English Five a Day. This is the series that is focused on exploding your English vocabulary and improving your listening skills. So, let's kick off today's episode with the verb cast, to cast. We spell this C A S T, to cast. Now, this is in the context of a show or a play; something you would see at the theatre. Now to cast a play or a show is to select your actors for the specific roles within the play or the film or the show. Now this process involves actors auditioning for the role, sometimes multiple times, and eventually when the casting director and director and whoever is making the decision has made a choice, then they will have cast their show. Here's an example sentence,"The director will cast the actors for the play next week." As you may know, in my previous life, I was an actress. That's how I started my career. That's how I ended up on YouTube in the first place. And during my time as an actress, I was cast in many plays, many shows, and a number of films. Have you ever been cast in anything? Okay, next on the list is the idiom to be as fit as a fiddle, as fit as a fiddle. Fit, F I T. Fiddle, F I D D L E. Fit as a fiddle. If you are described as being fit as a fiddle, then it means you're very healthy and very strong. For example,"My grandmother will be 90 in a few days, but she's as fit as a fiddle." Would you describe yourself as being fit as a fiddle? I wouldn't say I am right now. I've been fighting a virus. I've not been sleeping very well, that's for sure, because my son has also been poorly. So at the moment, I'm not as fit as a fiddle. But hopefully, in a week or two, I will be. OK, next on the list is the noun mayhem, mayhem. We spell this M A Y H E M, mayhem. Mayhem describes a state of chaotic destruction or disorder. I often jokingly describe my house as mayhem because it's often in a terrible state of disorder. It's very chaotic. I have two young children. I have a cat. I have a busy life. Therefore, things don't get put away. There's always dust everywhere. My house is often mayhem. Here's another example,"The sudden snowstorm caused mayhem on the highways, leaving many drivers stranded and emergency services overwhelmed." There's a joke, a running joke in the UK about leaves on the line. I'm talking about the leaves that fall off the trees. Our rail system, I guess, it's good, but it has its problems. And when it's autumn or winter and the leaves are falling off the trees, sometimes our trains are delayed or cancelled because of leaves on the line. Which just seems very silly, doesn't it? That a leaf or a number of leaves falling on the tracks could cause such mayhem. But, but they often do. And it's quite silly really. Next on the list is the idiom to give someone the boot, to give someone the boot. Boot, B O O T. To give someone the boot is to dismiss them from a job or to reject them in a social situation. It might even be to kick them out of your house. Sometimes you might use this when you're ending a relationship. So, if you dismiss them or reject them in some way, then you can use this phrase."Oh, I gave him the boot. That boyfriend, oh, he was a nightmare. He was untrustworthy. He was a liar. I couldn't rely on him for anything, so I gave him the boot. I rejected him. I dumped him." Or you might say,"I found out one of my sales team were bad-mouthing the company and they were taking money. They had their hand in the till. So I had to give them the boot." It's quite an informal phrase. It's not something you would use formally. But in a more relaxed environment, then this idiom could be used. Okay, so here's another example,"After repeatedly missing deadlines, the manager decided to give Adam the boot." Have you ever been given the boot? I do hope not. But I have. It happens to us all, unfortunately, in some way, in some respect. Most of us, if not all of us, get the boot at some point or other. Alright, last on the list is the idiom on the same wavelength. Now, we've talked about the noun wavelength before, but this idiom is quite different. To be on the same wavelength, I'll spell it out just in case, wavelength, W A V E L E N G T H, wavelength. To be on the same wavelength means that two or more people have the same thoughts and feelings, or they have an understanding. They understand each other. They feel the same way about a certain topic. For example, if you and I both agree about food waste, if we both have a very similar view on food waste and how food waste should be dealt with, then you could say that we are on the same wavelength. If we have the same view about the school curriculum and what we believe our children should be taught in UK schools, we may disagree on many things, but if we agree on this one particular topic, you could say that mostly we're at odds with each other, but on this topic, we're on the same wavelength. It basically just means we agree, or we understand each other, or we are similar in our way of thinking. Here's another example,"Despite their different backgrounds, Steve and Amy were always on the same wavelength when it came to discussing their creative ideas." Alright, so that's our five. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the to cast, to cast, so talking about a show, a film, a play. This is about selecting the actors for the roles within that project. Now you might hear this pronounced with a shorter/æ/ vowel, rather than the long/ɑː/ vowel for RP, which is the standard Southern English pronunciation, then it's going to be the long/ɑː/ cast. For many Northern accents, they often use the shorter/æ/. They would say cast. Okay, so cast in Southern British English. Next is the idiom to be as fit as a fiddle, which describes someone who's very strong and healthy. Then we had the noun mayhem, which is that state of utter chaos, of complete disorder. We had the idiom to give someone the boot, which is to dismiss or reject someone from a job or a social situation. And we had the idiom to be on the same wavelength, which is that situation where two or more people have a mutual understanding or think similar thoughts or have similar feelings on a topic. Okay, let's do this now for pronunciation. Please repeat after me. Cast. Cast. As fit as a fiddle. As fit as a fiddle. Mayhem. Mayhem. Give someone the boot. Give someone the boot. On the same wavelength. On the same wavelength. Excellent. Okay. I'm going to test your memory now. What idiom describes someone who's very healthy and strong? As fit as a fiddle. Very good. And what is the verb that we use when selecting actors to play roles in a film or a play? To cast. Very good. Now, if I decide that one of the actors during rehearsals is just terrible, they're not very professional, and they certainly don't seem to be pulling their weight, they're not a team player, so I decide to dismiss them from the role, what idiom could I use to describe what I'm doing? I'm going to give them the boot. Absolutely. And if the rest of the actors then suddenly are up in arms about it, they're all upset and distraught, and they really liked that particular actor that I've just given the boot to, and they stopped learning their lines and they just create all this chaos in the rehearsal room. What noun could I use to describe this state of chaos and disorder? Mayhem. It was complete mayhem after I gave this actor the boot. I might have to recast him. And finally, if I speak to my producer, my producer has exactly the same thoughts and feelings as I do about this particular situation. What idiom could I use to describe this mutual understanding? We are on the same wavelength. Yes, very good. OK, listen out for these items once again in today's storytime. James Holler was an ambitious movie director who had just landed his dream project a big-budget film that everyone in Hollywood was talking about. For the lead role, he decided to cast Richard Davies, a famous actor who had once been the king of the box office. Though Richard was older now, he was still as fit as a fiddle and had a reputation for delivering powerful performances. When James first met Richard, they seemed to be on the same wavelength. They both had a deep passion for the film's story, and James believed Richard was perfect for the role. However, once filming began, things quickly spiralled into mayhem. Richard's behaviour on set was nothing like what James had expected. He arrived late, made unreasonable demands, and constantly argued with the crew. The once smooth-running production turned chaotic, with everyone stressed and frustrated. The director tried to be patient, thinking that Richard's talent would make it all worthwhile. But as the days went by, it became clear that the situation was getting worse. The crew was exhausted, and the film's schedule was falling apart. James had hoped that he and Richard could work together seamlessly, but it was obvious they were not on the same wavelength after all. Finally, after one particularly disastrous day of filming, James knew he had to make a tough decision. He couldn't let Richard's behaviour ruin the entire film. Reluctantly, he decided to give Richard the boot and cast a new actor who could bring both talent and professionalism to the set. The change was difficult, but in the end, it saved the film. The new actor brought fresh energy, and the production got back on track. James learned that sometimes even a legendary actor isn't worth the mayhem they cause. And that brings us to the end of today's episode. I do hope you found today useful. If you did, please take just a few seconds to leave a like if you're watching on YouTube. And if you're on another streaming platform, please consider leaving a rating or review so that others may find this podcast too. Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to tickling your eardrums again tomorrow. Until then, take very good care and goodbye. I have added the vocabulary from today's episode, along with the definition and the example sentences, to the Five a Day database, which includes all the vocabulary from the whole Five a Day series. If you would like to access this database, then click on the link in the show notes.