Hello and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 46, Day 3 of Your English Five a Day. This is the series that is dedicated to improving your English listening skills, expanding your vocabulary, and keeping you company for approximately 15 minutes. So, let's start today's episode. We begin with the phrasal verb lap it up. To lap something up. Lap, L A P. Up, U P. So, to lap something up is to take great pleasure in something or to really enjoy it immensely. For example, if I am suddenly recording a podcast, and I've never done that before, and lots of people are telling me that they're enjoying listening to the podcast, then I might lap up that praise. I might lap up that newfound adoration. I will take great pleasure in receiving credit and receiving compliment for this work that is kind of outside of my comfort zone. Something I've never done before. So I'll lap it up. Some people don't like being in the spotlight. Some people would hate that, but others would lap it up. Here's another example,"After winning the championship, the team lapped it up, celebrating their victory with exuberance." Next on the list is the idiom hit the spot, hit the spot. Hit, H I T. Spot, S P O T. Hit the spot. Usually, we're talking about food or drink when we use this idiom, and it means that you have just consumed exactly what you wanted. It did exactly what it was supposed to do. So for example, imagine you're really hungry and then someone gives you a sandwich and you eat that sandwich. Oh, that is going to satisfy your need. You'll say,"Oh, that hit the spot." Or it's a hot summer's day and you're very thirsty. You've been on a very long river walk, walking a long distance along a river in the sunshine, and now you are parched. So you stop at the local pub and they hand you a nice cold, in my case, shandy, and you have a big drink of that and you say,"Oh, that hit the spot. Oh, that's made me feel so much better. I'm ready to carry on the rest of the walk." Here's another example,"The date pudding with vanilla ice cream hit the spot nicely." I don't know about you, but I, because I'm a pudding person, I have a very sweet tooth. After most meals, I always have this craving for a little something sweet. It doesn't have to be a huge pudding. In fact, these days, more often than not, I prefer to have something quite delicate, but just a little sweetness. That's all I'm after. And I look at a pudding menu or a dessert menu and I'll see huge puddings like sticky toffee pudding with ice cream. There's often an option of brownie with ice cream, a huge ice cream option, so to have three scoops of ice cream with a wafer or something like that. I'm really not interested in these huge desserts. What I like most restaurants to offer is just a little chocolate, a little truffle. When I say truffle, I don't mean the mushroom truffle, I mean the little balls of chocolate and they're softer on the inside with a hard chocolate casing, and they're usually dusted in some icing sugar or something. And they are delicious. So I'd rather they offer me one very delicate chocolate as an option to finish off my meal, just to cleanse my palate of the savoury, leaving me with a hint of sweet on my tongue without filling me up with a huge sweet dessert. That would hit the spot for me. Absolutely. Okay, so next on the list is the verb cast. I know, I know we had this yesterday. Yes, we had it yesterday. You are right. You are right. We did have this yesterday. However, this is a different version. Yesterday, cast was about placing actors in certain roles within a film or a play. Today, we are talking about fishing. So cast, C A S T. To cast when you're talking about fishing is to throw the fishing line with the bait or the lure into the water using a fishing rod and a reel and the idea is that you throw it in so that you can catch a fish. So you cast your line. Here's an example sentence,"He cast his fishing line into the lake and hoped to catch a big fish." Have you done much fishing? As a child, it really featured quite heavily in my childhood going down to the stream. Because when I was a child, we didn't have many toys. We just played using our imagination. A stick, a few stones. I did have a ball occasionally until we would lose it in the neighbour's garden for a few months and then finally get it back. But we didn't have much in the way of toys when I was growing up in the 80s. So we would just play in trees and bushes and we had a stream close to my home. And so often, my friends and I would take our fishing net and an old jam jar down to the stream to catch sticklebacks. That was fun. But I'm not a big fan of actually catching fish on the line. I have done it. I did do it in my teenage years. My family would go on trips to the seaside and often do a little fishing. So I was taught how to fish, but as an animal lover, I'm not a fan of hooking fish, I have to say. So it's not for me. I have done it. Have you done it? Have you mastered the art of flicking your line? So when you cast your line off and there's a way of flicking it, so it goes really far without hooking the person who stood behind you. I've done that before. So yeah, you have to like pull your rod back and then really flick the line very hard to get your hook to go as far out as possible. So that's casting your line. Okay, I'm going to move on from fishing to our next idiom and it is in luck. And we often say,"You're in luck. You're in luck. You're in luck." So, in luck. In, I N. Luck, L U C K. You're in luck. This means that you're experiencing a surprisingly good situation. So, for example, imagine you have gone to every supermarket desperately in search of a specific ingredient that you need for your special cake. You're making a cake for a wedding, and you need a very special and very important ingredient to make the cake work. But every supermarket you visited is out of this ingredient. They're out of stock. They say there's a huge shortage of this particular thing and you're like,"Oh no, what am I going to do? The cake will be ruined." So you remember there's a little old cake shop on one of the back streets. So you go to that cake shop and you say,"Hi, I am absolutely desperate for this specific ingredient. They are out of stock in every supermarket. I've gone all over town. Can you help me? Please tell me you can help me." And the shopkeeper looks up at you and says,"Mmm, yes, that ingredient is running low. Supplies are very stretched at the moment. But, uh, you're in luck. I do have one packet of that ingredient left. Let me get it for you." And you go,"Oh, phew. I am very lucky." This ingredient is out of every single shop bar one and I managed to find it so you are in luck. Here's another example,"We're normally fully booked on a Saturday night, but you're in luck someone has just cancelled their booking, so I have a free table." Last on the list is the adjective exuberant, exuberant. Oh, what a lovely word. Exuberant. We spell this E X U B E R A N T, exuberant, exuberant. Exuberant describes a state of being full of energy and excitement and cheerfulness. So, often we would describe children as being exuberant. Here's an example sentence,"The children were exuberant as they played in the park, their laughter ringing out like music in the air." So exuberant, it really is this sense of energy. I wish that I was young and exuberant again. One thing I've noticed as I've been settling into my forties is this decline in energy. And it's awful. I don't know if any other 40-year-olds or if you're beyond 40 and you remember this decline, but it is really disappointing. I am quite an active person and yet I do something in the morning and by the afternoon I need a nap. What is that about? I feel like an old person. I need to sit down in the chair and have a nap before I'm able to tackle the afternoon. It's terrible. So I miss my exuberance, my youthful exuberance that I had in abundance in my 20s and even in my 30s that I am very much lacking these days. You've got me right now. It's first thing in the morning when I'm recording this. So I am quite exuberant right now, but that will soon fade. Okay. So that's our five for today. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the phrasal verb lap it up, which is to take pleasure, great pleasure in something, to really enjoy something. Then we had the idiom hit the spot, which means that something, usually food or drink, has a really good effect, an effect that you wanted, especially when we're talking about hunger and thirst. It quashes your thirst and your hunger. Then we had the verb to cast, talking about a fishing line, so placing your fishing line out into the water in order to catch a fish. We had the idiom in luck, which means that you're experiencing a surprisingly good situation. You're in luck! And then we had the adjective exuberant, which is full of energy and happiness and cheerfulness and, happiness and cheerfulness, they're the same thing. Excitement was the word I was looking for. Fantastic. So, let's now do this for pronunciation purposes. This is the part where you speak back to me. Are you ready? Repeat after me. Lap it up. Lap it up. Hit the spot. Hit the spot. Cast. Cast. In luck. In luck. Exuberant. Exuberant. Fantastic. Okay, imagine I am going fishing and I want to get my line into the water. What's the verb that I use to get my fishing line into the water? Yeah, I cast my line. Very good. And if I'm really craving a chocolate bar, I walk into the shop and all the chocolate bars have been sold, but there's one left. I'm experiencing a very good situation here. It's surprisingly good. What idiom could you use? Ah, you're in luck. Very good. And if I am feeling full of energy and excitement, what adjective could you use to describe me? Exuberant. If I am very, very hungry and you serve me with a very filling and satisfying meal, what idiom would I probably use? Oh, that hits the spot. Absolutely. And if when you provide me that meal, I take great pleasure in eating it. I enjoy it immensely. What phrasal verb could you use to describe what I'm doing as I'm enjoying this meal? I am lapping it up. I'm lapping it up. I love it. I'm really enjoying it. OK, let's now listen out for these items once again in today's storytime. Michael liked to fish, even if he usually didn't catch much! He enjoyed the peace and quiet of the lake on his days off. This Saturday was no different. The morning was crisp, with the sun just beginning to rise. Michael found his favourite spot, set up his gear, and cast his line. After only a few minutes, he felt a strong tug on his line. He couldn't believe what was happening. This wasn't how his fishing trips usually went. A smile spread across his face he was in luck! He carefully began to reel in the line, feeling the fish fight back. After a brief struggle, Michael pulled out a large, shiny fish. It was the biggest he had ever caught. Feeling exuberant, he knew today was going to be a great day. Michael took the fish home, eager to prepare it for lunch. He cleaned and seasoned it, then grilled it to perfection. The smell of the cooking fish filled the air, making his mouth water. When it was ready, he sat down to eat. The first bite was perfect the tender, flavourful fish really hit the spot. He savoured every mouthful, knowing that this was the reward for his early morning efforts. As he ate, Michael's dog sat by his side, eyes wide with anticipation. Michael laughed and threw him a small piece of fish. The dog lapped it up eagerly, its tail wagging in delight. By the time Michael finished his meal, he felt completely satisfied. It wasn't just about the taste of the fish, but the whole experience of catching, cooking and enjoying it. He had always enjoyed fishing as it was an opportunity to spend time in nature. But catching and eating his own fish? That was more satisfying than he had ever imagined. And that brings us to the end of today's episode. If you found this useful in any way, please just take one moment to leave a like if you're watching on YouTube. Yes, the podcast is available on YouTube. 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