2024-09-03
3 分钟Here's an expression you can use when you're in a desperate situation. [Image: Getty] Find a full transcript for this episode and more programmes to help you with your English at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak_2024/ep-240902 FIND BBC LEARNING ENGLISH HERE: Visit our website ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish Follow us ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/followus LIKE PODCASTS? Try some of our other popular podcasts including: ✔️ 6 Minute English ✔️ Learning English from the News ✔️ Learning English Stories They're all available by searching in your podcast app.
Hello, and welcome to the English we speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent english speakers so that you can use them, too.
I'm fei fei, and I'm joined by Georgie.
Hi, Fei Fei.
How are you doing?
I'm very well, thank you.
What about you?
Yes, I'm good, thank you.
Now, in this program, we're looking at the idiom clutch at straws.
Ever heard of this one, fei fei?
Yes, I have.
It's actually quite common.
So the verbclutch means to hold something tightly with your hands and straws.
Georgie, are we talking about the long, hollow tubes we use to drink things?
No.
This idiom comes from an old proverb where straws is actually a thin plant that grows near a river.
If youre clutching at straws, youre trying to save yourself from drowning in the river.
I didnt know that.
But that helps us to understand its metaphorical meaning.
We use clutch at straws when someone is trying to improve a difficult situation using methods that are a bit desperate and don't seem likely to work.
Let's hear some examples.