Hello and welcome to the English we speak, the podcast where we explain phrases that fluent english speakers use so that you can use them as well.
I'm fei fei.
And I'm Beth.
How's it going, fei fei?
I'm very well, thank you, Beth.
Now, the phrase we're going to look at in this program is off the cuff.
There are lots of phrases in the english language with closed words in them that actually have nothing to do with clothes.
And this phrase is one of them.
Off the cuff?
Yes.
So a cuff is the end of a shirt sleeve.
It might have buttons or you might need cufflinks for it, but off the cuff means that you do or say something with no preparation or very little preparation.
So it's got nothing to do with clothes?
That's right.
So I actually have an example for this.
In my last class I had at university, my teacher asked me to give a speech to the class, like a reflection.
I had no warning and I just said something really short in front of everyone.
I cant actually remember what I said, but there was no preparation, so I said it off the cuff.
That sounds daunting.
So it was completely improvised.