Australia Network - English Bites - Series 7

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Episode 30: Toy Story

Transcript

We'll look at the expression 'by far', the phrasal verb 'move on', and a common irregular past tense.

We love it I think Yeah Something we have a passion for both of us, both collecting and meeting collectors and promoting the hobby as a hobby. We're the biggest toy show in the southern hemisphere by far. We usually get around 24oo people over the two days. There's 328 tables today. Each year I always vow like a month earlier "that's it, this is the last one" I've just, it's too much. As soon as when I walked into the hall by "Ah, this is great! This is super." There's always items you hope to see. You're looking for that ultimate one that you haven't got or the ones you don't have but you don't always think you'll find it but you hope you do.

It's the biggest toy show in the Southern hemisphere 'by far'. 'By far' means by a long way or to a large degree. It's much bigger than any other toy show in the southern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere is Australia, New Zealand, some parts of Africa and South America, and Antarctica. It sounds more impressive than just saying the biggest in Australia.

And what are people looking for at the biggest toy show in the southern hemisphere?

As kids you rip it open, you play with it. To find something mint in the box still attached very rare. And that's why the price - $600, but , there's people with that sort of money to spend and it just keeps going up every year.

Something mint in the box. Here, mint means in perfect condition. The collectors want a toy that has not been taken out of the box and played with. Or they want something that completes a collection:

So there's probably a hundred or 200 figures that I'm just still looking for. I saw 'em here last year and I missed 'em, I said to the guy "I'll think about it, I'll come back" and when I came back they were gone. So , found 'em this year, which was good.

Notice that he uses the future tense form of 'come':

I said to the guy "I'll think about it, I'll come back"

And then the irregular past tense, came:

and when I came back they were gone.

Now listen for 'move on':

I got a first one given to me from my Auntie and it started from there. We used to just go to markets and fairs and stuff and it grew into this obsession and I've got more under the desk and it's just ponies everywhere. Just the enjoyment that it brought me I just want people to sot of have the same. Yeah, I just decided to move on.

She's decided to 'move on'. She is now interested in other things.

Why has she moved on?

I've got real horses and they're more important to me now. I'm not fussed. I'm happy to let them go.

She's 'moved on' to real horses. And she's 'not fussed' about selling the toy horses - this means she's not upset about it.

So we've seen that came is the past tense of come, that mint can mean 'in perfect condition' and that by far means by a large amount.

We'll finish with the expression 'thrill of the hunt' which means the excitement of searching for something you really want:

Collecting is very addictive. So you never stop. It's the thrill of the hunt knowing that you're looking for something that you'd like to find and then suddenly finding it and then the pride of ownership of that item that you have spent a lot of time looking for, wanting to find and finding it.

English Bites is an informative and entertaining way to improve your knowledge of the English language.

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