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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Roger Bassick and.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Gillian Woodward. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.

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<v Speaker 2>It is easier for people to understand no matter where

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<v Speaker 2>in the world they live.

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<v Speaker 1>We will begin this program by hearing from one of

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<v Speaker 1>our writers.

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<v Speaker 3>When I was younger, my mother told me that I

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<v Speaker 3>liked plants more than I liked most people. She was

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<v Speaker 3>partially right. I loved my friends, but I also loved

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<v Speaker 3>spending time at the park, watching bugs and flowers. I

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<v Speaker 3>used to sit in a tree for hours reading. Being

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<v Speaker 3>around these things put me at peace.

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<v Speaker 2>Not everyone likes being around plants as much as our

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<v Speaker 2>writer friend does, but plants have been important to people

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<v Speaker 2>throughout history. Some of the oldest writing in the world

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<v Speaker 2>is about plants. A poem from the Chinese Tang dynasty

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<v Speaker 2>uses grass and trees to describe how lonely a wife

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<v Speaker 2>feels while her husband is away at a war. In Yan,

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<v Speaker 2>the grass is blue as the bluest silk thread in Chin.

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<v Speaker 2>The branches of the mulberry tree are low and green.

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<v Speaker 2>Does a husband think of returning home the moment his

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<v Speaker 2>wife is heartbroken? The beauty of plants has been a

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<v Speaker 2>constant subject of poetry for generations.

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<v Speaker 1>It is no wonder, then, that people talk about plants often.

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<v Speaker 1>This is true in every language, including English, but you

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<v Speaker 1>may have noticed that many of these sayings make no sense.

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<v Speaker 1>A Native English speaker may talk talk about hitting plants

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<v Speaker 1>with no other plants in the conversation, or he may

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<v Speaker 1>call someone a flower when she is clearly not a plant.

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<v Speaker 2>Native English speakers often use idioms in their speech. Idioms

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<v Speaker 2>are words and sayings for which the meaning is not

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<v Speaker 2>clear from the individual words. These are simply expressions that

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<v Speaker 2>Native speakers say that makes sense to other Native speakers,

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<v Speaker 2>but these expressions are difficult for non native speakers to understand.

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<v Speaker 1>In this week's Spotlight Advanced, we're exploring six common plant idioms.

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<v Speaker 1>Most are not about plants at all, but using these

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<v Speaker 1>phrases will help you learn new words and sound like

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<v Speaker 1>a Native speaker.

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<v Speaker 2>Our first plant idiom is the saying that someone is

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<v Speaker 2>pushing up daisies. It means that someone has died. A

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<v Speaker 2>mother might warn her son, if you keep driving that fast,

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<v Speaker 2>you will be pushing up daisies sooner than you wish,

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<v Speaker 2>meaning that speeding might cause her son's death. In a

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<v Speaker 2>traffic accident.

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<v Speaker 1>People often use this expression in a light or humorous way.

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<v Speaker 1>A daisy is a flower with white petals and a

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<v Speaker 1>yellow center. These flowers grow in fields in places with

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<v Speaker 1>bright sunlight. Symbolically, daisies represent innocence and purity. This idiom

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<v Speaker 1>came into common use during World War One in Europe.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps saying pushing up daisies offered a less grim way

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<v Speaker 1>for soldiers to speak of their comrades who had died

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<v Speaker 1>in battle. So pushing up daisies means saying that someone

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<v Speaker 1>is dead. But this idiom is best used in informal conversations,

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<v Speaker 1>not informal situations.

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<v Speaker 2>Our second idiom is said differently depending on where you live.

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<v Speaker 2>In the US, a person might say that someone cannot

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<v Speaker 2>see the forest for the trees. In the UK, people

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<v Speaker 2>would say that a person cannot see the wood for

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<v Speaker 2>the trees. Each expression has the same meaning, but the

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<v Speaker 2>word for a group of trees differs.

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<v Speaker 1>This idiom means that a person is so concerned with

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<v Speaker 1>small details that the person cannot see the more important,

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<v Speaker 1>bigger picture or purpose of something.

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<v Speaker 2>Imagine that a woman is working on part of a project.

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<v Speaker 2>She is very good at refining her work but she

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<v Speaker 2>does not exactly understand what the purpose of the project is.

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<v Speaker 2>She provides a good result, but her work does not

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<v Speaker 2>improve the project as a whole. Someone might comment that

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<v Speaker 2>she could not see the forest for the trees.

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<v Speaker 1>Looking at only the colorful circles of paintbrushstrokes might distract

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<v Speaker 1>the viewer from seeing the people on the lawn. In

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<v Speaker 1>George Surat's painting A Sunday Afternoon on the island of

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<v Speaker 1>La Grange Jette, the viewer might miss seeing the forest

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<v Speaker 1>the big picture for the trees the tiny dots.

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<v Speaker 2>Have you ever grown flowers? Then the next saying to

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<v Speaker 2>nip something in the bud may be familiar to you.

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<v Speaker 2>A bud is the start of a plant's flower. Nipping

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<v Speaker 2>is a way of saying to cut. Nipping a bud

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<v Speaker 2>means cutting a beginning of a flower. This stops the

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<v Speaker 2>flower from grow.

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<v Speaker 1>But when people nip something in the bud, they are

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<v Speaker 1>not usually talking about a plant. They mean that they

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<v Speaker 1>want to stop something. At an early point.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe a man notices his son has started smoking. The

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<v Speaker 2>father knows this is dangerous. He takes away his son's

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<v Speaker 2>cigarettes and explains the health issues to his boy. He

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<v Speaker 2>would be nipping his son's drug use in the bud.

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<v Speaker 1>Our fourth plant idiom is to beat around the bush.

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<v Speaker 1>Do not worry. This idiom is not as violent as

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<v Speaker 1>it seems. When someone beats around the bush, she avoids

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<v Speaker 1>talking directly about a subject. Often someone may beat around

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<v Speaker 1>the bush about a subject because it is difficult or

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<v Speaker 1>painful to speak about a subject. Someone might tell this

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<v Speaker 1>person to stop beating around the bush and tell me

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<v Speaker 1>what you mean.

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<v Speaker 2>For example, a husband who resigned from his job on

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<v Speaker 2>Friday may avoid speaking about this to his wife. He

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<v Speaker 2>tells his wife that he does not need to go

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<v Speaker 2>to work on the coming Monday. But Tuesday morning, when

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<v Speaker 2>he does not go to work, she may say, why

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<v Speaker 2>did you beat around the bush the whole weekend and

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<v Speaker 2>not tell me that you had resigned. Avoiding a difficult

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<v Speaker 2>truth is one of the reasons to beat around the bush.

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<v Speaker 1>Beating around the bush has interesting origins. English hunters used

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<v Speaker 1>servants to hit the branches of large plants or bushes

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<v Speaker 1>to force birds or animals to come out so the

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<v Speaker 1>hunters could catch these creatures. People beat around the bush

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<v Speaker 1>so the indirect action might bring about the direct result.

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<v Speaker 1>The meaning of the saying shifted over time as people

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<v Speaker 1>forgot about this custom from hunting. Today, it shows the

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<v Speaker 1>value that English speakers have for talking directly about a subject,

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<v Speaker 1>even a difficult subject.

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<v Speaker 2>Our fifth English idiom is to hear it through the grapevine.

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<v Speaker 2>This saying may seem funny at first. You cannot hear

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<v Speaker 2>anything through a grape plant, but the expression means to

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<v Speaker 2>hear through rumors or from another person. Imagine a woman

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<v Speaker 2>hears from her friend that her boyfriend is seeing another woman.

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<v Speaker 2>She will clearly be angry, but since she heard it

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<v Speaker 2>through the grapevine, she cannot be sure it is true.

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<v Speaker 1>The saying also has little to do with plants. In

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen fifty nine, a new telegraph line ran from Placerville, California,

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<v Speaker 1>to Virginia City, Nevada. Operators use trees and fences to

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<v Speaker 1>keep the wires above ground. These telegraph wires looked like grapevines.

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<v Speaker 1>Getting a message on this new telegraph was called getting

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<v Speaker 1>the message through the grapevine. Soon after this, during the

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<v Speaker 1>American Civil War, hearing something through the grapevine described the

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<v Speaker 1>informal communication or rumors about the war. This information spread

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<v Speaker 1>from one person to another person to another person, rather

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<v Speaker 1>than hearing an official announcement.

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<v Speaker 2>Our sixth plant idiom is a thorn in one side.

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<v Speaker 2>A thorn is a small sharp part of some plants.

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<v Speaker 2>Touching a plant with thorns is difficult and painful, but

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<v Speaker 2>not deadly. When something is a thorn in some way

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<v Speaker 2>on side, it is a small sharp pain that is

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<v Speaker 2>difficult to get rid of.

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<v Speaker 1>You will often hear this expression. In films. An evil

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<v Speaker 1>villain may call the hero a thorn in his side

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<v Speaker 1>whenever the hero stops the villain's plans. The villain is

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<v Speaker 1>insulting the hero, calling him a small pain, but the

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<v Speaker 1>villain means the hero is a problem. You have been

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<v Speaker 1>a thorn in my side for too long.

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<v Speaker 2>Many other plant idioms exist in the English language. These

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<v Speaker 2>are some of our favorites. Using them might not help

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<v Speaker 2>you talk about plants themselves, but these expressions will help

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<v Speaker 2>you sound more like a native speaker. Practice them as

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<v Speaker 2>much as you can, and use them with your friends.

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<v Speaker 1>What interesting plant idioms do you have in your language?

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<v Speaker 1>Which plants are commonly used in these expressions? You can

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<v Speaker 1>leave a comment on our website at www dot spotlight

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<v Speaker 1>English dot com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook,

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<v Speaker 1>TikTok and x. You can also get our programs delivered

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<v Speaker 1>directly to your Android or Apple device through our free

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<v Speaker 1>official Spotlight English app.

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<v Speaker 2>The writer and producer was Dan Christman. The voices you

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<v Speaker 2>heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom.

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<v Speaker 2>All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight.

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<v Speaker 2>This program is called English Idioms Plants.

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<v Speaker 1>We hope you can join us again for the next

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<v Speaker 1>Spotlight Advanced program. Goodbye,