Medium: Break the bank

Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There are lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.

Summary

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the phrase to break the bank. 

You can find more lessons on the side of this page.

Transcript

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary.

Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. 

Rich: We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard.

Jack: This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There will be lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.

Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is to break the bank.

Jack: Break the bank is an idiom and it means to spend a lot of money on something - often a surprising amount of money or maybe more money than you can afford.

Rich: When talking about football we hear this phrase a lot when talking about transfers - buying and selling players.

Jack: It’s a phrase fans sometimes use when they discover another club wants to buy one of their best players. 

Rich: Listen to this.

Jack: Have you heard that Real Madrid want to buy Mohamed Salah.

Rich: You’ve got to be joking. Why would he want to go there?

Jack: It’s just a rumour. I saw it in the gossip pages.

Rich: Well, they’d have to break the bank to get him. Bids start at 200 million!

Jack: So, to break the bank might be used by fans when speaking about clubs spending a lot of money.

Rich: You might also see the phrase in newspaper headlines. Things like City ready to break the bank on new striker.

Jack: In a more general sense the phrase is used much more in the negative and often in a slightly humorous way. Have a listen to this:

Rich: Shall we get something to eat before we go in?

Jack: I’m not sure. Everything’s a bit pricey around here.

Rich: Come on let’s grab a slice of pizza. It’s not going to break the bank.

Jack: We sometimes use this phrase when we think someone does want to spend very much money.

Rich: Yes but we use it to be funny not mean. We might also see the phrase when we are looking for good prices or discounts. Listen to this:

Jack: Are you going on holiday this year?

Rich: I hope so. We’ll probably go camping  - something that doesn’t break the bank. 

Final whistle

Jack: There is the final whistle!

Rich: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English.

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football.

Discuss

• What's the biggest transfer fee your club has paid for/spent on a player?
• Which player would you like your club to go and break the bank for?

Write your answers in the comments section below.