Hard: Get stuck in

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 hard so we’re looking at more difficult football phrases and idioms. These phrases can be used to talk about football but are also useful when talking about other topics.

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 get stuck in. 

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 hard so we're looking at more difficult football phrases and idioms. These phrases can be used to talk about football but will also be useful to use when talking about other topics too.

Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is: to get stuck in.

Jack: Don't just stand there! Get stuck-in!

Rich: You could be a football coach, Jack. A bit of an old-fashioned one though!

Jack: What do you mean?

Rich: Well, it's not all about tackling the opponent as hard as you can these days.

Jack: I know but we still hear it quite a lot - probably more from fans than coaches. So what does this phrase 'to get stuck in' mean exactly?

Rich: It means to put yourself about a bit on the pitch.

Jack: Put yourself about?

Rich: Yeah, to start tackling more, to be more aggressive, to start putting your foot in, get stuck in.

Jack: Right, OK, to be more aggressive. Fans often say it when their team is losing and the opponents are just passing the ball around easily.

Rich: Exactly. Fans say it when they want a player or the whole team to play with more intensity.

Jack: Don't just stand there! Get stuck in!

Rich: We use 'get stuck in' outside of football, too. It has a more general meaning. It means to start doing something in an enthusiastic way.

Jack: We often use it about eating. Listen to this:

Rich: These look great and they smell fantastic!

Jack: Don't wait for me. Get stuck in!

Rich: Yum! They're delicious.

Jack: Or we might talk about a task to do or a new job in a similar way. Listen to this:

Rich: What's all this? Your garden looks like a right mess.

Jack: We're building a driveway for the car. Come on! If we all get stuck in we'll be finished by three and we can watch the match together.

Rich: To get stuck in is an idiom which means to be more enthusiastic. We shouldn't confuse this idiom with the verb phrase to get stuck.

Jack: To get stuck describes something or someone that is not able to move - it usually describes things that aren't able to move just temporarily.

Jack: The ball used to get stuck in the mud on football pitches years ago.

Rich: Players used to get stuck in much more years ago and the ball used to get stuck in the mud.

Jack: English can be confusing sometimes.

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

• We use the expression get stuck to describe becoming involved in a task without fear or any sign of reluctance. This is often because a task is dirty or unpleasant. When was the last time you felt you had to get stuck into something?

Write your answers in the comments section below.