This week: Get the job done

Hello my name’s Jack and welcome to the weekly round-up called This Week on Premier Skills English.

In This Week, we’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

If you are listening to this podcast on Apple podcasts or Spotify you can also visit the Premier Skills English website at britishcouncil.org/premierskillsenglish where you’ll be able to download the podcast.

On the Premier Skills English website, you can read the transcript and join the Premier Skills English community by completing a language task in the comments section. This will really help you remember the new words and phrases from the stories from the Premier League.

The words and phrases we are looking at this week are: to catch a break, ruthless, in a good way, to break through, to get the job done, to clinch.

Listen out for these phrases in the headlines and stories.

After each story there will be a short language focus. After the stories, there will be a language challenge for you to complete and then at the end of the podcast there will be a new football phrase.

But before that, I want to look at last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week, here’s one more chance to guess now.

The word was ******. Normally, a ****** is a person, or an animal or an object that brings you or your team luck. Or it can be something like that, usually a character that represents an organisation. Football teams have *******. Liverpool has Mighty Red and Arsenal has the Gunnersaurus.

We had quite a few correct answers last week. Congratulations to Hayato from Japan, Mobeckham from Turkey, Hsn from Turkey, Kwesimanifest from Ghana, Goku from Japan, Taha Gashout from Libya, Wsanta from Argentina, Mehmet Sisman from Turkey, and Shohei and Isshin from Japan. You all worked out that the word I was looking for was mascot.

If you want to hear the answers to last week’s language challenge, you’ll have to listen till the end of the podcast but now, it’s time for this week’s stories.

City fire five past Newcastle

When Newcastle travelled to Manchester on Sunday to face the league leaders at home, they had the opportunity to influence the outcome of the league. Manchester City were probably feeling pretty relaxed as they had caught a break on Saturday when their title challengers Liverpool were held to a draw by Spurs at Anfield. Since November, when Eddie Howe took over at Newcastle, the Magpies have racked up as many victories as Chelsea, but had only taken one point from all the matches they had played in that time against the big six. And ... they didn’t change that on Sunday.

Manchester City absolutely thumped them. There was no room for sporting mercy or compassion. City are three points ahead in the table so if they lose one of their three games in the run-in and Liverpool win all of theirs, Liverpool will be equal on points. This might be why Manchester City were so ruthless and fired five past Newcastle, including two after the 90th minute when in all other ways, the match was decided. City’s goal difference is now 68, four more than Liverpool’s and if City stumble at all, those late goals might make all the difference.

Final score: Manchester City 5 - Newcastle United 0

The phrase and word I want to talk about from this story are: to catch a break and ruthless.

To catch a break means to have some good luck. I think it’s most commonly used in a negative way to describe someone who is having a hard time. Poor old Patrick, he’s been working so hard but he just can’t catch a break. In fact, when I looked it up, there is a ‘just can’t catch a break’ mindset. This is when everything seems to go wrong and nothing works out for you. There are articles online about what you can do if you can’t catch a break, it’s even spoken about by Joe Rogan. If you do catch a break, it means that you have been lucky or something worked out for you. The word break meaning a moment of good luck might come from snooker or billiards when the first shot is called the break and the balls can either break well or break badly for you and you can have a lucky break. Or it might come from school where the word break or break time means the short pauses between lessons, in American English these pauses are called recess. Anyhow, a break is a positive thing and if you catch one, it means you have had some good luck.

I also want to talk about the word ruthless. If you are ruthless, you have no pity or compassion for someone. You sometimes see it collocated with the word killer. A ruthless killer is like a machine, they kill without feeling any compassion for their victims. When Manchester City were 3 goals ahead of Newcastle United, they had won the match. They could have relaxed and let Newcastle see a bit more of the ball. Obviously in the rules, the players have to play to the best of their ability all the time the game is happening, but to score five or more is a bit humiliating for your opponents. In fact, I would say that a team that’s been beaten 5-0 has been crushed. To crush your opponents shows a lack of compassion it shows that you are ruthless. One of the reasons I like this word is that it is a very old word that has survived when the other members of its family have not. Ruth used to mean pity or compassion. You used to be able to describe something as ruthful, meaning pitiable or causing feelings of compassion or causing ruth. But ruth and ruthful have been lost from the language, but ruthless remains.
Let’s move on to the next story.

Conte says Klopp created a monster

Antonio Conte praised Klopp’s record at Liverpool saying that it was Klopp’s long term planning that has resulted in the strength that Liverpool shows today in the Premier League. He says that over the years, Klopp has built the team and that he has created a monster, in a good way.

However, that monster was not able to defeat Spurs on Saturday. Liverpool started strong and played with confidence, but were not able to break through. Conte’s team weathered the storm and as predicted by the Liverpool manager, played on the counter attack. So while Liverpool enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, Spurs equaled the number of shots on target. And it was one of these, fired just after half time by Son Heung-min that gave the visitors the lead.

Liverpool's response was furious, but they lacked composure in the last third and opportunities were wasted as shots flew wide. By the end of the match, Liverpool had clawed a goal back, but in the process had racked up 19 off target attempts.

Final score: Liverpool 1 - Tottenham Hotspur 1

The phrase and word I want to talk about from this story are: in a good way and to break through.

In a good way is an interesting phrase. The words are all easy to understand so I don’t think I need to focus on the literal meaning. I have chosen this because I think it’s often used in funny situations. You hear people say this phrase after they have just said something that they realise afterwards might sound like a terrible insult. Klopp has created a monster - in a good way. I mean, normally, a monster is not a good thing. So you can use this phrase if you are saying something that might not be interpreted as a compliment to be sure that what you mean isn’t unkind. My wife once told my sister that she looked like my mum ... in a good way. Actually, my wife didn’t understand why my sister would take offence, but you get the idea. You can also use it to clarify your meaning when you mean something negative. You could say, the desert was really sweet, but not in a good way.

The other phrase I want to look at is to break through. This is listed as a phrasal verb in a couple of dictionaries so I’m happy calling it a phrasal verb, but its meaning is very literal. It means to force yourself through something that is stopping you or preventing you from making progress. In the story, the barrier was Spurs’ defence that Liverpool could not get past or through. The phrase is often used as one word as a noun to talk about a discovery or event that enables a radical change, often a scientific discovery. A recent discovery at the Cern laboratory has been hailed as an important breakthrough.

Let’s move on to the final story.

Kerr gets the job done for Chelsea

In the Women’s Super League, Sam Kerr scored twice in Chelsea’s 4-2 victory over Manchester United. After the match, she said: “I’m not known for my worldie goals but the thing that I’m known for is getting it done when it matters” and the goals she scored really did matter as they helped Chelsea clinch the WSL title.

Manchester United travelled to Kingsmeadow to take on the Blues and went ahead twice. Martha Thomas scored first for Man United and Erin Cuthbert equalised minutes later. Ella Toone got a second for the visitors but this was cancelled out 20 minutes later by Sam Kerr. In the second half, Guro Reitan put the Blues ahead and then after 66 minutes Sam Kerr sealed the deal with a perfectly placed volley from outside the box.

Final score: Chelsea 4 - Manchester United 2

The phrase and word I want to talk about from this story are: to get the job done and to clinch.

The phrase to get the job done means to fulfil a task that you have been given. This is another phrase that is easy to understand as the words are all used in a straightforward way. However I think its’ another interesting phrase because of the way it’s used and the feeling of the phrase. You see, all of the language in the phrase is very basic, it has a down to earth, no-nonsense feel. Sometimes, we use language that is sophisticated and complex to sound intelligent or important. And sometimes, we use language that is very simple because it seems honest and direct, like we’re not interested in fuss or how we look. The phrase to get the job done means a task has been completed, but it implies that it was completed without fuss or pretence. It was simple, efficient and real. Sometimes people use the phrase ‘job done’ in a similar way to say that something has been completed without fuss or pretence.

The last word I want to talk about is to clinch. This is an informal verb. It is transitive so it always takes an object and it means to finally win something or to finally get something. So in the example from the story, I said that Kerr’s goals helped Chelsea clinch the title. So in this sentence, I used clinch because it takes almost a full season for a team to win the title so they finally won it. You can also talk about clinching a deal after long negotiations. I think those are the two most common collocations, you can clinch a title or a trophy as part of a long competition or you can clinch a deal.

OK, that’s six words and phrases that I hope are as interesting for you as they are to me and that I hope you find useful. The words and phrases were: to catch a break, ruthless, in a good way, to break through, to get the job done, and to clinch.

Listen to the headlines one more time to hear these words and phrases in context.

City fire five past Newcastle

When Newcastle travelled to Manchester on Sunday to face the league leaders at home, they had the opportunity to influence the outcome of the league. Manchester City were probably feeling pretty relaxed as they had caught a break on Saturday when their title challengers Liverpool were held to a draw by Spurs at Anfield. Since November, when Eddie Howe took over at Newcastle, the Magpies have racked up as many victories as Chelsea, but had only taken one point from all the matches they had played in that time against the big six. And ... they didn’t change that on Sunday.

Manchester City absolutely thumped them. There was no room for sporting mercy or compassion. City are three points ahead in the table so if they lose one of their three games in the run-in and Liverpool win all of theirs, Liverpool will be equal on points. This might be why Manchester City were so ruthless and fired five past Newcastle, including two after the 90th minute when in all other ways, the match was decided. City’s goal difference is now 68, four more than Liverpool’s and if City stumble at all, those late goals might make all the difference.

Final score: Manchester City 5 - Newcastle United 0

Conte says Klopp created a monster

Antonio Conte praised Klopp’s record at Liverpool saying that it was Klopp’s long term planning that has resulted in the strength that Liverpool shows today in the Premier League. He says that over the years, Klopp has built the team and that he has created a monster, in a good way.

However, that monster was not able to defeat Spurs on Saturday. Liverpool started strong and played with confidence, but were not able to break through. Conte’s team weathered the storm and as predicted by the Liverpool manager, played on the counter attack. So while Liverpool enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, Spurs equaled the number of shots on target. And it was one of these, fired just after half time by Son Heung-min that gave the visitors the lead.

Liverpool's response was furious, but they lacked composure in the last third and opportunities were wasted as shots flew wide. By the end of the match, Liverpool had clawed a goal back, but in the process had racked up 19 off target attempts.

Final score: Liverpool 1 - Tottenham Hotspur 1

Kerr gets the job done for Chelsea

In the Women’s Super League, Sam Kerr scored twice in Chelsea’s 4-2 victory over Manchester United. After the match, she said: “I’m not known for my worldie goals but the thing that I’m known for is getting it done when it matters” and the goals she scored really did matter as they helped Chelsea clinch the WSL title.

Manchester United travelled to Kingsmeadow to take on the Blues and went ahead twice. Martha Thomas scored first for Man United and Erin Cuthbert equalised minutes later. Ella Toone got a second for the visitors but this was cancelled out 20 minutes later by Sam Kerr. In the second half, Guro Reitan put the Blues ahead and then after 66 minutes Sam Kerr sealed the deal with a perfectly placed volley from outside the box.

Final score: Chelsea 4 - Manchester United 2

Language Challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again.

Here are six sentences with gaps in them. You have to fill in the gaps with the words and phrases from this podcast.

The words and phrases were:,,,,,.

Number 1. The manager didn’t want to bench the young striker, but he had to be ______ if he wanted the team to win.

Number 2. The politician knew that he’d have to rely on popular appeal to ___ ___ ___ ____.

Number 3. Those glasses make you look so much older ... __ _ ____ ___.

Number 4. She lost her job, then her car was stolen and then her boyfriend left her. She just can’t _____ _ _____.

Number 5. At the final whistle, the crowd _____ _______ the barrier and streamed onto the pitch.

Number 6. It was a hard match, but the visitors managed to ______ victory in the final minute with a long-range strike.

Leave your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Football phrase

Now it’s time for this week’s football phrase.

I’ve selected a medium word this week from the Premier Vocabulary section, it’s actually a phrasal verb.

The phrasal verb is to ***** **. This is what fans do when they support their team at the stadium. If you’re watching the match on TV, you might do the first part of this phrase, you might ***** for your team, especially if they score a goal, but if you get to support them on the pitch, from the stands of your ground then you can ***** them ** to encourage them to run faster and play better.

Is that easy this week? I can never tell when I set these challenges. Let me know what you think in the comments section.

Before we finish, here are the answers to last week’s language challenge.

Number 1. The actor got into a blind panic that he would forget his lines on stage.

Number 2. After the manager was sacked, the assistant was brought in as a caretaker manager.

Number 3. The naughty child stuck out her tongue in a defiant gesture.

Number 4. I knew that I wasn’t going to win, but I was determined not to make it easy for them.

Number 5. The teacher told her student that she had no magic wand to solve the problem.

Number 6. When you get a large group of people together, it is inevitable that some will not get on.

Number 7. The manager never wavered in his support for the young striker.

Number 8. Mohamed Salah has racked up an impressive 22 goals so far this season.

Number 9. The gunman fired into the car at point-blank range.

Number 10. The junior team put in a spirited performance against the seniors.

That’s all I have time for today. Before I finish, I just wanted to say that I hope you found this podcast useful, and I hope all of you stay fit and healthy and safe.

Bye for now and enjoy your football.