Hard: A Dark Horse
Hard: A Dark Horse
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.
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 a dark horse.
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.
Rich: Remember you can find transcripts for all of our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.
Jack: 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 are often useful when talking about other topics.
Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is: a dark horse.
Jack: A dark horse is an idiom which has two main meanings; one that we can use in connection with football and another which can be used in more general contexts.
Rich: Let’s start with the meaning of dark horse that is often used in football and in other competitions and races.
Jack: A dark horse is a person or team that is taking part in a competition who surprises everyone by winning.
Rich: When Leicester City won the Premier League a few seasons ago they were dark horses.
Jack: Nobody gave them a chance of winning - it was very unexpected.
Rich: We often predict who might be a dark horse before a competition starts.
Jack: Liverpool and Manchester City are probably favourites to win the Premier League this season. My dark horses are Everton.
Rich: Here Jack is predicting that Everton have a chance of winning the league. He thinks if any other team is going to surprise the rest it will be Everton.
Jack: Who are your dark horses?
Rich: My dark horses are Tottenham. I think they have a real chance and are going to score lots of goals.
Jack: We speak about dark horses in all sports and also in other races such as elections.
Rich: Yes, we could speak about people who have unexpectedly become President.
Jack: The phrase originally comes from horse racing and it was used to speak about a horse that nobody knew about so it was difficult to bet money on it.
Rich: There is another meaning of dark horse. It can be used to describe someone who hides their talent or doesn’t tell people that they are really good at a specific thing.
Jack: My brother is a bit of a dark horse.
Rich: Why’s that?
Jack: He had a trial at Manchester United when he was younger. He was a really good footballer but he doesn’t tell anybody about it these days.
Rich: My sister’s a bit of a dark horse. We went on holiday together to France a couple of summer’s ago. I remember when we got to the campsite she just started speaking fluent French. I was gobsmacked.
Jack: Why?
Rich: I didn’t even know she spoke French. She never studied it at school but has been learning it for years. She never told me.
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.
Comment
Discuss
Who do you think could be this season's dark horse?
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Comments
12/03/2022
points
Arsenal might be a dark horse in this season.
12/03/2022 10:06
Manchester United
738
Arsenal might be a dark horse in this season.
22/10/2021
points
Despite being considered a great footballer, Ronaldo is the dark horse of the season. Yes, I know there are a lot of people who root for him, but I thought he was going to have an average season. It is outstanding what he has accomplished in the pitch.
22/10/2021 23:55
Manchester United
293
Despite being considered a great footballer, Ronaldo is the dark horse of the season. Yes, I know there are a lot of people who root for him, but I thought he was going to have an average season. It is outstanding what he has accomplished in the pitch.
26/05/2021
points
As the PL season has already finished, my predictions will have place at UEFA Euro. And I think Poland can be a dark horse at it.
26/05/2021 18:55
Arsenal
1512
As the PL season has already finished, my predictions will have place at UEFA Euro. And I think Poland can be a dark horse at it.
22/11/2020
points
In Turkey, champion of super league for 2009-2010 season Bursaspor F.C. was the dark horse. My predicition for this 2020-2021 season my team Tottenham might be dark horse.
Life always full of surprises. In this respect, there is a British proverb I like so much it says “Nothing seems as it looks”
My last word; never bet money on dark horse.
P.S.
•Perfect hat-trick defined as three goals with right/left foot and head in a match. I wondered that , what it is called if there is also an "assist" in this concept-:)
• A goalkeeper should never get away from goal even there is opponent's goal possibility. (This week's Barcelona match)
22/11/2020 16:25
Tottenham Hotspur
5550
In Turkey, champion of super league for 2009-2010 season Bursaspor F.C. was the dark horse. My predicition for this 2020-2021 season my team Tottenham might be dark horse.
Life always full of surprises. In this respect, there is a British proverb I like so much it says “Nothing seems as it looks”
My last word; never bet money on dark horse.
P.S.
•Perfect hat-trick defined as three goals with right/left foot and head in a match. I wondered that , what it is called if there is also an "assist" in this concept-:)
• A goalkeeper should never get away from goal even there is opponent's goal possibility. (This week's Barcelona match)
31/10/2020
points
I think this season’s dark horses are Carlo Anchelotti’s Everton who had a perfect start and Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham who are having a high confidence that they can do it.
Wolves and Leeds United are dark horses as well but they aren’t contenders to win the Premier League. I expect them to end between 5th to 10th positions.
31/10/2020 08:06
Manchester United
6524
I think this season’s dark horses are Carlo Anchelotti’s Everton who had a perfect start and Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham who are having a high confidence that they can do it.
Wolves and Leeds United are dark horses as well but they aren’t contenders to win the Premier League. I expect them to end between 5th to 10th positions.
29/10/2020
points
This season has been a bit strange until here. The top five doesn't count with Man. City, Man. United, Arsenal and Chelsea right until now. It's just the season's begining, but I really believe that we can have a dark horse at the end. I think that Carlo Ancelotti's Everton and José Mourinho's Tottenham can win the league. They have a lot of experience in the league and have had time to build your teams. The true is it'll be a great season. I hope so!
Stay safe!
29/10/2020 14:40
Leeds United
399
This season has been a bit strange until here. The top five doesn't count with Man. City, Man. United, Arsenal and Chelsea right until now. It's just the season's begining, but I really believe that we can have a dark horse at the end. I think that Carlo Ancelotti's Everton and José Mourinho's Tottenham can win the league. They have a lot of experience in the league and have had time to build your teams. The true is it'll be a great season. I hope so!
Stay safe!
29/10/2020
points
Everton won't ever win the Premier League. Too weak in the guts. Not even the second. This season Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool are the main contestants for the title. Leeds and Wolves are dark horses.
29/10/2020 11:59
Liverpool
6555
Everton won't ever win the Premier League. Too weak in the guts. Not even the second. This season Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool are the main contestants for the title. Leeds and Wolves are dark horses.