Medium: Brush aside

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 brush aside. 

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: Don’t forget you can always find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website.

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 brush aside.

Jack: This phrasal verb can be used to talk about things happening on or off the football pitch.

Rich: Let’s start with how we use brush aside in a general context.

Jack: It means to ignore someone or something because we don’t think they or it is important. Listen to these examples:

Rich: I was in a meeting at work the other day and I asked lots of questions but the boss just brushed them aside. I don’t know why I bothered asking them in the first place.

Jack: I’ve been on the substitutes bench for the last few weeks so I went to speak to the manager to say how I felt but he just brushed my feelings aside and told me to work harder in training.

Rich: In these examples, the manager brushed Jack’s feelings aside and the boss brushed my questions aside.

Jack: Questions are brushed aside, feelings are brushed aside and other things such as remarks, ideas and suggestions can be brushed aside.

Rich: When someone brushes something that somebody else has said aside the person is usually being quite rude and impolite because they are saying what the other person has said is not important.

Jack: But it’s not always used in a negative way especially when you brush something aside yourself. Listen to these examples:

Rich: I brushed my fears aside and walked into the old, dark house where I’d heard the noise.

Jack: I brushed aside the pain in my knee and continued running.

Rich: In these examples brush aside is similar in meaning to ignore but the meaning is more positive.

Jack: We also hear brush aside being used in connection with football and sports more generally.

Rich: The most common usage is when you hear about one team brushing aside another team.

Jack: It is used when one team is much better than the other and they win very easily. 

Rich: Leicester brushed Southampton aside and were 5-0 up at half-time. The final score was 9-0.

Jack: Leicester brushed Southampton aside. It was very easy. It was as if the other team were not there.

Rich: We use a brush to clean floors and the verb is also to brush. We can also sweep floors with a brush. It means the same.

Jack: A team can also be swept aside. We can say that Southampton were brushed aside or swept aside.

Rich: There is the final whistle!

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

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football. 

Comment

Discuss

Which teams will brush others aside in the Premier League this season?

Have you ever felt your opinions or suggestions being brushed aside?