| Helen: | Hello, and welcome to The English We Speak. My name is Helen. |
| Rob: | And I'm Rob. Helen, you look like you've been rushing. Here, have some water. |
| Helen: | Oh thanks. I'm a bit out of breath. My appointment at the bank took longer than expected. |
| Rob: | You got here just in the nick of time then. |
| Helen: | Just in the nick of time? Shouldn't it be just in time? |
| Rob: | You can say both. It means at the very last moment. Let's hear how this phrase is used. |
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| Woman 1: | Alice gave birth to a baby girl last night. |
| Woman 2: | I thought she wasn't due for another three weeks. |
| Woman 1: | It was early and they got to the hospital just in the nick of time. |
| Man: | Sarah and I were on our way to see Beyonce in concert. But she left her mobile in the office, so we had to go back and get it. |
| Woman: | Did you miss the show? |
| Man: | Thankfully not, we got there just in the nick of time. |
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| Helen: | In the first example, we heard one woman got to the hospital just before her baby was born. And in the second example, a couple nearly missed their Beyonce concert. |
| Rob: | That would've been awful. You hear this phrase often used to suggest a disaster had been averted. If the action happened any later, then something awful could happen. |
| Helen: | I see. I have another question—is this phrase a British expression? |
| Rob: | I don't think the phrase 'in the nick of time' is specifically British. It originated from the UK, but English speakers from all over the world use it. |
| Helen: | Let's listen to a few more examples then. |
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| Man: | We arrived just in the nick of time. Another five minutes, our plane would have left without us. |
| Woman: | Sam was experimenting with stir frying last night and the wok caught fire. Luke rushed in with the fire blanket just in the nick of time. |
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| Helen: | That was close. Stir frying can get pretty hot sometimes. And it's good that Luke didn't try to put out the fire with water. |
| Rob: | That would have been a catastrophe. So Helen, are you the kind of person who likes to do things at the very last minute? |
| Helen: | Well, I'd like to think of myself as a person who can do things in the nick of time. Thanks for listening. Bye. |
| Rob: | Bye. |
