Knee-jerk reaction
Neil's performing medical experiments on Feifei. Why's he hitting her with a hammer? To teach you a useful English expression!
Neil
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, I'm Neil and joining me is Feifei…
Feifei
Hello.
Neil
I've got a medical experiment to perform on you in this programme, Feifei.
Feifei
Righhhhht…
Neil
Come on—it's for our listeners. We've got an expression which means to react to something without thinking about it carefully first. So, cross one leg over the other, like that.
Feifei
What are you doing with that hammer?
Neil
Keep calm—it's OK, I'm not going to hurt you. And I'll just tap your knee… And… it worked!
Feifei
Yes Neil, well done. You've just tested my reflexes. When you hit my knee with the hammer, my leg kicked automatically. I didn't even think about it.
Neil
It was a knee-jerk reaction. And in English we can say that someone has a knee-jerk reaction when they act after an event without thinking carefully.
Feifei
Let's hear some examples of 'knee-jerk reaction'.
Examples
After the terrorist attack, the government should be careful to avoid a knee-jerk reaction. A declaration of war could lead to even bigger problems later.
He left his wife after he saw her having a drink with another man but it was a knee-jerk reaction. He'll be back.
Putting up interest rates because of inflation is a knee-jerk reaction. They haven't thought of the other consequences.
Feifei
A knee-jerk reaction. Acting automatically, without thinking about the consequences.
Neil
Let's try that again with the other knee. Here we go… (Smacking sfx) Argh—you kicked me in the face!
Feifei
Sorry Neil—it was just a knee-jerk reaction.
Neil
Ow…
Both
Bye!