Helen and Neil are in the studio when Helen's phone rings. But when she picks up there's no sound. What's gone wrong? Find out and learn a useful phrase in the programme.
Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.
Helen
Hello welcome to The English We Speak, I'm Helen.
Neil
Hello everyone. I'm Neil. It's great to be here today, Helen.
Helen
You are very cheerful today.
Neil
I feel pretty good, I walked from the train station to the office and it seems to have really energised me.
(phone rings)
Helen
That's my phone. Hello, hello? Anyone there? Hello?
Neil
Oh, it looks like you may be out of juice.
Helen
What? I am not drinking any juice, but my phone has just gone dead.
Neil
That's what I mean. Your phone isn't working because it's out of juice.
Helen
Please explain: what's juice got to do with my phone?
Neil
When you've used all the battery power of something like a mobile phone, so that it doesn't work anymore, we can say it's 'out of juice'. It's a slang expression. Have a listen to these examples:
Examples
My laptop's out of juice. This is so frustrating.
I am packing three spare phone batteries so I don't run out of juice on my climbing trip.
Helen
I see. Can we use it for anything else apart from batteries?
Neil
Sure, sometimes if a person feels low on energy, they could say 'I'm out of juice'. Also if your car is low on petrol, you could say 'The car's running out of juice.'
Helen
Thanks for explaining this phrase. Now I'm feeling quite thirsty—a glass of juice would be most welcome.
Neil
Let's go and get some then. Meanwhile, charge your phone, so it's got plenty of juice.
Helen
Will do.
Neil
See you next time.
Both
Bye!