TV series English: Big Little Lies

This week, I am sharing with you some great English I heard in Big Little Lies!

Let me start with a disclaimer: I watched only half an episode, and that half really bored me to death, so I don’t think there will be more lessons from this series. Enjoy this one then!

1. “I think I rolled my ankle” – this is what one of the girls says after getting out of her car in high heels, and then tripping. The usual expression is “I sprained my ankle,” and it describes an ankle injury which is less serious than breaking a bone. “Roll” is more informal and everyday, while “sprain” is more medical. In Polish we say “skręciłam kostkę.”

2. “We should get Skye and Chloe together for a playdate,” says one of the mums to another mum. The nice word here is “playdate.” I’m sure you know the word “a date,” when a man goes out with a woman – to get to know her better, and maybe to become her boyfriend. Well, a playdate is also getting together, but for kids. And, you guessed it, what they do together is play! Although this isn’t so much different from a regular date… 😉 I think we don’t have an expression like this in Polish… “umówmy je na wspólną zabawę”?

3. “Madeline’s eventually gonna discover how smart you are. And when she does, shit’s gonna hit the fan. The shit is really gonna hit the fan if I don’t tell her about this petition.”

Here we have a playful use of the phrase = “the shit will hit the fan” = “there will be problems.” Also, a standard use is “when the shit hits the fan,” which means “when people become angry” or “when there are problems.”

You can visualize this idiom by imagining a fan = a cooling mechanical gadget (wiatrak chłodzący w upalne dni), and some shit hitting it. What happens with the shit? Well, obviously, it gets splattered all over the room! I really like this idiom, it’s so visual! 😉

In Polish we say “będzie draka, będzie przesrane”. And, yes, this phrase is a bit impolite!