English in a Minute: Phrases with fire Learning English Vocabulary
Learning English Vocabulary
BBC
4.5 • 523 Ratings
🗓️ 27 April 2026
⏱️ 1 minutes
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Summary
Did you know it can be a good thing to be 'on fire'? Learn this phrase and more in this podcast.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.1 | You're listening to BBC LearningEnglish.com. |
| 0:10.9 | Fire is hot and dangerous. |
| 0:13.9 | So what kind of things can we express with the word fire? |
| 0:19.8 | If you play with fire, you're doing something risky or dangerous. Leaving your car unlocked in |
| 0:25.6 | the city. If you play with fire, you're going to get burnt. If you describe someone as on fire, it means |
| 0:32.6 | they're performing amazingly. Did you see Molly's presentation? She's on fire today. She's doing so well. |
| 0:41.1 | But if you're under fire, that means you're being criticised or attacked. This comes from fire |
| 0:46.6 | referring to bullets. Bill was under fire because he kept turning up late to work. |
| 0:53.1 | What happens if you add fuel to the fire? |
| 0:56.0 | You make it bigger. |
| 0:58.0 | You make a bad situation even worse. |
| 1:01.0 | Don't argue with her now. |
| 1:03.0 | You'll only add fuel to the fire. |
| 1:05.0 | Practice these phrases and you'll be on fire |
| 1:08.0 | in your English conversations. |
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