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Hello and welcome to the English we speak, with me Faye Faye.

And me, Roy.

Rob sounds very stressed today.

I think he's worried about his magic trick.

What magic trick?

I know he has a lot of work on this week.

When I spoke to him on the phone, he said he had a lot of plates spinning.

No, Roy, if someone says they have a lot of plates spinning, it means that they have a number of different

tasks to do at the same time and can't just focus on one.

Ah, so he was talking about work. Now I understand why he put the phone down when I started telling him about how many times I tried to find rabbits in my hats.

Right. Let's listen to the times I try to find rabbits in my hats.

Right, let's listen to these examples.

As a single parent, I always have a lot of things to do at the same time. I always have a lot of plate spinning.

He's always busy. He's got so many hobbies and activities and that's not including work.

He has a lot of plates spinning. She decided to quit her job

due to the heavy workload. She always complained that she had a lot of plates spinning.

You're listening to the English we speak from BBC Learning English and we're talking about the expression have a lot of plates spinning. This expression refers to having a lot of things to do at the same time.

Yes, I've also heard the expression used as a lot of balls in the air. You look quite busy today.

I'm always busy Roy. I have so much work and I have a lot of balls in the air at the moment.

Maybe I can help you.

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