Off the top of my head
Learning English Conversations
BBC
4.6 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 3 January 2023
⏱️ 2 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When you don’t have the facts and figures at hand, you have to make a quick guess.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is a download from BBC Learning English. |
| 0:03.0 | To find out more, visit our website. |
| 0:07.0 | Hello and welcome to the English we speak with me, Fay, |
| 0:11.0 | and me Rob. Rob. |
| 0:13.0 | Hey, Faye, we've taught a lot of English phrases and idioms over the years, haven't we? |
| 0:18.0 | We sure have. |
| 0:19.0 | But have we explained one about using our memory? |
| 0:23.2 | I can't think of one off the top of my head. |
| 0:26.7 | I think you just have. |
| 0:28.9 | Off the top of my head. |
| 0:30.8 | Let's use that one. |
| 0:31.8 | Okay, Rob. When we say something is off the top of my head, it means |
| 0:36.4 | we're saying something from memory and without thinking much about it. We're just |
| 0:42.0 | saying what we think we know. |
| 0:44.0 | Yes, it's just about quickly remembering and saying some facts without checking them. |
| 0:50.0 | And off the top of our heads, we have some examples of this new phrase now, don't we? |
| 0:54.8 | We do, Rob, and here they are. |
| 0:58.2 | Off the top of my head, I think we've collected about 100 pounds for jeans leaving present. |
| 1:09.0 | I haven't written it down but off the top of my head we've sold about a thousand raffle tickets. |
| 1:16.5 | Off the top of your head do you know what time the flight from Tokyo arrives? arrives. we're looking at the phrase off the top of my head, which means saying something from memory |
| 1:35.6 | and not checking the facts. |
| 1:39.0 | And Rob, off the top of your head, do you know exactly how many phrases and idioms we have taught so far? |
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