Welcome to the English we speak with me Beth and me Jayin.

We have an unusual verb which is all about saying you have done something better or more impressive than someone else.

And the verb is to one up.

To one up.

It's a verb with one and up.

How do we use it, Beth?

Well, you like singing, don't you, Jaying.

Have you ever sung in front of an audience?

I have.

I sang at my friend's wedding.

There were about a hundred people.

Wow, that is actually quite impressive.

But I can one up you.

I sang on a stage last year in front of a thousand people.

Okay, that is a lot, but I can one up you on something else. I ran a half marathon last year.

Hmm, impressive, but I can one up you. I ran a full marathon last week. Let's hear some more examples

Mike is always trying to one up me he's such a show off.

The striker won up the goalkeeper with that last penalty.

They were trying to one up each other over who could cook best.

You're listening to the English we speak from BBC Learning English and we're learning

the verb One Up, which is an informal way of saying you have an advantage over someone

else by doing something more impressive or better.

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