The English We Speak: Muddle along
Learning English Conversations
BBC
4.6 ⢠1.2K Ratings
đď¸ 2 September 2025
âąď¸ 2 minutes
đď¸ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
An expression meaning you're managing OK even if you don't have a plan. Learn it here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Understand news stories in English with our Learning English from the News podcast. |
| 0:05.0 | In each episode we talk about one big news story and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it. |
| 0:12.0 | Follow the biggest stories in the world and improve your English. |
| 0:16.0 | Search for Learning English from the News in your podcast app or visit BBC learning English.com. |
| 0:23.0 | Hello and welcome to the English we speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent English |
| 0:28.8 | speakers so that you can use them as well. I'm Faye Faye. And I'm Beth. Faye, how are you today? |
| 0:35.2 | Oh, you know, muddling along. |
| 0:39.3 | Everything's fine, the same as usual. |
| 0:41.3 | Oh, you're muddling along. |
| 0:45.0 | Well, that's what we're looking at today, and it's a phrasal verb. |
| 0:49.8 | If you say you're muddling along, it means you're coping fine with something. |
| 0:52.5 | Things aren't great, but things aren't bad either. |
| 0:59.8 | And it can also be used when you're doing something without a plan or in conditions which aren't perfect. |
| 1:05.7 | Yes. So, for example, I don't have enough money to spend on a new phone at the moment. |
| 1:09.0 | So I am muddling along with my old one for now. |
| 1:13.5 | It's not a great phone, but it's okay for now. |
| 1:21.1 | Yes. So when working on projects, I prefer to have a very detailed plan. I don't like to muddle along. I'm the same. Let's hear some more examples of muddle along. |
| 1:29.7 | I've just moved into a new house |
| 1:31.8 | and I don't really have any plates or dishes or anything |
| 1:34.5 | or any furniture, but I think we'll muddle along somehow. |
| 1:39.0 | I could really do with a new job at a moment, |
| 1:41.9 | but there's nothing out there, so I'm just muddling along for now. |
... |
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