The English We Speak: Off base
Learning English Conversations
BBC
4.6 ⢠1.2K Ratings
đď¸ 25 November 2025
âąď¸ 3 minutes
đď¸ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
This expression is a way to say someone's idea, guess or opinion is far from the reality. Learn it here with Beth and Feifei.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Want to improve your grammar? We have a podcast for that. Listen to learning English grammar to improve your language for everyday conversation. |
| 0:14.6 | I've got a sink full of dishes, so that needs cleaning. I saw a photo of my kids when they were really young, |
| 0:20.2 | and my wife and I talked about what it used to be like when they were babies. |
| 0:25.5 | onions are quite healthy, aren't they? |
| 0:27.4 | So is vinegar. |
| 0:29.0 | Oh, it's turned into a debate. |
| 0:31.9 | What do you regret? Do you have a long to-do list? |
| 0:36.0 | And would you rather climb a mountain or sail across an ocean? |
| 0:40.0 | Test your grammar today. Search Learning English Grammar wherever you're listening to this podcast, or visit BBCLearningEnglish.com. |
| 0:49.9 | Hello and welcome to the English We Speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent English |
| 0:56.6 | speakers so that you can use them as well. I'm Faye Faye and I'm joined by Beth. Hello Beth. |
| 1:02.8 | Hi Faye. Something embarrassing happened to me recently. Oh really? I want to hear all about it. |
| 1:09.2 | Well my cousin asked me if I'd bake her daughter a princess birthday cake and I thought I could. |
| 1:16.5 | Turns out I was completely off base. I can't decorate cakes at all. It was awful. |
| 1:22.8 | Oh, you were off base. You were wrong. Why was this cake decoration so bad? |
| 1:28.5 | Well, let's just say the cake looked more like a monster than a princess. |
| 1:33.3 | If someone is off base, it means they're mistaken or their guess or opinion is far from reality. |
| 1:40.5 | I thought I could decorate well, but I can't. |
| 1:43.5 | Oh, it happens to all of us. |
| 1:45.1 | Well, the other day I was trying to make a costume for my son for World Book Day, |
| 1:51.7 | but it turned out I got all the measurements wrong. |
... |
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