The English We Speak: The name of the game

Learning English Conversations

BBC

Education, Language Learning

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2025

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Learn an expression to talk about the most important aspect of something.

TRANSCRIPT

Find a full transcript for this episode ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak_2025/ep-250414

FIND BBC LEARNING ENGLISH HERE:

Visit our website ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish

The Pronunciation Lounge ✔️https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/features/the_pronunciation_lounge

Subscribe to our newsletter ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/newsletters

LIKE PODCASTS?

Try some of our other popular podcasts including: ✔️ Learning English for Work ✔️ Learning English from the News ✔️ Learning English Stories

They're all available by searching in your podcast app.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the English We Speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent English
0:06.0	speakers so that you can use them too.
0:09.0	I'm Faye Faye.
0:10.0	And I'm Phil.
0:11.0	Now, I am a big believer in looking professional in the office.
0:15.0	I'm sitting here very smartly dressed.
0:18.0	But Phil, you're in a track suit and trainers. What's going on?
0:22.4	Okay, okay. Let me explain. I'm going for a run at lunchtime. And when you're an athlete like me...
0:28.9	Oh, an athlete, you? Don't laugh. When you're an athlete, speed is the name of the game. I just can't run that fast in office clothes.
0:39.6	I'm not convinced you can run fast in that either. But anyway, you've given us a good
0:44.5	expression to learn in this program, the name of the game. Why don't you tell us a bit about it?
0:50.7	So, if something is the name of the game, that can mean that it's the most important aspect of
0:56.0	something. The game might actually be a game. So in football, the name of the game is scoring goals.
1:03.0	But it can also be used more generally. We use it any time that we want to highlight the most
1:08.4	important part of an activity.
1:15.9	Yes, so for example, at work, professionalism is the name of the game.
1:19.4	So you, Phil, should put some proper shoes on.
1:20.5	Maybe you're right.
1:26.0	While I go and change, listen to these people using the expression, the name of the game.
1:35.5	My brother has an amazing mind for detail and he's a lawyer which is good because that's the name of the game. I'm watching a reality TV show at the moment and popularity is really
1:41.9	the name of the game. When I travel I don't really like to plan much because for me, spontaneity is the name of the game.
1:52.5	We've been looking at the expression the name of the game.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.