Hello and welcome to the English We Speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too.

I'm Faye Faye and I'm here with Beth. How are you?

Hi, Faye Faye. I'm great thanks and I have a funny story to share with you.

Oh, go on. So I was at a fancy dress party last weekend and I was talking to a person in a superhero

costume. I had no idea who it was. I was talking to them for ages but then they finally took

their mask off and I twigged. It was my cousin. Oh, must have been a good costume. And that's a

great example of the word we're looking at in this program

twig. It's an informal British English verb and if you twig it means you realise or understand

something, often after some time or confusion. Exactly. And you can suddenly twig something

or it can be a slower realisation. Can you give us an example of when can suddenly twig something or it can be a slower realization. Can you give us an

example of when you have twigged something, Fife? Yes, actually. I was in the lift the other day and

the person standing next to me looked really familiar. But I didn't know who it was until I got

out of the lift. I suddenly twiged.

It was a famous actor.

Ah, that's cool.

Twig can often be used in situations where you've been a bit slow to understand something.

Like maybe you're watching a mystery film and it's only in the final scene that you guess who the murderer is.

You finally twig who it is.

Yes, and we always twig a thing, the realisation.

Here are some more examples of the verb twig.

So I know this man in the office, and then I also know a woman in my choir,

and I've only just twigged that they're actually siblings.

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