Hello and welcome to the English We Speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent English speakers

so that you can use them as well. I'm Faye Faye and I'm joined by Beth.

Hi Faye. I hear you went out for a delicious dinner last night.

I did actually. I wasn't going to but my friend twisted my arm and I ended up going.

I'm guessing you don't mean she physically grabbed your arm and twisted it. That would be painful.

No. If someone twists your arm, they persuade you to do something.

It's often used to describe persuading a person who is unsure or reluctant about doing something. So your friend convinced

you to go out to dinner when you weren't sure. And I'm glad she did because it was an amazing meal.

Have you had your arm twisted recently? Yes. My mum invited me to a concert and I didn't really want to go because it's not my kind of music, but she twisted my arm and I went and you know what? I actually really enjoyed it.

Oh, that's really nice. Let's hear some more examples of the phrase twist someone's arm.

I really didn't want to spend all that money on an air fryer, but you twisted my arm and I'm glad

you did. It's amazing.

My general knowledge is really bad, but my friends have twisted my arm and now I'm on a

quiz team.

You know I hate parties, but you've twisted my arm now, so I'm going to come.

Twist someone's arm is often used when someone needs to be convinced a lot.

So, for example, if you offered me a slice of cake, you wouldn't

need to twist my arm because I would say yes very quickly. But even though it's about persuading,

it's mostly used in a friendly, light-hearted way. Though you can use it to say you were forced

into something. It's just less common. Yeah, like if I really didn't want

to lead on a project, but my manager said I had to, then I might feel that my arm was twisted and I

had no choice. Indeed. That's all from us. We'll be back next time with another useful English phrase.

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