S06 - 5 Luck

Native English speakers answer exam-style questions about luck.

We talk about the role luck plays in success, we talk about lucky habits, about lotteries and about being lucky in life in general. It’s a super-rich episode in terms of vocabulary, phrasal verbs and idioms. 

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Music: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Real Exam English podcast. This episode is about luck. We talk about the role luck plays in success, we talk about lucky habits, about lotteries and about being lucky in life in general. It’s a super-rich episode in terms of vocabulary, phrasal verbs and idioms. 

If you would like to study that language in more detail then you can purchase the transcripts for this and all episodes over on the Real Exam English website, realexamenglish.com

Let’s crack on with the questions:

Do you think luck plays a big role in success?

Oh, that's a hard one. I think opportunity plays a bigger role in success and sometimes you are lucky to be placed in a position where you have the opportunity or lucky that someone sees something in you and gives you opportunity. I don't think that, I don't think luck out of the blue plays a big role in success. I think it's more luck of being in the right place at the right time and seen by the right people and hard work put in.

And hard work put in. We use this phrasal verb to put in with things like effort or with time. Like, I put in so many hours work on this project, I hope I get good marks. Or if you put in a big effort when studying a language you will get positive results. 

She started the answer with a classic phrase to buy some time. Oh, that’s a hard one. Then she used this expression that someone sees something in you. This kind of implies that they can see some special talent or some quality in you that others can’t see, and that you have potential. Like nobody wanted to sign the footballer for their team but the manager saw something in him and he turned out to be a great player. 

We also had this other classic idiom I don’t think luck out of the blue plays a big role. Out of the blue meaning unexpectedly or without warning. Like my friend called me out of the blue to say he was coming to visit. 

Do you carry any lucky objects or have any lucky habits?

I don't, no. I class myself as quite a lucky man, if I'm going to be completely honest with you. Like, I'm naturally quite lucky. And then I think it has a lot to do with my mindset, you know, like maybe it's the law of attraction or whatever it is. Like, I always have this, I always have this... I always have this feeling that I'm going to be lucky with certain things. Like if we're in a competition or something's happening or like a bingo card, I'm like, I'm going to win this and then I'll win it. And I'm like, I'm just lucky. And I was like, I know, I'm always really lucky with certain things like in a raffle or something like that. I get this intuition that I'm going to win this and then I win it and I'm like, I made that happen. It doesn’t happen all the time, otherwise I'd be putting the lottery on wouldn't I? Do you know what I mean

Yea there’s probably something in that, though, right, with the positive attitude. Like, if you say you are not going to win then you are not going to win it, like.

Why do you think people enjoy games of chance like lotteries or gambling?

It's the you've got to be in it to win it thing, isn't it? It's the opportunity of changing your life. My granddad puts the lottery on every single week. He has the same numbers. I think now it's got to the point where he has to do it, because imagine that one week where he doesn't put the same numbers on and it comes in. So now it's just like a learnt behaviour where he has to put the lottery on. It's life-changing, isn't it? For the sake of like, what is it, 5, 4 pound, and you can win millions and change your life. I mean, it's the chance, the ultimate chance of life, really.

It's just walking away with that ticket, having those lottery dreams. You're like, what will I do if I won?

Oh, you always spend it, don't you? spend it before you've even won it. You're like, I'm going to buy there. I'm going to invest in property. I'm not going to be like one of those people that spends it all and loses everything. I'm going to be smart with my money. And everybody knows, as soon as you win it, the first thing you're doing is going on holiday. 

Totally, party on.

Yeah, of course. Yeah. Your good intentions go out the window.

Oh, yeah. The road was paved with good intentions.

Alright, in the first answer the speaker talked about putting in hard work, in this answer we have putting on the lottery, meaning to pay to enter the weekly lottery, and he said that he puts the same numbers on each week, meaning he always selects the same 6 or 7 numbers to enter the lottery and if his numbers come in, another phrasal verb, then he wins all the money. As he said: you’ve got to be in it, to win it. Meaning that if you don’t enter something you will never be successful at it. Another example would be, I don’t think I’ll get that job I was applying for, but you never know, you gotta be in it, to win it. 

Another really interesting expression he used was it can be life-changing, for the sake of 5 pounds. For the sake of has a few different meanings but in this context it means it is or isn’t worth the effort for such a small amount of money. Another illustration would be, I can’t believe you drove across town to a cheaper shop for the sake of €2, or you can also use it with time, like I stayed late at work last night for the sake of one email, or about effort, she started cooking the dinner from scratch again, for the sake of one burned clove of garlic. 

Then we were then chatting about our good intentions after winning the lottery and I said your good intentions go out the window, meaning you abandon your good intentions or they totally disappear. Other examples are when you have kids, privacy goes out the window, or when I’m on holidays, my healthy diet goes out the window. 

Then he said that the road was paved with good intentions. This full idiom is actually the road to hell was paved with good intentions, kind of meaning good intentions are useless unless you act on them, it’s not enough just to promise to be good, you have to put in the effort too.

Finally, in the first answer, I loved this phrase I class myself as quite a lucky person.  This is a super way to refer to yourself, like I class myself as an expert on wine or I class myself as a traditionalist. 

Do you carry any lucky objects or have any lucky habits and why? 

I don't have any lucky objects or habits, but I do perform a lot of rituals. I do have a lot of habits that I do that help me to rewire my brain. And it's something that I have done since I was younger, and it just helps me. It's comforting. 

Short and sweet answer here. I just want to focus on the verb do here. She said I don’t have any lucky objects or habits but I do perform a lot of rituals. I do have a lot of habits to help rewire my brain. Ok, so after using I don’t have lucky habits she uses I do perform rituals as a way to highlight the contrast. Remember, when speaking, to stress the do, I don’t like apples, but I do love bananas. 

This expression to rewire my brain is nice actually, isn’t in. Meaning to change how your brain functions, often to change habits or learn new skills. For instance, I’m trying to rewire my brain to stop checking my phone every two minutes or I’m focussing on positive news in an attempt to rewire my brain to be more optimistic.

If you would like to rewire your brain to improve your English then why not download my application for learning English and get into the habit of practicing English on a more regular basis. For more details on how the app works you can click on the link in the show notes or go to studio.com/realexamenglish

Do you consider yourself a lucky person?

Totally, totally. Absolutely. I kind of feel like it could have been any cradle. And I was blessed to be born with two wonderful parents who nurtured interests and fostered a lot of friends and family along the way. I have. I come from a family of five brothers and sisters, so we're large. So we have just spent the last, you know, decades and decades of just encouraging each other, loving each other, and and making each one blossom, you know, each and every way that they could.

Do you think luck influences big life events like careers or relationships?

Yeah, I do. I really do. I mean, I think you have to put yourself out there. I don't think you can sit in your house and be like, well, luck's going to come find me. But I do think that there is an element of what are the odds? I can't believe that I tripped over this person or I made that phone call or I stepped into that particular center that day and dropped off my CV. I can't believe, you know, that that actually happened to me. So I think you, it's a little bit like your question about creativity. You know, do you do you learn it or do you cultivate it or something like that? I think you need to cultivate your luck. But there is an element of luck. I do. I'm superstitious as well.

Great answers. The first one was full of positive language. She said she was blessed to be born with two wonderful parents. Blessed has a religious meaning but also it is used in a non-religious way to mean fortunate. Like, we were blessed to get the last seats on the train. Her parents nurtured interests, she said. Meaning they encouraged the development of their interests. 

Also, her parents fostered a lot of friends and family. Foster has a couple of meanings, one is to take care of a child for a period of time. Kind of like an adoption but just temporarily. And the other meaning is to encourage or nurture something. And I think in this case this is what she means, like her parents kind of encouraged these kids to develop. Another example of foster would be, the teacher’s job is to foster learning, or the aim of these workshops is to foster cooperation.  

Additionally, she mentioned her family were encouraging each other, loving each other and making each other blossom. Super positive language, oh my god, the most supportive family ever. To blossom, by the way, is to grow like a flower, as in their friendship blossomed into a romantic relationship. 

In the second answer we had another expression with put, this one was you have to put yourself out there. Meaning you have to show the world that you are interested and available for whatever. This is often used in relation to work or to relationships too actually. As in, you’ll be single all of your life unless you put yourself out there. 

She had this expression, what are the odds? We use this when you are surprised that something happens because the chances, or the odds, were kind of low. Like imagine if you are on holidays abroad and you meet your neighbour from home, you would say to them Wow, what the odds of seeing you here? As she said you may be surprised that you trip over someone, meaning to bump into someone, or run into someone, or to encounter them by chance. There is an element of luck, she mentioned. I like that, an element of. For example, in English exams there is an element of luck, they can ask you things you know, or things you don’t.

Do you think luck plays a big role in success?

Yes, it's not the only part of it. Obviously, you need to work. You need to put yourself in a position where that luck will find you and you know, you can utilize it.

But it is, in terms of, if you're looking at your career, if you're looking at your job, if you're looking at business, meeting the right person at the right time when you need their expertise, that's luck. You know, it can be luck.

You can do a lot of work to make sure you find the right people, but you need to get them at a time where they can work with you as well.

So, and I think for any walk of life, you know, whether it's somebody who works in a business where they're one of a thousand people working there, or whether it's your own business, I think if you can do the right thing that will lead you to maybe being the one who will see that piece of luck or that piece of luck will come to get you because you're putting yourself in that position.

But there's no doubt, and I've seen it in my own work life, that timing is key.

And timing a lot of the time comes from luck.

You're just, people miss out on things, unluckily, because they happen to be out of the office someday where something is said or something happens.

But the other side of it is that if you're there at the right time, if you're listening to the right person, you may hear something that was just luckily exactly what you want to hear at the time or points in the direction of where you need to go.

So yeah, I think you can work very hard, you can do everything that you need to do, but definitely luck plays a part in getting you to your destination.

Why do you think people enjoy games of chance like lotteries or gambling?

It is that chance, it’s that “what if” moment.

It's the dream of what might happen if it falls your way.

I think we all have our dreams and aspirations of a big lottery win or--you know, just even a small lottery, but it's just the what can this give me, you know, will it allow me to retire?

Will this allow me to give me or to give a better life for my family?

And I think it's it's that enjoyment of maybe it will be me this time.

And obviously the disappointment that goes with, you know, okay, it wasn't me this time, but maybe next time.

And I think we all need that little bit of spice in our life to, have that dream, to have that moment of potentially life-changing win or, even if it's just a bet on a football match. At the same time it mightn’t be life-changing but it keeps you interested, it adds a little bit of something to the watching the game.

We all need a bit of spice in our lives indeed. As he said, it’s the dream of what might happen if the lottery falls your way. If something falls your way, then it happens in a fortunate way for you. Like if the cards fall my way, I might win the game, or I played well in the match but sometimes the balls don’t fall your way. Another top word in this answer was aspirations, we all have dreams and aspirations. These are your hopes and dreams for the way your life will be in the future. Like I have aspirations to be a doctor when I’m older, or to live in a house in the countryside. 

In the first answer he said that in any walk of life you need luck. The walk of life here refers to people from a wide diversity of backgrounds and professions. This is often used in the plural form as all walks of life. For example, there were people from all walks of life at the festival. Or the singing competition had entrants from all walks of life. 

He also said that some people miss out of things because they happen to be out of the office. Firstly, the phrasal verb to miss out on something is to fail to experience or take advantage of something, like don’t miss out on this special offer. And then we use happen to be out of the office to indicate there is some fortune, or misfortune in this case, about what is occurring. Like I happened to find the last copy of the book you were looking for. Or do you happen to have a travel card for the bus, I lost mine?

Lastly, when contrasting the bad luck with the good luck he said, but the other side of it is that if you are in the right place and the right time. OK, be super careful using this one, but the other side of it is whatever. Make sure not to say on the other side. I know that in a lot of your languages you use this connector, on the other side, it doesn’t translate the same in English. So in English, you can say on the other hand or the other side of it is that blablablabla. To give you an example, being a mum can be very rewarding and fulfilling, but the other side of it is that it can be extremely exhausting and stressful too.

Do you consider yourself a lucky person?

No, I don't think I'm lucky. But I am lucky. Like, I've never considered myself lucky, but if I look at my life, I am, I am. Hashtag blessed, you know, just depends on, the universe has smiled upon me. The odds were in my favor, you know? I've had my hard times, you know? I only have one child 'cause I wasn't supposed to survive the childbirth of my daughter, nor was she supposed to survive, yeah. We were medically evacuated from Japan to Hawaii three times. Yeah. Yeah. So I joke her all the time. Like she broke the womb because she was perfect and she was all I ever needed. So, so like that wasn't lucky, you know, losing my dad. Well, I tried to have a second child and lost her at the same time. That is not lucky. But if I look, you can find that silver lining in everything. Like if I didn't lose my dad, my mom wouldn't be in Australia with me. 

Alright, so we have this adjective blessed again, she said hashtag blessed, using hashtag in a kind of cute or ironic way here. Then she said the odds were in my favour, meaning the chances of success were on her side. Another example would be, of all the candidates for the job I had the most experience and the best qualifications so the odds were in my favour. 

Then we had an inversion, I wasn’t supposed to survive the childbirth of the daughter, nor was she. Ok so when we are connecting two negative clauses we can use nor and invert the subject and the auxiliary verb. My dog can’t swim, nor can my cat. She doesn’t like inversions, nor does he.

Lastly, she said you can find that silver lining in everything. This comes from the idiom every cloud has a silver lining, meaning every bad moment has something positive come out of it also. Like when it starts raining and you can’t have a barbecue but at least you don’t have to water the plants in the garden, that is a silver lining. Or when you are stuck in a traffic jam but you get to listen to a whole episode of the Real Exam English podcast, hurrah, silver lining!

Ok guys, that is end of this episode, I’m blessed to have you all as listeners. If you keep putting in the good work listening to podcasts, reading articles, practicing your writing and speaking then I’m sure you can achieve your aspirations of improving your English. Keep up the good work! 

Trevor