This mini episode teaches you an interesting English expression: “a can of worms.”
Episode 134 of the Everybody ESL podcast teaches you the interesting English expression “can of worms.” What does it mean, and how do you use it? Find out here. And send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
The expression I want to teach you today is “can of worms.” Can of worms. That’s “can” (c-a-n) “of” (o-f) “worms” (w-o-r-m-s).
What do you think a can of worms might be? First of all, do you know what a worm is? A worm is one of those long, skinny, slimy creatures that lives in the dirt. What do you think that expression means? Maybe it means something disgusting or strange, because a can full of worms sounds pretty disgusting and very strange. That would be a good guess, but it would be incorrect. Because a can of worms is a situation that seems simple but turns out to be complicated or difficult once you begin.
Let me give you an example of a situation that I think we could describe as a can of worms. Let's say you are having a small, simple problem with your car. Maybe the window does not go up and down properly anymore. So you bring your car to the mechanic, and your mechanic starts investigating the problem, and your mechanic starts exploring inside your car, like a surgeon exploring inside a patient. And then your mechanic calls you and says, “Well, we thought the problem was going to be very small and very simple and easy to fix. But it turned out to be a much bigger problem. This is going to be a very difficult problem to fix, and it's going to be very expensive.”
You could describe the situation as a can of worms. You could say, “I took my car to the mechanic for a simple problem. But it turned out to be a can of worms. As soon as the mechanic started trying to fix the problem, the problem started to get much bigger and more complicated and more expensive and more terrible. That's what a can of worms is: a situation that looks like it will be simple to deal with but turns out to be difficult, complicated, and maybe expensive
And that's the end of episode 134 of Everybody ESL. Remember, if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions for me about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can use at the beginning of future episodes (the same way Gayatri recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode), send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com.
I'll be back soon with another episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Good-bye! I'll see you soon.