In this mini episode, you will learn the interesting expression “fingers crossed.”
Episode 331 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the interesting expression “fingers crossed.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi! This is Liyah, from Korea. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 331 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you an interesting and useful expression. The expression is “fingers crossed.” Fingers crossed. That’s fingers: f-i-n-g-e-r-s, crossed: c-r-o-s-s-e-d. Fingers crossed.
Before I can explain what “fingers crossed” means, I might need to explain a few other things.
First, what does it mean to cross your fingers? Cross your fingers. How do you cross your fingers? What does that mean? To cross your fingers means to move your index finger—your pointer finger—in front of or behind your middle finger. If you move your index—or pointer—finger and your middle finger that way, that is called crossing your fingers. If you do that, you have crossed your fingers.
So that’s what the gesture means. That’s how you cross your fingers.
What does it mean to cross your fingers? Why do we do that?
Crossed fingers are a sign of luck, or a sign of wishing for luck, or a sign of hoping for luck. When we cross our fingers, we are saying, “I hope this lucky thing happens.” And so, if you want to give somebody else good luck, or if you want to show somebody else that you hope they have good luck, you can cross your fingers for them, and then show them. “Look—I crossed my fingers for you.” Of course, you could also cross your fingers for yourself. You can cross your fingers to give yourself good luck.
But with this expression, “fingers crossed,” we are talking about showing somebody that your fingers are crossed. Showing them that you hope they get good luck. Showing them that you hope something good happens.
When we want to express that, we can cross our fingers and say, “Fingers crossed.” In other words, “My fingers are now crossed. I have crossed my fingers for you.” Fingers crossed: “My fingers are crossed. Because I am wishing for good luck for you.”
You can also use “fingers crossed” in writing. You don’t have to actually cross your fingers. You can just say it. You can say, “Fingers crossed.” In other words, “Let’s just pretend that I have crossed my fingers.”
And now, in these modern times, you can use an emoji instead of saying, “Fingers crossed.” Or instead of typing, “Fingers crossed.” If you look in the set of hand emojis on your phone, you will find an emoji that shows the fingers crossed. So, you can say, “Fingers crossed” or even just use the emoji.
Let me give you an example of a situation where somebody might say, “Fingers crossed.”
Let’s say that your friend has been studying a lot for an important exam. And then, on the morning of the exam, your friend sends you a text. And the text says: “The exam starts in 15 minutes. I’m so nervous.” And you write back: “Fingers crossed.” Fingers crossed. In other words, you are saying, “My fingers are crossed. I am wishing you good luck. I hope that you do well on your exam.”
That is “fingers crossed,” an interesting and useful phrase that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 331 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Liyah recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!