In this mini episode, you will learn the interesting and useful idiom “sit tight.”
Episode 335 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the useful idiom “sit tight.” 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
“Hello! This is Hyeonjeong, from Seoul. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 335 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 idiom. The idiom is “sit tight.” Sit tight. That’s sit: s-i-t, tight: t-i-g-h-t. Sit tight.
What does “sit tight” mean?
The first thing I want to mention is that you might think it sounds strange to say, “Sit tight” instead of “sit tightly.” You might expect to see that word as tightly because often when we have a word that appears to modify a verb, it ends in -ly.
But in this idiom, it is actually “sit tight.” It is never “sit tightly.” It is always “sit tight.”
Okay, but what does it mean? What does it mean to sit tight? This is what it means: To sit tight means to wait patiently for more information, or to wait patiently for more instructions. To wait patiently for someone to tell you what to do next.
Here is an example of a situation where somebody might use the idiom “sit tight”:
Let’s say that you have a doctor’s appointment. You arrive at your doctor’s office, or at the hospital, at 10 o’clock. And you say to somebody sitting behind the desk, “I’m here for my 10 o’clock appointment.” And that person tells you, “The doctor is a little bit late today. Please sit tight, and the doctor will see you when he’s here.” Sit tight, and the doctor will see you when he’s here.
That means please have a seat—sit down over there—and just wait patiently for the doctor to be available. When this person says, “Sit tight,” what they mean is “Just sit and wait in a patient way until the next thing can happen.” In this case, until the doctor is available.
“Sit tight” means to wait patiently for the next step, or to wait patiently for the next instruction, or to wait patiently for the next thing to happen.
This is kind of a strange-sounding idiom, don’t you think? Sit tight. Well, that shouldn’t be too surprising. Many idioms sound a little bit strange. And, like all idioms, you just need to learn what this one means.
It’s very, very difficult—often I think it’s impossible—to predict what an idiom will mean. You just need to learn and remember the whole thing.
And that is “sit tight,” a useful and interesting idiom that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 335 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 Hyeonjeong 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!