In this mini episode, you will learn the expression “few and far between.”
Episode 392 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the expression “few and far between.” 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 there! This is Ryoko Takao, from Tokyo, Japan. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 392 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 a strange and interesting expression. And the expression is “few and far between.” Few and far between.
That’s few, f-e-w, and, far, f-a-r, between, b-e-t-w-e-e-n. Few and far between.
What does it mean if we describe something as few and far between? We use this expression, “few and far between,” to describe things that are rare, things that do not happen often. Or things that do not occur close to each other. Things that are rare or things that happen far apart from other examples.
That sounds very confusing, but when I give you an example, I think you will understand this expression.
Imagine that somebody moves from a big city to a small town in the countryside. Life in the countryside is great, but it is very difficult for this person to find a good job. He is looking for a very high-paying job, a job in exactly the right field. Let’s say that he is a scientist of some kind. Well, the problem is jobs for scientists ain this small town are few and far between.
In other words, there are not many of them—there are few of them. And they are far between—there is a lot of distance between them. They are far apart.
We can use this phrase, “few and far between,” anytime we describe anything that is very rare and things that are not grouped closely together. In other words, there are few of them, and the distance between them is very far. There is a great distance between examples of this thing.
You can use it for physical things (real things in the world) or you can use it for things like jobs, or opportunities, or certain kinds of situations. Anything that is infrequent (it doesn’t happen a lot or it’s not common), and the examples of this thing seem far apart in some way, not close together.
That is “few and far between,” an interesting and useful expression that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 392 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 Ryoko 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!