In this mini episode, you will learn the idioms “drop the ball” and “be on the ball.”
Episode 425 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the idioms “drop the ball” and “be on the ball.” 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 Basmah, from Saudi Arabia. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 425 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 common idiom. The idiom is “to drop the ball.” To drop the ball. That’s d-r-o-p, t-h-e, b-a-l-l. Drop the ball.
What do you think it means if we say that somebody dropped the ball? What does it mean to drop the ball?
If we say that somebody dropped the ball, we mean that somebody handled something—handled some situation—poorly. We mean that somebody made a mistake. Somebody did not do what they were supposed to do.
Let me give you an example of the kind of situation where we might use the idiom “drop the ball.”
Let’s say that soon, Ii will be my friend’s birthday. My friend’s birthday is coming soon. And I agreed to plan my friend’s birthday party. I told everybody, “I will plan the party. I will take care of everything. I will take care of all the arrangements. I will get the cake. I will invite everybody. I will do it. I will be in charge of this.”
And then... I don’t know what happened, but I didn’t actually take care of the party. Maybe I forgot. Maybe something else happened. I don’t know. But I didn’t get the cake. I didn’t invite people. I didn’t do what I was supposed to do. I didn’t handle this situation properly.
I could say (and other people could say) that I dropped the ball. I dropped the ball. When I apologized to everybody for this, I could say, “I’m really sorry. I know that I dropped the ball. I didn’t take care of this party the way I said I was going to. I dropped the ball.”
It’s interesting that there is another idiom that sounds similar, and it means something extremely different.
In addition to “drop the ball,” we have another idiom, and that is “to be on the ball.” Be on the ball.
If we say that somebody is on the ball, we are saying that person really understands something. That person is really smart. That person is clever. That person knows how to handle things. That person knows how to take care of things. So it’s kind of the opposite of “drop the ball.”
“On the ball.” It means you are very smart, and you are responsible, and you understand how things work, and you can handle some kind of situation.
And that is “drop the ball” and “be on the ball,” two interesting and common idioms that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 425 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any 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 Basmah 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!