In this mini episode, you will learn the idiom “been around the block.”
Episode 433 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the idiom “been around the block.” 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
“This is Elena, from Russia. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 433 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 common idiom. We can call this idiom “been around the block.” Been around the block. That’s b-e-e-n, a-r-o-u-n-d, t-h-e, b-l-o-c-k. Been around the block.
You will hear this in sentences like “He has been around the block.” Or “I have been around the block.” “She has been around the block.”
What does this mean? Why would we say that someone has been around the block?
First of all, let’s look at “around the block.” What does that mean? What does “around the block” mean?
To understand this phrase, let’s think of a city or a town or a neighborhood. Imagine all of the streets in that city, town, or neighborhood. Imagine the streets crossing other streets and forming a network of streets or a grid of streets. Now imagine that you start on a corner. You start at a place where two streets meet. You walk until you reach the next street, until you reach another corner. And then you turn right, let’s say, and you keep going until you reach street. Then you turn right again, and you keep walking until you reach another street. Turn right again and keep going until you reach the next corner. Now you are back at the place where you started, and you have walked around the block.
So that’s what “around the block” means: You have walked around this square or rectangle of intersecting streets. You have walked around the block.
Now we can look at this idiom and talk about what it means to say that someone has been around the block. When we say that someone has been around the block, we are saying somebody has some experience. We are saying that a person is not new to something. A person has knowledge and experience of life. They have seen lots of interesting things and experienced lots of things already.
I guess it comes from the idea that they have made this little journey. They have made this little trip around the block. They’ve seen a part of the city or the town. What it really means is that somebody has experience. Somebody has already learned something important about the world. Or someone has already learned important things about how the world works.
If I say I have been around the block, that is another way of saying, “I understand how the world works. You don’t need to explain all of this to me. You don’t need to explain this situation to me. I already know all of these important things about the world. I know how the world works,” or “I know how people are. I have already had many experiences and seen many things. I already understand. I have been around the block.”
And that is “been around the block,” a common and useful idiom that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 433 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 Elena 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. Until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!