In this mini episode, you will learn the idiom “to have a lot riding on something.”
Episode 465 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the idiom “to have a lot riding on something.” 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, everyone! This is Shuang, from Anhui, China. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 465 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 idiom. The idiom is “to have a lot riding on something.” To have a lot riding on something.
In this expression, riding is r-i-d-i-n-g. I don’t know if it’s important for you to know this, but this use of riding comes from gambling. It comes from the idea of making bets and risking money.
We say that we have a lot riding on something when something is very important for our success or our survival. If our success or survival or some other very important thing is depending on something, then we can say we have a lot riding on that thing.
That might be a complicated explanation. Let me give you two examples that I think will help you understand how we use this idiom.
Imagine that your friend is trying to get a new job. Let’s say there is this one job that she is very, very interested in. She’s very, very excited about this job. She really wants to get this job. She is preparing for an interview for this job.
This interview is very, very important. If she does well on this interview, maybe she will get the job. But if she does poorly on the interview—if the interview doesn’t go well—then she will not get the job. So this interview is very important.
She could say, “I have a lot riding on this interview.” I have a lot riding on this interview.
In other words, my success or something very valuable depends on that interview. There is a lot at risk. The result of this interview could be very, very important. It could lead to something very good or it could lead to something very bad. She could say, “I have a lot riding on this interview.”
Here’s another example:
Let’s say that there is an athlete. Let’s say he is a soccer player. He is getting a little bit old, but he’s trying to get his career going again. He’s trying to become a successful soccer player again. He knows that if he plays well in this game today, that might really help his career. Maybe he will be able to play soccer for another season. Or maybe another team will be interested in him. This game is very important to him. The result of this game could be very significant.
Maybe it will help to improve his reputation or start his career again. Or maybe it will lead to him losing his career. Maybe he will have to leave soccer. He will no longer be a soccer player.
He could say, “I have a lot riding on this game.” I have a lot riding on this game.
In other words, “I’m depending on this game—or I’m depending on playing well in this game—for something very important. I have a lot riding on this game.”
And that is “to have a lot riding on something,” an interesting and useful idiom that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 465 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 Shuang 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!