skew-whiff: The English We Speak - YouTube

Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.

I'm Feifei.

Rob: And I'm Rob.

Feifei: And I have to say Rob, you look fantastic!

Big night, tonight, eh?

Rob: Well, I like to make an effort sometimes.

It's not every night you get invited to a movie premiere.

Feifei: So handsome…

Rob: Do you like my bow tie?

Feifei: Oh yes. Just one thing…

Rob: What's that?

Feifei: It's a bit… 'skew-whiff'.

Rob: Oh, really?

Feifei: Yes. It's not quite straight. Here.

Rob: Oh, thanks. That's better.

Feifei: Absolutely.

Rob: It's a good word, 'skew-whiff'.

We use it to describe things that aren't quite straight,

or not quite as they should be.

Feifei: Like your tie. And your…

hang on… your hair.

Rob: No, no, no – don't touch the hair.

I spent ages getting it just right.

Feifei: Sorry. We can also use 'skew-whiff' to describe

things that don't go according to plan.

Rob: Now Feifei, I'm just off to check myself

in the mirror.

Let's play some examples while I'm gone.

A: There we go! One perfectly hung picture.

What do you think?

B: Hmm, it's a little bit skew-whiff.

Let me hang it straight.

This table is skew-whiff.

One of the legs must be too short.

Our journey went a bit skew-whiff

after we missed the train this morning.

I wanted to spend the whole weekend

working on my dissertation, but

everything went a bit skew-whiff

when my friend arrived in the afternoon.

Rob: This is the English We Speak

from BBC Learning English.

We are talking about the word 'skew-whiff'.

OK, that's my bow tie looking perfect now,

thanks Feifei.

Feifei: Great. There's one more thing.

Rob: Oh yes? What's that?

Feifei: Take some chewing gum. Your breath is fine,

I think, but it's always good to have some, just in case.

Rob: Yes, you wouldn't want a whiff of bad breath

at the premiere.

Feifei: Indeed, the word ‘whiff' on its own means

'a sudden smell of something'.

No danger of that happening now. Enjoy the show!

Rob: I will!

Feifei and Rob: Bye.