Learn English Through Football Podcast: Spare Blushes

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Learn English Through Football Podcast: Spare Blushes

In this week’s football-language podcast we look at a phrase used after a player misses an easy chance – spare a player’s blushes. We will also have  some predictions, including Arsenal versus Newcastle. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions then you can contact us at admin@languagecaster.com

Hello

DB: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast.

Hello everyone and welcome to the show for all those who love the beautiful game of football and who want to improve their English language skills. My name’s Damon and I’m talking to you from a cloudy and wet Tokyo – again. It was the same story last week. I mustn’t complain though, the week has been beautiful and sunny. I wonder what the weather is like in London? Damian?

DF:  Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing well. I am sitting outside in a very sunny and warm London, the day before the FA Cup final and I’ll be giving my predictions later on in the show.

It’s been another really busy week in football – congratulations to Barcelona after their victory at Espanyol gave them the title. They have played some wonderful football this season and the opening goal in this game was scored by Yamine Lamal – what a wonderful strike it was!

DB: Yes, it was a great result for Barcelona, and Yamine Lamal, like his team, has had a great season.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Mongolian)

DB: Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster and that message was in Mongolian and we will have a lot more messages like that coming up in different languages. I wonder if you can identify all the languages. We’ll let you know what they were at the end of the show.

Today’s Show

DB: Now, on the show today, I am going to be looking at the phrase to spare a player’s blushes and vocabulary connected to this phrase. After that, Damian has his predictions for some big games this week, and we’ll finish with a bit of information about how you can contact us as and we’ll identify the languages used in our messages.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (Chinese)

Spare (a Player’s) Blushes

Embed from Getty Images

DB: OK, let’s kick off with the main phrase for today’s show. I was watching the highlights of the Chelsea versus Manchester United clash and heard this phrase used when Enzo Fernández of Chelsea missed a really easy chance in front of goal. Cole Palmer had hit a powerful shot, which was stopped by Onana, the Man United goalkeeper. However, the ball fell straight to Fernández about 6 yards out with only the keeper to beat.

The Chelsea player blazed his shot over the bar, he skied his effort. To sky a shot is to hit the  ball high – towards the sky – over the crossbar.

Luckily for Fernández, the flag went up for offside, so his miss didn’t matter. This is when the commentator said ‘the flag spared his blushes‘.

People blush, their cheeks and face go red, when they are embarrassed, when they make a bad mistake, and to spare your blushes is to escape being embarrassed. Maybe your mistake isn’t seen, someone fixes your mistake, or in this case, the offside means the mistake doesn’t matter.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Korean)

Sitter

DB: The reason Fernández could have been embarrassed by his miss was because it was a very easy chance. An easy chance can be described as a sitter. Here is an example in the London Evening Standard describing a miss by Liverpool striker Nunez in a match against Aston Villa:

“Only Nunez knows how Liverpool did not go back in front in the 69th minute as he missed a sitter three minutes after coming off the bench. Szoboszlai raced through on goal and unselfishly squared for the Uruguayan at the far post, but he incredibly skied his shot with the net gaping.”

In this description the striker also skied his shot, so he shot high over the goal. The net is described as gaping, meaning wide open. Nunez had a lot of the goal to aim at.

(to) Fluff

DB: So, we use to spare a player’s blushes when an offside flag goes up after they miss an easy chance. A sitter is an easy chance, but we can also use to fluff a shot, to mean miss an easy chance. To fluff something is to make a bad mistake, and you can say a player fluffed his or her shot, or fluffed a chance, when they fail to shoot on target and miss an easy opportunity.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Vietnamese)

Predictions

DB: OK, next up we have our predictions section, and here’s Damian with his thoughts on the FA Cup final as well as Arsenal versus Newcastle United, which could decide who finishes in third spot in the Premier League.

FA Cup Final: Manchester City v Crystal Palace

Arsenal v Newcastle

There are also Premier League games this weekend including the big one between Arsenal and Newcastle in the battle to reach Champions League spots next season. I think this will finish 1-1.

There are my predictions for this week – what do you think will happen?

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Lao)

Contact

DB: Right, remember to contact us via email at admin@languagecaster.com if you have any questions about the language of football or if you have some feedback on our podcast. Check out our website and explore our Football Language Forum, where you can ask and answer questions about all kinds of football language. There is also our huge glossary of football terms, with hundreds of expressions, phrases, and clichés about the beautiful game.

Stinger: You are listening to languagecaster.com (in Cebuano)

Goodbye

DB:  Yes, you are listening to Languagecaster and that message, or stinger, was in Cebuano. We also heard Mongolian, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese – all languages from Asia! Thanks everyone for listening this week. On this show, we looked at the phrase, to spare a player’s blushes, as well as a sitter, to fluff a shot, to sky a shot, and a gaping goal. Let is know if you hear these phrases in the football this week or if you have similar expressions but in another language.

Enjoy all the football. Ta-ra!

DF: Thanks for listening. Enjoy all the football. Bye-bye.

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