| [00:01.34] |
Hi and welcome to The English We Speak. Today we're having an office party with the whole BBC Learning English team. |
| [00:08.59] |
And we're eating some delicious cakes and pies that Jen has baked for us. Have you tried the apple tart? |
| [00:14.88] |
Mmm, it's so tasty. Jen really has a lot of different skills, doesn't she? |
| [00:19.72] |
Yeah, she really gets involved in lots of different activities. |
| [00:24.70] |
She's always organising different parties, goes rowing, and did you know she works as a weather presenter at the weekend? |
| [00:33.50] |
And she's a good cook too. This blueberry crumble is delicious. She really does have a finger in every pie. |
| [00:41.70] |
Ugh, really? I mean they taste good, but now I know she puts her fingers in them. I think I've just lost my appetite. |
| [00:51.35] |
That's not what I meant when I said she has a finger in every pie. It means she gets involved in a lot of different things. |
| [00:58.95] |
So someone has a finger in every pie when they're involved in different activities? Is it a good thing then? |
| [01:06.63] |
Well, in this case, when I said Jen has a finger in every pie, I meant it as a good thing. |
| [01:12.50] |
But it can sometimes suggest someone gets involved in things when they shouldn't. |
| [01:17.64] |
So it can be a good or a bad thing. Let's have a look at some examples. |
| [01:23.12] |
If you need any information just ask Annabel. She has a finger in every pie and always knows the answer. |
| [01:29.29] |
At work I'm a teacher but I also do some accounting and organise the end-of-term play. I like to have a finger in every pie. |
| [01:38.36] |
I can't seem to do anything without him being there. Yesterday I went to the photography club and he was there. |
| [01:45.21] |
Well, unfortunately he does have a finger in every pie. |
| [01:49.73] |
So if someone gets involved in too many different things and people disapprove of this, it can be used as a criticism. |
| [01:57.95] |
Yes, and Shakespeare used it in his play Henry VIII. |
| [02:02.50] |
In the play it's used as a criticism of someone who gets involved in everything when he shouldn't. |
| [02:07.73] |
No man's pie is freed from his ambitious finger. |
| [02:12.93] |
So the person criticised here feels the need to put his "ambitious finger" in every single pie that's baked to taste them all. |
| [02:21.71] |
Yes, which means he gets involved in things he shouldn't. |
| [02:25.57] |
But Shakespeare used the expression in a slightly different way from how we use it today. |
| [02:30.92] |
Now we just say someone has a finger in every pie. |
| [02:34.87] |
Yes, it's slightly less poetic than "no man's pie is freed from his ambitious finger". |
| [02:41.27] |
Well, this is all very interesting, but I haven't tried the peach pie yet. |
| [02:48.27] |
Well, no pie is freed from Helen's greedy fingers, is it? Only joking, Helen. |
