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[00:07.83]And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

[00:18.84]Today, we talk about making things.

[00:23.02]When you make things using a mold, the material takes the shape of the mold, and everything comes out the same.

[00:33.01]So, if you have a mold of a duck and put clay inside it, you will have a lot of ducks made out of clay with the same shape.

[00:45.35]They will look exactly like each other.

[00:50.20]Now, if you break the mold, you have to shape the clay by hand to make one duck at a time.

[00:57.16]As a result, all of the hand-made ducks will look different. Each one is special and unique.

[01:07.37]That is where we get the expression to break the mold.

[01:12.91]The dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster says to break the mold mean "you do something in a completely new way."

[01:23.79]Those who break the mold usually try to find new ways to deal with a problem.

[01:30.29]They do things differently from what has been done before.

[01:34.65]They try new methods and do not follow what is usually done.

[01:41.85]We also call these new ways and methods fresh, one-of-a-kind, or novel.

[01:50.81]For example, after a toy company lost money for three straight years, the owner tried something completely different.

[02:01.54]She asked young children to develop new toys for the company. And it worked.

[02:09.07]The new toys sold very well.

[02:12.18]So, we say she broke the mold of toy development by asking children instead of experts to design new toys for the company.

[02:24.01]We also use this expression to break the mold to "describe a very unusual or admired person."

[02:33.60]Let's look at the story of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States.

[02:41.98]His father was a black man from Kenya; his mother was a white American from the Midwestern state of Kansas.

[02:52.03]By 2009, only five Black Americans had ever served in the U.S. Senate.

[02:59.70]Yet, Obama defeated all other well-known candidates to become the first Black American president in the country's history.

[03:09.49]Even those who did not vote for Obama agreed that he broke the mold.

[03:16.55]The expression is usually used to praise someone.

[03:21.27]But people sometimes use it to describe someone a bit unusual as well.

[03:28.26]Used this way, we might say, "Well, they certainly broke the mold when they made her!"

[03:36.90]And that's the end of this Words and Their Stories.

[03:40.52]Do you have a similar expression in your language? Or do you have an expression or idiom you would like us to explain? Send us an email at [url=mailtoearningEnglish@VOANews.com]LearningEnglish@VOANews.com[/url].

[03:57.80]Until next time, I'm Anna Matteo.

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Words in This Story

mold - n. the frame on, around, or in which something is constructed or shaped

unique - adj. being the only one of its kind : being the only one : very unusual

novel - adj. new and not resembling something formerly known or used