[00:08.00]And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
[00:18.21]Today, we talk about those times when things do not go as planned.
[00:23.47]All the planning in the world does not guarantee that your plans will happen the way you had planned.
[00:33.95]Things can happen that are outside of your control.
[00:37.75]To talk about those times when things go awry, American English has two directional expressions: go south and go sideways.
[00:51.79]Let's start with go south.
[00:53.95]If something goes south, it stops working or falls apart.
[01:01.70]It can also mean that something decreases in value or loses quality.
[01:08.87]We often use it to describe a situation where everything has gone wrong.
[01:15.72]If your career goes south, you need to look for a new job.
[01:21.43]If your new computer goes south, it stops working.
[01:26.14]If a relationship goes south, the two people are heading toward a breakup.
[01:32.94]And if a trip goes south, one bad thing after another happens.
[01:39.38]You miss your plane, your passport gets stolen, and the hotel loses your reservation.
[01:47.60]That makes for a vacation that has gone south.
[01:52.20]Now, let's hear two friends use this expression.
[01:57.49]A: So, how is your friend's new bakery doing? She opened it earlier this year, right?
[02:04.92]B: She did. But then she ran into trouble. Her investor pulled out.
[02:11.84]And then her head baker quit. So, her business went south pretty quickly after that.
[02:20.01]A: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm not surprised.
[02:24.79]You need a lot of money up front to start a business.
[02:28.00]And for a bakery ... you definitely need a baker.
[02:32.90]B: Well it didn't help that another bakery with lower prices opened down the street.
[02:39.17]Her business was bound to go south after that.
[02:43.90]Sideways is another direction you don't want your projects or efforts to go.
[02:50.96]As a direction word, sideways means to go to either side - not forward or backward.
[02:59.23]As an idiomatic expression, to go sideways also means things do not go as planned.
[03:07.45]But this expression can be used a little differently from going south.
[03:14.51]Often when things go sideways, they go wrong in strange ways.
[03:21.73]In other words, things get weird.
[03:25.00]Sometimes you want things to go sideways.
[03:29.82]For example, a good story often goes sideways.
[03:35.18]You think it's going to go in one direction but then there is a plot twist.
[03:42.42]Situations change and the story goes in an unexpected direction.
[03:49.81]Used this way, going sideways is a good thing.
[03:55.29]But what about on a family camping trip?
[03:59.47]Let's hear this expression used in that situation.
[04:04.47]A: How was your family camping trip?
[04:07.91]B: It was okay. But some really strange things happened. Nature things...
[04:13.38]A: Tell me more. What happened?
[04:16.98]B: Well, the first night a raccoon stole all my food.
[04:21.79]The second night while I slept, spiders spun webs all over my tent while I slept.
[04:27.33]And then on the third day while I was swimming in the lake, a fish bit me!
[04:34.08]A: That IS a lot of weird nature stuff. I didn't even know fish could bite.
[04:40.35]B: Me neither! But I guess on a camping trip that's gone sideways ... anything is possible!
[04:48.02]And that's the end of this Words and Their Stories.
[04:51.33]Until next time, I'm Anna Matteo.
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Words in This Story
awry -adv. off the correct or expected course
breakup -n. to end a romance
reservation -n. an arrangement to have something (as a motel room or a seat on a plane) held for one's use
sideways -adj. or -adv. from one side viewed the stage sideways : with one side forward turn sideways : to one side
idiomatic -adj. of, relating to, or conforming to idiom -n. an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but must be learned as a whole
weird -adj. very unusual or strange
plot twist - n. a writing device that introduces a big change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a story
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