Episode 34 • Animals
Wild goose chase
A wolf in sheep's clothing
Wouldn't hurt a fly
Rat someone out
Let the cat out of the bag
Story
Agent F: So… we’ve finally arrested you, uh? I’ve got to say… You are a pretty good criminal… You’ve led us and the FBI on a wild goose chase for months… but now it’s all over. We have you now! Look at you, all nicely dressed, with a good job. Nobody would ever suspect you work for the mafia. You are what they call a wolf in sheep’s clothing, aren’t you? Most people who know you probably think you wouldn’t hurt a fly and yet, how many people have died because of you? Ha, I bet you’re wondering how we’ve found you. Well, you should be more careful with who you trust. You know Mickey, yeah, that’s right, it was your best friend the one who ratted you out.
Criminal: What? That bast-… Listen! It was him! He was the one who made me do it! [Click]
Chief: And then what, Agent Finnegan?
Agent F: Well, you heard him he let the cat out of the bag and confessed he was involved.
Chief: But it wasn’t true! Mickey never said anything.
Agent F: Of course not! But he never suspected we were lying. Sure, it was a risk! But we have his confession now!
Questions
That was officially super hard. It's already hard enough for me to make a male voice, but making three in the same story, I think I've toped myself. All right, hopefully, you understand who's who and if you haven't go check out the transcript and it's going to be easier to understand.
Wild goose chase
'You’ve led us and the FBI on a wild goose chase.'
You know what a goose is? It's a big wide bird. You can Google it on Google images and it's going to be clear to you.
• If you’re on a wild goose chase, are you trying to find something or running away from something?
If you are on a wild goose chase, you're trying to find something.
• Why can you not find that something? Is it because you’re not looking well?
No. If you're at a wild goose chase, it means you want to find that something, but it's either impossible or really hard to do. Imagine you're trying to find a very difficult criminal to catch. Well, the police can say we're on a wild goose chase because it seems impossible to catch him.
• Have you ever found yourself in a situation you thought was a wild goose chase?
Yes, I did. Before starting my trip to Asia, I wanted to find a job that was remote and that could pay enough for me to support myself. Obviously, I looked into online teaching because me being a teacher that made sense, and I promise you, I cannot find anything like anything for several reasons but I think I looked for a job for maybe two months and I felt like, "Oh my gosh, this is a wild goose chase. Maybe the job that I'm looking for does not even exist.
A wolf in sheep’s clothing
'You are what they call a wolf in sheep’s clothing.'
I think this is easier to understand.
• If a person is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, do they look friendly or not?
Well, they're in sheep's clothing, so yes, they do look friendly
• How are they really, character-wise, personality-wise?
Well, they're not very good. This is why we call them a wolf.
• Can you think of someone you know who you think is a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
Yes, unfortunately, I got to say, this is usually a term that's used when talking about teachers. Actually, I used to have a teacher and when I was younger, I was seven, eight years old. I just changed schools because my mom thought it was better for me to change schools. She found this teacher that she loved. Well, it turned out she was a wolf in sheep's clothing. She seems really nice and really friendly but with us kids, I swear to God, I'm still traumatized. She didn't do anything like physical or anything, but just the emotional. She wasn't a very mentally healthy person. I would say she was a wolf in sheep's clothing, unfortunately.
Wouldn’t hurt a fly
'Most people who know you probably think you wouldn’t hurt a fly.'
• If you say someone wouldn’t hurt a fly, do you think that someone is dangerous or not?
No, of course not. They wouldn't hurt a fly, not even a bug, not even a little insect, no, they're not dangerous but at least you think so.
• Can you use that expression even for people who kill flies?
Yes. You can say that. If you say, "Oh, he wouldn't hurt a fly," it doesn't mean that in his life or in her life, that person has never killed a fly.
• Can you think of someone you know who you think wouldn’t hurt a fly?
Definitely, without a doubt that's my sister. She is one of the sweetest people in the world. She's always trying to make sure everybody's fine. She doesn't want to hurt anybody. I could honestly say that my sister is one of those people that wouldn't hurt a fly.
Rat someone out
'It was your best friend the one who ratted you out.'
• If someone rats you out, are they being loyal or disloyal to you?
If they've ratted you out, they're being disloyal to you.
• How are they being disloyal? By doing someone or saying something?
If you rat someone out, you're being disloyal to them by saying something.
• What are you saying?
You're saying something that's going to get them in trouble because you're telling someone that they've done something wrong. Imagine your friend cheats on a test, you go to the teacher and you tell them, well, that's rating him out because you're telling the teacher that he's done something wrong.
• If you are ratting someone out, who are you talking to?
Well, it's got to be someone in authority. Someone like a teacher if you're at school, your boss if you're at work, or even a police officer.
• Do you think it's ever okay to rat out a friend?
I think absolutely not. If it's a real friend, you should never rat them out. You should be there and support them and if they need help, help them, but not rat them out.
Let the cat out of the bag
'Then he let the cat out of the bag.'
• If you let the cat out of the bag, do you keep a secret or reveal a secret?
Well, usually when you say, "He let the cat out of the bag," it means that he do it unintentionally. He do it by accident. Imagine someone's planning a surprise party and it's a secret and they see the person and they go, "Oh yes, I'm going to see you on Sunday." He just let the cat out of the bag because he accidentally revealed a secret.
• Have you ever let the cat out of the bag? When?
I can't think of a time, I was trying to think of that when I wrote this question and I can't think of a time, maybe I'm just so good at keeping secrets. No, but maybe I really am. I think I've never let the cat out of the bag.
[mepr-active rule=”1521″ ifallowed=”hide”]
Join the Community and access the FULL transcript (Questions + Answers).
[/mepr-active]
[mepr-active rule=”1520″ ifallowed=”hide”]
[mepr-login-form]
[/mepr-active]
