Transcript of AE 1199 - Expression: Have No Leg To Stand On

G'day, you mob and welcome to Aussie English! I am your host Pete. And my objective here is to teach you guys the English spoken Down Under. So whether you want to sound like a fair dinkum Aussie or you just want to understand what the flippin' hell we're on about when we're having a yarn, you've come to the right place. So sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy Aussie English. Let's go!

G'day, you mob! How's it going? Welcome to this episode of Aussie English, the number one place for anyone and everyone wanting to learn Australian English. I am your host, Pete. And first off, I need to give you an apology, guys! I'm sorry that I didn't release an episode last Sunday. I'm not sure if you can tell, but my voice is a little bit husky. I've got a bit of ahh, bit of a rough voice and it's because I've had a chest infection for the last week or so. And so my voice, yeah, it was just cooked and yeah, it was just really difficult to talk.

So I'd kind of lost my voice over the last week or so. And yeah, I need to have, I need to have more episodes in the bank lined up, I think, so that in future I can rely on those when I'm sick. But yeah, apologies that I didn't release anything. I think that is the first time I haven't released an episode on a Sunday since the podcast began. So yes, for the third time my apologies.

Anyway, guys, before we get into this episode, don't forget if you want the transcripts for these podcast episodes so that you can listen and read every single word that I say, you can do this simultaneously. Then go to www.AussieEnglish.com.au/podcast Where you can sign up for the Premium podcast membership. It'll also give you access to bonus episodes that only members can access.

You'll be able to use the premium podcast player so that you can listen and play the text at the same time. So you can listen to the audio, the text will scroll and you can pause, rewind, change the speed, everything like that. And then obviously, most importantly, you will get the transcripts that you can print out, highlight, take notes on. You can do all sorts of stuff. You can yeah, you can make a book out of them. You can do whatever you want. You could start a fire with the transcripts, you could do whatever you want! Then yeah, go to www.AussieEnglish.com.au/podcast

Now, so aside from being a little under the weather, being a little bit sick, it has been a good week. We are ramping things up this year. We're doing more and more and more. I'm still working on this course that I am and I hopefully release by the end of this month. The Aussie Accents 30 Day Challenge. So I'm looking forward to releasing that for you guys. This is going to be where you'll be able to day by day, every single day, complete a 10 to 15 minute lesson and get exposure to, I think there are going to be 34, maybe 35 different Australian accents.

So, different people, old people, young people, men, women, people of different backgrounds, all sorts of stuff. But the focus will be on rapidly levelling up your listening comprehension so that when you hear hopefully any Australian accent, you'll be able to understand it. Whether it's a bogan talking to you and you know, 'woop woop' in the middle of nowhere, or a professor from a university chatting with you after a lecture.

So anyway, guys, let's get into today's question, which comes from Ayda. Ayda asks, "What do you suggest for a newcomer to Australia to do to level up their English speaking skills?" Okay, so I guess first and foremost, I would work out the ways that make the most sense for you to use your English more. Right? So is it going to make more sense for you to be thinking about speaking at work, or at uni, or when out and about with friends, you know? Where do you do most of your speaking in English, and with other English speakers, with other Aussies or, you know, non Aussies but people speaking English. So what are those situations?

I'd then be thinking about hobbies and social events. You know, are there things that you could do? Can you go to more social events? Could you pick up a hobby where you're getting together with other Aussies or other English speakers somewhere on a regular basis. Even if it's once a week, a fortnight, a month, and you can obviously speak about that passion with those people? Can you go to more parties? Can you go out? You know, if you're living in a city somewhere, can you go out more frequently and socialise with your friends or meet new people, and again be using your language skills?

I would avoid using your native language as much as possible, at least to begin with. Right? So if you've just arrived in Australia, I've heard stories from students that I've had in the past where an example would be, you know, there was a girl I was giving lessons to. She was from, I think she was from Colombia, she came to Australia, she immediately met other Colombians. She moved in with other Colombians. She got a job through her Colombian friends and was working with other Colombians. She was studying English with other Colombians, so she was constantly speaking Spanish. Much, much, much more frequently than English, whereas, I know it's hard, right? Because we want to be around people that we can chat to, that we can develop friendships with. And if your English skills aren't where your native language skills are, obviously, it's harder to do that.

But if you say just arrive in Australia and instantly dive straight back into your native language, it's kind of defeats the purpose of coming all this way if your goal is to improve your language skills. So I would avoid immediately meeting other people who speak your native language, moving into a house with them, getting a job with them. If those things aren't already set up and happening, I would be working as hard as I can to move into a house with other people who are either native speakers, or non speakers of your native language where you have to use English. I'd get a job somewhere where hopefully there are no speakers of your native language, so you always have to rely on English.

So the basic thing is setting up your life so that you are forced to use English as much as possible, at least initially, right? Like if you can do that for the first three months, the first six months, the first nine months, the first year, your English is going to rapidly improve so fast compared to if you are constantly surrounded by your native language. And then other tips, I mean, getting private lessons from someone, get on iTtalki or Verbling, these websites online. Have a look on Gumtree and try and find a tutor.

Even if you're just catching up with them once a week or fortnight, getting lessons, going somewhere where you can chat with someone that you can ask questions about English. You know, you can run things by them, you can ask them about pronunciation or grammar, all that sort of stuff, and you can get feedback on your English skills. You could do group lessons, you could even have study mates or find friends that are also learning English, catch up with them on a regular basis, socialise, develop friendships with them, go get coffee and use your English.

And then lastly, I guess you know, shameless self plug, join my Academy. So if you join up to my Academy membership, the doors are closed right now, but they'll be open again. I think on the 1st of April you'll be able to join, you know, up to 5 to 6 different group lessons every single week. You jump into the Academy group on WhatsApp, you can chat with everyone there. Marjan, a beautiful member inside the academy, and when I say beautiful, I mean she's well, she's beautiful, but she's a beautiful person. Her personality is amazing, Marjan. I really, I'm a huge fan of yours. And she often organises get-togethers in Sydney with other academy members, so they often catch up as well.

So yeah, check out my Academy when the doors are open. There's loads of content in there, but the biggest focus of it is to get you speaking with other members, but also with the teachers in there. The Australian teachers that are going to help you improve your conversation skills, your fluency, your professional English, business English, public speaking, everything like that. So anyway, guys, I ranted about that a bit, but I hope that helps Ayda. Let me know. Let me know how you go.

And if you guys have thought, you know, Pete, you've forgotten some other cool tips, definitely shoot me a message. Send me a message. Tell me what your sort of advice is when trying to help people improve their speaking skills. You know, what did you do? How did you have success?

So anyway, guys, slap the bird and let's get into today's joke. Okay. So, today's joke, I have to try and tie this in with 'leg' as the expression today is "have no leg to stand on". So here's the joke.

Why do actors say 'break a leg'? Why do actors say 'break a leg'? Because every 'play' has a 'cast'!

Did you get it? Every 'play' has a 'cast'? Okay, so first I'll explain the expression 'break a leg'. 'Break a leg'. This phrase is believed to be rooted in the theatre community, which is known to be very superstitious.

Performers believed saying things like 'good luck!' Or, you know, 'I hope you do well', would actually bring about bad luck. So you weren't allowed to say something positive. And instead they would say something like 'break a leg', right. So the idea being that you would go out on stage as a performer, trip over and break your leg whilst acting. But yeah, so it's sort of like 'opposite day', right. They're wishing you bad luck, thinking that that was actually giving you good luck. If, if that makes sense.

Okay. But the pun here is on the word 'cast'. 'Cast'. So a 'cast' can be, you know, in the sense of a movie, a series, a theatre with lots of actors, the 'cast' of the play, the series, the film is all the people who act in it. That is the 'cast' C A S T, of that play or film or series, right. So the theatre had an incredibly talented 'cast' of actors. Their 'cast' was amazing.

But 'cast' can also mean a 'plaster cast', right? Again, still C A S T. This is a bandage that's stiffened with plaster of Paris, moulded to the shape of a limb that has been broken, right. So if you did break your leg, you would probably have surgery to align the bones and then have your legs set and put a 'cast' around it to hold everything in place. Right.

So, why do actors say 'break a leg'? Because every 'play' has a 'cast'.

Because if you break a leg, you've got to have a 'cast'. And then every 'play' has a 'cast' of actors. There you go.

All right. Let's get into today's expression. So today's expression is to "have no leg to stand on", to "have no leg to stand on". So we'll go through the words first. I'll then give you the definition of how to use the expression "have no leg to stand on". We'll talk about the origin, some examples of how to use it, a little pronunciation exercise, and then a listening comprehension exercise right at the end.

Okay. So, 'to have'. I'm sure you know this verb, 'to possess something'. "She 'has' three brothers." "I don't 'have' a lot of money." 'Have'.

'No', 'no' is 'not one, not any nothing of something'. Right. So, zero. The absence of something. "I have 'no' time." "There are 'no' people at the beach." "There's 'no' money in my bank account." I don't know why I'm talking about money so much.

A 'leg'. A 'leg' is one of two appendages used to stand up and walk around on, right. If you're a human. So other animals might have more. You know, a horse might have four legs, a crustacean might have ten legs. "The ballet dancer has slender 'legs'." "I've never eaten prawn 'legs'."

To 'stand'. This is 'to have or maintain an upright position', right. So if I'm sitting in a chair at the moment, if I straighten my legs, elevate my body and get up in an upright position, I am 'standing' right. That is me 'standing' up. "He 'stood up' and walked out of the room." "She's 'standing' in front of the house." To 'stand'.

And if you "stand 'on'" something, 'on' here is a preposition meaning physically in contact with, and supported, by the surface of something. So, it's 'on' something, right. On top of something at the moment. My phone, I've got my phone here. I've just dropped it 'on' the table. So, if you stand 'on' something, you are standing above that thing with your feet on it and it's supporting your weight. "I'm standing 'on' my own two feet." "The actor is standing 'on' the stage."

And it can also mean "to step 'on'". Right? So you could 'stand on' someone's toe or "I accidentally 'stood on' a snail." Oh, no, I'm so sorry, mate. (makes a squishing sound).

So, "to have no leg to stand on". Like, literally, this would be obviously that you don't have any legs and you can't stand up. Right. And you may hear variants of it. You may hear "have no leg to stand on", "to not have any leg to stand on", "without any leg to stand on" or "with no leg to stand on". And remember, 'have no' is the same as 'not have any' if we negate the verb in front of 'no'.

So if you wanted to say 'have no', and you wanted to negate 'have', you can't use 'no' anymore, you have to use 'any', right. Otherwise you're using a double negative. So you wouldn't say 'I don't have no', you say 'I have no', or 'I don't have any'.

But the definition of the expression is 'to have no support for what you're saying, what you think or what you're doing', right. So, if you 'have no leg to stand on', it is that there is no reason for you to think what you think, to say what you're saying, to do what you're doing. There's no justifiable reason for you to do that thing, right. You 'have no leg to stand on'. You have no support for that thing.

So let's go through the origin of this expression. I looked this up and it came off Rolls off the Tongue blog on Tumblr. "Late 16th century British English. There is a speculation that the lack of support originally referred to furniture, perhaps even to stools with various numbers of legs from four to none. With the disappearance of each leg, the stool would provide less and less support to someone sitting on it. Eventually, it became a metaphor for losing positions in arguments, debates and court cases. To have no leg to stand on."

So let's go through how I would use this expression 'to have no leg to stand on' or 'to not have any leg to stand on' in day-to-day English.

Example number one. Imagine you love playing cards with your friends. But one of them tends to be a bit of a cheat, right? They like cheating. They like trying to trick you so that they can win. So this friend of yours, he's always got a card up his sleeve. Figuratively, and maybe literally. He's always lying or breaking the rules so that he can win the game. And when you guys catch up and play with your friends, it's always really annoying if he keeps behaving this way.

So one day when you're all sitting around playing poker or blackjack, you know, one of these card games, he accuses someone else of cheating. Despite the fact that everyone knows this guy is a massive cheat. So because he's a hypocrite, right? He's 'the pot calling the kettle black'. He's being hypocritical. He's a cheater, complaining someone else is a cheater. You could say, "Mate, you're a cheater. You've got no leg to stand on." Right? "You don't have any leg to stand on. You've no leg to stand on because we all know you cheat all the time. So there's no point in you throwing out these accusations of other people being cheats when you are a cheat." "You 'have no leg to stand on'. Your complaints are unjustified."

Example number two. So you work for a company that's doing the dirty on you, right? They're stealing your wages. They're not paying you enough money that you deserve, maybe that you legally deserve to, for the work that you're doing, for your labour. But unfortunately, you don't have any hard evidence for this. Perhaps someone told you about what's going on, but you don't have any sort of written evidence, right? It's just hearsay. This person's just sort of told you, "Yeah, I think this is going on."

So if you come forward and make a complaint, your lack of evidence, the fact that you have no evidence will mean, unfortunately, you 'have no leg to stand on'. So no one will be able to accept your accusation without hard evidence to back it up. You 'have no leg to stand on'. You need to find something to prove your accusation first.

And example number three. So sometimes this might happen around my house and I'm sort of throwing myself to the wolves, throwing myself under the bus, by giving this as an example. But I'll do it anyway. Sometimes I have a day at home by myself when my kids are at day-care and my wife's at work and my, my wife might have asked me to clean up a little bit. To do some laundry, do some dishes, mow the grass. You know, she'll have a whole list of chores for me to, to try and complete by the time she gets home.

And I might say, "Oh, yeah, sure. But oh, man, it's going to be a busy day of, of work for me", right. So the moment she leaves, I might do a little bit of work, but then take it easy for the rest of the day, right? All of a sudden I start playing a video game and the day gets away from me and all of a sudden she gets home, right? 8 hours later And I'm like, "Oh, geez, I've been playing the game the whole time." Didn't do any of the chores. What the hell happened?

So if she finds out I wasn't working and doing all the things she asked, I might 'have no leg to stand on' if I try and act like "I just didn't have time to do the chores", right. "Oh, I was super busy, you know." "Doing what?" "I'm playing a video game." "Yeah. Pete, you don't have any leg to stand on there, mate. You're going to have to stay up until late tonight doing the chores I asked you to do. 'You've got no leg to stand on'."

So there you go, guys. Hopefully now you understand the expression 'to have no leg to stand on'. If you 'don't have any legs to stand on' or you 'don't have any leg to stand on', it means to have no support for what you think, say or do, right? So what you're thinking, saying or doing is unjustifiable. It isn't justified. There's no good reason for you to do it. Yeah.

So as usual, let's go through a little pronunciation exercise. This is where I'm going to read out some words and phrases related to the word, or the expression, 'have no leg to stand on'. And your goal is to speak out loud and try and pronounce these just like me. If you're working on your Aussie accent, if you're not working on your Australian accent, you speak with a British accent or an American accent. No problem with that at all. Just read out the sentences in your preferred accent as well. Okay, let's go.

To. To have. To have no. To have no leg. To have no leg to. To have no leg to stand. To have no leg to stand on. To have no leg to stand on. To have no leg to stand on. To have no leg to stand on. To have no leg to stand on. I have no leg to stand on. You have no leg to stand on. He has no leg to stand on. She has no leg to stand on. We have no leg to stand on. They have no leg to stand on. It has no leg to stand on.

Good job, guys. So let's talk a little bit about emphasis and intonation, right? So when I'm just saying this phrase "to have no leg to stand on", I'll slow it down a bit, 'to have no leg to stand on'.

You hear the intonation kind of rises and falls over the entire phrase Da da da da da da da da da, right. It so it goes up and then just slowly drops down. Da da da da da da da da. 'To have no leg to stand on'. And which words do you hear me saying that are emphasised? So which ones are sort of coming forth. If I, if I give you that phrase again 'to have no leg to stand on', you'll hear 'have', 'no', 'leg' and 'stand'. 'To HAVE NO LEG to STAND on', 'to HAVE NO LEG to STAND on'. So that's where I'm putting the stress, right? All the important words, the verbs, the nouns, so 'to HAVE NO LEG to STAND on', 'to HAVE NO LEG to STAND on'. Good job!

And I might add, too, when you're saying this in the plural, you may use, say we 'have no legs to stand on'. It depends on how you're thinking about it, Right? If you're thinking about the expression as usually 'no leg to stand on', you may leave it singular, 'no leg to stand on'. But then if you're thinking, of it as 'we', you know, it's 'they', you may pluralise, 'legs'. So you might say "we have no 'legs' to stand on". "They have no 'legs' to stand on." It's sort of really up to you or the speaker who's speaking.

So anyway, guys, let's go into the last part here, last little section. I'm going to play a clip from an Aussie show called Mystery Road: Origin. And the excerpt is "Jason takes up his first posting in an outback town. A tragic death, an epic love, and the brutal reality of life as a police officer straddling two worlds will change his life forever."

So you can go and watch this show for free if you sign up for iView on https://iview.abc.net.au. So go check out this website, it's run by ABC, which is funded by the government and you can just make a free account, I believe, and you'll be able to watch the entire series.

So the, the name of the game here is that I am going to play a snippet for you twice and your goal is to listen, try and understand what's being said, and write out the phrases you hear being said. This one is a bit of a long one today, so don't feel bad if you've got to play it multiple times, but it's a really good exercise for, again, learning the Australian accent, working on your English, listening comprehension, everything like that. Okay, so, you ready to go? Here's the first playthrough.

Don't... Don't, don't play this... This grieving son, huh? I know what that is. That's not grief. That's control. Because you got none of it. Inside you, brother. Inside here. I've got enough control not to steal from the dead family. Stealing? No, no, no, no. That's inheritance. Put it down!

Good job. How'd you go? Did you get all of it? It's a bit long, but give it a whirl. Here you go. Second time.

Don't... Don't, don't play this... This grieving son, huh? I know what that is. That's not grief. That's control. Because you got none of it. Inside you, brother. Inside here. I've got enough control not to steal from the dead family. Stealing. No, no, no, no. That's inheritance. Put it down!

All right. Good job. And remember, you can check your answer if you download today's free worksheet. So just go to the website and to this episode, www.AussieEnglish.com.au Just look for this episode and the free worksheet will be there. You can find the answer there. But if you're also a premium podcast member, you'll see the words in the transcript too. Anyway, thanks so much for joining me, guys. I hope you have an amazing week. Again. Sorry for not publishing an episode last Sunday. I'm so embarrassed. I love you guys. Chat soon.