Feifei: Hello and welcome to The English We
Neil: And I'm Neil. Hey Feifei, shouldn't
Neil: Haven't we presented a hundred of these
Feifei: A hundred? Oh no, we've done way more
Neil: That I would love to see!
Feifei: Not literally. I mean do it easily
Neil: I know that Feifei – but you probably
could present this programme standing on your
head because you're an old hand at this.
Feifei: Excuse me? I may have presented this
programme for many years but I do NOT have
Neil: Don't worry, I wasn't referring to your
hands – they look lovely. If you are an
old hand at doing something, it means you
are very skilled and experienced. It was a
Feifei: Oh right. Thanks. Let's hear some
examples of this phrase in action…
Examples: Let's get Mike in to solve our IT
problem, shall we? He's an old hand
Miguel is an old hand at map reading, so let's
I can see you're an old hand at project management;
it would have taken me days to create a spreadsheet
Feifei: This is The English We Speak from
the phrase 'an old hand', which describes
Neil: It's a handy phrase, isn't it! But come
on Feifei, as you are such 'an old hand',
why not have a go at really presenting
Feifei: OK Neil, as you're paying me a
compliment. Here goes… give a hand…
Neil: Are you OK? I think you should stick
Feifei: You mean not listening to
making silly suggestions, Feifei!