Summary
What’s Jiaying done to her hair? It’s come as a shock to Neil and he uses an informal word to express his surprise. Find out more about it in this episode of The English We Speak.
Transcript
Jiaying
Welcome to The English We Speak with me, Jiaying…
Neil
…and hello, it’s Neil here. Oh, yikes – what have you done to your hair?!
Jiaying
Don’t you like my new hairstyle?
Neil
Well… err…
Jiaying
You said ‘yikes!’ – that normally means you’re shocked or worried about something – is it my hair?
Neil
Well, ‘yikes!’ is also something we say when we are surprised, and I was just surprised by your new hairstyle – but in a good way!
Jiaying
Hmm, if you say so. When someone says ‘yikes!’ it is an informal way to express surprise, shock or concern about something. So, Neil, what has ‘surprised’ you about my hair then?
Neil
Errr… Well, shall we hear some more examples first?
Examples
Yikes! It’s only three weeks until my exams and I haven’t done any revision yet.
Yikes! We’re stuck in a traffic jam and our flight leaves in an hour – do you think we’ll make it?
I’ve got a football match tomorrow, and I haven’t done any training. Yikes!
Jiaying
This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English and we’re finding out about the word ‘yikes!’ it’s an exclamation to express surprise, shock or concern about something. And yikes – Neil actually likes my new hairstyle!
Neil
Why are you so surprised?
Jiaying
I didn’t think you’d like red hair.
Neil
It matches your… eyes. Only kidding, but changing your hair colour must have cost a lot of money.
Jiaying
Hmm… eighty pounds.
Neil
Big yikes! How much!
Jiaying
Big yikes! That’s a more intense version of ‘yikes!’ – but, Neil, it looks good, so it’s worth it, isn’t it?
Neil
If you say so. Wasn’t there a cheaper colour?
Jiaying
No, Neil, there wasn’t! Bye.
Neil
See ya.