Summary
Jiaying
Welcome to The English We Speak with me, Jiaying…
Neil
… and me, Neil. You look tired today! Are you OK?
Jiaying
I am – did you watch the stream of the new ‘Fishing Dragons’ game last night?
Neil
No – it was too late for me! Was the game any good?
Jiaying
It was lit!
Neil
What do you mean lit? The stream was on fire – or the dragons catch fish by lighting them on fire? What are you talking about?
Jiaying
I said ‘lit’ – which means that something is amazing. I said that the game was amazing!
Neil
Ahhh – that’s what you meant by lit! And do the dragons catch fish with fire?
Jiaying
Of course not – they use the power of their minds! Let’s talk more about it after these examples.
Examples
John’s new car is lit! It’s so amazing!
I joined a virtual dance party last night and it was lit – there was a DJ and everyone had an amazing time.
Erica said that new film was lit, but I thought it was a bit disappointing. I didn’t like the plot or characters.
Jiaying
You’re listening to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we’re talking about the expression lit, which is used to say that something is amazing.
Neil
Yes, that’s right! For example, that video game we played is lit! You can also say that something is fire with the same meaning.
Jiaying
For example, ‘that new song I listened to was fire’ or ‘that new song I listened to was lit’.
Neil
Which is why some people send a fire emoji on their phones. Is that why you sent me a message just now saying ‘my food’ and then a fire emoji? Do you think my cooking was amazing?
Jiaying
Not this time! I’m afraid to say that your food really was on fire! Have you seen that thing in the bin?
Neil
What – the black mess? Is that my food? – that looks disgusting.
Jiaying
Yeah – the taste definitely isn’t lit. Bye, Neil!
Neil
Bye.