2024-09-23 From the get-go – The English We Speak

Introduction

An expression that means from the beginning. Learn it here. 

Transcript

Feifei
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, where we explain phrases used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them as well. I’m Feifei, and I’m here with Beth.

Beth
Hi everyone, and hi Feifei, how are you?

Feifei
I’m very well, thank you. The expression we’re looking at in this programme is ‘from the get-go’. I could say I’ve presented for BBC Learning English from the get-go.

Beth
Ah, yes! ‘From the get-go’ means right from the beginning, so you have presented in this job ever since you started.

Feifei
I have. And we can use this for anything that has a beginning. For example, I recently went on holiday, and I had a perfect holiday from the get-go.

Beth
Great, sounds wonderful.

Feifei
Beth, do you have an example?

Beth
Yeah, so I went to the cinema recently and this film – the opening scene was so funny – and the whole film was just hilarious from the get-go.

Feifei
You’ll have to tell me the name of the film!

Beth
I will! But first here are some more examples of the expression ‘from the get-go’.

Examples
I just have a really good friendship with him. It was obvious when we first met that we were going to get on well from the get-go.

I took a flight the other day, and there was a lot of turbulence from the get-go. It was absolutely terrifying.

I read this book about wizards and elves. I loved it from the get-go.

Beth
Now, we can also say ‘right from the get-go’. When we put ‘right’ in front of an expression like this, it really emphasises that it was exactly from the beginning.

Feifei
Yes. And there are other expressions similar to this one, like ‘from the very start’ or ‘from the very beginning’. And, again, we can add ‘right’ in front of these expressions to add emphasis. For example, ‘right from the very start’.

Beth
So, to recap, we’ve learnt the expression ‘from the get-go’ which means from the beginning.

Feifei
And that’s all from us. We’ll be back next time with another useful English phrase. See you then!

Beth
Bye!