[00:01.34]Hi and welcome to The English We Speak. Today we're having an office party with the whole BBC Learning English team.
[00:08.59]And we're eating some delicious cakes and pies that Jen has baked for us. Have you tried the apple tart?
[00:14.88]Mmm, it's so tasty. Jen really has a lot of different skills, doesn't she?
[00:19.72]Yeah, she really gets involved in lots of different activities.
[00:24.70]She's always organising different parties, goes rowing, and did you know she works as a weather presenter at the weekend?
[00:33.50]And she's a good cook too. This blueberry crumble is delicious. She really does have a finger in every pie.
[00:41.70]Ugh, really? I mean they taste good, but now I know she puts her fingers in them. I think I've just lost my appetite.
[00:51.35]That's not what I meant when I said she has a finger in every pie. It means she gets involved in a lot of different things.
[00:58.95]So someone has a finger in every pie when they're involved in different activities? Is it a good thing then?
[01:06.63]Well, in this case, when I said Jen has a finger in every pie, I meant it as a good thing.
[01:12.50]But it can sometimes suggest someone gets involved in things when they shouldn't.
[01:17.64]So it can be a good or a bad thing. Let's have a look at some examples.
[01:23.12]If you need any information just ask Annabel. She has a finger in every pie and always knows the answer.
[01:29.29]At work I'm a teacher but I also do some accounting and organise the end-of-term play. I like to have a finger in every pie.
[01:38.36]I can't seem to do anything without him being there. Yesterday I went to the photography club and he was there.
[01:45.21]Well, unfortunately he does have a finger in every pie.
[01:49.73]So if someone gets involved in too many different things and people disapprove of this, it can be used as a criticism.
[01:57.95]Yes, and Shakespeare used it in his play Henry VIII.
[02:02.50]In the play it's used as a criticism of someone who gets involved in everything when he shouldn't.
[02:07.73]No man's pie is freed from his ambitious finger.
[02:12.93]So the person criticised here feels the need to put his "ambitious finger" in every single pie that's baked to taste them all.
[02:21.71]Yes, which means he gets involved in things he shouldn't.
[02:25.57]But Shakespeare used the expression in a slightly different way from how we use it today.
[02:30.92]Now we just say someone has a finger in every pie.
[02:34.87]Yes, it's slightly less poetic than "no man's pie is freed from his ambitious finger".
[02:41.27]Well, this is all very interesting, but I haven't tried the peach pie yet.
[02:48.27]Well, no pie is freed from Helen's greedy fingers, is it? Only joking, Helen.