| [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. |
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