Episode 7 May the 4th Be With You - Idioms and Vocabulary from Star Wars Movies

Today, celebrating Star Wars Day, I talked about some of the idioms and vocabulary you can find in the very first movie: Star Wars: A New Hope. Please let me know if you find a version with English subtitles! You can rent the movie on Amazon, but I really hope you all already have a copy. 🤞 All the Star Wars movies begin with the now very famous phrase: 'A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...' This is George Lucas' version of 'Once upon a time', the beginning to most fairytales in English. 'Once upon a time' has been around longer than you can imagine. The first appearance is thought to be in 1340! But it has been used to begin most fairytales since 1600, Disney just kept the tradition going! (More info here) Idioms 'Why I should stick my neck out for you is quite beyond my capacity!' C3PO Stick my neck out - to do something more than is expected, potentially to cause harm or bring unwanted attention to yourself by helping someone else 'Watch your step, this place can be a little rough' Obi Wan and 'Stay sharp kid!' Han Solo Both of these idioms mean to stay aware. Usually 'watch your step' means watch where you walk because there might be dangerous footing, but sometimes it means be careful. 'Over my dead body' - Han Solo We also sometimes use 'not on your life' in the same way. It means I'm not going to do what you want me to do. In this case it's kinda funny because he's talking to Jabba's man, and we know in a later film Jabba puts Han's almost dead body on the wall, so this idiom sort of comes true. (From Return of the Jedi) 'The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.' Princess Leia This phrase has two idioms that we often use apart or together. Tighten your grip - when you try to control something or someone that isn't easy or doesn't want to be controlled Of course Darth Vader just uses the force! Slip through your fingers - when you can't have something that you want, no matter what you do you can't have or control it Vocabulary 'We're doomed!' C3PO He means he thinks he's going to die. These days fans sometimes use this when they're losing a game or when something bad happens. 'That malfunctioning little twerp!' C3PO Twerp - it's a kind of slang word that we use for a stupid or silly person, it's not nice. Hermit - Used to describe Obi Wan - Someone who lives by themselves far in the countryside, usually without amenities and who avoids people. In The Force Awakens we find Luke Skywalker living as a hermit. 'Kept babbling on' C3PO babbling on - phrasal verb - means talking, usually talking quickly and often we don't know or don't care what they are talking about Gibberish - When someone talks but we don't understand what they say. Sometimes if someone doesn't understand that you're speaking a different language they might say 'you're speaking gibberish'. Sometimes it means the person is just making noises that don't mean anything or aren't important. 'You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.' Obi Wan Wretched hive - hive is what bees live in, so when we put these two words together we mean a terrible place that's very busy Scum - literally the foam that we can find sometimes in a polluted river or the sea, here he means terrible people. Villainy - meaning lots of people who commit crimes This statement is proved correct when we enter the bar and one person tells Luke he's wanted in 12 sectors and we see two people hurt or killed, and nobody cares. 'Don't get cocky!' Han Solo Cocky - full of yourself, too confident, arrogant Additional Vocabulary Quest - a long journey with a goal or task to achieve, often used to describe stories like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.