#51- 24 Phrasal Verbs, Slang Words and Idioms to Talk about Success & Failure

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> Welcome to episode #51 of The Real Life English with Gabby Podcast! This episode will teach you 24 phrasal verbs, slang words and idioms for talking about success and failure. In American culture, we speak openly about success and failure and when we fail, we often talk about ways to succeed and come back. "Americans loves a comeback story" is a popular quote here . After listening to this episode and using this Study Guide, you’ll be able to confidently talk about success and failure and be one step closer to speaking English like a native speaker. <

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Transcript

[00:00:00]
 On today's episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast, I'll be teaching you 24 words for success and failure. You'll be learning vocabulary like fall flat, go belly up, in the big leagues, fall from grace, and more. Let's get to it.

Hey there. Welcome to The Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby, your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.

Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.

Hey, hey, hey. Greetings from New York City. Welcome back to the podcast. I hope that you're doing well. Here in the USA, things
 [00:01:00]
 are crazy, as they have been since January 20th. But in New York City, things are always a bit better than in other states because our state is so diverse, and we are very accepting of people from all over the world, and our laws protect that acceptance and diversity.

I know, though, that all over the world things are going a bit crazy right now. There are so many problems, and I really hope that wherever you are in the world, you're safe and your family is safe.

If you are listening to this on Friday, the day of release, just wanna let you know that it's the last day to join the next group of the Real Life English course that we have.

It's an eight-week live course where we learn 650+
 [00:02:00]
 real-life English phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms. If you like the podcast, you'll love the course because we dive way deeper, learn way more words on each topic. It's topics that we have not covered yet here, or we cover in a deeper way. There are live classes, video lessons, and lots of other cool materials.

There's a community where you can interact with students from all around the world and make friends. If you're listening after Friday and wanna join, still send a message because sometimes we take in late applicants. The link for this will be in the show notes, and there's a video that has more information as well.

Okay, so back to today's episode. The topic today is all about how to talk about success and failure. We talk about success and failure
 [00:03:00]
 often in American society. We talk about it pretty openly, even about our failures and how we wanna do better, striving to do better, fighting to do better. In our culture, we love a comeback story. We love redemption. And this means that if someone has failed—especially failed in the public eye—we love to see them get better and come back stronger.

Take, for example, the one and only Robert Downey Jr.—Iron Man himself. If you don't know any of his backstory, he has a very inspirational story.

He was a childhood actor who came from a show business family, meaning that his family was very involved in Hollywood and acting, especially his father, Robert Downey. And because of this, he was
 [00:04:00]
 exposed to a lot of things early in life, and he had a very troubled upbringing. He grew up very troubled in his family. He became famous early in life because he was in movies early, especially in the eighties and nineties. He was one of the most popular up-and-coming actors. But unfortunately, he got into trouble because he became addicted to drugs and alcohol and a party lifestyle, as many child actors in the USA do, unfortunately.

This led him to get into legal trouble as well, and he did a short time in jail. No one in Hollywood wanted to work with him anymore. It was too risky. Many people, including him, thought that his career was over. However, he didn't quit. He went to rehabilitation, he got clean,
 [00:05:00]
 and he started acting in really small films.

When it came time to cast Iron Man, he auditioned, he got the role, and Marvel took a big chance on him.

And guess what? He was so perfect for the role, as I'm sure most of you have seen. I don't know many people who have not seen Iron Man in a movie. And because of him—really, because of how perfect he was to play Iron Man—the movie became extremely successful, and he became the center of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Then, two years ago, he won an Oscar—an Academy Award. He is the prime example of a redemption story: from success to failure to success. We really love stories like this in American culture. We've seen it time and time again with athletes,
 [00:06:00]
 Hollywood actors, and other types of celebrities. I wanted to do an episode about success and failure because of how important this topic is in American culture.

You will definitely encounter these types of conversations in English.

Before I read to you the vocabulary that you're gonna learn in this episode, I just wanted to remind you that there is a study guide waiting for you that has everything you need to study these words and use them in your English in a natural way, including practice activities. To get the study guide, which is free, just click the link in the bio. You only have to do this once, and then moving forward, all of the episode study guides will be in a special folder that you can access anytime. I'll also send out the study guides weekly as a reminder.
 [00:07:00] All right, today you're going to be learning 24 new phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms. So let me read those to you right now:

Make it big. Make a name for yourself. Go far. Pan out. Fall flat. Crash and burn. Make waves. Hit the jackpot. Be on fire. Fall through. Go belly up. To be down and out. Pull off. Strike gold. Hit it big in the big leagues. Fizzle out. Come out on top. On the up and up. To go down in flames. Mess up. Screw up. Fall from grace. Hit rock bottom. Get the short end of the stick. [00:08:00]  Out of 24 words, about half are on success, half are on failure. I believe it might be 13 and 11, not 12 and 12. 

All right, let's get to the story. Now I'm gonna read you a story that has all of the vocabulary used in real-life context. Listen for the words that I just read. You try to see if you can guess the meanings. After the story, we're gonna review all of the definitions together. All right, let's get to the story.

Amelia and Jacque were siblings who grew up in a small town where things were very tough. Most townspeople stayed forever and barely made it out to the next town. Their family didn't have much money, and most days felt like a struggle. His dad was always getting the short end of the stick and missing out [00:09:00] on job opportunities.

Unfortunately, his mom had a fall from grace years earlier that caused her to hit rock bottom and never recover. But Amelia and Jacque both had big dreams, and they believed they could make it big someday.

Their parents encouraged them with their dreams, making them confident that they could come true. From the age of three, Amelia loved baking. Her brother Jacque, on the other hand, always dreamed of starting his own tech company. They were determined to make a name for themselves and go far. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but they were ready to work hard. Amelia started small, baking treats for friends and family.
 At first, it didn't seem like her dream was going to pan out. [00:10:00] Sometimes her cakes would fall flat and she'd feel like she was going to crash and burn, but she didn't give up. She kept trying, always improving her recipes. Slowly, she started to make waves. People loved her cakes, and soon she was selling them at local markets. One day, she even hit the jackpot when a famous food blogger shared a picture of her cake. Amelia was on fire.

Meanwhile, Jacques was working on his tech startup. It was a huge risk, and things didn't always go smoothly. In fact, at one point, his first idea completely fell through. The app he had been working on for months went belly up. He was down and out and felt like his [00:11:00] dreams were over, but Jacques refused to let his failure define him. He decided to pull off a comeback. Jacques reworked his ideas, and eventually he struck gold. His new app went viral and he hit it big. He and Amelia were both on the up and up.

Together, the siblings soon found themselves in the big leagues, running successful businesses. They had both faced setbacks in their businesses, but they never let their dreams fizzle out. Instead, they took those failures and used them to learn and grow. Amelia's bakery became a national brand, and Jacques's app was downloaded by millions.

They had truly come out on top. The beauty of their lives was [00:12:00] that they never let anything stop them. Even when they faced challenges and their plans seemed like they would go down in flames, they got back up and kept going. Amelia and Jacques had come a long way from their humble beginnings, and they were proud of how far they had come.

Now let's get to the definitions.

Firstly, we have to get the short end of the stick. This means to receive unfair treatment or worse treatment than others. So other people are getting treated a certain way, but for some odd reason, you are getting treated the worst.
 For example: She got the short end of the stick when they gave her the least exciting project.

Next up, we have make it big. Amelia and Jacques really had dreams of [00:13:00] making it big someday. This means to become very successful, especially in your career or financially.
 For example: He moved to L.A. to become an actor, hoping to make it big one day.

"Make it big" can also mean to become famous. We also use it often to talk about careers that go with fame—like to be an athlete, an actor, a musician—something that's in the spotlight and recognized all over the country, all over the world.

Next, we have to make a name for yourself. They were determined to make a name for themselves and go far.
 This means to become well-known or a name that is easily recognized.

The same thing with go far.
 For [00:14:00] example: She made a name for herself in the fashion industry after launching her first collection.

Then we have go far, which is to achieve a lot of success in your life or career.
 For example: With your skills and attitude, you are going to go far.

Now, the difference between make it big and go far is how we use it.
 Go far is a little bit different than make it big because it doesn't really come with fame. Go far could mean go far in your career—like progressing as high as you can, like becoming a manager, becoming CEO, for example. Make it big is more associated with fame.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb pan out. This is a very unique one. We use it often, but I have [00:15:00] never seen this in any phrasal verb book, in any textbook. It is just one of those things that is not taught often.

So it says, At first, it didn't seem like her dream was going to pan out.
 Pan out means to turn out well or have a successful result.
 For example: We weren't sure if the plan would work, but everything panned out in the end.

Next up, we have fall flat.
 Sometimes her cakes would fall flat and she'd feel like she was going to crash and burn.
 Fall flat is to fail completely or not have the intended effect.
 For example: His joke fell flat and no one in the room laughed.

Crash and burn is very similar, except it means to fail completely [00:16:00] but often in a dramatic or sudden way.
 For example: Her first business crashed and burned after the scandal.

So fall flat is to fail completely. So is crash and burn, but crash and burn is more dramatic, more sudden, more unexpected.

Next, we have to make waves.
 I want you to think about a pool that you swim in. Someone drops something big in the pool—it's going to make waves in the pool. Same thing in the ocean.

To make waves means to attract attention or cause some kind of strong reaction, often by doing something new or different.
 For example: He started making waves in the tech world with his new innovative app.

Next up, we have to hit the jackpot.
 The [00:17:00] jackpot is usually where all of the prize money is kept. So if you ever watched the show Squid Games, for example, every time another player was eliminated, more money got added, and that's called the jackpot.

So, symbolically, when we use this as an idiom, to hit the jackpot is to have great success or good luck, especially when it brings a lot of money or a lot of benefits.
 For example: She hit the jackpot when her book became a bestseller.

So in this case, it's not just about money—it's just about really great success, especially when it brings benefits. Sometimes when people marry someone who's very physically attractive, very successful, very rich, we say: Oh wow, she really hit the jackpot.

Next up, we have the [00:18:00] expression to be on fire, and the story says that they were on fire.
 This is to be performing extremely well or having a lot of success.

Now, I know this is strange, because normally fire—burning, like "crash and burn"—is seen as a bad thing. But to be on fire is when things are going very well for you.
 For example: The team is on fire this season. They haven't lost a single game.

Next, we have another phrasal verb: fall through.
 Fall through is to fail to happen or be completed. So you had plans for something and they just didn't happen.
 For example: Our vacation plans fell through when the airline canceled our flight.

Next up, we have the expression to go [00:19:00] belly up.
 This is to fail completely, especially a business.

Now, the origin of this is a little dark—you know when a fish dies, they turn upside down and their belly is up?
 We used to use it when a business would die. We would say: Oh, his business is belly up.

So we can use this about a lot of different things, but it's most often used for businesses—when businesses have to claim bankruptcy, when businesses die.
 For example: The restaurant went belly up after only a year in operation.

Next, we have the expression to be down and out.
 To be down and out is when you have no money, no job, no hope. 

Everything in your life is going poorly [00:20:00], and you're going through a really difficult time. So maybe one thing after another happens, and you're not good—you’re down and out financially, emotionally, mentally, physically. For example: After losing his job and his apartment, he was completely down and out.

Next, we have pull off.
 This is to succeed in doing something difficult, like: Oh yes, we finally pulled it off!
 For example: Everyone was surprised he pulled off such a complex presentation so smoothly.

Next up, we have to strike gold.
 So in the story, they finally struck gold. This means to suddenly find success or to find something very valuable. This comes from the past in the United States, when we had something called the Gold Rush, where farmers [00:21:00] throughout the United States—but especially on the West Coast—were randomly finding gold. So people would literally strike gold, and they would find something very valuable that was worth a lot of money.
Now, this is just an idiom—to strike gold, an expression.
For example: They struck gold with their latest product. It sold out in a day.

Next up, we have to hit it big.
 This means to become very successful or popular. It's like make it big or make it.
The band hit it big after their song went viral online.
 Usually, this refers to doing one thing that makes you become really, really successful.

Next up, we have to be in the big leagues.
 So in the United States with baseball, for example, we have minor leagues and major leagues. Before you get [00:22:00] recruited to join the Major League Baseball teams—like the Yankees, for example—you’re usually in the minor leagues, which they call the small leagues.
 The big leagues are the major leagues, and so this is used to mean that you're at the highest level of success, competition, or influence.
 I’ll give you an example: My friend Dan went to Harvard Law School. He ended up getting a job with the U.S. government, like with politics, and so he would occasionally be involved with White House decisions. We'd say, “You're in the big leagues now.”
 For example: She’s working with Fortune 500 companies now. She’s in the big leagues.

Next up, we have a really cool phrasal verb: fizzle out.
 This means to gradually lose energy, gradually lose strength, or fail after you started [00:23:00] strong.
 The project started with a lot of excitement, but it fizzled out after a few months.

Next up, we have to come out on top.
 This means to succeed or win, especially after some sort of struggle.
 You were battling, you were competing, but you’re the one who was on top.
 After all the challenges, she came out on top and got the promotion.

Next up, we have the expression to be on the up and up.
 This means becoming more successful and improving steadily—like slowly increasing your success.
 Their business is really on the up and up after starting the year poorly.

Next up, we have a very dramatic expression: to go down in flames.
 The word flame is usually associated with fire. This means to fail in a very dramatic [00:24:00] and complete way—like, you totally failed.
They went down in flames. Complete and total failure. It was a disaster.
 His political campaign went down in flames after his scandal.

Next up, we have two phrasal verbs that mean the same thing that I’m sure you’ve heard—and maybe some of you even use: mess up and screw up.
 Both of these mean to make a mistake or to do something badly.
 I really messed up the presentation. I forgot half of my lines.
 He screwed up the order and sent it to the wrong address.

Next, we have the expression to fall from grace.
 This means to lose status, lose respect, or lose success after doing something wrong.
 So if you have some kind of scandal—you did something [00:25:00] wrong—you lose respect from people, you lose your status.
 This is similar to what happened to Robert Downey Jr.—he had a fall from grace, or he fell from grace.
 For example: The athlete fell from grace after being caught using steroids.

And lastly, we have to hit rock bottom.
 This is very, very common to talk about people who have reached the lowest possible point—emotionally, financially, physically. You can’t go any lower. It’s the lowest possible point.
 For example: After the breakup and losing his job, he felt like he had hit rock bottom.

Well, there you have it. You just learned 24 awesome words that Americans love to use.
 For homework, I want you to challenge yourself and find ways [00:26:00] to use at least 10 of these words today—whatever day it is that you're listening to this.
 I want you to use at least 10 words in your English and continue trying to use all of them.

Remember that if you only listen to these words and you never actually use them, it’s going to be much more difficult for you to really learn them and use them with confidence.

Well, that's a wrap for today’s episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast.
Be sure to download today’s study guide so that you can learn how to use this vocabulary confidently.
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