Feifei Hello I’m Feifei and welcome to The English We Speak – and joining me is Rob.
**Rob
**Hello everyone.
FeifeiSo Rob, I hear you have a new a hobby?
**Rob
**Yes that’s right – it’s very exciting – let me show you…
FeifeiArghh! Bees! I don’t like them – shut the door! So you’re new hobby is bee keeping?
**Rob
**Yes I’m a bee keeper – and I love it - but there is a sting in the tail.
FeifeiOf course there’s a sting in the tail – bees sting – and it hurts, that’s why I don’t like bees.
**Rob
**They only sting when they’re angry Feifei – and anyway, when I said ’there’s a sting in the tail’ I wasn’t referring to the bees. I meant something unpleasant comes with something that is meant to be pleasurable.
FeifeiYes, as I said – looking after bees means you’re likely to get stung.
**Rob
**That’s true – but what I meant was bee keeping is fun but I wasn’t expecting it to cost so much money – I had to buy all these hives and these special protective clothes.
FeifeiYes, you do look silly! So you’re saying bee keeping is fun but the unexpected cost of it is the sting in the tail?
**Rob
**Exactly. Let’s hear some examples while I go and get some honey…
ExamplesWe had a great holiday but it had a sting in the tail – when we got home we discovered our house had been broken into.
I love her new book – the story is funny and romantic – but there’s a sting in the tail when someone dies.
Yeah, we all got a pay rise this month, but there’s a sting in the tail – we’re expected to work longer hours.
FeifeiSo that’s ‘a sting in the tail’ – a phrase that means something unpleasant and sometimes unexpected happens when doing something good or fun.
**Rob
**OK Feifei, one of the good things about bee keeping is you get this delicious honey – and that’s free - go on Feifei, try some.
FeifeiHmmm honey, delicious! Oh no, you’ve brought something else with you… it’s a bee!
**Rob
**Don’t panic – I’ll try to catch it… ouch! That hurt.
FeifeiOh dear – it looks like bee keeping has more than one sting in the tail!
**Rob
**Very funny!
FeifeiBye!