Feifei Hello and welcome to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English. I’m Feifei…
Neil …and hello, it’s me, Neil.
Feifei Did you see Roy’s dog today?
Neil Roy has a dog?
Feifei Yes – it’s a shih tzu – and he brought her into the office today. She was so cute.
Neil Sorry, I missed her. So, what was her name?
Feifei Oh, it escapes me.
Neil What! She escaped? Did you find her?
Feifei No, Neil! The only thing that escaped was her name – from my memory! When we say something ‘escapes me’ we mean we can’t remember something at that moment. I’m sure her name will come to me eventually, Neil. But what hasn’t escaped me is … these examples.
Neil Thank goodness!
Examples I went shopping for something, but it escapes me what I wanted to buy!
When you get there, speak to the manager – her name escapes me, but you’ll know who she is.
The keys are somewhere in the house, but it escapes me where I put them.
Feifei You’re listening to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English. We’ve been explaining the phrase ‘something escapes me’, which means I temporarily can’t remember something. So, I can’t remember Roy’s dog’s name – he did tell me, but…
Neil …it escaped you. Can I help jog your memory? Was it Fido?
Feifei No.
Neil Lucky? Lassie? Toto?
Feifei I remember now. It was Leia – named after the fictional character in Star Wars.
Neil How could a name like that escape you? I loved that android thing from Star Wars, called, errr, ermm…
Feifei Does its name escape you, Neil? I think you mean C-3PO.
Neil That’s it. Honestly, sometimes I even forget my own name!
Feifei Bye, Neil.
Neil Ah, Neil – that’s it!