Rob Welcome to The English We Speak, with me Rob… but no Feifei! Where is she?
Feifei Sorry I’m late.
Rob Where have you been?
Feifei Well, I was on the way to the studio, and I bumped into Richard and – you know Richard - he started to rabbit on about Star Wars!
Rob Richard’s got a rabbit?
Feifei No, Rob! I mean he wouldn’t stop talking. ‘To rabbit on’ describes someone talking continuously so that other people lose interest in what they are saying and become bored. And Richard was really going on and on and on.
Rob So, it’s got nothing to do with rabbits?
Feifei No, Rob. Let’s hear some examples, shall we?
Examples Mark just won’t stop rabbiting on about the weather – it’s so boring!
Freya likes to rabbit on about how amazing her boyfriend is!
Our meeting always overruns because our boss likes to rabbit on about timekeeping!
Feifei In this The English We Speak, we’re looking at the phrase ’to rabbit on’ which describes someone talking so much that they become boring to listen to.
Rob So, what was Richard rabbiting on about anyway?
Feifei Oh, he was going on about his collection of Star Wars memorabilia.
Rob Really? That’s fascinating. I love Star Wars – does he have the Chewbacca figure, and the limited-edition Darth Vader mask? My favourite is the Luke Skywalker…
Feifei Rob, stop! Now you’re rabbiting on.
Rob Oh, am I boring you? Don’t you like Star Wars?
Feifei No.
Rob OK, time to go, I think. I’ll go and chat to Richard. Bye.
Feifei Bye.