Feifei Welcome to The English We Speak, with me Feifei…
Phil And me, Phil. We have an expression which is about making money from something – it’s ‘to cash in on something’.
Feifei ‘Cash in on something’. Can you give an example of something that you can cash in on?
Phil OK, the weather was quite good this summer, so I grew lots of vegetables in my garden. There are far too many for me to eat, so I’m going to cash in on them and sell them at a local market.
Feifei It sounds like you’re cashing in on the great summer weather we’ve had.
Phil I’ll also be cashing in on the fact that people like fresh, healthy, natural food.
Feifei You’re a real entrepreneur, aren’t you? You know when to cash in on things.
Phil Well, knowing when to cash in on something is important if you want to work in business.
Feifei Let’s hear some more examples:
Examples As a company we are planning to cash in on the increasing demand for electric cars by launching our own model.
We decided to open the cafe by the station to cash in on all the commuters walking past.
The singer cashed in on her success by launching a range of merchandise.
Feifei You’re listening to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we are learning the expression ‘cash in on something’, we use it to talk about taking advantage of a situation to make money. It’s often used to talk about businesses making money from fashions or trends.
Phil Yes, and we don’t always need to use ‘on’ and an object if it’s obvious from the context.
Feifei So if you see a new trend, why not cash in?
Phil I’m just wondering, do you think there could be a trend for home-grown vegetables?
Feifei Hmm, I’m not sure – I think you should just cash in now. Good luck!
Phil Thank you. Bye!
Feifei Bye-bye.