Weekly Football Phrase: (to) Bring Down to Earth

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In this week’s football phrase we take a look at the verb phrase ‘to bring down to Earth’, which is a phrase used when a team doing well is beaten. You can read the transcript for this podcast below, while you can also check out our glossary of footballing phrases here and visit our site to access all our previous posts and podcasts. If you have any suggestions or questions about the phrase or our podcast then you can contact us here.

For Teachers ▸ suggestions on how to use this podcast in class

- Pre-Listening:ask students which teams are doing well in the league or leagues that they follow
- Listening for detail: before showing the script, play the whole show; then, ask students to do a dictogloss (British Council: Dictogloss description) activity, using the first paragraph after the ‘(to) Bring Down to Earth’ section (or paragraphs, depending on your students’ proficiency level).
- Listening for main points: play the rest of the podcast, and ask students to note down the other phrases highlighted by the presenter.
- Discussion: Ask the students what result in upcoming matches would warrant the phrase – to bring down to earth’.

Hello

DB: Welcome to the Learn English Through Football weekly football phrase podcast.

My name is Damon and I’m based in Japan, which is having another wet day. It seems to have been raining non-stop all September! I hope the weather is nicer where you are listener.

How about the football for you? My team, Liverpool, got a solid 1-0 away win at Bournemouth before the international break. Now, they have to wait three weeks before hosting Manchester City to Anfield. Are you looking forward to some of the international matches coming up? There are so many – the UEFA Nations League groups, the Africa Cup qualifiers, the ASEAN Cup group games…

I hope you enjoy whichever matches you end up watching this week!

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English through football podcast (in Twi from Ghana)

Today’s Main Phrase

DB: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English through football podcast and that message was in Twi from Ghana – and Ghana will be playing Ivory Coast this week.

On this show, we are going to look at a verb phrase to talk about a result that sees a team that has been playing well and winning matches defeated. I thought about this phrase when I watched Brighton and Hove Albion thrash Arsenal 3-0 last weekend. The phrase is ‘to bring down to earth‘.

(to) Bring Down to Earth

DB: Now sometimes this expression uses the words, ‘bump‘ or a ‘bang‘ to give it more emphasis, so for example, bring down to earth with a bump or to bring down to earth with a bang.

The meaning of this expression simply means to come back to reality, and usually this reality is not so exciting. So, in football a team may have had a really good start to the season, perhaps winning all their matches. The fans and pundits are excited. The club is feeling really positive and good about things. Basically, the season is looking good. Then… they lose, maybe heavily. They are brought down to Earth with a bump.

In the Premier League this season, Arsenal started really strongly. If we include their 3-0 win over Manchester City in the Community Shield they won seven on the bounce and only conceded three goals while scoring 16. A great start indeed. But then, they went to Brighton and were brushed aside 3-0. They were brought down to earth. Their good run ended.

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(to) Brush Aside

DB: So, Arsenal were disappointed, but Brighton, of course, were very happy with the 3-0 win. We can describe them as ‘brushing aside‘ Arsenal. To brush aside means to easily beat a team. The victory seemed quite easy.

(to) Give a Reality Check

DB: And returning to bring down to Earth. Another phrase we can use to describe a similar situation is to give a reality check. Brighton gave Arsenal a reality check. A reality check means to make a team understand that a situation is not as good, easy, or successful as they believed.

Arsenal were certainly given a reality check before the international break.

Contact

DB: Remember, to come along to our site – learnenglishthroughfootball.com – where you can join in on our forum, check out our huge glossary, and find all sorts of other interesting stuff. Drop us an email at [email protected], and you can also find us on Facebook, Bluesky and Instagram. And don’t forget to support us by liking our podcasts and sharing them with your friends. Thanks!

Language Review

DB: So, on today’s short podcast we looked at the verb phrases, ‘to bring down to earth with a bump or bang’ or ‘to give a reality check to’, and ‘to brush aside’. How would you say these expressions in another language that you know? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected].

Stinger: You are listening to the Learn English Through Football Podcast (from a Tottenham fan)

Goodbye

DB: Yes, you are listening to the Learn English through football Podcast, or as we were known before Languagecaster. And that was from a Tottenham fan. That’s it for this week’s football expression. We’ll be back with our weekly podcast at the weekend with another football-language podcast. Enjoy the football this week – ta-ra!

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