Wing it

Neil
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Neil and …

Feifei
Hi everyone. I’m Feifei and I’ve just …err… well…

Neil
Feifei is here with me… Feifei, what’s going on?

Feifei
Yes, and today we are here, with you, dear learner of the wonderful English language…

Neil
What are you looking for?

Feifei
The script, Neil. I misplaced it somewhere…

Neil
Just wing it!

Feifei
Wing it? Wing, like a bird? Yes, the air is fresh and I flap my wings…

Neil
What are you doing? What are you doing?

Feifei
You told me to pretend I was a bird. Or to tell the story of a bird or… I know lots of bird jokes.

Neil
No, that’s not it. In English ‘to wing’ something means to improvise. This informal expression is thought to come from the theatre and it refers to performances given by actors who had to learn their lines quickly while waiting in the wings.

Feifei
Ah! The wings are the space on each side of the stage, where actors wait before coming onto the stage. Sometimes someone gives them their lines from there as support.

Neil
That’s right. Let’s hear how this expression is used:

Examples
Mary spent all weekend partying instead of studying. When I asked her why she wasn’t concerned about the exam, she told me she’d just wing it.

The minister is a great orator. He’s never had a speech ready, he just wings it and people love it.

Neil
So a theatrical expression for you. Now Feifei, do you know lots of jokes about birds? Tell me one.

Feifei
Why did the little bird get in trouble at school?

Neil
Mmmm… no idea…

Feifei
Because he was caught tweeting during the test.

Neil
Yes, very funny…

Both
Bye.