What does 'it's a small world' mean? - YouTube
Feifei: Hello and welcome back to
The English We Speak. I'm Feifei.
Rob: And I'm Rob. Now, Feifei, do I have
a story for you!
Feifei: Oh? Do tell!
Rob: Well, I was out shopping
at the weekend when I ran into Neil!
Feifei: OK...
Rob: Well, we decided to get
some lunch together, when who
should we run into but Dan!
Feifei: Dan from the office? No way!
Rob: It gets weirder! Dan joined us
for a bite to eat and then we saw
Sam and Sian getting lunch together
as well! It was a bit, unplanned
BBC Learning English meet up!
Feifei: That's unbelievable - it's
a small world, isn't it?
Rob: Feifei, what are you talking about?
It's a massive world:
Over 190 countries, more
than 7.5 billion people - it's enormous!
Feifei: Rob, I'm not talking about the size
of the world. I'm saying that it was quite
a coincidence that you all met up!
Rob: I know! What are the chances
that five of us would all meet up
at the same time!
Feifei: Indeed! Let's take a look at some
other examples of this phrase.
Your brother works in the same office
as my girlfriend! It's a small world!
I can't believe you went to the same high
school as me! What a small world!
A: We haven't seen or spoken
to each other for twenty years and
now you've moved into
the house next to mine! Unbelievable!
B: It's a small world after all!
Feifei: This is The English We Speak
from BBC Learning English and
we're talking about the phrase
'it's a small world'. It's used
when we want to say that
a surprising coincidence has occurred.
It's used particularly when two people
meet unexpectedly, or have a mutual
friend or connection. Rob told us how
he met four of our colleagues on
the same day in the same place.
Rob: That's right. And now if
we're finished, I'd like to go off and
do some shopping.
Feifei: Oh yeah, what are you
going to buy?
Rob: A globe! All this talk of
small worlds has reminded me
I need to get one for my son.
And there's a globe shop just
round the corner.
Feifei: Well, it really is a small world.
Rob: In this case, yes! Bye.
Feifei: Bye bye.
