What does 'couch surfing' mean? - YouTube
Feifei: Welcome to The English We Speak,
I'm Feifei.
Rob: And I'm Rob!
Feifei: A very messy and scruffy Rob,
if I may say so. Did you not have
time to brush your hair today?
Rob: Feifei, things are a bit difficult
at the moment. I'm having
some work done on my house.
Feifei: And has your hairbrush
gone missing?
Rob: No, no. I'm not living at home
at the moment - I'm sleeping where
anyone has a spare sofa.
It was Neil's house on Monday, Paul's
on Tuesday, Sam's on Wednesday...
Feifei: I get it. You are couch surfing.
Rob: Yes - even though I don't own
a surfboard! But I am moving from
one couch - or sofa - to
another, which is a bit like surfing!
Feifei: Yes, when someone is
couch surfing it means they temporarily
stay in other people's houses
for free - often sleeping on the sofa
or couch - because they don't have their
own home. But no surfboard needed!
Rob: No, not unless you want to use one
as a bed! Let's hear
some more examples...
Since I left university, I haven't been able
to find a job so I've been couch surfing at
my friends' to try and save money.
I've been couch surfing around the world.
It's a great way to meet other people and
it makes travelling affordable.
I've had an argument with my girlfriend,
so I'm moving out. Do you mind
if I couch surf
with you guys for a few weeks? Please!
Feifei: This is The English We Speak
from BBC Learning English
and we're talking about
the phrase 'couch surfing'. This describes
temporarily staying at different people's
homes for free because you haven't got
your own home to stay in.
It's not great if you
haven't got your own place to live in
but luckily for you, Rob,
the work on your house
is temporary, and you'll be back
living at home soon.
Rob: Well, maybe not.
Feifei: Oh! Why's that?
Rob: Well, the builder has found
a lot of the woodwork to be rotten
and it needs replacing - and that
could takes weeks. So I was wondering...
Feifei: You want to couch surf
at my house? The answer is no!
I don't want you carrying
out the other meaning of couch surfing.
Rob: And what's that?
Feifei: Couch surfing can sometimes
mean just lying on the sofa
watching TV or browsing
the internet on your laptop.
Rob: Yeah. But I'd do the washing up.
Feifei: The answer is still no! Bye, Rob.
Rob: Bye everyone.
