Rug Rats, Ankle Biters and Other Words for Children

Katie is sitting in the park with Mark, and her clue is a question: what attaches your foot to your leg? Two seconds later Mark has it — ankle biters. Asked whether he actually likes ankle biters, one of the speakers answers "Not overly", then suggests children improve later, "if it exists, maybe when they become 'knee biters'", once they can speak and entertain you. Ten colloquial expressions about children follow, and a few of them you should keep well away from your boss.

What you'll hear in this episode

The format is a guessing game. Katie describes an expression, Mark tries to produce it — "OK, let's hope I'm up to the task" — and then explains what he thinks the image behind it is. The first three are words for children, in rising order of rudeness: Mark starts with "spoilt", Katie asks him to finish the phrase, and out comes spoilt brat. Then the ankle clue, and a second clue involving an animal and another word for a carpet you can move: rug rats.

After a short break the pair move on to adults behaving like children. Mark's first guess is "temper tantrum", which Katie accepts as the right idea before steering him towards the thing a baby has in its mouth — to spit the dummy. Mark then offers a better one himself, chucking his toys out of the pram, and explains that it's "often used to describe footballers when…grown men behave in a very childish way". "Grow up" leads him into a small list of alternatives: "Sort yourself out, pull yourself together".

The last pair are ways of saying pregnant. A bun in the oven arrives quickly, followed by a dry aside — "Thankfully it's as yet, still, a biological impossibility." Mark guesses up the duff, then something that sounds like "Cheggars?", before landing on the polite version and admitting, "My God, that was a lucky guess." He calls it "The very British English way of not addressing something sensitive or emotional."

Quick facts

Episode	Colloquial 3.2 – Children
Pack	Colloquial 3
Level	3
Length	15 minutes 20 seconds
Recorded	in the park
Speakers	Katie and Mark
Workbook	included in the all-in-one pack (€39)

What you'll learn

The useful thing about the guessing-game format is that you hear each expression built out of its parts before you hear it whole. Katie gives the image — an ankle, a movable carpet, the thing that stops a baby crying — and you can try to assemble the phrase before Mark does. That's much closer to how you'll meet these words in real conversation than a wordlist is.

You'll also learn how dangerous each one is, which matters more here than the meaning. The workbook grades every expression 1, 2 or 3: level 1 is fine with almost anyone, level 3 may genuinely offend. "Brats", "grow up", "a bun in the oven" and "up the duff" are all level 3. "In the family way" is level 1 — the same idea, socially safe, and, as Mark points out, deliberately vague.

There's grammar hidden in the idioms too. Note the past forms in the practice exercises: he spat the dummy, not "spitted". Note that "to kid" works as a verb ("I'm only kidding") and as an expression of disbelief ("you're kidding!"), which Katie demonstrates when Mark claims to have won the lottery. Two recorded practice sections then ask you questions, give the answer, and leave a beep for you to repeat the phrase aloud.

Vocabulary from this episode

The workbook glossary marks each expression 1 (fairly safe), 2 (very informal) or 3 (be careful):

child's play (1) – something that is very easy to do
like taking candy from a baby (1) – the same as doing something very easy
rug rats (2) – young children; a rug is like a carpet, so this means children at an age where they play on the floor
ankle biters (2) – children (used particularly in Australia)
brats (3) – a negative word for a child who doesn't behave well, or is naughty
to kid (1) – to joke, to pretend
grow up (3) – used to tell someone to stop behaving like a child
spit your dummy (2) – to become angry and behave like a child
to chuck your toys out of the pram (2) – to become angry and behave like a child
to be in the family way (1) – to be pregnant
to have a bun in the oven (3) – to be pregnant (slang)
up the duff (3) – pregnant (slang)

What's in the workbook

The workbook contains the full transcript of both conversation tasks, so you can check anything you missed — including Katie's own stumble over "up the dove…have…duff". It also has the graded glossary above, with the warning not to use the level 3 items on your mother-in-law.

Two practice exercises follow. Exercise 1 is five true/false statements that test the social rules rather than the definitions: could you ask your boss whether they have a bun in the oven? Can ankle biters be twelve years old? Exercise 2 is six gap-fills using the expressions in full sentences, including the past tense "spat the dummy". Full answers are given, with explanations — the answer key tells you why twelve is too old for ankle biters (it usually means children up to about eight).

This workbook is part of the Zapp! English all-in-one pack, which includes the workbooks for every episode across all our courses for €39.

Get the complete courseAll workbooks and audio — €39

Common questions

Are these expressions safe to use at work?

Several are not. The glossary grades them, and the workbook's first exercise makes the point directly: asking your boss about a bun in the oven could cost you your job.

Is the conversation scripted?

The conversation between Katie and Mark is unscripted — he's genuinely guessing, and sometimes guessing wrong. The teaching sections that set up the tasks and give the answers are scripted, so the instructions stay clear.

Do I need to have heard Colloquial 3.1 first?

No. Each unit covers its own set of expressions and works on its own.

Is the audio free?

Yes. All the English conversations are free to download. The workbook with the transcript, glossary and exercises comes with the paid pack.

What level is this?

Level 3, from the Colloquial 3 pack.

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