Ten 'World' Idioms in English — Colloquial Podcast 3.9

"OK, so I'm back in the park, with Cathy," Katie says, and then sets up a guessing game: she describes a situation, Cathy has to produce the expression. Someone you can't wake up? Cathy gets there — "dead to the world" — then immediately says she'd probably use something else: "she's completely...knocked out." That gap between the phrase we teach and the phrase a speaker actually reaches for is what makes this fifteen minutes worth listening to.

What you'll hear in this episode

The unit is globalisation, but in practice it's ten colloquial expressions built around the word world — and a conversation that keeps producing extra ones. Katie gives clues; Cathy guesses. When Katie hints at daydreaming, Cathy answers "I would say, you're in another world," then adds "I would also say you're spaced out." When Katie asks about admiring someone, Cathy offers "out of this world" before landing on think the world of, prompting Katie to admit: "Oh that's another one. We're learning lots of new ones here."

There are two conversation halves, each followed by a pronunciation and meaning drill where you answer and repeat after a beep. In the second half they cover small world, mean the world to someone, have the world at your feet and on another planet. Katie's clue for the last one draws Cathy's guess "In a cloud" — close, but not the phrase — and then a dry aside: "People say that to me a lot."

You also get real examples rather than textbook ones: a speaker describes Spanish bureaucracy and paperwork, and how having friends help "made a world of a difference"; another mentions Thanksgiving lunch with the whole family. Katie signs off the second round with "Well I think you've been very present because you've guessed all four so well done."

Quick facts

Episode	Zapp! Colloquial English Podcast 3.9 – Globalisation
Episode number	3.9
Pack	Colloquial 3
Level	3
Duration	14 minutes 53 seconds
Workbook	Included in the all-in-one pack (€39)

What you'll learn

Ten expressions, all hanging off one very common word — which makes them easier to remember together than apart. But the sharper lesson is in the small grammatical details that learners get wrong, and the workbook targets them directly: it's think the world of him, not to him; the world at his feet, not his foot*; another planet, not the other planet; welcome to my world, not the world*.

Listen out too for the version that appears in the conversation but not in the glossary. Cathy says "A world of a difference" and Katie repeats it back; the drill and the glossary both give it as a world of difference. Both are heard from native speakers, and noticing that kind of variation is a genuine listening skill.

The guessing format also trains prediction. Katie leaves the ends of sentences hanging — "I could say, oh she's completely (mm) to the world" — so you're finishing the phrase before Cathy does. That's much closer to how you'll process idioms in real conversation than reading a list. And because Cathy volunteers her own alternatives throughout, you hear how one idea can be expressed several ways: in another world, in a world of your own, spaced out, on another planet.

The expressions in full

The workbook glossary rates each phrase for informality — 1 is safe in most situations, 2 is for people you know well, 3 should be handled with care.

to be worldly-wise (1) – to have a lot of experience in the world. Katie's first clue; she and Cathy agree it's easier when you're older.
in a world of your own (1) – to be unaware of what is happening around you.
dead to the world (1) – cannot be woken up.
to think the world of someone (1) – to greatly admire and love someone. Both speakers pick a mother as the example.
welcome to my world (2) – now you understand that this is my usual situation too, not only yours. Cathy explains you'd use it "when you're a little bit annoyed maybe".
a world of difference (1) – a big difference.
small world (1) – say this when you see someone miles away from where they would normally be, and seeing them is a coincidence.
to have the world at your feet (1) – to be in control and be able to do anything you want.
on another planet (2) – to think in a very different and slightly strange way to other people, or to have no idea what is happening around you.
spaced out (1) – someone is in a dreamy state, either because they are lost in their thoughts, or possibly have been using drugs.
out of this world (1) – brilliant, amazing.

What's in the workbook

The unit workbook gives you the full transcript of both conversation halves, so you can go back and see exactly what Cathy said and where she hesitated. Then there's the rated glossary above, and two practice exercises.

Practice Exercise 1 is a matching task: six sentence openings, six endings. "I can't wake him up, he's completely…" and "My mother is a really amazing woman,…" are two of them. Practice Exercise 2 is error correction — five sentences with the exact mistakes learners make with these phrases, including "He's got the world at his foot" and "Welcome to the world!" Answers for both are printed at the back, with the corrections struck through so you can see what changed and why.

This workbook comes with the Colloquial 3 pack, part of the Zapp! English all-in-one pack at €39 — every episode, every workbook, one price.

Get the complete courseAll workbooks and audio — €39

Questions

Is the audio scripted?

The conversations between Katie and Cathy are unscripted — Cathy is genuinely guessing, and sometimes guesses something different from the target phrase. The teaching sections that set up the tasks and give the answers are scripted, so the instructions stay clear.

Do I need the workbook to follow along?

No. The English conversations work on their own, and the pronunciation drills give you the answers aloud. The workbook adds the transcript, the glossary and the two written exercises.

What level is this?

Level 3, from the Colloquial 3 pack. You'll want to be comfortable with everyday conversation before tackling idioms this informal.

Is "a world of difference" or "a world of a difference" correct?

The glossary and the drills give a world of difference. In the conversation you'll hear a world of a difference used by both speakers — worth knowing that you'll meet both.

How long is the episode?

14 minutes 53 seconds, split into two conversation sections with a pronunciation drill after each.

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