This lesson aims to help you improve your English by watching a scene from Guy Ritchie's series "The Gentlemen" (2024)! We'll look closer at the conversation between Eddie and Susie and explain useful vocabulary for business (substantial share, corner the market) and everyday talks (like fam, in the right ballpark, turn out, take on board). The Gentlemen is a very useful Netflix series for learning advanced language, and I highly recommend it as fun English practice.
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Let's look closer at this sentence: "managed to corner a substantial share". We've "managed to" means "we succeeded in doing something" or "we were able to do something". "Corner" in this sentence means to get a significant portion, like a large slice of cake. A "share" is a part of something. A "substantial share" is a large and important part. So, the whole sentence means "we were able to get a big and important piece of the market".
"consideration", in an old-fashioned or humorous sense, means a payment for a service.
"impunity" means freedom from punishment for something that has been done that is wrong or illegal.
"turn out" is a phrasal verb that here means to be known or discovered finally and surprisingly.
"whatever" means it is not important what is; it makes no difference what (is).
"supervisor" means a person who is in charge of a group of people or an area of work and who makes sure that the work is done correctly and according to the rules.
"fam" is a slang term that means a family, or a very close friend, or a group of very close friends.
"assume" means to accept something to be true without question or proof.
"be in the right ballpark" is an idiom that means to be close to the right amount.
"a cog in the machine" is an idiom that means a member of a large organization whose job, although necessary, makes them feel as if they are not important.
"concern" means to be important to someone or to involve someone directly.
"landlord" means a person or organization that owns a building or an area of land and is paid by other people for the use of it.
"awkward" means that something could make you feel uncomfortable or unsure of how to act.
"legally" means according to the laws of a country or state.
"equation" here means a situation, especially when it is considered to be complicated and made up of many different parts.
"take on board" is an idiom, that means to understand or accept an idea or a piece of information.
"beforehand" means earlier (than a particular time).
"weak-willed" means not having willpower or determination that is needed to continue with a difficult course of action.
"work-shy" means disliking work and trying to avoid it when possible.
"heir" means a person who will legally receive money, property, or a title from another person, especially an older member of the same family, when that other person dies.
"percolate" is used here in a figurative way, not its literal meaning if a liquid moves slowly through something, but in this context, it refers to an idea, feeling, or situation having some time to sink in and be processed by your mind.
Alright, that's all for today. I hope you learned a lot! If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below. See you next lesson.