Learn how to use the phrase "put someone on the spot".
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Episode Script:“Please don’t put me on the spot!”

Welcome to “ESL with Josh” - a podcast that will help you to speak more like a native English speaker. In this episode, we will consider the phrase “to put someone on the spot” - what does it mean and how do we use it?

“To put someone on the spot” is an idiom, which means that this phrase has a meaning unrelated to the words found in it. “To put someone on the spot” does NOT mean to literally have someone stand or sit in a certain place. “To put someone on the spot” does NOT have anything to do with spots.

“To put someone on the spot” DOES mean to force someone to make a difficult decision quickly.

Some say this idiom comes from the world of pirates. Apparently pirates would send the Ace of Spades from a deck of cards to people that they intended to kill. The Ace of Spades typically has a large black spot in the middle of the card. So they would “put someone on the spot” by sending the card to them. Since then, the Ace of Spades has often been associated with death.

Today the idiom is used in a less serious manner. “To put someone on the spot” means to embarrass someone by forcing them to answer a difficult question or make a difficult decision quickly.

Here are a few examples:

• I wasn’t prepared at all when my boss put me on the spot during the meeting today when he asked me about the budget.
• Please don’t put me on the spot. Can I respond to you tomorrow about this?
• Sorry to put you on the spot, but I need an answer now.
• Jimmy put his boss on the spot yesterday at the staff meeting when he asked about the vacation policy.

Now it is time to take a quiz.
Which of the following sentences use the idiom correctly?

1. Sally always puts me on the dot like that.
2. Susan wasn’t ready to answer, but she was put on the spot and had to come up with something.
3. The director put me on the spot I needed to be on to be seen by the camera.
4. John put his friend on the spot when he invited him to his party in front of everyone.

What do you think?
The correct sentences are numbers 2 and 4.

Now it’s time for the Joke of the DayWhat did the zero say to the eight?
Nice belt!

Thanks for listening!

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