Hi, I'm Neil.

Joining me today is Katherine.

Hello, Katherine.

Hello, Neil.

What's the story?

A Today story?

Neil is about the start of a divorce settlement.

OK, at the start of a divorce settlement, let's hear more about that from this.

BBC World Service News Bulletin.

Britain appears to have accepted the European Union's phased approach to the Brexit negotiations.

On the first day of formal talks in Brussels, the British Brexit minister David Davis agreed to set aside discussion on a future trade agreement until the two sides had addressed issues including the financial divorce settlement on the rights of expatriates, which he said would be settled quickly.

So Britain is leaving the European Union.

Britain had on the formal talks for this divorce process are calling it a devil's started yesterday.

Now, originally, the UK said in these talks, we want to talk about trade.

We want to make an agreement for how Britain will trade with Europe, and we want to make that agreement right at the start.

Now, the talks have now started and Europe has said no.

We're not going to talk about trade.

We're not going to talk about that until much later on on the UK has said Okay then So UK isn't now going to talk about trade at the beginning off the divorce talks on this is seen by some people as a really kind of side of weakness for the UK.

Okay, thanks for that summary.

You've been looking around at this story of the various news websites.

What are the expressions that people need to talk about this story and they can use also in their everyday English.

Yet we've got some great all of them faisel verbs This time we have caves in lock horns on rules out, caves in, lock horns on rules out.

So caves in in your first headline, please.

OK, so we're going to the guardian today.

Brexit UK caves in to you Demand to agree divorce bill before trade talks.

Okay.

Caves in accepts an unwanted position after being put under pressure.

Yes, eso caves in if we think will go straight to the literal meaning first.

If you have a building with a roof on.

The building is weak.

It's insecure.

It's not very well constructed.

The building could actually collapse.

The ceiling could fall down, the roof could fall down, the walls could fall down inside the building on this is known.

We call this to cave in so a week building eventually will cave in because it's because it's weak or because there is pressure on it.

Exactly.

Yes, one of the two?

Yeah, or both, Indeed.

So the idea of caving in means to collapse from a previous position of strength to go.

It'll goes horribly wrong, collapsing because of weakness or pressure on.

Now we have a figurative metaphorical use of this.

Yes, most definitely.

Yes.

So it's used in newspaper headlines to show in a metaphorical way.

It's great newspaper again.

It's short, it snappy.

A conjures up an image it makes you think of collapse on.

We can also use it in everyday English as well.

It's not particularly former word.

It's just any kind of weakened.

Oh, go on, then.

Have it your way.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for example?

Yeah, For example, our Summer Bob, the learning English, some of barbecue every every a traditionally takes part in Regent's Park, which is a short walk from our office.

Lovely, lovely place to have a barbecue.

Takes five minutes to get there.

Everyone likes that we do every year.

Yeah, except May.

Yeah, because I think we should go to Hyde Park, which is a little bit further away, but it's got a nice lake in it called the Serpent, which nobody is going to swell.

I thought that we could have our barbecue on little boats in the in the water, and everybody else thought everything else thought it was a really stupid idea.

Yeah, they did.

And they were right.

And in the team meeting last week, you said this idea of yours is crazy.

Stupid idea.

Everybody said Neil as ridiculous.

We're not doing it.

Don't.

Come on, Don't be so ridiculous.

And eventually, Eventually, I caved in.

Yeah.

So you're now coming to regions part with all lovers for the normal BBC learning English barbecue.

It is true you caved in.

Okay, Our next headline, please.

Okay.

I were looking in The Telegraph.

Britain and Europe lock horns over Brexit bill on day one of talks lock horns begin a debate argument or fight.

Yes, this one comes from the animal kingdom, in particular male deer or stags, which are the kind of forest animals.

And in this springtime they grow huge bighorns called Angelus.

And I'm doing this with my hands look like design of horse here.

Now, if you get two male star eggs in the mating season, they put their heads down.

They charged each other.

They fight by brushing their heads together and, of course, their horns, antlers look with each other.

So they end up thought of dancing with their heads locked together.

Ondas Quite dramatic.

It shows that they both got determination.

They both want to win.

They're both aggressive there.

It's a real sort of idea of a clash of strong energy on.

We use it here to say that in this headline is meaning that they are There are angry, determined fighting people.

But but in Europe, there, fighting over this.

Yeah, yeah.

Um And as you said, it's good for headlines, but it is used regularly.

It was used, I believe.

Just last week in our to meeting, going back to the barbecue.

Yes, I think you and I actually argued quite a lot about this.

Didn't way.

We locked horns.

We locked horns.

You got angry with May.

I got angry with you.

Everyone went, Calm down, calm down.

And eventually we agreed that I was right.

So it all ended it Well, Yes.

As as we said in the previous headline, I caved in.

You caved a locked horns, but I caved in.

Exactly.

Yes.

Okay, let's have a look now at our third headline.

Okay, BBC news, Brexit negotiations.

Barnier roars out concessions.

So rules out, decides against yes, decides against something often in a fairly former way to describe a decision that's been made.

That's something isn't going to happen.

And it actually comes.

It's got a legal origin.

When a rule would be made in law that something couldn't happen, you would rule it out.

It would literally make a rule that said no.

These days it's not about necessarily laws, but it is.

We use it to describe a fairly former decision, so concessions are not going to happen.

That's official.

They've bean ruled outer, but we wouldn't use it to describe sort of every day small decisions like what I'm gonna have for lunch?

I wouldn't say.

Well, I've I've ruled out cheese sandwiches.

No, not generally.

I would understand what you meant, but I would also think it is a kind of strange way of describing a personal decision.

It's generally for the form of Yeah.

Yeah.

Now, often, in this program we introduce an expression, and we explain that that you can't just make it negative and have the opposite Meaning?

Yeah.

In this case, we can You can You can rule something in you can rule something out.

We often.

And when you do something and you say is going to happen, rule out is more common on.

We sometimes use them together as well.

So you might see a politician on television.

Who?

And the headline.

Maybe they refused to rule out tax rises and they refused to rule them in.

So we often use them to say no decision either way, before we recap Oh, cabinet from today, we have, of course, our Facebook challenge on that.

We set the question Which one of these is not a way of describing the end off a relationship on the options?

A A break up?

Be a split up or see a chop up Onda.

We had lots of answers.

As usual, almost everybody got it correct.

And the correct answer is chop up cannot be used to destroy the end of a relationship so well done to everyone who got that right.

Yes, I quite like chop up.

There is a way of describing the end of a bit scary.

It's a shame that it's not correct.

Okay, can you just ah recap the words we've heard today.

Please, Catherine, I can't.

We had caved in, which means accept an unwanted position.

After being put under pressure, we had lock horns, which means to begin a debate argument or fight on.

Finally, our third phrase was rules out, which means decides against.

If you would like to test yourself on today's vocabulary, there's a quiz you can take on our website.

BBC Learning english dot com Thanks for joining us.

See you again soon.