[00:00:00] On this episode of the Real Life English with Gabby podcast, I'll be teaching you 15 phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms all about luck and good fortune. You'll be learning vocabulary like pan out, a hot streak, stars align, hit the jackpot, and more. Let's get to it.
Hey there. Welcome to the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby, your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.
Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.
Hey, hey, hey. Welcome to episode number 73. Greetings from New York City. So I have a question for you. Do you believe [00:01:00] in luck? Episode number 71, two episodes ago, was all about bad luck and superstitions, but this episode is all about good luck and good fortune.
I actually wasn't planning to do this episode — like this was not on my schedule — but after the Bad Luck episode, I was like, whoa, there are so many other expressions that we use for good luck and good fortune. And so I decided to squeeze this one into the schedule. Bad luck and good luck and good fortune, bad fortune, which we're gonna talk about shortly — these are two ideas that show up very often in English conversations, movies, everyday expressions, and even in the little things that we say without thinking.
Okay, so first let's talk about good fortune. Good fortune basically means [00:02:00] that things go your way. Opportunities show up. Timing works out. Life gives you a pleasant surprise when you are least expecting it. That's good fortune. It's similar to good luck. The other definition of fortune means a lot of money. So sometimes it can be connected to the topic of luck.
As I was saying before, it's very common to say it without even thinking — it's very common to talk about without even thinking about it — like someone is going to an interview: “Good luck.”
Even if you don't believe in luck, you still use the expression. Some people are very superstitious, like we talked about in episode number 71. People believe that little things they do or don't do can seriously impact their future. But a lot of people don't believe in luck. They think that things come from [00:03:00] skill, hard work, or simple cause and effect — not necessarily superstition.
But there are a lot of people who do believe in luck. Maybe not in a magical sort of way, but in the sense that sometimes life gives you moments where things just work out. Believing in luck can be a very good thing, even if you're not superstitious, because believing that you're lucky can really change how you move through the world. When you expect good things, you're more confident. You notice and believe in more possibilities, and you take more chances. And sometimes having that mindset alone opens new doors.
This is why it's important to understand how English speakers talk about luck in everyday life — how we talk about chance, how we talk about fate. We use lots of slang, idioms, and casual [00:04:00] expressions to describe moments like these — when things go wrong, when things go right, when things magically fall into place, we say.
So if you haven't listened to episode number 71 yet, which is about bad luck and superstitions, then go listen after this episode, because in this episode you're gonna learn a lot of very natural, real-life ways to talk about good luck. And so you're also gonna want some natural ways to talk about bad luck.
Before we get into the episode, I have something exciting to share. Next week, in just a few days after this podcast releases, I'm launching my brand-new mini course, English Through Media. This course is a mini PDF course that gives you lesson plans for TV shows, movies, and clips that you can find on YouTube. It's going to be a lot of fun and very, very [00:05:00] beneficial for your English. I'll have a bonus episode coming out that explains everything about this course, but it will be launching the week of Thanksgiving as part of my Black Friday promotions, so you'll be able to get it at a cheaper price because it's the launch and it's the celebration of this new course.
So stay tuned for that, because all of the information that you need will be in the episode descriptions starting next week. Also, don't forget that there's a free study guide waiting for you that has everything you need to remember everything you learn in this episode so that you can start speaking English confidently. To get the study guide, click the link in the episode description.
All right, now let's talk about the vocabulary that you'll be learning in this episode.
Fortune smiles down on you. Pay off. Pan out. [00:06:00] Born under a lucky star. As luck would have it. To be in luck. A lucky break. A hot streak. Lady Luck. Luck is on your side. The stars align. Beginner's luck. To hit the jackpot. Turn out. And a stroke of luck.
Now I'm gonna read you a story that has all of the vocabulary words in context. Listen as I read and try to guess the meaning of the words through context. After the story, I'll review all of the vocabulary with you and give you new examples.
By the way — fun fact — I always use the names of my students in the stories that I create for the podcast. So every character name you hear is typically pretty international because they're based on [00:07:00] real-life students that I have loved.
Today's story is told in the first-person perspective, meaning that it's a person named Angelo telling his story.
So it's a little bit different than usual, where it's more like the narrator talking about a situation. Here we go.
My name is Angelo, and this is a story of how one day fortune smiled down on me. For most of my life, I felt like luck and success were things that happened to other people — but never to me.
I worked really hard, but it never seemed to pay off. When I was younger, I made a lot of exciting plans for the future, but unfortunately they never panned out. I had always wished that I was born under a lucky star.
A few years ago, I was walking through Central Park in a pretty depressed state. [00:08:00] I had recently lost my job, my girlfriend of five years broke up with me, and I was struggling to stay positive. As I was walking through the park, I looked over and saw a four-leaf clover. I couldn't believe my eyes. Growing up, my mother always told me what good luck a four-leaf clover would bring, so I decided to pick it up and put it in my wallet.
Would you believe that right after I put it in my wallet, I looked down and saw a $100 bill? My mom was right about these being good luck. Being unemployed made me really excited about finding a hundred dollars. I picked it up, put it in my wallet, and kept walking.
Then, as luck would have it, I walked past a small café that had a “Help Wanted” sign in the window. I was curious, so I went inside to ask about the job [00:09:00] and found out that they were looking for an assistant manager. I was in luck because the manager was there, and he actually gave me an interview right after I filled out the application. Luckily, he and I hit it off right away, and because of my past experience, he offered me the job on the spot.
I had been looking for a management position for months and was extremely excited at this lucky break. They really needed help, so I started at the job three days later. On my first day, I recommended a new menu item to a customer, and that customer happened to be a very famous food influencer. She loved the dish, wrote an amazing review,
and the café suddenly became one of the busiest places in town. From that moment on, I was on a hot streak. [00:10:00] Sales were high, our tips were great, customers loved me, and the café owner kept giving me more responsibility. It seemed like Lady Luck was finally paying attention to me.
“Wow, Angelo,” my sister said to me one day, “luck is really on your side now.”
A month later, I served a beautiful customer who came into the shop to get some coffee and breakfast. We had a lot of chemistry and clicked right away, and I found out that her name was Anna and she was a lawyer. I asked for her phone number, and then that evening I asked her out on a date. She said yes.
We went out on our first date, and it was pretty much love at first sight. We got along great and started dating. It seemed as though the stars were finally starting to align for me, because I had always been unlucky in love before [00:11:00] meeting Anna.
My luck continued to improve as the months went on. At the café's holiday party, they held a small raffle for employees, and the prize was a $2,000 vacation voucher. I would be able to pick a vacation anywhere I wanted for $2,000. I joined the raffle just for fun, not at all expecting to win anything because I had never won anything like this before.
But guess what? When they pulled the winning ticket, it was mine. Everyone cheered and congratulated me. I decided to book a trip for Anna and me to Las Vegas. While we were there, we saw a few shows, ate at amazing restaurants, and I even won some money in some of the casinos. I had never gone to a casino before because of my bad luck, and so I was nervous about losing money — but apparently I had beginner's [00:12:00] luck, because I kept winning
that evening. While Anna and I were walking on the Las Vegas Strip, I realized that I had really hit the jackpot in my life. I opened my wallet and looked at the little four-leaf clover that I picked up that day in Central Park, and I thought about how my life used to be — and then I smiled at how much things had changed for me since finding the clover.
Happily, my life has turned out better than I ever imagined. This whole situation is proof that sometimes all it takes is a little stroke of luck to change everything.
The end.
All right, so let's talk about these definitions and example sentences. Firstly, we have “when fortune smiles down on you.” When fortune smiles down on you means [00:13:00] that life suddenly starts to go your way, or something very good happens unexpectedly. “Smiling down” kind of means like from the heavens, from God, from a higher power — they finally decided to give you some good luck.
For example: After months of job hunting, fortune finally smiled down on me, and I got two interviews in one day.
Next up, we have the phrasal verb pay off. To pay off is when your hard work, your effort, your patience, perseverance — when all of those things lead to success or a good result.
So you study, and then you get a good score — studying paid off.
For example: All of her late-night studying paid off when she passed the exam with a high score.
[00:14:00] Next up, we have pan out. This is when something turns out well, or something goes exactly the way that you hoped it would go.
For example: We weren't sure if our weekend trip would pan out, but it ended up being amazing.
If you remember in the photography episode, I mentioned pan out, and pan out can also be similar to zoom out, but in this context it means something different.
Next up, we have the idiom to be born under a lucky star. I believe I mentioned this briefly in the Bad Luck episode, but to be born under a lucky star—this is an idiom, and it means to describe someone who always seems to have good luck, or they always seem to have things naturally go well for them. So you maybe have that friend that everything works out for them all the time, and you're like, “Oh my gosh, they were [00:15:00] born under a lucky star.” For example, my best friend never studies, but she always gets good grades. She was definitely born under a lucky star.
Next up, we have as luck would have it. This means by chance or coincidence, something happens—often something helpful, something convenient—and we think that it's luck that's doing it to us. For example, I thought I was gonna be late, but as luck would have it, the train arrived right as I got to the platform.
Next up, we have a lucky break. A lucky break is a small but important moment of good luck that helps you achieve something. For example, getting featured on that big Instagram page was a lucky break for her business.
Next up, we have beginner's luck. Beginner's luck is when someone new at [00:16:00] something does surprisingly well on their first try. Beginner's luck is very common either with casinos or with basically anything you try. We say, “Wow, you've got really great beginner's luck,” because you're just good at something the first time you do it. For example, it was my first time bowling and I got a strike. Total beginner's luck.
Next up, we have the expression a hot streak. A hot streak is a period when everything goes well, and you keep having success. So success, success, success—back to back to back. For example, our team has been on a hot streak, winning five games in a row.
Next up, we have the expression Lady Luck. Lady Luck is a playful way to refer to the idea of luck helping you. This is making luck seem like a person. [00:17:00] So Lady Luck helped me out. For example, I won a hundred dollars on a scratch-off ticket today. Lady Luck was definitely with me.
Next up, we have when luck is on your side. When luck is on your side just means that you are currently experiencing a lot of good luck—things are working out very well for you. For example, “Wow, you got the last ticket to the show. Luck is really on your side today.”
Next up, we have when the stars align. This is when everything comes together perfectly to allow something good to happen. Align means to be straight, so it's like all of the stars are straight in one line—everything is perfect, everything is where it's supposed to be. For example, the stars finally aligned for my friends and I, and we were able to go on [00:18:00] vacation together.
Next up, we have to hit the jackpot. The jackpot is like the prize, so to hit the jackpot is to have huge or unexpected success. This is not just with gambling, but it's also like everyday life. So when people fall in love and they marry someone who's great, they say, “I really hit the jackpot.” For example, she really hit the jackpot with her new apartment. It's cheap, spacious, and in a great location.
Next up, we have to be in luck. This means to be fortunate at that moment because something you want is available. For example, “Well, you are in luck. We actually have one spot left in class today.”
Next up, we have a stroke of luck. This is a small but important moment of good [00:19:00] luck that helps you. For example, it was a stroke of luck that I checked my email early—I almost missed the deadline. It's like waving a magic wand and giving someone luck.
And lastly, we have the phrasal verb turn out. Turn out means a final result—to end in a certain way. For example, I was nervous about the meeting, but it turned out much better than I expected.
Okay, so now that you've learned 15 new phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms about good luck and good fortune, it's time to take the next step, which is to reinforce what you learned—meaning practice. One of the most important things when it comes to learning English is [00:20:00] repetition. According to neuroscience, you need six to seven times of exposure to new vocabulary before it stays in your brain. And that is why I use in my teaching the 7x Method, which means seven times of exposure to the word. You'll notice that if you listen to the podcast and use a study guide, here's how many times you're exposed to the word: first, you hear the word in the context of a story; then I explain the word; then I give an example—that’s three times in the podcast episode. Then, when you read the study guide, you read the definition again, you have the story again, and then you have three practice activities. That right there is eight [00:21:00] times of exposure.
And so, listening to the podcast and using the study guide are the two main tools that you need to remember the vocabulary, repeat it multiple times, and then be encouraged and empowered to use it in your English. So make sure that you download that study guide—it's part of your homework. Then, I want you to pick five to seven of the vocabulary words and expressions from this episode and try to use them in some way.
You can write them in a vocabulary journal. You can write someone an email talking about luck. You can text a friend—or my favorite way—teach someone what they mean. I'm sure you have friends or family members or someone in your community who really wants to learn English [00:22:00] or practice English. By teaching them these words, you are reinforcing them in your own brain and helping someone else. Whatever way you decide to use the vocabulary, just commit to doing it. Even if you're scared, even if all you can commit to is using one—every little bit helps.
Well, that's a wrap for today's episode of the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. Be sure to download today's study guide so that you can learn how to use this vocabulary confidently. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe for more weekly adventures in English learning. Also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review. Thanks so much for tuning in.
