Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. We have three different levels for you: easy, medium and hard. 

This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There are lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level.

Summary 

Learn more football vocabulary with Premier Skills English. Each lesson in our Premier Vocabulary section looks at one football word or phrase. This lesson looks at the phrase to get away with something. 

You can find more lessons on the side of this page. 

Transcript 

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich and welcome to Premier Skills English - Premier Vocabulary. 

Jack: Hi there! I’m Jack. We’re here to help you with your football English. Premier Vocabulary is a mini-podcast for you to learn football English one word at a time. 

Rich: Don’t forget you can always find the transcript for all our podcasts on the Premier Skills English website. Premier Vocabulary has three different levels: easy, medium and hard. 

Jack: This episode is medium so we’re looking at football words and phrases you need to describe what’s happening on the pitch or words and phrases fans and commentators on TV might use. There will be lots of phrasal verbs to learn at this level. 

Rich: The phrase we are looking at in this episode is to get away with. 

Jack: To get away with is a phrasal verb that we will see used in a general context and when talking about football. 

Rich: It has a few meanings but generally to get away with is connected to doing something wrong or badly and escaping or not being punished for it.

Jack: The clearest example is probably when we speak about crime. Her’s an example: 

Rich: The office was robbed last night. The thieves got away with two computers and £1000 in cash. 

Jack: Here we are emphasising that the criminals literally escaped - they got away and they got away with something - money and computers - without being caught. 

Rich: Here is another example related to crime: 

Jack: It was a brilliant film - but I can’t believe the murderer got away with his crimes. The police missed so many clues. 

Rich: Here we are emphasising that a criminal got away with murder - he did it but escaped punishment because he wasn’t caught. 

Jack: To get away with murder is also a useful idiom - it means to do whatever you want and no be punished for it. 

Rich: Kids get away with murder these days - parents don’t do anything. He got away with murder on the pitch today - he should have been given about three red cards. 

Jack: It’s often used when we are speaking about cheating. You shouldn’t cheat because you’ll never get away with it. 

Rich: Let’s look at a couple more football examples. The phrase is often used when a player makes a tackle and doesn’t get punished for it. 

Jack: This is often because the referee hasn’t seen the challenge so the player gets away with it it. He gets away without getting a yellow card or a foul against him. 

Rich: These days players get away with less because VAR sees a lot more of what’s happening on the pitch. 

Jack: Another common way to use get away with is when a team play badly but win or don’t lose. 

Rich: So it can be used when a team get lucky - they don’t play well but still win. Listen to this example: 

Jack: A good result on Saturday? 

Rich: A fantastic result but not a good performance. We got away with it to be honest because we deserved to lose. 

Jack: There is the final whistle! 

Rich: We’ll be back soon with more Premier Vocabulary from Premier Skills English. 

Jack: Bye for now and enjoy your football. 

Discuss 

Has your team got away with a bad result recently? 

Can you think of an example when a player got away with something on the pitch?