to not hold (one’s) breath

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 921 – Describing Chance and Probability.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 920. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

This episode, like all of our episodes, has a Learning Guide. You can download it at ESLPod.com.

This episode is a dialogue that’s going to give us some of the vocabulary we use in talking about taking a chance or how likely something is – what we call “probability.” Let’s get started.

Raul: What are the chances that Rob will be here on time?

Tiffany: I’d say it’s fifty-fifty. You never know. He might surprise us and be early.

Raul: Fat chance of that happening. I’ve known him for three years, and if I had to stake my life on whether he’ll arrive early or not, I’d be in big trouble.

Tiffany: Don’t exaggerate. Rob isn’t completely irresponsible. I’d say there’s a pretty good probability that he’ll be here