Roll around
Today’s expression is a phrasal verb—and it’s a funny one. It’s “roll around,” and I’m going to explain just one meaning today. In this sense, “roll around” is not what your dog does on the living room floor. Instead, “roll around” can be used with something that happens at the same interval all the time. That just means, you can easily predict when it will happen.
Do you remember how you heard it earlier? I said that when late September rolls around, I start to get ready for the colors of the leaves to change. This is something that happens every year around the same time: late September and early October. So when I want to say, “When it’s late September again…” I can also say, “When late September rolls around.”
Let’s try it with a few other times of the year. When the winter holidays roll around, it’s time to pack up the car and visit family and friends. That happens every winter: we know when it happens and it happens at the same time every year. When August rolls around in Europe, many northern Europeans go for their holidays in southern climates like Spain, Italy and Portugal. Same time every year—good luck getting anyone in Europe on the phone in August. When August rolls around, you have to assume that your colleagues in Europe will be out of the office!
These examples have been seasons, times of the year. Late September, winter holidays, August: they are on the calendar and they happen once a year. This is a very common way of using “roll around” when talking about time.
But you do not have to use it with things that happen just once a year. You can also use it with things that happen, say, once a week. If you’re a parent, you might find that your weekends are full of activities with your kids. By the time Monday morning rolls around, you’re exhausted from the weekend activities. For me, though, when Monday morning rolls around, I’m fully rested, since I take it easy on Sundays. If you typically have an intense work week, you might say, “By the time Friday afternoon rolls around, my brain is fried! I can’t think any more.” Again, this is something regular: every week has a Monday morning; every week has a Friday afternoon.
The accounting department at your employer might have a monthly schedule. They might close the books every month: that means, they have to produce financial reports once a month. Usually, in the first five to ten days of the month, they’re working on producing all the financial reports from the previous month. When the first of the month rolls around, they start to get really busy. Again, it’s regular and happens every month. When the first of the month rolls around, the accounting department might get very busy.
I typically write and record two lessons at a time: I write them during a weekend, record them during the week, and they are published the following week. I usually try to record the video lessons and audio lessons on Monday and Tuesday. This week, Friday rolled around and I still had only recorded one of next week’s lessons. I just had a crazy week at work and couldn’t fit it in. Luckily, I have a very understanding producer, who can edit the audio even if I fall behind on my schedule! Next week, I hope to have them all recorded by the time Wednesday rolls around.
JR’s song of the week
Today’s song of the week of “Family” by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. It’s a fun song, but I especially like the music video—it’s all about normal life. So often in songs and media, you see a glorified, unrealistic version of life, but this song, and the video, is the opposite. The video looks like a collection of home videos shot on a cell phone: in fact, that’s probably what it is. The song celebrates normal moments in life—playing in the backyard, going on vacation—and the video features a decidedly non-professional dancer on a white background. It’s a fun video and a nice song, so thank you JR for that one. “Family” by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors is the song of the week.
And you can play JR’s song of the week from your dashboard at PlainEnglish.com—all members have a dashboard, including free members. You can also find it on Spotify by searching directly for Plain English playlist.
See you next time!
And that is all. Congratulations on making it to the end of yet another Plain English lesson. I should say, making it to the end of the audio portion, because the fun continues on the web site—the video lesson and the exercises, if you’re a Plus+ member. But for the moment, you’ve finished the audio portion of the lesson.
If you’re not yet a member of Plain English Plus+, I would invite you to check it out at PlainEnglish.com/Plus. Lots of great stuff included in the Plus membership, including the fast version of this lesson—I’m about to record the fast version now—pronunciation exercises, listening exercises, quizzes, video walkthroughs, lots of stuff. Check that all out at PlainEnglish.com/Plus.
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
