01 · Listen
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Podcast · English
Everyday English
Office talk, unfiltered · 24:16
Listen first · understand when needed
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Audiobook · English
The Sirens of Titan
Kurt Vonnegut
Chapter 2341%
07:12You appear once in a blue moon and act as if we were old drinking buddies.
07:18Forgive me if I haven’t prepared a welcome speech.
Explained in context
once in a blue moon
Very rarely. He shows up almost never — then talks like an old friend.
Saved for review
once in a blue moon
3 examplesDeck: English idiomsTo review: in 3 days
Comprehension check
How often does he show up?
AAlmost neverBEvery eveningCEvery full moon
English podcast
Everyday English · Office talk
24:10He talks as if every decision depends on him.
24:16Everyone treats him like a big deal, but in this industry he’s small potatoes.
24:22Outside this office, hardly anyone knows his name.
Grammar in context
Why plural after “he’s”?
“Small potatoes” is a fixed idiomatic noun phrase meaning unimportant. It works as the complement of “is”; its plural form is part of the idiom, so it doesn’t change to match “he.”
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02 · Reveal
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Transcript revealed
24:16
Everyone treats him like a big deal, but in this industry he’s small potatoes.
03 · Ask
Explore meaning or phrasing in the exact context.
Asked in context
What is “small potatoes” and why is it plural?
In context: Something unimportant or minor. It’s a fixed idiom — the plural is part of the phrase itself, so it stays plural even after a singular subject like “he,” much the way other fixed expressions keep their established form.
04 · Retain
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Saved to Anki
To reviewsmall potatoes
someone or something relatively unimportant
The fee is small potatoes for a company that size.
Around here, he’s still small potatoes.
The delay is small potatoes beside the outage.
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Comprehension Quiz
2 of 8How many people outside the company know Richard’s name?
Saved discovery
Reviewsmall potatoes
someone or something relatively unimportant
The fee is small potatoes for a company that size.
Around here, he’s still small potatoes.
The delay is small potatoes beside the outage.
Deck: English idioms
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