Summary

It's good to have friends but how about important and powerful friends? Feifei is about to find out about Rob's friends in high places and discovers they don't live on top of mountains! Find out the real meaning of 'friends in high places' in this programme.

Transcript

Feifei
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Feifei… 

Rob
…you are, and I'm Rob. 

Feifei
Rob, a question – is it right you have a friend who lives on top of a mountain? 

Rob
Errr no. 

Feifei
What about a friend who lives in La Paz – one of the highest cities in the world? 

Rob
Strange question, but no. 

Feifei
OK, how about a friend who lives at the top of a very tall tower block? 

Rob
Definitely not. Why are you asking about my friends anyway? 

Feifei
Well, someone in the office said you have friends in high places – and I just wondered why it was useful to know people who lived high up. 

Rob
OK, well if you have friends in high places it has nothing to do with their physical location – they are people you know who are powerful and in an important position and are able to help you. 

Feifei
So these are useful people to know then? 

Rob
They certainly are. Let's hear some examples of other friends in high places… 

Examples
Wang managed to get a promotion but I'm sure it's only because he knows people in high places. 

Thanks to his friends in high places, my boyfriend managed to get tickets for the sold-out rock concert. Yeah! 

Despite failing her exams, Jane still managed to get a place at university – I'm sure she has friends in high places. 

Feifei
This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English and we're talking about the phrase 'friends in high places'. These are powerful and important people we know and might be able to help us in some way. So Rob, you know some very important people then? 

Rob
Well, yes a few – although not the Queen. Why do you want to know? 

Feifei
Well, I have to renew my passport and I need someone important to witness my application. 

Rob
Oh come on Feifei, you know I could do that. 

Feifei
Err sorry Rob. You may be a friend but you're not in a high enough position to do this! Look, it needs a doctor, lawyer or policeman to sign it. 

Rob
Great! So how high am I? 

Feifei
About this high. 

Rob
That low. Oh dear. Time to make some new friends. Bye bye. 

Feifei
Bye.