Be Careful What You 'Bank On'

Be Careful What You 'Bank On'

And now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English.

On today’s show, we take you to the bank.

Banks help us manage our money. When we make deposits, we put money in; when we make withdrawals, we take money out. Banks help us reach important life goals. We can borrow money from a bank to buy a house. A bank can loan us money to start a business.

So, we need to trust our banks. And that need for trust gives us some idiomatic expressions in American English that are connected to banks.

The first is simply to bank on something. If you bank on something, you trust it will happen. In fact, you count on it happening. Sometimes we use this expression to mean our strategy depends on something to happen.

Here are some examples:

When a city hosts the Olympics, they bank on drawing large crowds to see the games.

To win the election, the politician is banking on voters finding out about his opponent’s scandals.

We often use this expression in a set phrase: to bank on the fact that something will happen.

For example, you can bank on the fact that a famous person caught doing something wrong will soon give a public apology. It is certain to happen.

You can bank on the fact that if I see chocolate cake, I will eat it. It is a given. It will happen.

If you are very sure something will happen, it’s like money in the bank.

When we have money in the bank, we count on it to be there when we need it. Banks offer guarantees that they will protect our money. So, if something is like money in the bank, it is a guarantee. It is a certainty.

When we say “you can take that to the bank,” we mean something is a sure thing. It is true or certain to happen.

We finish today’s show with one more expression, which sounds like a funny situation.

If you laugh all the way to the bank, you make a lot of money with very little effort.

This expression also can mean that you are happy about making money from something that others think is unfair or even bad.

In other situations, it means that you make money from something that others think is a waste of time.

For example, when a woman started a organic homemade dog food business, her friends thought it was a silly idea. They even laughed at her idea. But it ended up being very successful and made her very rich. So, now she is the one laughing – laughing all the way to the bank!

And that’s all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.

If you want to learn English, the stories and programs at VOA Learning English can help you out. You can take that to the bank!

Until next time ... I’m Anna Matteo.

Anna Matteo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

deposit – n. money deposited in a bank

withdrawal – n. an act or instance of withdrawing

especially : a removal of money from a bank account

depend – v. to place reliance or trust : to rely for support

scandal – n. a situation or event that is thought to be shocking and immoral and that everyone knows about : reports about actions or events that cause shock and disapproval:

organic – adj. relating to, producing, dealing in, or involving foods produced with the use of feed or fertilizer obtained from plants or animals and without the use of laboratory-made fertilizers, growth substances, antibiotics, or pesticides

silly – adj. not showing common sense or good judgment