To blow your own trumpet

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The script for this programme



William: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. My name is William Kremer.
Helen: And I'm Helen.
William: I've got something for you, Helen.
Burst of loud classical music (Beethoven's '5th Symphony')
Helen: It's nice to have a bit of music William, but why...
Burst of different classical music (Mendelssohn's 'Dance of the Clowns')
William: What do you think... nice music, huh?
Helen: Well, it's certainly dramatic! So are we having a special musical edition today, William?
William: Well, yes we are Helen. The BBC Proms start this Friday, remember?
Helen: Ah, of course. The BBC Proms is a huge classical music festival that the BBC sponsors. It's over 100 years old.
William: Yes and every day for the next two months hundreds of music fans will queue to get their hands on a £5 ticket.
Helen: Wow. Are you going to go?
William: No, I hate queuing! But anyway, I thought we could have a music-themed programme. And our phrase this week relates to one instrument in particular...
Trumpet music solo
Helen: The trumpet?
William: Yes, do you know what it means to say someone 'blows his own trumpet'?
Helen: Yes. It means that someone is talking too much about his achievements, right?
William: Exactly. Let's listen to an example.
Woman: Who's going to be there tonight?
Man: I think Angela and Mark and that guy Martin...
Woman: Oh no, not Martin! He's such a bore. He's always blowing his own trumpet. Last time I saw him he went on and on about how he had been promoted twice in six weeks.
Helen: So this is quite a negative phrase then?
William: Yes, sometimes. But interestingly, it isn't always used in a negative way. Listen to this example. A woman is talking to her niece.
Woman: I didn't know you'd come top in the class again! Why didn't you tell me? You really must start blowing your own trumpet a bit more!
Helen: So in that clip, the woman was telling her niece she ought to blow her own trumpet more?
William: Yes. And English people sometimes use this phrase because they are embarrassed to talk about their achievements. Listen to this clip:
Man: How's it going at your work nowadays?
Woman: Well, at the risk of blowing my own trumpet, it's going very well. In fact, I've just won an award!
Helen: She said "At the risk of blowing my own trumpet".
William: Yeah, so that's like saying "Excuse me while I talk about my achievements"!
Helen: Well, I wonder whether we should blow our own trumpet a bit more. I mean here we are with a really popular website, bbclearningenglish.com...
William: ...yeah, making lots of little programmes that are entertaining, fascinating, useful...
Helen: …and best of all, it's all free! Brilliant, huh?
William: Yeah, that's brilliant! But maybe we should stop blowing our own trumpet now! Shall we have some more of that nice music again to finish off?
Helen: Oh yes! Bye!
William: Bye!