English in a Minute Series 5

Intermediate level

Phrases with 'work'

Episode 260602 / 02 Jun 2026

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Introduction

Learning English isn't all work and no play! Why not learn some English phrases which use the word ‘work'? Find out what four of them mean with Phil and then practise using them in the quiz.

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Phrases with 'work'

all work and no play
only doing work is boring

  • Travelling for work isn't all work and no play. I've been to some fascinating places.

have (got) your work cut out
have a difficult task

  • The next game is against the champions – we'll really have our work cut out.

in the works
being planned or in process

  • There are a lot of exciting changes in the works for this office.

out of work
unemployed

  • It's good to have some savings in case your find yourself out of work.

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TRANSCRIPT

Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.

Phil
Time to get to work! We're going to learn four phrases with 'work'.
 
We use the phrase all work and no play to say that if the only thing you do is work, you'll be bored, and you'll be boring!
 
My life at the moment is all work and no play. I need to change something.
 
When you have yourwork cut out, it means that you've got to do something difficult. Now, we often use this with the adverb 'really'.
 
If you want to make this a success, you've really gotyourwork cut out.
 
If something is in the works, then it's being planned or it's being made, but it's not quite ready yet.
 
Just wait. We've got some amazing things in the works for you.
 
If you're out of work, you don't have a job – you're unemployed. And if you're in work, then you do have a job.
 
I've been out of work for a month now. I need to get this job.
 
If you think you've got yourwork cut out to improve your English, start by learning these phrases.

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