Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Proverbs 166. The proverb today is the bigger they are the harder they fall. Okay. Let's take a look at the note here. This phrase could also be heard as the bigger they come the harder they fall. So either the bigger they are the harder they fall or the bigger they come the harder they fall. All right. Let's continue. If someone says this proverb when a more important or prominent person fails, it means the loss or failure will be more noticeable or more dramatic. It'll get more attention. You know, people will see it more. All right. Let's continue. They say this proverb has its origins in boxing and it's still often said by boxers and wrestlers to intimidate opponents. Yeah. If you ever seen before a boxing match you know, when they're doing their tough-talking or their trash-talking each other saying bad things about each other. This might be a typical line they say, especially if one of them is actually a little larger than the other. All right. Let's continue. Some say it may have been coined, you know, invented said for the first time by Robert Fitzsimmons in 1902, before actually losing to James J Jeffries a much heavier Challenger. So he said this but he didn't actually win. He did actually lose in this case. However, nowadays the proverb is often used to refer to powerful politicians or influential celebrities who lose power or popularity. You know, often or maybe even especially due to scandals or some situation like that. All right. Let's continue. All right. So we got three examples here. And here's the first one. When Mussolini remember, Mussolini he was the leader of Italy during World War two. He was the fascist leader and remember when Italy finally changed sides that's when they they got rid of him. Some of the Italians rebelled against him. So when Mussolini was finally captured by italian communist partisans, he was executed by firing squad. Yeah. His body was brought to Milan and hung upside down to publicly have his death confirmed. Okay. This is a good example of the bigger they are , the harder they fall. Yeah. He was very powerful. A very tough leader for the longest time. Nobody could touch him. But you know , one day he finally came down. You , they killed him. They hung him up. So that was. It he's kind of a humiliating way to die too. All right. Let's look at the second one here. It doesn't matter that he is a larger opponent. The bigger they are the harder they fall. Yes. This is what somebody might say. Again when they're saying. Yeah. I'm going tp beat him anyway. All right. And number three. Some say the defeat of Goliath by David, you know from the Bible story is another example of the bigger they are the harder they fall. Okay. Anyway, I hope you got it. I hope it was clear. Thank you for your time. Bye-bye.
B1 US harder bigger fall mussolini proverb boxing English Tutor Nick P Proverbs (166) The Bigger They Are the Harder They Fall 12 0 anitawu12 posted on 2019/11/04 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary