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Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Idioms 252. The idiom today is at one's beck and
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call. Okay. Let's take a look at the note here. If someone is at another person's beck
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and call, he or she is compliant. It means they comply, that they follow. They don't
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resist. They are compliant and is expected to obey and cater to one's
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needs. It is usually meant in a negative way. You know, like that they're almost
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too demanding. It's like the person has almost become like a slave to them. Okay.
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Good let's continue. Well the word' beck' is an old use that was a shortened form
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or a certain version of the word 'beckon." Which meant to signal someone to come. To
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beckon someone , to come. So that's where you get beck and call. So some people say
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beck. Why beck ? What's beck ? Well beck was a shortened verb of beckon. You beckoned
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someone to come towards you. Okay . Good. Let's look at a three examples we have
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here. Example number one. The boss in the movie " The Devil Wears Prada " expected all
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her assistants to be at her beck and call. Yeah. I don't know if you remember
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that is ... that movie is about 10 to 15 years old now. But where Meryl Streep played
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the boss in this fashion magazine and she expected her you know, her assistants
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or her helpers to do anything. Long, but far beyond the nine-to-five work hours.
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She expected them to always be ready for her or do anything that she wants them
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to do. And some things ... you know were not even practical. She just wants them to
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try to figure out a way to do it. She expected them to always be at her beck
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and call. Okay. Let's look at number two here. The king expects his servants to be
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at his beck and call. Yeah, especially in former times. So this could just as easily
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be Queen you could say the Queen expects her servants to be at her beck and call.
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So yeah a lot of times royalty did expect their servants to
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be literally at their beck and call.They might beckon them to come and at their
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beck and call and do whatever they wanted them to do.
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All right. And number three here. In Japan during former times, geishas were trained
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to be at the beck and call of any men they were hired to entertain. All right.
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So this is the way we might hear the term beck and call. Anyway, I hope you got
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it . I hope it's clear. Thank you for your time.
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Bye-bye.