Come join the Eagles fans on the streets of Philadelphia as they celebrate a Super Bowl win. You’ll get listening practice with natural spoken English and learn some informal colloquial expressions and slang. Go Birds!

Click here to see some different people singing the Eagles fight song on YouTube
Click here to see more videos about everyday English.
Click here to join us on a road trip to Cape May.

Philadelphia Eagles fans having a blast

Today you’re going to meet lots of very happy people, and get some great listening practice with natural spoken English. You’re going to learn some colloquial expressions and slang. So come with me and let’s hit the streets of Philadelphia.

You’re here today celebrating at the parade. Have you been to the parade?
Yes we did. It was lit.
Last Sunday the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl, and today milions of people have come to the city to celebrate at the parade.
Where have you come from?
Err, South Philly.
OK. Wow, the celebrations must have been big there.
It is. We followed the whole parade all the way up.
Where have you come from today?
I came from Delaware County.
Delaware County. So quite a journey. Was it difficult getting in?
It wasn’t too bad. We took the train. It took about an hour and then we had to take a subway ride.
Was it worth it?
Absolutely! This was worth it ten times over. It’s the best day of my life. I’m getting married next year. That’ll be the best day, but right now, this is the best day of my life. Great day, great day, great day. Go Birds!
Are you an Eagles fan?
Oh yeah!
What did you think of the game on Sunday?
Well I was actually there. My Dad took me.
Yeah.
And well, I was like frozen for like an hour when I found out that the Eagles won. So like, I… I was speechless.
Oh, it was phenomenal. It was a great game. I mean Philly did amazing. But I mean in general both teams played wonderfully, but obviously Philly came out.
It was a wish come true for every Eagles fan.
What do you think of the celebrations today?
Oh it was wild. It was really cold out here, but you know what, being around all of the other Eagles fans made it good. It was a blast. We had an absolute blast today.
It’s been great. Nothing really bad happening. Everyone’s loving it. People are.. I mean people are drinking, but people are having a good time. It’s like everyone’s supporting people. High fiving everyone. It’s really a good time.
It is, isn’t it? It’s a very happy crowd.
Great celebrations, yeah. I mean… There’s no one better in the entire nation than Philly fans. Philly fans are so dedicated but everyone’s being safe so it’s a good day today.

We heard lots slang and informal expressions there, so let’s take a look at some. Did you know this phrase?

Have you been to the parade?
Yes we did. It was lit.

This is a slang expression and ‘lit’ means exciting. So if a party is lit, it’s exciting. Next one.

Where have you come from?
Err, South Philly.

Philly – this is what the locals call Philadelphia. It’s an abbreviation. So South Philly is the south part of Philadelphia. Easy huh? Next one.

This is the best day of my life. Great day, great day, great day. Go Birds!

The name of the Philadelphia football team is the Eagles, and an eagle is a bird. So another word people use for the team is the birds. But notice the word ‘go’ here. This is like an instruction, telling the birds to advance and attack. In informal spoken English, people say ‘go’ to encourage one another – especially in American English. Great. Next one? This guy was interesting.

And well, I was like frozen for like an hour when I found out that the Eagles won. So like, I… I was speechless.

Speechless means not able to speak, and in this case it was because he was so happy and surprised. But notice how he uses the word ‘like’ here.
Like has lots of meanings in English and in colloquial English, you’ll hear it used as a filler word, especially among young people. We all use noises like err and um when we need to think. They fill gaps and spaces and make our speech flow more smoothly. ‘Like’ is another one and with young people it can sometimes signal an exaggeration. OK. Next one. Is this phrase grammatical?

Oh it was phenomenal. It was a great game. I mean Philly did amazing.

It’s NOT grammatical. You’d have to say Philly did amazingly to make it correct. BUT if you listen to the next bit, you can see this guy knows how to use adverbs correctly.

But I mean in general both teams played wonderfully but obviously Philly came out.

He used the adverb there. So what’s happening here? Well, ‘They did amazing’ is just a phrase we say in informal spoken English. Sports commentators say things like ‘He kicked the ball in magic’ instead of ‘He kicked it in magically’. Using an adjective instead of an adverb is common in some spoken English expressions and I think they’re examples of how the language is changing. OK, last one.

It was really cold out here. But you know what, being around all the other Eagles fans made it good. It was a blast. We had an absolute blast today.

A blast can mean a sudden gust of wind, or a sudden loud noise, but here it means something different. Again it’s an informal expression and it means an enjoyable and exciting experience. Like, everyone had a blast at the parade today and we had a blast making today’s video. We hope you enjoyed it too. If you did, please make sure you subscribe to our channel and see you next Friday.

Fly Eagles, fly!
On the road to victory.
Fight Eagles, fight.
Score a touch down 1,2,3.
Hit ’em low. Hit ’em high.
And watch our Eagles fly.
Fly Eagles, fly.
On the road to victory.
E-A-G-L-E-S, EAGLES!

Click here to see some different people singing the Eagles fight song on YouTube
Click here to see more videos about everyday English.
Click here to join us on a road trip to Cape May.