First Dibs — VOA Learning English
Topics: суспільство
Beginning
And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
See if you can guess the meaning of first dibs from the following exchange:
A: “Hi, I was calling about the house for rent, and I was wondering if it’s still available.”
B: “Yes, well, it is empty, at the moment—but I can’t rent it out yet. My nephew is interested, and he’s got first dibs on it, so I’m waiting to hear from him.”
A: “Oh, OK—do you know how long it’ll be until he decides?”
B: “Um, you know, it could be a month. I’m not really sure.”
Here, the owner is giving his nephew a chance to rent the house before anyone else can. Having first dibs on something means having the right to get something before anyone else.
We can have…
Tap any word for its translation at once; the word goes into your deck together with its sentence.