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Talking about greed

Episode 251024 / 24 Oct 2025

(Photo: Getty)

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Introduction

Beth and Neil have a real conversation in easy English about greed – wanting to have more than we need. Learn to talk about moreish food... and having eyes bigger than your belly

Vocabulary

greedy
wanting more of something than you need

too much/too many
more than is necessary or appropriate

enough
the correct amount; the amount you need and not more

your eyes are bigger than your belly
you have taken more food than you can eat

moreish
so tasty that you want more and more of it

Transcript

Neil
Hello and welcome to Real Easy English. In this podcast, we have real conversations in easy English to help you learn. I'm Neil.
 
Beth
And I'm Beth. You can watch this podcast with subtitles over on our website. Go to bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Neil
Hello Beth. How are you?
 
Beth
I am very good, thank you, Neil. How are you?
 
Neil
I'm very well, thanks. What are we talking about in our podcast today?
 
Beth
Today, we are talking about being greedy. Now, if you are greedy, then you want or have more of something than you actually need. For example, sometimes if I go to a restaurant, I order loads of food and then I can't eat it all. But I order a lot because I'm greedy.
 
Neil
OK.
 
Beth
So, Neil, do you find that?
 
Neil
I do find that, yes. And also, I think it's a bad mistake to go shopping when you're hungry.
 
Beth
Food shopping?
 
Neil
Yeah.
 
Beth
Definitely. I completely agree, because you see all of the food that you want to eat.
 
Neil
...at that moment, yes. So, I think if you go shopping when you're hungry, then you shop like a greedy person.
 
Beth
That's true. That's true. What about when you go to a buffet? That's when you have lots of different dishes and you can just add food to your plate. I think it's very easy to be greedy.
 
Neil
It is, yes, because there's so much choice that you can easily eat too much. And if you eat too much, you don't feel very good afterwards.
 
Beth
No, but when you're hungry and you see that food, you just want it.
 
Neil
And we have an expression for that, Beth.
 
Beth
Do we? What is it?
 
Neil
Your eyes are bigger than your belly.
 
Beth
Yes, that is a very good expression. So, it means your eyes – you see everything and you want it – but your eyes are bigger than your belly, which means your stomach. So, you can't eat it all even if your eyes want you to eat all that food.
 
Neil
So, Beth, you talked about buffets and feeling greedy when you have all of that choice. Are you often greedy?
 
Beth
I don't go to buffets very often so no, although I really like biscuits and I think that if I open a pack of biscuits and I have one, it's not enough. If I have two – not enough. And I keep eating them, and I'm a bit greedy with biscuits.
 
Neil
Mmm. I usually know when to stop eating sweet things, like biscuits and cakes, because I feel sick quite quickly, but savoury things I can just munch on all day.
 
Beth
What like?
 
Neil
Things like crisps.
 
Beth
Ah, yeah.
 
Neil
I can't stop eating crisps. They're very moreish.
 
Beth
They are moreish – it just means you want more and more of them. But then you can have definitely too many crisps and feel full. And often when we're talking about being greedy, it's seen as a negative thing. So, you have kids. How do you teach your kids to not be greedy?
 
Neil
Good question, because I think being greedy, for kids, is a natural thing.
 
Beth
Yeah.
 
Neil
If they see something they like, they want to eat all of it. But you need to tell them no – just have one or two, otherwise, you're going to feel sick.
 
Beth
That's true, yeah. And it's also... Being greedy is not just about food. You could be greedy with money. Or I remember being a child going into a toy shop and I wanted all the toys, even though I had enough already. But then I was greedy. I wanted all of them. My mum said, "No, you have enough. Maybe you can have one."
 
Neil
Time now to recap the vocabulary we've heard in this podcast, starting with greedy. If you are greedy, you want more of something than you need. So, for example, you keep eating food even though you are already full – you are greedy.
 
Beth
Too much or too many means more of something than you need or is acceptable. For example, I think it's easy to eat too many biscuits.
 
Neil
If you have enough of something, you have the right amount, the amount you need and not more. So, for example, Beth, your mother told you, "You have enough toys".
 
Beth
And the expression your eyes are bigger than your belly means that you see a lot and want to eat it, but then you can't because you've taken too much. You've been greedy.
 
Neil
And we heard moreish. If something is moreish, you want more and more and more of it, like me with crisps.
 
Beth
That's it for this episode of Real Easy English. Why not try the free worksheet on our website to practise what you've learnt in this podcast? Go to bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Neil
We'll be back next week with another real conversation in easy English. Thanks for joining us and goodbye.
 
Beth
Goodbye.

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