The English We Speak: Go through a rough patch

3 min

•Feb 24, 2026about 2 months ago

Summary

This episode of The English We Speak explains the phrase 'go through a rough patch,' used to describe temporary difficult periods in life, work, or relationships. Hosts Feifei and Phil break down the etymology and provide real-world examples of how native speakers use this common expression.

Insights

The phrase 'rough patch' uses a metaphor comparing life difficulties to driving on bumpy road surfaces, making abstract challenges concrete and relatable
Emphasizing the temporary nature of rough patches ('it's only a patch') provides psychological comfort and frames difficulties as survivable
Multiple synonyms exist for the same concept (sticky patch, difficult patch), indicating the expression's flexibility in natural English conversation
The phrase applies across contexts—personal relationships, professional environments, and even sports teams—showing its universal applicability

Trends

English language education focusing on practical workplace communication and emotional intelligence phrasesPodcast-based language learning gaining traction as accessible alternative to traditional ESL instructionBBC expanding English learning content across multiple podcast series targeting different professional and skill levels

Topics

English phrasal expressions and idiomsWorkplace English communicationEmotional intelligence languageMetaphorical language in EnglishEnglish language learning pedagogyNative speaker expressions and usageTemporary difficulties and resilience framing

Companies

BBC

Produces and distributes The English We Speak and Office English podcast series for global English language learning

People

Feifei

Co-host of The English We Speak, leads explanation and teaching of English phrases and expressions

Phil

Co-host of The English We Speak, participates in dialogue to demonstrate phrase usage and provide context

Quotes

"Rough is the opposite of smooth, and patch can refer to a piece of land. Imagine you driving along a smooth road, it's nice and easy to drive along. And then you hit a rough patch of road, it gets bumpy, it's more uncomfortable, it's difficult to drive on."

Phil

"The good thing about a rough patch, of course, is that it's only a patch. You'll soon be out the other side, so it's just temporary."

Phil

"We use it to talk about difficult times in life. Maybe you're going through a rough patch at work or in your relationship."

Feifei

Full Transcript

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. This is not the future we were promised. Like, how about that for a tagline for the show? From the BBC, this is The Interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews. It's about what technology is actually doing to your work and your politics, your everyday life. and all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC or wherever you get your podcasts Our podcast series Office English is back with weekly episodes to help you improve your English at work Learn useful phrases to boost your career in English from setting goals to using small talk to apologising when things go wrong. Follow the Learning English for Work podcast to listen or visit bbclearningenglish.com. Hello and welcome to The English We Speak, where we explain phrases and expressions used by fluent English speakers so that you can use them too. I'm Feifei. Oh, and I'm Phil. Phil, I was waiting for you to get off your phone before we could start recording this. Sorry, I've got a friend who's going through a bit of a rough patch. He's feeling quite down, so I rang him for a chat to see if I could cheer him up. Ah, OK. But why don't we learn how to use that phrase you just used, go through a rough patch. OK, well, the two key words are rough and patch. Rough is the opposite of smooth, and patch can refer to a piece of land. Imagine you driving along a smooth road It nice and easy to drive along And then you hit a rough patch of road It gets bumpy it more uncomfortable it difficult to drive on Well, a rough patch is when something in your life does that. Yes, when things get difficult, you're going through a rough patch. The good thing about a rough patch, of course, is that it's only a patch. You'll soon be out the other side, so it's just temporary. Or maybe it's something that you want to think of as temporary. Yeah, we use it to talk about difficult times in life. Maybe you're going through a rough patch at work or in your relationship. Sports teams can go through a rough patch where they struggle to win games. Yes. Now let's hear some other people using go through a rough patch. My best friend and I had a big disagreement about something and we went through a bit of a rough patch for a while. We didn't speak very much, but luckily we made up and now everything's fine. My uncle is going through a rough patch recently because he quit his job and couldn't find a new one. The football club spent millions and millions and millions on new players but still they kept losing It was a real rough patch But now the team started winning We've been learning the expression go through a rough patch to talk about difficult times. Yes, there are some other ways we can describe these patches. We can talk about a sticky patch or just a difficult patch. They all mean the same. OK, that's it for this programme, but join us next time to learn more English expressions and phrases. And if your English learning is ever in a rough patch, we can help you to get through to the other side. That's right. See you next time. Bye. This is not the future we were promised. Like, how about that for a tagline for the show? From the BBC, this is The Interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews. It's about what technology is actually doing to your work and your politics, your everyday life. And all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.