Jason: Did you see that car? It just ran a red light and almost got in an accident. What a close call!
Jen: Yes I saw that! That was definitely a close call!

Jason이 제게 “Whoa! Did you see that car? 우와! 금방 지나간 차 봤니? It just ran a red light and almost got in an accident. 빨간 신호등을 그냥 무시하고 지나가서 사고 날뻔했어. What a close call! 어휴, 큰일 날뻔했네.”라고 하자 제가 “Yes, I saw that. 응, 봤어. That was definitely a close call! 맞아. 정말 위험하고 아슬아슬한 상황이었어.”라고 했습니다.

Now keep today’s expression ‘close call’ in mind and let’s hear the conversation again. 그럼 다시 한번 대화를 들어볼까요?

Jason: Did you see that car? It just ran a red light and almost got in an accident. What a close call!
Jen: Yes I saw that! That was definitely a close call!

Today’s expression is close call. When a situation is a ‘close call’ it means that it’s a situation where something bad or dangerous nearly happened. Close call은 가까스로 사고를 모면하는 아슬아슬한 상황에서 쓰는 표현입니다. 사고 문턱까지 갔다가 바로 직전에서 벗어난 걸 말하는 것이죠. 그야말로 위기일발, 구사일생입니다.

오늘 본문에서 운전자가 빨간 신호등을 무시하고 지나가다가 큰일을 낼 뻔했죠. 화들짝 놀란 Jason이 놀란 가슴을 쓸어 내리며 “What a close call!” 이라고 했습니다. 어떤 상황인지 이해가시죠?

자, 이제 예문을 통해 close call이 어떻게 활용되는 지 알아보겠습니다. “You have to be careful. That was such a close call.”라고 하면 “조심해야지. 정말 아슬아슬한 상황이었잖아.” 라는 뜻입니다.

그리고 Call을 복수 형태로도 쓸 수 있는데요. “I had some close calls while learning to drive with my older brother.”라고 하면 “형에게 운전 배우다가 큰일 날 뻔 한 적이 한 두 번이 아니었다.” 라는 뜻입니다. Now you know what ‘close call’ means right? Then let's listen to the conversation for the last time.

Jason: Did you see that car? It just ran a red light and almost got in an accident. What a close call!
Jen: Yes I saw that! That was definitely a close call!

Let’s review. When a situation is a ‘close call’ it means that it’s a situation where something bad nearly happened. CLOSE CALL. Now try using this expression on your own.