“you are on the ball”の意味は

BBCのコメディー、『The Thick Of It』を観ながらETC英会話のチャールズ先生のレッスンを受けています。

英国政府報道・戦略局長Malcolm Tuckerは、新聞の力をつかって、Hugh Abbot大臣の評価を上げようと考えます。“me and my media”という新聞の特集記事に、大臣を取り上げるよう手配をしました。その記事通して、大臣の人物像をこんな風に伝えたいと説明しています。

Malcolm Tucker: Ｉ’m fixing you up with a “me and my media” piece with your ex Angela Heaney. But it is a perfect opportunity to show just how clued up you are, actually.
Hughy Abbot, the in-touch guy. You’re on the ball, you know the price of a pint of milk, you live HBO imports, VH1, Pixar, you dig the streets…

Hugh Abbot:Yeah, no, they’re all great.

It means you are doing a right thing, or you are handling everything well. So for someone who is successful, you can say, “you are on the ball.”

– Maybe because standing on a ball is very difficult to keep the balance, or?

Yeah, maybe, yeah, that’s sort of.
On the ball means, you are well balanced. You are in control. Well balanced, in control, that’s good concept.

■出演
・ETC英会話のチャールズ先生

■聞き手
・青樹洋文

………

◆使用楽曲 (BGM)
“Toxic Rainfall” of some1else from ccMixter