English in a Minute: Paying Someone Lip Service

In life, we have to pay for a lot of things. But what could the expression “paying lip service” mean?  D: You know, Anna, good friends are hard to find.   A: Are they? I hadn’t noticed.   D: My “friend” is always talking about how he loves to help others. But when I asked for his help, he said he was busy!   A: Sounds like your friend was just paying you lip service. What did you need help with?   D: Just moving my heavy couch up five flights of stairs. Oh hey, umm, are you…? A: No, no, I’m really busy.   Paying lip service is when you talk about doing something, but you don’t actually do it. Lip service can also mean you say you support a cause, but you don’t actually do anything helpful for it.    And that’s English is a Minute.  --------- Learning English is Voice of America’s multimedia source of news and information for millions of English learners worldwide. We help you build vocabulary, strengthen your speaking skills and improve your ability to communicate for work, school and everyday life. EXPLORE OUR PLAYLISTS: » Learning English Podcast:    • Learning English Podcast   » Let's Learn English with Anna! (For children 8-12)    • Let's Learn English with Anna   » Let's Learn English Level 1    • Let's Learn English   » Let's Learn English Level 2    • Let's Learn English Level 2   » VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://learningenglish.voanews.com » LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE:   / voalearningenglish   » FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM:   / voalearningenglish   » FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:   / voalearnenglish   » SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST ON ITUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/v... Voice of America (VOA) is the largest U.S. international broadcaster, providing news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of 326 million people.