Speakeasy

Up for grabs

If you grab something, you reach for it very quickly. However, when something is up for grabs, it is available for anyone who wants it. In this week�s conversation, there are several items that are up for grabs. Find out what they are by practising this week�s conversations between Pock and Pik with a friend. Then try using the term up for grabs in your conversation.

Photograph courtesy of AP

Conversation 1

Pock:   Hi Pik. What did your mom pack you for lunch today?

Pik:     Let me see. Not peanut butter and jelly again! My sandwich is up for grabs if anyone wants it.

Pock:   Here, I�ll have it. Anything�s better than tuna.

Conversation 2

Pock:   What�s all the excitement about?

Pik:     Didn�t you hear? Everyone�s out buying tickets for tonight�s lucky draw. There�s 25 million baht worth of prizes up for grabs.

Pock:   Here�s some money. Get me 50 tickets.

Conversation 3

Pik:     I just got three Peter Pan pencils free from Student Weekly.

Pock:   Whoa! I gotta get my hands on one.

Pik:     Easy! Fon already has her eyes on the green one.

Pock:   So the other one is up for grabs?

Pik:     You bet, but you�d better take it now. Everyone wants it!

Exercise

Work with a friend to write a conversation using the term up for grabs. Think of something that is out in the open, waiting to be grabbed by whoever wants it.

You:..................................................................................................................................................

Friend:..............................................................................................................................................

You:..................................................................................................................................................

Friend:..............................................................................................................................................

Vocabulary

draw (n): a competition in which the winners are chosen in a draw; a prize draw
gotta (informal): got to

Idiom

have your eyes on something: to want something very much