English Experts

Hi friends! Let’s learn our movie-phrase of the week. This time, I’ve picked Pixar’s Ratatouille. This is a story of a rat (Remy) living in Paris who wants to be a chef. Throughout the movie, Gusteau (a famous Parisian chef who just died) appears to Remy in visions. When Remy asks him for his help, Gusteaud says “What can I do? I am merely a figment of your imagination!”.

A “figment” is something created by someone’s mind. It seems real although it is not, it exists only in their imagination. This term is redundant, since figment means “product of the imagination”, but that’s how the phrase is used.

Some more examples:
I thought I saw someone standing in the shadows, but it was just a figment of my imagination.
It really was Ross and not a figment of her overheated imagination.
Was it only a figment of my imagination or did I hear John’s voice in the other room?

Note that this phrase is commonly preceded by the words “only”, “just” and “merely” to emphasize the fact that it is not real.

Well guys, that’s it for today. Until next week!

Karin,
From Guatemala

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