 Welcome to English in a minute. From home. Desperate can mean things are very bad or very difficult. What in the world are you doing? Jonathan, I'm playing Connect 4 and it's close. Isn't that for two players? Yes, but I'm alone, so I have to play against myself. Wow. Well, I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. Hey! I won! And I lost. In difficult times, we do things we probably wouldn't have to do in normal times. The phrase desperate times call for desperate measures is a way of expressing this. Just to be clear, playing Connect 4 by yourself is a little desperate. And that's English in a minute.