This is an All Ears English podcast episode 2047.
Do you want to be a fly on the wall?
Listen today.
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Hey michelle, how's everything going today?
We are on zoom today so exciting.
Yes guys, i am in maryland visiting my family, so i got a little bit different setup.
We're working with it yes, but i'm happy to be here recording.
Yes, oh my gosh, so what are we talking about today?
I feel like we have a great topic.
Oh yeah, this is going to be a great one.
So lindsay, if you could be a fly on the wall for any celebrity's life, Who would it be?
That's a great question.
I don't pay a ton of attention to celebrities, but I feel like Angelina Jolie, not because she's beautiful but because she does a lot of adoption.
Like she's done a lot of adoptions.
She's adopted a lot of kids.
And I'm just curious about what that's like to have so many adopted children.
I feel like she has like 10 kids or something crazy like that.
So I just wonder what, yeah, what that's about.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, that's a good one.
Yeah.
What about you?
Well, I'll you know, I'm just going to pick Jennifer Aniston just to be against you with Angelina Jolie.
OK, why is that?
Well, because I love friends and I love I don't know.
I like her.
I don't know.
I'm sure there are better there are better choices.
But I think it'd be.
It'd be interesting just to because she I know she's friends with the other girls in real life.
And so I you know, I'm just going to choose her because you chose Angelina.
So I'll go, you know.
You remember the Brad Pitt thing, right?
No.
Oh, I see what you're referring to.
Okay.
I was like, I didn't know why they were... Why they were related.
I could tell that you didn't know.
And I was like... I didn't know.
I forgot.
So they both married Brad Pitt at one point, right?
Yeah.
She... Angelina stole him.
Ah, that's what it is.
You know, I just watched Benjamin Button over the weekend on my flight home.
And yeah, just good looking guy.
You know, at least he was... I never saw him.
You never saw him?
Well, it's a story of how he is born old and then like, he gets younger and it's just, i don't know.
It's interesting.
So good movie good good good um, so all right.
Well, so Fly on the wall is the expression that we used.
So I did a social media post a while ago where I asked the listeners to vote on expressions with the word wall.
So asking which one I had listed a few and which one should I do an episode about?
And the results were largely for fly on the wall that people wanted to hear about that.
So that's what we're going to talk about today.
That's so great.
I love when we get our listeners' input, feedback.
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Right, Michelle?
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Yes, 100%.
So there is another episode that kind of goes along with this theme, right, Michelle?
How is it connected?
What do you think?
Well, so, OK, this is episode 833 called Why Eavesdropping Gives You an English Edge.
And it goes along with the theme, because a fly in the wall is kind of similar to the idea of eavesdropping, except I guess you're invisible.
So, well, you're a fly.
You're a fly.
You're not invisible.
But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So same thing as like listening in on something.
So that's why I wanted to direct you guys to this episode.
So go on and listen to that.
But Lindsay, so all right, let's get into it.
What does it mean to be a fly on the wall?
Oh my gosh.
To be a fly on the wall is basically to be witnessing something, but to have no one know that you're witnessing it.
Yeah.
Right.
You're on the wall.
You're a little fly.
No one notices that little fly.
So that's right.
Yes yeah, I mean it means to get an inside, unfiltered look at something right, you?
You know, whenever we're, you know, we all act a certain way in public and like.
So, if you were a fly on the wall, you get to see like what, what is somebody really like?
What is it really like in in this relationship, in this place, in this company?
Right like yes yes, so a lot of a lot of things.
So people, people often use it to talk about something they wish they could see be in, like it might be in a sarcastic way actually.
So, for example you, they might say boy, i'd love to be a fly on the wall for that argument.
Oh my gosh yes, it's when things are heated and there's a lot of just drama going on.
You don't want to be involved with the drama, you just want to watch it.
You just want to watch it.
Yeah, like reality television right right exactly, kind of like reality tv.
So maybe you know someone is going to have a fight or some sort of talk and you kind of wish you could see it, but yeah,
Yes.
And there are other ways we use this.
This is very native and natural, right?
So some other ways of how we might use this.
Michelle, I wish I could be a fly on the wall for the audition.
So I could know how tough the competition will be.
Oh, that would be so interesting, right?
Any situation where it's competitive, where you have to compete or audition, or even in business right, be a fly on the wall at a board meeting of your arch competitor right.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
To learn something in secret.
Yeah.
So to be a fly on the wall.
So that's, it's, it's useful for a lot of different things.
Um, yeah.
Or, um, do, Wait, did you say the second one about the job candidates?
Not yet.
You can do that.
OK, I'll do it.
OK, I'd love to be a fly on the wall for the discussion of the final job candidates.
They have a tough choice.
I think we'll take them a long time.
Yes.
OK, so good.
So, Michelle, what about you?
If you could be a fly on the wall right now for anything, what would it be?
I feel like maybe it would be interesting something with technology like you know, like meetings, like over tech to learn about the future of technology and things that are going on there, to like see where the future might be.
I don't know.
I'm not sure exactly where I'm going with this, but something like that.
What about you?
Yeah, well, it's it's a good point.
So it's kind of like being in on being in with the decision makers.
I almost feel like right now in this moment, I'm thinking about inflation, right?
We were at nine percent inflation.
Now we're down to four, but we're not done.
The job is not done.
The The Fed is going to continue raising interest rates.
So I would like to be in a Fed meeting.
That is so nerdy.
I would like to know how they think about the interest rates.
You know how they see they're gonna tackle inflation, or are they just gonna let it go and like, accept three to four percent inflation, which is kind of high?
So now i'm just nerding out um, but i just because these guys, you know their decisions have humongous impacts right on our economy and the world economy people's ability to get more mortgages, things like that.
So I want to be by the decision makers.
Yeah.
All right, Lindsay, that sounds fun.
I know, I know why you made that decision.
That's, but yeah.
Um, so, um, okay.
Um, let's see.
So, I mean, I, I also think I'd like to see maybe like a TV script being written.
Like I feel like that would be cool to be in the room where they're actually writing the script and like what, what does it sound like?
Like, how do they make the decisions on what somebody would say?
Like on friends, right?
So like making the jokes or maybe a practice for a political debate yeah, that would be very oh my gosh, any of this would be really interesting.
You know, a fly in the wall is getting to view that intimate moment.
Right, that isn't supposed to be public.
That's why we love, you know, in entertainment we love like, backstage passes, we love uh outtakes, we love it.
Sometimes movies will do that at the end they'll show you, like the, the junk clips that they threw out.
You know the mistakes.
You see the actors acting to laughing together.
We love that stuff, you know.
Yeah, for sure.
Because it makes everything seem more human, right?
When you see the outtakes, you know, you realize like cause, you know what you're seeing on the TV is like the polished final product.
So uh, to to get that inside, look and realize oh no, there was a lot of.
Also, it's fun to see the outtakes because people are usually laughing a lot and it's it's always fun to see them like having a good time.
Like as they're, uh, that like, When I see those I think oh my gosh that's their real personality I guess right because they're laughing they screwed up a line that's what they're actually like because we see these actors and we know what they're like is you know Brad Pitt is Benjamin Button or whatever other roles he had you know we see them as actors but not as people real people who's behind the actor.
Who was behind the actor?
Yeah.
So I think I think that would be pretty cool.
So and actually, we did do an episode about behind the scenes with the word sneak peek.
So guys also check that one out.
That's episode 1412.
What unique movie phrase can make someone feel exclusive?
Find out today.
So listen to that one as well.
Yeah, for sure, guys.
Just hit follow on Allers English.
You make sure you get all these episodes on your phone and you don't miss a single one.
OK, Michelle.
So what are some other ways we might say this?
Just maybe not using the fly expression.
It's a great one.
Right.
It's probably the better one.
Yeah.
Rather than these ones.
We're going to show you some alternatives.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We'll give you some alternatives just just for fun.
But I mean, a fly on the wall.
I don't really see a reason to stray from that one.
Totally.
Totally.
But this first one is when the cameras are off.
OK, so even if, like you can use this, even if it's not about you, know about real cameras, that's something on TV.
You can use this like in a more metaphorical way, like when they're not in public or whatever.
So you could say I know they get along in public.
But I'm curious what happens when the cameras are off.
Yes.
Yes.
I love that one.
And then spectator.
Right.
I think it would be cool to be a spectator on an Oscars rehearsal.
So, again, a spectator just means a viewer spectator.
Yeah.
And that one's not necessarily like a private view or like these other ones, but still you know an idea of just like watching, watching something special.
But Spectator is not necessarily in secret.
Yeah.
There's really no other way to say exactly this.
Is there, Michelle?
It's a perfect expression.
It's a perfect expression for this.
This one idea, this one feeling of witnessing something in secret that no one else is supposed to see.
Then you could describe if you were what?
If I were invisible.
Yeah.
So if nobody could see you, you could say, if I were invisible, I'd visit the Oval Office during a big political decision.
Yeah.
And that would also be another fly in the wall, right?
Like just to go to the Oval Office, which is the office of the president in the White House.
That would be interesting.
Depending on who's president.
Yeah, that's right, i think i'd be terrified with some presidents but uh yes yeah, another another day, another point for another day but, like maybe when obama was president, or biden, like just to get in there and just to see what it's like.
Like how many actual, like how much work is the president doing?
Or is it just 100?
His aides are doing the work and then he's just making final sign-offs and decisions.
Right yeah, and also, sometimes i, i don't know um like, sometimes I think Oh, what is the like?
I can't imagine that the president just like watch his TV before bed or like, just like does normal things in the house or, you know like, do you ever think okay, this is going to make, this is going to make me yeah, this is going to make me seem really weird?
But sometimes I think like, because it's so weird, there's so many people in the world.
Right.
And like we're so small, and it's like Oh, I'm talking about Jennifer Aniston and like Okay, this is so.
I'm so silly for bringing this up.
But, like, and Jennifer Anderson is existing right now, and she's doing something.
She's not, like... She's not, like, an idea.
It's, like, it's weird to think of, like... Yeah, that's weird.
It's also, like, you know, the Truman Show, because we're so involved in our own lives, right?
Did you ever see that?
The Jim Carrey movie?
Yeah.
Jim Carrey?
I never... Yeah, I did see it, actually.
I did see it.
Oh, it's so good.
I mean it's not.
I mean I don't think my life is the Truman Show.
But when I was a little kid, I wondered, like you know, that it's like It's so hard to imagine that there is so many people in the world and that we're so small and that like we're talking about this stuff now.
If we could see it.
And it's actually happening right now, i don't know, does that make you sound weird?
Kind of well yeah, it does make you sound weird.
Trying to get a sense of what you're trying to say.
So yeah, sometimes don't worry about it.
Well, I think I know what you're trying to say.
Like when I fly into a city, you look down on that city, you just feel so small right, like there are all these people and we think our lives are so big and important.
In a way, to us it is, they are, but really in the grand scheme, we're just a little speck, or a little speck on the earth, right?
Right.
Not even a speck.
So that's what you're saying, right?
I guess.
Yes.
Yes.
That's the overall, that's the, that's the idea.
Yes.
I love it.
I love it.
Well, Michelle, should we go into a role play?
What do you think?
Should we?
Okay.
Let's demo this for our listeners.
So here we are friends and we're talking about our friends getting married.
Yeah.
Okay.
So the wedding should be fun.
Yes, but I'd love to be a fly on the wall for some of those decisions.
Christie's got expensive taste.
Oh, that's for sure.
It would be interesting to be a spectator for that.
Yeah.
If I were invisible, I'd want to hear the talks with the in-laws about it.
Oh, yeah.
They seem nice, but I wonder what happens when the cameras are off.
Ooh.
Okay.
Yeah.
And this really lends itself to reality TV.
Right.
You're right.
We mentioned that at the beginning.
This is why we love reality TV, because we love to witness the chaos of other human beings and like be on the outside.
Right, right, right.
Exactly.
We don't have to deal with the drama.
We just get to see it, get to watch it.
Yeah.
So I say you said I'd love to be a fly on the wall for some of those decisions.
Yeah.
OK.
And then you said it would be interesting to be a spectator for that.
And then you said, yeah, if I were invisible, I'd want to hear the talks with the in-laws about it.
Yeah.
Who's paying for what, what's going on there.
And then you said they seem nice, but I wonder what happens when the cameras are off.
So Lindsay, are you talking about actual cameras here?
They're always on cameras.
No, that's an important point, Michelle.
So we're really talking about, in a metaphorical way, when the cameras are off, when no one's seeing what's happening.
That's another way to say fly on the wall, you know, right.
See what's happening when the cameras are off.
Right. the cameras are off.
So yeah, you can see I mean these in this role play like these can be used in a mean spirited way.
Like Oh, I want to see the in-laws and what happened, you know like kind of kind of mean.
It's kind of a mean undertone to this conversation.
Right.
Um, and it can be used in a mean spirited way.
Yeah.
But it can also be used in a regular way.
Like, Oh, I'd love to be a fly on the wall for that.
Um yeah, but the the takeaway, I think, is just that this idea that uh, people like drama and they like to imagine what might be happening because there's so little.
We only get to see our own lives all the time.
And it's interesting to think about what goes on in other people's lives, but not necessarily be involved in it.
Yeah, I mean, it's human, right?
So guys, we've given you something to an expression.
That's a reflection of a very human thought wanting to witness what goes on.
That's not public, necessarily like the internal conversations, so use this when you're talking about yeah, tell us who you would like to be a fly on the wall, what kind of conversation would it be in your government and you know for some celebrities in your country, what would it be?
Let us know such an interesting question.
Yeah yeah oh yeah, for sure.
All right michelle, good stuff today.
I will talk to you very soon.
Okay, all right, all right.
Bye, take care bye.
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