This is an All Ears English podcast episode 2635.
You're an all-star.
How to spot and compliment talent in English.
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Who do you admire?
Do you have a favorite athlete, actor or performer?
Today.
Find out why.
Using this simple word makes it clear that you are a fan and says certain things about what you value for a better connection.
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you?
Hey, Michelle, I'm doing great.
How are you?
How's it going?
Yeah, everything is good over here.
Lindsay, what is your favorite Olympic sport?
Oh my gosh.
My favorite Olympic sport.
That's a good question.
I love, um, a bump skiing.
I love mogul skiing and you know, Lindsay Vaughn is kind of the famous person there, right?
Actually, I don't think she does mogul.
She does racing, but any kind of downhill skiing I love.
What about you, Michelle?
So, yeah, Lindsey Vonn is like an all-star for sure.
She's an all-star.
Oh, my gosh.
She's incredible.
I like gymnastics.
I like figure skating.
Now I'm actually – I wasn't too into it, but then I finally – did you ever see the movie Cool Runnings?
Of course.
Who hasn't seen that?
That's a great one.
I had actually never seen that.
And we watched it a week ago or so.
And I loved it.
It was so good.
It's so funny.
It's so good.
Yeah, it's really, really a good movie.
So guys, if you haven't seen it, it was really good.
So it made me next time around, I'll get into bobsledding maybe.
Yeah, Bob Sledding, we highly recommend that movie, guys.
Lots of all-stars out there.
And I remember watching the Olympics as a young child, right, with my family.
And there were all the figure skaters that became big names, you know, Nancy Kerrigan.
Oh, I love Michelle Kwan.
I always love Michelle Kwan because she has my name and she has my initials.
Yes.
Yes.
So cool.
So many all-stars.
And we did mention this word all-stars in our conversation here.
What does that mean?
Are we talking about the solar system here, Michelle, or what?
Yeah.
It means – it refers to someone who is really good at something.
So –
It's just a natural way to really rave about someone's talent.
Perfect.
It's a good word for connection.
Why do you think it is, Michelle?
Yeah, because it's –.
I mean, one way to really connect with someone is to talk about someone who you admire.
I mean, it's like, oh, I love this person.
Oh, they're awesome.
Right?
You get excited.
Yes.
And it kind of shows what skills and talents we value in a person.
Exactly.
Yeah.
And the other thing is sometimes you can call someone you know an all-star.
I mean, you can just say, hey, you're an all-star.
And that's a really big compliment.
Yes.
You're acknowledging their contributions.
And it's just such a great way to connect, to use this word.
It's also kind of casual, cool sounding.
So I love it.
Yeah.
And I think, anytime we point out someone we admire, like you said, Michelle.
I want to highlight this.
It shows what skills and talents we value in a person.
So for example, Lindsey Vonn.
I mean, did you see what she just did?
She came back.
She literally just skied a race on a torn ACL.
I mean, she ended up falling for another reason, unfortunately.
But in my mind, when I think of her, she has incredible grit, G-R-I-T, grit.
And I really admire people with grit.
Right.
So when I say I like Lindsey Vonn, I feel like it says something about what I admire in other people.
Right.
Yeah, definitely.
Who you choose to like.
I mean, like we both like pink.
Right.
Yeah.
I don't know what that's about, yeah.
I don't know.
Good music, good music.
Good music, a good voice.
I think she seems like a nice person.
So I guess, yeah, for me, I always like, I'm like, who seems like a nice person?
Which is funny because I don't really know, but...
Who knows?
No, but it's true.
So there's a lot that we're communicating here when we say that someone is an all-star, that we have a preference for a certain athlete or singer or whatever it is famous person.
Before we get into this further, Michelle, I want to call out an amazing reviewer from China.
VVSVS, sorry, VVSZ, who rated us five stars in Apple podcast.
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Thank you.
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Perfect.
All right.
So let's get deeper into it, Michelle.
So an all-star, right, is someone who's really good at something.
So we can use it as either a noun or an adjective.
Let's see how it looks both ways.
This is important to look at the grammar here, right?
So for a noun, so she is an all-star on our basketball team.
So an all-star.
As we know, nouns are person, places, or things.
Yes.
I always remember that from grade school.
A person, place, or thing is a noun.
You know what I do with my son now?
We're doing Mad Libs.
Did I already tell you that?
Oh, I love Mad Libs.
Yeah, that's fun.
Yeah. yeah so yeah he's it's it's funny it's it's actually cute because he's really like learning about it and then he goes to school and he says oh and we already we did adjectives today and i do um That's cute.
That's very cute.
I love it.
I love it.
And then how can all-star be used as an adjective, Michelle, in a different way in a sentence?
So you might hear, he is an all-star teacher.
So that way would be an adjective.
So, Lindsay, what about actors?
Who are some all-star actors or musicians or athletes?
Who else do you like?
I've always thought that Leonardo DiCaprio is really talented.
Yeah.
He always I think he always puts on really good performances.
I think he's kind of an all star or even someone as like just as common as Tom Hanks is really good.
Think about what he's done in his career.
Yeah, he is definitely an all star.
Yeah.
What about you?
Who are your favorites?
I mean, of course, I love anyone who was on the show Friends.
I mean I honestly like Jerry Seinfeld to me is an all star.
Larry David, all those you know, I think you know funny people.
I think Jim Gaffigan is an all star comedian.
Who else do I love? oh bruno mars oh my gosh yeah singer all-star yep so so many people um and then athletes go next that's all i'll say go next go next yeah we know you love your basketball michelle you told us a story on the podcast once where you used to cry as a kid when your team would lose at home right when you watch the game from home so yes i know that basketball is a big deal for you.
And I think about you sometimes when I go to a basketball game.
I'm like, oh, Michelle.
I do love it.
Yes, I do love it.
That's funny.
So good.
All right.
So we've talked about athletes, singers, actors, dancers, Olympians.
I mean, how else can we use the term all-star?
Is there any other way, Michelle?
Yeah, so, well, okay, here's another example.
A group made of only the best or top-performing people, right?
So it could be for a whole group.
So this would be as an adjective.
So the all-star cast came back to film the sequel.
Yes, or tonight's comedy show has an all-star lineup.
There's a sequel coming.
I'm going to think of what movie it is.
Oh, Devil Wears Prada is doing a sequel.
Oh, yeah, you're excited about that.
It's coming out really soon, actually, I think.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That'll be fun.
I'm going to have to see that one.
I mean, honestly, Meryl Streep is another all-star.
She is an all-star.
She's incredible.
I mean just her performance in that movie and so many others.
Just legendary legendary yeah, she.
I think she and tom hanks are really like the two top.
I know.
Oh my gosh, i know it's true, it's like they're, but eventually they're going to retire and who's going to replace that level of talent?
You know we need that level of talent, right?
I'm not sure.
All right.
So what's next?
What else, Michelle?
But we can also use it to label special events or group titles.
So also like an adjective.
So recently, actually, in the past few months, they had the All-Star Game in the NBA.
So Stephen Curry was invited to play in the All-Star Game.
So it's a special event where all the stars play.
Yeah, or you could say, did you make the all-star team this season?
Right?
Yep, exactly.
You could also use it as a compliment to someone who has just Overall, great, right?
As an adjective.
So like we said, it doesn't have to be about a celebrity.
Right.
You could say, you're a complete all-star.
Thanks so much for helping me.
And yeah, this could just be someone you know went grocery shopping for you when you broke your ankle.
Right.
This could be very mundane, very daily life.
It doesn't have to be that this person did an incredible dunk on the basketball court.
Right.
Right.
Exactly.
And actually, we said adjective, but you're an all star.
That would be a noun correct yeah yeah yeah yeah, you're an all-star.
So or she really gives everything a hundred percent, total all-star, so same, yeah.
And then, what other words can we use michelle?
What else Yeah?
Well, rock star.
Same thing.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
This is a little bit more modern, a little bit younger.
The use of this, I would say a little slangy nowadays.
Right.
How does this look?
Yeah.
So, I mean, all star might sound more like a top performer in the field.
Rock star might be a little more general, but it also sounds kind of energetic, has some personality to it.
So, for example, thanks for finishing that project so quickly.
You're a rock star.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Or you plan the whole trip on your own.
What a rock star move.
And here it's being used as an adjective.
Yep.
Yep.
Yes.
Exactly.
Okay.
So giving our listeners some very modern options, right?
This is, you know, English on the streets.
This is what we're actually using as native speakers every day.
Right?
That's right.
All right.
So, in this role play that we're going to do, we are students trying out for our high school's volleyball team.
Did you ever play volleyball, Michelle?
No.
Have you ever gotten into volleyball?
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Me neither.
My sister-in-law played in college, but she's tall.
I think that's the key.
Yeah.
And I always thought like, how do you not break your wrist when you hit that volleyball?
You know, it seems like kind of hard, like this hard ball going right on your wrist.
Ooh, seems uncomfortable.
But yeah, it's fun to watch.
It's fun to watch.
Like if you go to California and you go to the beach town, Santa Monica, you always see volleyball games right on the beach.
It's pretty cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's fun.
All right.
So here we go.
So tryouts were tough today.
I know there's some serious competition.
Ashley is definitely an all-star.
Did you see her serve?
Oh, yeah.
She nailed it.
She's young, but I think she'll make the varsity team.
Yeah, probably.
But honestly, there are so many good players.
They're just going to have an all-star team this season.
True.
Hopefully, we'll make the cut.
Yeah, tryouts.
Always a little stressful.
Yes.
Yeah.
Did you try out for anything in college, Michelle?
Or not college, in high school?
Like any sports or middle school?
The plays.
The plays and the singing groups.
That's what I was trying out for.
I don't think I ever tried out for a sports team.
Yeah, but it must have been just as stressful, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I remember it and then waiting to see the cast list and then.
Oh, my gosh.
Yeah.
What about you?
Yeah, I tried out for basketball and I made the team and then I just didn't end up playing on the team.
I just didn't want to.
I just changed my mind.
Oh, okay.
That's okay.
And that's pretty much it.
Then I was always on tennis, the tennis team.
Right.
I know you're a tennis person.
Yep.
Yep.
That's awesome.
All right.
Let's go through this, Michelle.
What did we do here?
All right.
So we said Ashley is definitely an all-star.
Did you see her serve?
And then you said, but honestly, there are so many good players.
They're just going to have an all-star team.
So here we're using it as an adjective.
So we've shown you again in this role play how to use adjective as a noun and Sorry, how to use all-star as a noun and an adjective, right.
That's right.
That's right.
Awesome.
All right, guys.
If you haven't yet, check out All Ears English.
This episode is Do You Have FOMO?
YOLO!
That was a fun title.
Again, takeaway, final takeaway for Connection, Michelle?
Yeah.
Again, this is a great way to either compliment someone, talk about someone's talents, someone who's not a celebrity, but it's also a really great way to connect over people who you think are talented and show you know who you are, based on what you value, and a celebrity, somebody that you think is really amazing.
Like Lindsay said, you said grit, things like that.
So it really can say a lot about you by who you find to be an all star.
And you can really connect with someone and branch off into different things by sharing who you're a fan of.
I love that.
So good.
So true.
Guys, if you love our show, if you're a fan of All Ears English, go ahead and leave a rating and review and we'll do our best to announce your name out loud right here on the show.
All right.
Good stuff.
All right, Chelsea.
All right.
See you soon.
Have a good one.
You too.
Bye.
Bye.
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