This is an All Ears English podcast episode 1659.
Believe it or not, this phrase brings connection in English.
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With your American hosts Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl.
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Today you will learn one key native phrase that you can have in your back pocket.
That will bring connection and show that you understand the other person.
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Hello, Michelle.
How's it going today?
How's everything?
Hey, I'm good, Lindsay.
I'm good.
I'm good.
How are you?
I'm happy to be here.
I'm feeling good today.
Yeah, we're in October.
I can't believe it.
Oh my gosh, the year is flying by, Michelle.
Before you know it, it'll be 2022.
I know.
You know me.
I do a lot of journal writing just to remember what I did on certain days.
So I have two things.
I write...
I write in like my daily thing, just like what I did not, like deep emotions or anything, just what I did.
And then I also do a weekly one because I saw at the end of the year someone said oh, put on a slip of paper every week, like one positive thing from that week.
Yeah.
And then like put it into a jar.
And then you read it at the end of the year.
Now, of course, I didn't deal with the I like didn't do the strips of paper thing.
But I just also have it written in an email.
And a lot of times I forget.
And it just feels like yesterday that it was week one.
And now we're like, Now it's week 50 or something.
I know it's so crazy.
I mean, the time flies by, Michelle.
But what are you doing this weekend, by the way?
Well, Lindsay, believe it or not, I am going skydiving.
I do not believe that.
That has to be false.
Is that false?
Yeah, it was a lie.
It was a big fat lie.
I can't imagine you skydiving, Michelle.
No no, why not, Lindsay?
And I can't.
Can you imagine me skydiving?
I mean, what do you, what do you think?
More than me, more than you?
Okay yeah, like.
If you said it, I'd be like oh wow, but I would also kind of be like okay yeah like, would you ever do that?
I don't know if I'd be able to step off the plane.
Cause you know how you have to step off yourself, right?
You have yourself strapped in.
I just think I would end up back down on the helicopter or the plane or whatever you use, and not I paid all this money and I would have not done it.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's pretty scary.
Well, you know what I did do once?
I did indoor skydiving.
Have you ever heard of those places where you can do it indoor?
I have heard that that's a thing.
I've heard that's common in like the New York area.
They have indoor stuff like that.
Indoor skiing, indoor skydiving.
Yeah.
I don't I just did that.
It was it was for my first anniversary.
I didn't know what we were doing.
And then we were going indoor skydiving.
And I was like Oh, very strategic of Dan, because they say that when you do things that risk your life, you feel like you're risking your life with your partner.
You fall more in love with the person you're with, with your partner.
You must have read that somewhere on a blog, I would imagine.
Yeah.
Maybe, maybe.
But yeah, it was actually really fun.
Believe it or not.
All right.
So you used an expression there Michelle, and that is the one we're talking about today for our listeners.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
So believe it or not, my niece recently used the expression, believe it or not.
And I have these moments where I'm like, I think that's a good one.
And I'm going to teach it on the show.
I know.
So I wanted to teach it to you guys.
That's fantastic.
I love it.
Wait, how old's your niece?
Oh, she's only seven.
Oh, my gosh.
I love it when I hear like my niece, you know, kids starting to talk like adults.
They're starting to become fully formed human beings.
I think that's what kind of made my ears perk up.
Like oh, you know, so I was because?
Is that I mean Lindsay?
Would you say that's like A kid phrase?
I mean, yeah.
So my niece is about seven to seven or eight now.
And I I would say it's not it's not not a kid's phrase, but it's neutral.
I think it's it's just something it's quite expressive.
It indicates that you understand that what you're about to say is something that would be hard to believe.
So it's a high level of cognition, probably, to say it.
Oh, yeah.
This is not like only like this is not like a childish expression.
Yeah, no, no, no.
Totally.
So, I mean, this can be used in anywhere.
I mean, in the workplace, anywhere.
I mean, it's used just, you know, to introduce something that's a little bit surprising or shocking or unique.
I mean, would you use this one, Lindsay?
Yeah, totally.
I use it a lot.
Actually, I like it, especially when I want to make fun of myself.
You know, for example, I could say, believe it or not, I'm cooking dinner tonight.
Because I never cook dinner.
I'm usually not the one cooking in my household.
So I'm making fun of myself.
I'm saying, you know, you wouldn't expect that.
Right, right.
Right, right, right.
Yeah, it is kind of fun to use it in that way.
I just think it's a fun expression in general.
And you're acknowledging something is surprising.
It doesn't have to be like believe it or not, like I'm skydiving.
Or it doesn't have to be like believe it or not, I rescued a cat from a burning building.
Like it doesn't need to be like the biggest shock.
You can use it just to... like even more casually.
So it's a good signal.
Instead of just saying the surprising thing.
It's a good signal like oh, something kind of fun, something kind of interesting is coming.
Yeah, making fun of yourself, something unexpected is coming.
Guys, this is a great way to build a rapport with someone and to share something about yourself or about what you're about to say.
So they get more insight into you when you use it, especially to talk about yourself, right?
Right, right, right.
Exactly.
That's true.
It's a good way to share.
So guys, before we talk about it a little bit more, we want to remind you that we have this awesome all ears English app.
And we have it not only on iOS, but we also have it on Android, right?
Yeah, it's Finally, we have it on Android, guys.
We know you were asking for a long time.
We built it in 2020 for you on Android.
So go check it out.
You can get real-time transcripts right on your phone.
You can create your personal power list of vocabulary words.
You can search all of the episodes.
It is super cool.
So Michelle, where should they go to download it?
Go to allearsenglish.com slash app, A-P-P.
All right.
Now, Michelle, I know our listeners love role plays, so we're going to give them some today.
All right.
Let's do it.
All right.
Here we go.
Here's the role play.
Okay.
So where's the nearest laundromat?
Oh, believe it or not, there's one right around the corner.
In New York Michelle, is it common to have laundry machines in your building or do most people go to the laundromat?
I would say it's a mix.
I had...
In one building, I had it in the building.
But I know a lot of people have to go to the laundromat.
Yeah.
So I would say it's a pretty big mix, depending on the building.
OK, because when I lived in New York, there was definitely no laundry machines in my building.
So I was always going to the laundromat.
But when I moved to Cambridge, Boston, every building has a machine, has machines.
And I was like, oh, what a luxury.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, my gosh.
And yeah, it is a luxury.
It's a big deal, but it shows you how kind of different the lifestyle is in New York.
It's so much more public.
It's so much more out on the street, out in the world.
Right.
Yeah.
Dishwashers, too.
That's another kind of a luxury in New York sometimes.
Did you have a dishwasher?
I never had a dishwasher.
And I didn't care.
These are luxuries that we can get away with.
It just makes life a little easier.
But going back now to not having a dishwasher might be challenging.
That's the problem.
Once you get these luxuries, then you don't have them anymore.
That's the problem, that's true.
That's true, you get used to it yeah, um.
So i also feel like you could have said the word actually i, or i could have said it.
I could say i could have said actually there's one right around the corner, and that would have been fine too.
But, believe it or not, it's kind of playful.
It's like oh, like i'm excited to share this with you.
It's so easy.
There's one right here Yeah, and it's kind of indicating that you think that I would think it would be hard to find a laundromat in your neighborhood, right?
That's the point, guys.
Right, that's true.
That's true.
Good.
And yeah, I do think we could use this in business, Michelle.
Like we said, I think this is so easy.
Maybe we have some examples in the business world.
Maybe we do.
Yeah.
Okay.
So the numbers grew by 50%.
Believe it or not, they did.
Wow.
I would want to double check your math on that because that is a significant growth, Michelle.
All right.
Or this one could be like if you're networking.
All right.
So here we go.
Wow.
I always thought marketing was a super hard field to get into.
Believe it or not, there are tons of opportunities.
Yeah.
All right.
Good.
Good.
Could you say believe it or not at the end?
Can you say it at the end?
Yeah, I think you can.
There are tons of opportunities, believe it or not.
I've done that.
Absolutely.
What about you?
Yeah, I think I could even go like maybe even in the middle.
Like, let's give this next example.
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Okay, let's see.
So, okay.
Now, believe it or not, we can still arrive on time if we take the later train.
Really?
According to my calculations?
Yes.
Okay.
Again, double check those calculations.
Exactly.
Exactly.
All right.
Or here's another one.
So there may be some instances believe it or not where our clients may decide to make changes on the last day.
Oh, boy.
Don't worry.
And just as a bonus, I like my intonation there.
Oh, boy.
Oh, boy.
What are we indicating here?
You're kind of worried.
That's why I said don't worry, right?
You're just, oh, boy.
It's like, uh-oh, kind of like that.
Exactly.
There's so much we can do, guys, with our tone of voice in English.
It's amazing.
Yeah.
We'll do one more with Believe It or Not at the end.
Here we go.
Okay, here we go.
How do you manage without an iPad, Michelle?
I'm used to it, Believe It or Not.
All right, so what are you indicating here?
It's like I'm saying...
I can do this.
Like, you're saying it's unbelievable.
Like that's what you can't believe, that I Maybe you.
Well Lindsay, do you have an iPad or any sort of?
I actually do, but I would fall into the category of understanding.
It's not needed.
It's really not necessary.
I could live without it.
We're just in our oversteeped world of technology, right?
We're just...
Dripping in technology everywhere.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
So you're basically saying you could have said it's unbelievable.
Like you're implying it's unbelievable to you that I can't that I don't use an iPad.
So I'm saying I'm picking up on that feeling that you feel.
Yeah, I'm saying believe it or not.
And I think yeah, this could sound in some situations a little confrontational, a little challenging the person right.
Because if I said that to you, you might see me as kind of...
You're just you have too much stuff.
You just don't need you know, you it's a life of luxury.
Right.
And then you're finding a way to say that to me.
So just be a little careful on how you deliver it.
Right.
It's so funny how we can come to these conclusions, as we're talking about things like I never would have thought that in the beginning or planning this, but you're so right.
It could, it could.
So it's good that we talk this out.
It's interesting.
Yeah.
It is.
It is.
There are some other expressions.
So we actually did an episode.
All Ears English 1339.
Make your vocabulary richer with these unexpected English phrases.
So...
So this is another good one to listen to.
And we we did this phrase, but I just want to touch on it.
So it was as a matter of fact.
Right.
So that's another good one.
Yeah.
We have a quick role play for that one.
Michelle, do we want to do that?
Yes.
OK.
All right.
Lots of role plays today.
I know our listeners are going to love this.
Guys, write these down.
This is gold.
OK.
Do you have two seconds to talk right now?
I do.
I wrote something funny, guys.
I do.
I have five seconds, as a matter of fact.
Yeah, as a matter of fact.
Right.
So that's kind of similar to Believe It or Not.
Right.
The difference is probably negligible, right?
Right.
Yeah.
I agree.
I love that.
And then one more.
What is it, Michelle?
One more.
Okay.
You'd be surprised.
Yeah.
You can fit all this stuff in your room.
You'd be – oh, you'd be surprised.
I have more room than it seems.
Yeah.
Okay.
So another great way.
And maybe that one – yeah, I mean, it means the same thing as believe it or not.
It's really communicating the same point, right?
Same idea.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Exactly.
So, I mean, oh, wow.
Yeah, that was a very role-play heavy –
Our listeners love role plays.
It's so good guys, you can really.
So now your next step guys, as our listeners, is to go and take this stuff, use it in your own interactions, right to connect.
You know, show that you understand the other person, that the other person understands you.
That builds connection right, Michelle.
Exactly, exactly.
So guys, this is a good one.
We gave you a lot of different ways to use it today.
Put it in the beginning, the middle, the end, and just have fun with it.
It's a good one to use.
Yeah, I love it.
So guys, remember to go check out the All Ears English app.
It is the one place to go to take your learning further with All Ears English, because you can listen to the podcast in the app.
You can see transcripts, which you can't do right now with your podcast player, and you can choose your personal power list.
Right, Michelle?
What do you think?
I love it.
I love it.
Get it.
AllEarsEnglish.com slash app.
A-P-P.
Lindsay, this was fun.
Thanks for hanging out.
Absolutely.
I'll talk to you soon.
Have a good one.
All right.
Okay.
Bye.
Bye.
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