This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 1758.
You're a regular Al Roker.
How to use pop culture to encapsulate.
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You can always use adjectives to describe people, but today let's learn a more interesting way to do it by comparing the person you're speaking with to a famous person, a historical figure or a pop culture personality.
Learn exactly how to do it with Lindsay and Michelle today.
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Hey, Michelle, how's it going today?
How are you?
Hey, Lindsay.
I'm good.
I'm good.
How are you?
Awesome.
I'm excited because today's episode is on video as well as on the podcast audio.
So guys, if you want to see us go over to YouTube, you can check out how we podcast on video.
Good stuff.
Yes, see our gestures and our emotions and all these things that you might not get with just the audio.
So now you have the chance to see what it really looks like.
What it really looks like.
Our setup, it's very fun, very cool.
Michelle, what are we getting into today?
Well, recently, well, at some point, you asked me about how there was a big blizzard.
And you I think this was off air, actually.
Okay.
And you asked me about it.
And I was and I was making.
I was kind of teasing, like you know, because you were talking about how much snow I got.
And I said, I'm like, I'll Roker over here.
Yeah.
So funny.
I love it.
Thanks.
And you and you and yeah, you started saying, well, that's a that's a good episode idea.
Why don't we do something on that?
And it I realized yeah, this is such a good thing to bring to our listeners because it's it's first of all, it brings about humor.
Yeah.
And also it it's pop culture.
Right.
So this is all stuff that's super important.
Right, Lindsay?
And it's a very unique way to say something.
Right, guys?
Believe it or not, we don't always have to use an adjective to describe ourselves.
We can actually use someone's name to describe ourselves.
And it's being used kind of as an adjective slash a noun.
It's really interesting.
And this is high level again, Michelle something our listeners will never learn in a textbook, probably not in a classroom either.
This is real English though, isn't it?
For sure, for sure.
This is a way to bring about connection, about humor.
Maybe tease a little bit, tease yourself, tease another person.
You know, it's just, it's just fun.
So but I mean, so that's what we're going to be talking about today.
I mean, what, what does that mean?
I'm like Al Roker over here.
And who is Al Roker?
Well, Al Roker is the famous weatherman, right?
So Al Roker was a weatherman for so many years.
I don't think he's working anymore.
I don't know.
Did he pass away?
No, he's still working.
He's still working.
Okay, gosh, that's the problem.
That's where my knowledge drops off.
I don't know where people are at.
But I can tell you, historically we all know that Al Roker was the weatherman, is the weatherman on the Today Show.
Right.
And everyone just knows he's the guy.
Sorry that I didn't even know what his status was right now.
No.
No, that's okay.
We love you, Al Roker.
No, yeah.
Al Roker, he's kind of like America's weatherman, right?
Yeah, America's weatherman.
Yeah, I would say that.
Maybe that's what he's called.
I don't know.
That's a good way to put it.
He's like really –
A staple, I think, in the weather industry in the US because he's more than a weatherman.
He's also like a personality.
He does more on the Today Show than give the weather.
He's also, you know, really one of the hosts.
And so he kind of like...
I don't know what it was at the beginning of the Today Show.
Maybe he was more just Weatherman and then he kind of worked his way.
But he's been famous for years.
And he's a household name.
That's what we would say, a household name.
That's the key.
So what we're showing you how to do today guys, is take a household name and compare yourself to that or someone else to tease yourself.
Tease someone else to show context, show how you are acting right now.
It's interesting that Al Roker has become such a household name, because in the United States, I think, we take news and we kind of make it entertainment in a way right.
For better or for worse.
Right.
And so, you know, the Today Show is a blend of news and entertainment, pop culture.
It's everything.
Yeah, it really is.
Yeah.
It's like serious reporting, fun reporting, just talk show.
Yeah, yeah.
But there is something about weather people, because even for our local news here we watch the local news once in a while.
It's kind of nice, Michelle.
Do you watch the local news at all?
So sometimes and then oh, and then I don't know if you know that the line that Al Roker uses you know what happens is on the show.
You might recognize it when I say it.
Yeah.
So when so what happens on the show is he'll be talking about, um, like the national weather.
And then they switch over to the local news so that you can get your local weather.
So like everybody in the country, of course, sees their local news at that point.
He always goes like, that's, I think it's, that's what's happening in the rest of the country.
Here's what's going on in your neck of the woods.
Oh, Oh yeah, your neck of the woods.
Such a great idiom too for our listeners for another day for sure.
So it's funny how these people not only do they become famous for a certain way of being or what they do, but also lines, famous lines, famous sayings right, but even i was gonna say even local weather.
Our news lady, kathy right, we talk about her like she's a known name, right?
Kathy is the news lady for the denver news, like whatever channel, right?
We, it's like we get to know these people.
It's something about weather people, but it's not just weather people, it's news people, right?
Anderson cooper, Oh wow.
He's the greatest.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
He just had another baby.
I know.
Oh, I didn't know he had a first one, original one.
I thought this was his first baby.
See, we know these things.
It's so funny.
Right.
They become these, they're celebrities.
And you feel almost like you know them because you have put a certain amount of trust in them.
Right.
Right.
It's interesting how journalists really become celebrities as well.
They do.
And then Don Lemon.
Everyone knows Don Lemon.
I mean, and it just depends on which station.
I'm sure for someone that watches Fox News, they identify with who's the guy over there.
There's...
Sean Hannity.
Oh, yeah.
And then there's another guy.
Who's that?
Tucker Carlson.
Tucker Carlson.
Yeah.
So, all right.
Let's get into it here, Michelle.
Okay.
Just keep on going all about the newspaper.
Okay.
But but guys, what we're talking.
You can see what connection this brings about though, because if you know these people, then you're like oh, and that's what they say, and blah blah, blah.
So the structure that we're teaching today is I'm like and this is very informal, as you can see I'm like blank over here.
So a person, right?
I'm like blank over here.
I love how we add the over here, meaning here, right?
I, I'm talking about myself.
I'm like this person.
I'm like Anderson Cooper.
I'm like Al Roker over here.
That's interesting.
I don't know why we say that, but yeah, it would be weird if I was just like, oh, I'm like Al Roker.
I mean, yeah, I could say that, but it's like missing something, don't you think?
Totally.
Yeah, because it's almost saying like you're always like Al Roker.
If you just say I'm like Al Roker all the time you're saying that.
But if you say over here, it means in this moment, the things that you're saying.
Yeah. are like Al Roker.
So that is a key piece, right?
That our listeners need to know these little add-ons are actually so important.
Yeah, they are.
They are.
So let's give some other examples.
Let's move away from Al Roker.
Yay.
So, okay, let's say, Lindsay, that you were telling me about something that was bothering you.
Okay.
And I was trying to guess the problem.
Maybe medically.
Maybe you were telling me, oh, I have a headache or I have this or I have that.
And maybe I gave a good guess.
Okay.
Let's see if Lindsay about this reference for you.
Okay, here we go.
Oh, wow.
You're right.
I'll ask my doctor.
Maybe that's it.
Thanks.
Oh, it's nothing.
I'm like Dr. House over here.
That one, I think that was in my gap of years when I missed TV, missed all TV.
Dr. House, which show is that from?
I missed all TV.
I was just traveling.
I didn't have access to anything.
So what show is that from, Dr. House?
House.
Okay.
From House.
Okay.
That makes sense.
Yeah.
All right.
Yes, it's called House.
And it was with this British actor, Hugh Laurie, who put on this amazing American accent.
You would have never known he was British.
Oh, my gosh.
That's impressive.
And he was this like grouchy doctor and basically, like the episodes were always like there was this big mystery, what was going on, and then just towards the end he figured out what it was.
Got it.
That's kind of, I mean, that's okay.
Like, Lindsay, you watch TV shows I don't watch.
Like, there are more obscure references.
So that is kind of like an older show reference.
You know.
It's not like you might want to use these references when you know the person will know them.
Right, and this is part of connection too knowing what references to use by knowing the person you're talking to, right?
True.
Al Roker is like really like a...
He's – well, he's the weather.
Everyone deals with the weather.
And I think the Today Show, I don't think it's necessarily like super conservative or liberal.
It's probably liberal leaning, but it's probably somewhere – they try to be in the middle.
They try to address the mass market, right?
It's more like an entertainment like –
Yeah, exactly.
It's different.
It's not like on a CNN or Fox News.
Exactly.
But like you and I talking, it makes sense because we know we both watch CNN.
So for you to say to me, I'm a regular Anderson Cooper or I'm like Anderson Cooper over here.
I just hinted to the next construction for our listeners.
So let's go into it.
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
Well, let's see.
Okay, wait, hold on.
You know what?
Let's give one more example.
Okay.
Yeah.
Let's give one more because we want to make sure our listeners can do this, right?
Okay.
So in this one, I made a silly mistake or I had some sort of awkward moment in front of you.
And it happened a few times.
Like I'm just kind of having one of those days.
Okay.
Here we go.
Oops.
You okay, Michelle?
Yes, yes.
Oh my gosh.
I'm like Larry David over here.
I don't know if I get that one either.
Larry David.
I know.
I have gaps, Michelle.
Our listeners know it.
Pop culture gaps.
So tell us about that one.
Well, Larry David is the creator of Seinfeld.
Oh, OK.
I love it.
So you're saying.
And he's on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
You know that show?
Yeah, I've heard of it.
Never seen it, though.
OK, you should watch it.
So he's known for being like a disaster.
Like yeah, he always like make some sort of mistake or he gets himself into some sort of uncomfortable social situation and then everybody hates him.
And it's like, I mean, he also is just not a very nice person, but interesting.
So making a Larry David.
So I'm making a Larry David reference here.
I'm relating to the fact like I'm acting this way in this moment, like you said, like yeah, you know, right now,
It's not like always.
Yeah, sometimes.
And I'm I'm making a joke by calling it and making a reference to him.
Yeah, I love it.
And there's so much you could do here.
For example, Joe Biden used to be known for blunders, right?
Do you know that?
He used to be known for just saying the wrong thing, just not being very polished and saying too much or the wrong thing.
Now that he's president it wouldn't work quite as well, because he's known for a lot of things, all these projects and things.
But before you could have said i'm like joe biden over here, if you made a blunder, you said something in the wrong way.
So that's another example.
Right right, right.
Okay.
All right.
Let's do one more.
One more.
Okay.
Here we go.
All right.
Now, so you can, this is where you're making it about me, right?
Like you can say this about yourself, but you can also make it about someone else.
So here we go.
Okay.
Lindsay, I just bought a car and a new bag.
Michelle, you're like Kim Kardashian over here.
All right.
I know who that is.
Don't worry.
Don't worry.
Yeah.
I don't know much about Kim Kardashian actually, but I'm sure you know like someone who's a very into fashion, who buys a lot of things.
I don't know.
Yeah yeah yeah, you want to make sure that you're not insulting the person.
That's the only thing is if like, they hate that person or something, or the connotation of that person is referring, like the Kim Kardashian reference like I, if I like, love Kim Kardashian and you know that, then that's kind of fun.
But maybe if you said it and I was like uh, are you saying i'm like snobby or that?
You know, i'm not saying that she's those things, i don't know anything about her, it could be loaded.
It could be loaded.
It's like you're commenting on my money, my status, what i think is important, things like that.
So you have to really think about that Exactly.
And a good key word that I just said for a listener bonus, loaded.
It could be a loaded comment, meaning it could have more ammunition behind it, I guess.
Yeah.
It's like you're...
You're trying to say more than you're saying, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Exactly.
Okay.
I love this next construction here.
Right, Michelle?
This one's fun.
I think this one I say more often because it's just fun.
It's just I don't know.
What is it?
Okay, it's a you're a regular blah, blah, blah.
And then the person's name.
Okay, so you kind of mentioned this earlier, Lindsay.
What did you say?
You're a regular Anderson Cooper right, you know, for example, i guess it could be a lot of things like you're a lot of cool older man, i don't know, like with great hair, good looking um, or just, or if i'm like giving you like all the news or something like, or what, if you know how he always was like giggling yeah oh, his like kind of giggle is like oh yeah yeah, it's so adorable.
I, i love, i love anderson cooper, like for many reasons um yeah yeah um, but yeah, so like, maybe if i'm like giggling and you make a joke like that Yeah yeah, completely.
That would work for sure.
Or like you just look good in a suit, right?
Just like looking good, that kind of thing.
Oh, you're a regular Anderson Cooper.
You look great.
Okay, what would be another one?
Or if somebody's hair turns white, but they look awesome.
They look awesome.
They look better or something, right?
They get new glasses.
It could be, yeah, it could be physical.
It could be like they have glasses that he has kind of, like you know, very characteristic glasses on.
You know, like they get something and it looks like him.
Instead of saying like, oh, your glasses look like Anderson Cooper's, right?
You could say like, oh, hey, you're a regular Anderson Cooper.
That's kind of a different way to say it.
And a next level, guys, a next level to connection.
If you're talking with native speakers, they're going to love that, right?
It's totally different and more interesting than saying your glasses look like this person's glasses, right.
That's kind of boring.
You're a regular Anderson Cooper with those glasses or those shades on, right?
It's such a funny thing to say, like, you're a regular... Like, it just sounds so funny.
But another one you could say is, you're a regular Joey Tribbiani.
So that's Joey from Friends.
Like, so I'm imagining, like, what's Joey known for?
Like...
You know, girls.
A lot of things, right?
Pizza, sandwiches, you know.
Eating a ton, yeah.
Exactly.
So if you said something like that, then you know if somebody was like bragging about oh, I have like 10 dates blah blah, blah.
Oh, you're a regular Joey Tribbiani.
So things like that.
Yeah, I think the quirkier the character, the better, the more useful this is in this situation, right?
If it's just kind of a character, that's kind of mainstream and there's nothing interesting about them, then you're not going to end up using that character.
Right, it has to be a little bit unique or funny in some way.
I mean, and it can be characters...
Or, you know, celebrity, like fictional characters, celebrities.
I mean, it could be like real people or an occupation.
Like if somebody cooks something like really, really good, you could say, oh, you're a regular chef.
Yeah.
If they're not a chef in real life, right?
If they are a chef in real life.
It doesn't make any sense because yes, of course, you're already a chef.
Like I'm not going to tell you you're a regular chef.
That would be weird.
But I do think that overall, I think this is like most useful for pop culture references.
Yeah, it's more fun that way.
It's more fun that way.
You can really like make somebody laugh in that way.
And that way, because whoever you're going to say, it's going to be like a little surprise.
Like they don't know what you're going to say.
So, but do try and keep it to someone that you think that this person would know, and just be careful that that wouldn't be offensive to them.
Yeah.
I mean, you can also it doesn't necessarily just have to be pop culture.
You could go back into history.
You're a regular Ben Franklin.
Right.
Have you invented something?
Right.
You know, people are famous for so many things throughout history.
So you could pull out historical figures and leaders of the past, that kind of thing.
Maybe not like a terrible leader.
Yeah, I mean, I don't know why you'd want to say someone that caused a lot of destruction.
No, exactly.
But I like the Ben Franklin example.
Yeah, this is meant to be lighthearted and fun and generally complimentary, right?
This is not about like saying you are like insulting someone.
This is very positive, right?
Uplifting, okay?
Yeah, or funny.
I mean, it can be kind of just like funny.
It can tease, I have a sense of that.
But again, you have to know your audience, you have to know what you're.
You know, we always talk about this idea of reading the room.
Yes.
And really knowing who you're talking to.
So this shows also that you, if you're going to use it on someone else.
Mm-hmm. you have to know them well.
If you're going to use it on yourself, that's a little bit different.
Then it's like, have a little more fun with it because you are the one saying it about yourself.
Sure, sure.
You have a little bit more of liberties there that you could take advantage of.
I love it.
So Michelle, before we do our takeaway for today, I just want to remind our listeners guys, if you want to get your fluency score, you can get that in just a few minutes by taking our quiz.
Michelle, where can they take the quiz?
Where do they go?
Oh, allyoursenglish.com slash fluency score.
You got it.
All right.
So where should we leave our listeners?
What's our takeaway here?
This is a really cool skill.
All right, guys, this has been fun.
This is a way to show your pop culture knowledge, to show that you know someone else and or to show that you are kind of having fun with yourself.
Like it's a fun, lighthearted thing to do.
Absolutely.
And it does require a next level of awareness of who you're talking to and pop culture.
So this is another reason why we always talk about that being important.
Because this is just like, I think it goes back to that example.
You can say, oh, I really like your new glasses.
They remind me of Anderson Cooper's glasses.
Or...
You can say, oh, hey, look, you're a regular Anderson Cooper in those glasses.
I love them, you know, and that's just more fun.
It's more fun.
This is a fun way to build connection.
That's what it comes down to.
And I think this also requires just a final point and awareness of current events.
Right.
So you don't want to go and reference someone that's in the news as having had like, some kind of a scandal or or being canceled right.
Or has said something that's insensitive.
So that would add another layer of complication to your comment, right?
To be like, what are you trying to say?
Right?
So you not only have to know the characters, but also be aware of everyday news things that are happening.
Okay.
Right, right.
Yeah, you don't want to use a reference that just two days ago there was... Yeah, yes.
And also guys, this is not.
You don't have to, Like we said.
Oh, it's more interesting to comment on somebody like this, but you can't use this all the time.
Like...
It's something that you have to like, pick and choose, like to have you know, to have a fun time with.
I wouldn't aim to use this like five times a day or anything.
This is just kind of sprinkle it throughout with a good sense of humor and have fun with it.
I love it.
So good.
All right, Michelle, thanks for hanging out today.
This has been fun as always and such a high level skill for our listeners.
This was fun.
So good.
All right, I'll talk to you soon.
Have a good day.
Bye.
Bye.
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