This is an All Ears English podcast episode 1825.
Do you listen to All Ears English through thick and thin?
Welcome to the All Ears English podcast downloaded more than 200 million times.
Are you feeling stuck with your English?
We'll show you how to become a Fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection.
With your American hosts Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl.
Coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA.
To get real-time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android.
Start your seven-day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward slash app.
In life, nothing is always 100% positive or 100% negative.
We live in the in-between space.
You need the skills to express this in English.
Today, learn how to do it with four new English expressions.
Do you ever feel like your English is good but not quite where you want it to be?
Maybe you can have conversations, but you still hesitate when expressing complex ideas.
Maybe you know what you want to say. but you can't always say it naturally.
If that sounds familiar, our B2 English fluency course was designed for you.
You'll learn how to speak more naturally, express yourself with confidence and finally stop feeling stuck at the intermediate level.
This week, you can save $50 on our basic plan or save $100 on our personal coach plan.
Go to allearsenglish.com slash B2.
That's allearsenglish.com slash letter B number two.
Hey, Michelle, how's it going today?
Good to see you.
Today we're on video too, aren't we, Michelle?
Where can our listeners find us on video today?
We are.
We are on our YouTube channel.
So go head on over there and you can listen to and watch today's episode.
I know.
Such a good way to consume our podcast.
Michelle, how are you doing today?
Did you have a good weekend in New York City?
I am good.
Yes, I had a good weekend.
And yeah, I'm already ready for the next week.
Okay, so you got a weekend one day and now you're ready for the weekend again.
I can understand that.
I think most of our listeners get that completely.
Yeah, it happens.
It happens.
But yeah, guys, today we are going to do a follow up on an episode we did a while back, right?
We did episode 17, 18 was how to take the good with the bad in English conversation.
And this episode was dealing with a lot of opposites.
And we mentioned that there would be a part two, and I know it's been a while.
So time for the part two.
Time for the part two. part two, guys.
If you just found All Ears English, welcome.
We recommend you go back and find episode 1718.
You can find that on our blog or you can go to our app our iOS or Android app and type in the search bar 1718.
All right, Michelle.
Okay.
So again, just a synopsis of what we did in 1718.
It was just sort of how to take the good and the bad.
Was that the title of that episode?
How to take the good with the bad in English conversation.
Yeah.
So we realized that there were a lot of expressions that deal with opposites.
Right.
So one thing and one thing.
Right.
The opposite sides.
And there were so many that.
That's why we decided to cut it into another episode.
So we are going to go through some more today.
So should we get into the first one?
Yeah, let's just get right into it, Michelle.
I like this idea because life is about the opposites, right?
Life is never always 100% in one way or the other way.
It's always a mix of everything, right?
As we know, we've learned that in the last couple of years, right?
We've been inside a lot, but then we've gotten to spend time with our families and our friends inside, just kind of hunkering down.
So there are good things about it too.
Right?
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, if you only see kind of the negative aspects of things, you're going to really kind of dig yourself into a hole.
So we definitely want to see more than one side of things and kind of try try, try when things are tough, even to look at the happy sides.
Yeah, it's true.
It's true.
Yeah.
So the first one is really kind of dealing with this idea.
The first one is thick and thin.
And a lot of times we say like through thick and thin.
So thick and thin, right?
Right.
Thick and thin.
Okay.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think of this when it comes to friendships.
This is so common, right?
With friends, like proclaiming that they will be there for each other, right?
This kind of thing.
Right, right, right.
So what does that mean?
I mean, through thick and thin?
And it's interesting.
I've never really thought exactly about what that means, right?
Because maybe it means through – through difficulties and through positive moments.
It also reminds me of something you might say at a wedding, maybe in your vows or something, although it's a bit of a cliche.
I don't think I'd use those necessarily in vows.
But yeah, it's a bit like, you know, good things and bad things.
That's really what we're trying to say here.
Right?
Right, right, right.
Good and bad.
I mean, yeah, exactly.
But yeah, not sure why it's necessarily thick and thin.
But that's how we use it.
So let's do a little role play with this one.
So Lindsay, my best friend has been there for me through thick and thin.
Oh, that's so great.
Yeah.
I mean, so I guess a lot of times it is really about friends and also looking back, right?
Looking back and looking at their commitment to you.
Would you agree?
I know you have some long, long, long time friends, Michelle, in your life.
Isn't that right?
Yeah.
Yes, I do.
I have two best friends that are more like sisters.
It's interesting because we go through moments where we talk more or less frequently.
But they have been there for me through thick and thin.
And when we do see each other, it's like no time has passed.
We're always the same.
So it's really great.
And we get busy and things like that.
But then we'll keep in very close touch.
So it's interesting.
But they have been there for me through thick and thin.
With, you know, health things, with, you know, breakups and things like that.
Oh, everything.
Yeah.
Life changes, right?
And you've been there for them through Thick and Thin too, right?
Now, like maybe they got married, they had kids and they moved, but you're still there.
So this Thick and Thin idea has a real duration there. factor to it, like toughness and duration.
It's what this is what it means.
Right.
Right, right, right.
Exactly.
Yeah, that's a good point, Lindsay.
So that's the first one.
So we're going to move on to a couple more.
But before we do that, we want to remind you guys, head on over to allearsenglishcom slash fluency score.
There you can take a super short quiz and you get your your kind of your level, where you are right now.
Um, and then you can kind of get a an idea of where you're going and the resources that you should be using.
Right, Lindsay?
Yeah, that's right, Michelle.
I love this quiz.
A lot of people are taking this quiz these days.
It's pretty hot.
So go over to allersenglish.com slash fluency score guys and take your quiz.
Okay, Michelle.
Now, so we've done thick and thin.
And what would be the next one?
Another way to say these opposites.
Okay, good.
Another one is ins and outs.
And over over a thousand episodes ago on 571, we mentioned this and it's called Get to Know the Ins and Outs of English.
OK, so guys, go ahead on over to that one if you're curious.
But what does that mean, the ins and outs?
So this means the details, like the things that you know, all the little inner workings of something right.
And that's what we show you at All Ears English, right?
Connection, not perfection.
We show you the details, the things that other channels, other teachers, textbooks don't necessarily talk about, but we know these things are important right, Michelle?
Yeah.
Right, right, right.
Exactly.
So we go deeper into definitions of things or when you should use them, you know.
So many things here, but the ins and outs, you know.
I Lindsay, is there something that you know, the ins and outs of?
Oh, my gosh.
Well, probably podcasting, I guess.
But there's always more to learn when it comes to podcasting.
Tennis.
Let's just go with tennis.
Tennis.
I guess tennis, the technicalities of tennis, is something that I know, that you know.
Footwork and your swing and your follow through and angles is something I pretty much know, the ins and outs of.
So what about you, Michelle?
What do you know?
Well, not tennis.
What is it?
I know the ins and outs.
Oh, yeah.
I think I know the ins and outs of a lot of things, but...
Um, I guess I know the ends.
All right.
I'll say like, uh, the Upper West Side in New York.
Oh, I love it.
So like yeah, you know cause I I've spent a lot of time there and that's one of my, one of my favorite areas.
And so that's a good example.
Like, whereas sometimes if you plot me in a different neighborhood completely different neighborhood, I might be like you know it feels like a new place.
That's the cool thing about New York is living here for so long.
I still I don't know the I can't you can't know the ins and outs of the whole city.
That's true.
But that is such a cool process, right?
Getting to know a city where especially if you walk it, because I imagine you know you walk New York a lot right
You probably walk it.
This is how we really get to know a city.
So it's like you close your eyes.
You come out of the subway.
You know exactly what's going to be on this corner, that corner.
There you turn a corner, you know what's there.
It's kind of a cool place to be with a city, I think.
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
I love that moment where you know you move somewhere and you get to like like you've probably recently had this, like now you know moving, and then you get to know your new grocery store, your new coffee shop or you know.
It's always exciting.
You know exactly who goes there, how much they charge for a cup of coffee.
You know the details that this is your place, your stomping grounds.
By the way, that's a great bonus phrase, your stomping grounds.
Guys, that one will be in the app as a keyword.
So go over to allearsenglish.com slash app to be able to see that in the app.
Stomping grounds.
What does that mean, Michelle?
Like the area where you like, spend a lot of time, where you go around and a lot of times.
And i remember, way back when we started doing instagram, that i did do stomping grounds, and it's because, like um, So Dan always makes fun of me, because whenever we go around in New York and I'll be like oh, this is like a restaurant that I ate dinner with with my friend in, you know, 2014.
You give all the details.
Yeah.
Yeah, or if I'm in the neighborhood where I went to graduate school, you know, I'll say like oh, my old stomping grounds.
And so we always say like, oh, this is where you used to stomp.
Yeah.
This is like the idea of stomping, you know, on the street.
So yeah.
Anyway, it's true.
It's kind of funny.
Like later in life, when you find a partner or someone that you're very close to and you've had this whole other life before them.
It's like how much do you share?
You want to share all these things.
Like hey, this is where we had dinner this night, or this is where I used to go every Wednesday morning for a coffee.
But then you're like, should I share everything?
Is that boring to them?
Yeah, it's like, oh, here's, it's like, who cares?
I don't know.
Right.
It's kind of funny.
But to you you're like like, especially like when we went to London and you know I studied abroad there.
It's like, oh, I think I think maybe I went to that bar one time.
I think maybe that's the pub I went to with.
I don't know.
And it's like, what is what is that information?
So it's just always funny.
I know I did that when we went to Paris because I studied abroad in Paris in 2005, so long ago.
And I took my partner there and we walked down all the alleyways, looked in the window where my apartment was and the laundromat across the street.
And I brought my partner through all of that stuff.
And some of it's interesting to them, but most of it's probably kind of boring.
Yeah.
Right, right.
It's so funny.
All right.
Let's do a little role play with ins and outs.
All right.
Here we go.
So it's important to learn the ins and outs when it comes to how things are done at the office, but I'm here to help.
All right.
Thank you so much.
Yeah.
So what would that be?
Let's imagine Allers English had an office, a physical office where we would come together.
What would be an example of the ins and outs Michelle at the office?
What would that mean?
Well, maybe we would if we were in an office, we would have like a specific like recording area.
Yeah, you know, like a little room or something like that.
So like learning like the ins and outs of how the recording works, the you know, the um, the software that we used, and and also just like kind of the schedule of how things run.
Yeah, I love that.
That's a good example.
Perfect.
So guys, there's ins and outs of a sport or of a neighborhood or of an office, a lot of things.
This is a very natural and native phrase to use.
I love it.
Michelle, do we have another?
Let's do it.
All right.
The next one is on again, off again.
Okay.
Oh, this makes me think of dating.
Yes.
Yes, me too.
I mean, I think this is a lot of times used with relationships.
It's, it's, it's when the relationship starts and stops frequently, like maybe, you know, the person and the two people continuously like, break up with each other, but then they get back together, right?
Have you known anybody who's done that a lot?
Yeah, for sure.
You do run into people.
And you know my philosophy in relationships is you know if you're going to be together, you're going to be together.
Like it's a red flag, not necessarily about the other person, but maybe about you two together.
If you're always on again, off again.
It's like, why?
If this is the right person for you, they're going to be with you.
You're going to be with them.
There's not so much drama.
You know what I mean?
That's been my experience.
Yeah, I agree.
I remember in college, I had some, I knew some people who were on again, off again.
And it was, and you never know what to do as like the outsider in that situation.
Because it's just always awkward, like, oh, I'm sorry.
And then in the back of your head, you're like, yeah, I know they'll be on again in like a month.
Yeah, it's a mess.
I mean, I don't think relationships should be that dramatic.
I don't like drama in any aspect of life.
So, but yeah, on again, off again, very common, especially with dating.
So let's do a role play, Michelle.
Are you ready?
All right, here we go.
Sarah called me to complain about Bill again.
How can you keep helping them?
They are on again, off again.
It's so frustrating and confusing.
Yeah, I know.
Yeah.
So not a good thing.
And then hot and cold is kind of, I mean, this actually could be used for dating too, right?
You're hot and cold towards the person, right?
Your feelings, that kind of, and that's the push pull, the swinging back and forth.
It's not good for the heart.
Yeah.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And we did talk about that one on 561 hot and cold and everything in between in English.
So you can listen to that one as well.
But yeah, it's basically like maybe interested and not interested right in something, or just it's just always the opposite.
Yeah.
I mean, there are people that kind of create this in relationships too, just coming back.
They just they need that drama and I stay away from those people just because it's toxic.
You know, like that is not a good place to be, where you never know where the other person stands.
They always leave you guessing.
That's hard. it's like you're in limbo all the time and it's, yeah, it's not, it's not good.
You can.
You know, I just, in my one experience, knock on wood.
Where things have worked out in my relationship is that it is true.
Like what I have noticed is there was no, no drama just to like, you know, the easier, the better.
Yeah.
Yes, 100%, 100%.
And I definitely had some drama in my dating life earlier in my 20s for sure.
And I do not want to have that again.
So quick role play, Michelle, you ready?
All right, let's do it.
Okay.
I can't tell if you like the idea.
You seem kind of hot and cold about it.
I know.
It's honestly hard for me to decide.
Okay.
So this is good.
This role play is not necessarily about dating.
Hot and cold could be about.
I mean, I know Michelle, for you.
You have a hard time deciding where to eat dinner, right?
What restaurant, what kind of food you want.
Would you say that would qualify for that situation too?
Yeah, like if you mentioned like, oh, are you like, oh, do you like pizza?
Like, do you like to eat pizza for dinner?
I could say like, oh, I'm kind of hot and cold on pizza.
Like sometimes I want it, sometimes I don't, right?
Yeah, exactly.
It just depends.
I'm hot and cold on Thai food.
Sometimes I'm in the mood, other times not so much, right?
It really just depends.
Yeah, I love that.
So guys, supernatural native ways to say you're, I guess, on the fence, not sure, opposites.
Yep.
Right, right, right, right.
Absolutely.
So, oh my gosh, this was fun.
Guys, remember, listen to 1718 for another piece of this.
Lindsay, anything you want to bring up before we head off today?
Yeah, I guess, you know, make sure you express the opposites, right?
Not everything is always amazing and not everything is terrible.
Life lives, life lives, right?
Life lives in the middle, right?
We're always in the middle.
We're somewhere in between.
So you want to be able to express this because this is reality.
Right, Michelle?
Absolutely.
Good point, Lindsay.
Well, this was fun.
And I am not feeling hot and cold about this episode.
I'm feeling very hot.
Feeling hot.
Hot.
Well, I'm glad to hear that, Michelle.
Me too.
We'll wrap it up for today and I'll see you on the next one.
All right.
Bye, Lindsay.
Okay.
Bye.
Bye.
Thanks for listening to all ears English.
Would you like to know your English level?
Take our two minute quiz.
Go to allearsenglish.com forward slash fluency score.
And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything.
See you next time.
