This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2114.
How to use a strong idiom to share your identity in English.
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We all have things we feel strongly about.
What is something that you would never be caught dead doing?
Today, find out how to use this expression to show people who you are in English.
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you?
I'm feeling solid today, Michelle.
How are you feeling?
How are things in the city, the big city, New York?
The big city.
Everything is good over here.
Everything is good.
Lindsay, do you ever watch TV to practice another language?
Sometimes I do.
In the past, when I was traveling in South America for a year, everything was in Spanish.
So I would watch TV sometimes.
It's not my favorite way to learn a language but yes, I do sometimes.
Yes yeah, I actually.
I always encourage my students.
I always ask them what are you watching, what are you, what are you consuming?
Uh, TVs or movie TV shows or movies.
Um, but today we are going to answer a question from Luca about an expression he heard on a TV show.
So this is going to be a fun one.
I mean, we always say, not just for language acquisition, but for idea acquisition.
I love it for that reason.
Right, what are you watching?
Meaning, what content are you taking in?
So you actually something to talk about?
Yes right yes, that is one of the one of the big reasons to do it.
Um so yeah, this is gonna be fun, uh.
So we have this question coming up and guys uh, we've been doing something super fun on the show, which is, if you're listening on spotify, you can answer Yeah,
Yeah.
And I think this poll in particular is going to be a little Christmas present, early Christmas present to us, because we get to learn what you guys are like.
It's going to tell a lot about your personality, whether you choose A or B in this poll.
So keep listening so you could tell us who you are.
And hit follow on this podcast now, guys.
Just hit that follow button.
If you listen in Apple, Spotify, CastBox, wherever you listen, just hit follow.
Or if you're listening on YouTube... hit subscribe, of course.
Good stuff.
Okay.
Definitely.
Go ahead with that.
Lindsay, could you read the question for us from Luca?
Yes.
This is from Luca.
Here we go.
Hi, Lindsay.
I started to follow the podcast only recently.
A new listener, Michelle.
New listeners.
Yes.
You love it.
Welcome.
In the last three months, and your voices are the last ones I listen to after the night shift.
The lessons are blowing my mind.
Amazing.
Thank you.
It's really a blessing to get into all the nitty gritty nuances of the language.
I love that term, nitty gritty nuances.
I thought the only way to become fluent was living on site before your show.
Okay.
I guess it means just immersing himself in our show.
Yes.
I'm wondering if you could clarify a couple of expressions.
We're going to go over one.
Yeah.
So the expression here is she couldn't be caught dead, right?
A voiceover says she wouldn't be caught dead wearing a shirt with with kids faces on it.
It's clear that she wouldn't wear that kind of merch for no reason in the world, but i'd like to know all of the details of this expression.
I know I should just follow the flow of the conversations because connection is not perfection, but I'm a stickier guy.
No, stickler guy.
That's my eyes that messed up, but not the listener.
I'm a stickler guy and I want to get all the details.
Thank you for all the good stuff.
Oh, I love this listener.
Thank you so much, Luca.
These are fun.
So the other expression is fun as well.
We can take a look at it.
But it sounds like Luca is getting a lot of stuff from TV here.
So we're going to go over it.
So yeah, so the expression is wouldn't be caught dead.
Yes, that is the expression.
Love it.
Super common.
And it's really expressive.
We'd like to show you guys ways to be interesting.
This is one of the ways, wouldn't you say, Michelle?
Yes.
Yes, for sure.
So it sounds a little bit like a gloomy expression, but it's not really thought of that.
It's not really thought in that way of in that way when you use it.
But I'll direct you to a past episode of all years.
English way past 1084 was break out the candy corn.
Celebrate Halloween with these deathly phrases
So we taught some expressions here, including this one we talked about a little bit, but we wanted to focus it on it today and do an update because that's over that's about a thousand episodes a thousand episodes ago oh my gosh you guys have so much good stuff to go back and listen to so do that we're going to come back to this topic of dead idioms i'm sure in the future right because it's it's interesting what you said michelle and i think this came out on that episode too a lot of idioms that involve death are not actually that serious they're kind of light Yeah, yeah.
It's interesting, right?
And then another one, since we're talking about TV shows.
Just recently, on episode 2100, we did three social gaffes from Seinfeld that you must know.
So on the idea of TV, learning things from TV, this is a really good episode to listen to as well.
Yeah, I'm loving these episodes this fall, bringing in Seinfeld, bringing in more grammar.
Guys, share the show with a friend.
If you have a friend that believes in connection, not perfection, the way we do, share it, all right, so let's get into it.
Michelle, what does it mean?
Oh, good question.
This basically just means something that would never happen in your world.
If you were making all the decisions, it would never happen, right?
Yeah yeah, It would never happen.
Right?
So the example about the shirt um probably means no one would ever catch this person or see her wearing that kind of shirt.
It's not her style.
She probably hates that kind of stuff.
So that's, that's what I would imagine.
Um, what do you think?
Yeah, I totally agree.
Especially when it comes to fashion.
It's a great context for this term because we have a lot of choices when it comes to fashion right, and we express ourselves through our choice, our fashion choices.
You know so what?
What is something that you wouldn't be caught dead wearing?
Let's talk about that.
For me, it's very high heels.
Yeah that's, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing them.
And it's funny because sometimes, when you say this it's, it's just like oh, that's not your style, or that's just like Yeah.
You know, not comfortable for you, but it could also mean if you say it like, oh, I wouldn't be.
Maybe you're judging it.
Yes.
I wouldn't be caught dead in it.
So you want to make sure that you kind of choose what you're talking about carefully, because it could have a different kind of feel to it.
Right.
Yeah.
If you're talking about a piece of clothing that's maybe out of style.
I mean, high heels are classic y'all throughout the the ages.
Some people love them, some people hate them.
That works because we know that's just about you.
But if i say something like i do remember in the aughts when was it burberry?
Or like what was that?
What was that pattern that you always saw that was really popular.
I feel like it's kind of gone out of style now.
So maybe you'd say like oh, in 2023 i wouldn't be caught dead wearing plaid.
Let's say plaid, maybe that's in style now.
I don't know michelle, I don't know.
Um, but yeah, so it could be in using that kind of a way too, but it could also just be about your style.
Like, Oh, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing high heels.
Like they're so uncomfortable for me.
Um, Lindsay, what about you?
What wouldn't you be caught dead in using either, either kind of context?
Yeah.
I'm going to use the context of my own choices because I'm not a very fashionable person.
Right.
I wouldn't know what, what, to be caught dead in and whatnot too.
So anyways, I would say a long dress.
I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a long dress to like a wedding unless I were the bride.
Right.
Because I just don't like long dresses.
I like T length dresses or shorter dress.
I don't like the long gown.
It's too formal.
And because I'm not super tall, it doesn't really work for my height.
Yeah.
Like, but there are some long dresses that aren't like, I have a long dress that is not that formal.
It's not like a big or anything.
So I I actually like those, but it is, it is, I feel you on the height issue, because yeah, for sure.
For sure.
I don't know that there's, I never mind being short.
I actually, I kind of, I like it.
I think it's, I don't, well, I don't know.
I don't have an opinion.
It's fine.
Um, but like sometimes, there are some times with clothes when I feel I could use a few more inches just to help out with this.
And you have to kind of negotiate that.
It sounds like we're more or less.
Well, I know that we're more or less the same height, more or less, right Michelle?
How tall are... I'm like almost 5'3".
Yeah, I'm about 5'4", 5'4 1⁄2".
So around that... Oh, you're tall.
We're both petite women, yes.
And I had to wear high heels, begrudgingly had to.
At the last wedding I went to because I was wearing a T-length dress which is halfway between a short dress and a long dress.
And with that, I had to elongate my legs.
So yo difficult.
We have to navigate these things.
What do you mean?
You had to oh oh, you had to elongate them with the shoes.
Yeah because yeah, like stretching out your leg, I had standing on your tiptoes.
Yeah because, like the tea, like dresses can make you look shorter and already being somewhat short, I just had to think about that height.
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, um.
So let's give some more examples here, even though I feel like we could talk about that all day um.
So here's another example.
He's so environmentally conscious he wouldn't caught dead littering great one.
Yeah, that just doesn't mesh with his identity, i think, and we're going to have a really fun identity question in the poll to know what kind of people you guys are.
Right, so it's about your identity when you use this expression a lot of times.
The boss here is tough.
He wouldn't be caught dead leaving the office before 11 pm.
Yeah, hard worker, or?
Uh, her style is pretty untraditional.
She wouldn't be caught dead in a regular white wedding dress Yeah.
Interesting.
I remember when I worked in Japan back in 2006.
Maybe this has changed since then, but my my colleagues, my Japanese colleagues, wouldn't be caught dead leaving the office before their manager.
Right.
So having to stay in the manager would sometimes stay very late, like midnight or 11.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
And I don't know, maybe that's changed.
Maybe our listeners could let us know if that work norm in Japan has changed since then.
Super interesting.
Yeah.
That is interesting.
That is interesting.
I mean, so Lindsay, do you think the dead part can be too intense?
Like, is there a time not to say this?
I mean, I wouldn't, I don't know that I would say it.
Yeah.
At a funeral.
That's what I was thinking.
Yeah.
I wouldn't say it at a funeral.
I wouldn't really say it about a child or an elderly person.
I don't know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They're like, Oh, she, I can't imagine saying that about like my kids.
Like they wouldn't be cut down.
I don't know.
It just feels a little funny.
Yeah.
Anything or anyone a little more vulnerable, I would maybe stay away from using this idiom.
It's not the worst thing in the world, but it's just.
It's meant to be kind of light and it really does talk about your personal choices and your lifestyle.
Right.
So like kids and elderly people, like maybe it's not necessarily like lifestyle things as much yet.
Right.
At least for kids, there haven't been any clear identity decisions made yet.
Maybe.
Right.
Right.
I mean, the other thing is that it's a very strong statement.
Like it's not like saying, oh, I don't really like heels.
It's strong.
It's very strong.
So if you're using it about somebody else especially, just be careful, because you're making a big statement about that person.
Yeah, there's a time and a place to make a strong statement about ourselves or about someone else, but be careful.
I love that warning.
Yeah, all right, let's get into it.
I love this, michelle.
We have a key question, important question um, what is it all right?
Well so lindsay, what wouldn't you be caught dead doing on a saturday night?
I probably wouldn't be caught dead doing an escape room.
Oh, tell us about that.
I'm not a fan.
I've never done one.
Well, to be fair, I've never done one either, but I just don't like the idea of being stuck somewhere.
And if I can't figure out how to get out, I might panic.
So are you claustrophobic in certain?
In certain conditions maybe, and just having like, you're like being trapped.
I don't know if I love that idea.
So that's my answer.
What about you, Michelle?
Mine is I don't think I would be caught dead doing a ghost tour late at night.
Ooh, love ghost tours.
You do?
Well, okay, I'll be honest.
I did do a ghost tour once in New Orleans.
So I guess I was caught dead doing it.
No, I don't know.
But in general, I don't like scary things.
I mean, I barely... it barely even like a cute haunted house.
Like I, you know, with my, uh, my sister-in-law wanted to go to something called fright fest.
I think it's at six flags or something like that.
And I'm like, I don't, I don't like, Oh, Michelle, I'm on team ghost tour here.
I'm going to push you because ghost tours are just history tours, which is so cool.
Uh, I did one this summer in Durango and there was so much like civil war history and just so much history about that town and that region of Colorado.
Um, Try it again.
Maybe during the day.
During the day is okay.
A daytime ghost tour.
I don't even know if those exist.
Kind of takes away from the mood.
Kind of. true.
That's okay.
Um, so yeah.
But I mean, as far as Saturday nights go, I mean Lindsay, are you more likely to kind of do, prefer to like sit and watch a movie, get in your jammies, maybe bake some cookies?
Or do you want to be out and dancing and party?
Oh my god, these days I am team pajamas for sure on a Saturday night.
Yeah, I like to stay in, you know.
I mean, if I'm going to go out, I'd rather be at like a dinner party, not really dancing.
That's not really my thing.
So I would rather be home watching a movie.
Michelle, what about you?
Same, same, same.
Because if I, yeah, this way I don't have to wear high heels.
No, I remember, and I was always like this.
I remember in, I think it was freshman year of college.
I remember going out to some you know, dance party that I was probably not so happy about.
And that I and that everybody, all of my friends, were wearing heels and one of my friends and I was wearing flats and my friend kind of teased me about it a little bit, but guess what?
At the end of the night, I was the only one whose feet were on hard.
Oh no, no joke.
High heels are after that wedding that I just went to in those heels, those three inch heels.
I literally came back with a huge sore, like bleeding feet.
Oh, do you ever like wear socks though?
Sometimes people at weddings, they might change into socks, or you know, I kept them on just cause I liked the look.
I was, I liked the look, but I didn't like the pain at the end of the night.
It was really high.
Oh yeah.
They were like three inch heels.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
They were high for sure.
Okay.
Wow.
Yeah.
Anyways, we want to know what our listeners would say, right?
We have a fun poll.
Tell us about our poll today and why our listeners should participate.
Yeah, guys.
So this is a way to interact.
We want to know, are you team like Lindsay and Michelle?
I guess we're on the same team here.
Yeah.
The question is, what would you rather do on a Saturday night?
This is on Spotify, guys.
Would you rather watch movies in your pajamas or would you rather dance until 3 a.m.?
Let me know.
Let us know which one you are.
We want to hear from you guys.
This is so fun to be able to interact with you guys in a new way.
So let us know which side are you on for Saturday night.
And by the way, there's no in between.
There's no third answer.
So you only have to choose one or the other.
So I'm super excited to break down the results in a couple of weeks and see what are.
You know, what is our audience like?
What are our listeners like?
What are their preferences?
I'm so excited.
Good stuff.
Definitely love it.
Should we continue or should we wrap it up?
Yeah, well, let's do the role play.
Let's do the role play.
Okay, let's do the role play.
Here we go.
So, Michelle, what are we doing here?
Alright, we are waiting for our friend.
Alright, so here we go.
Of course Charlie's late.
He wouldn't be caught dead showing up on time.
Yeah, but maybe he has a good reason.
Oh, come on.
There's no way he would ever call or warn us.
It's so disrespectful.
Try to calm down, Lindsay.
Oh, you know, I'm just teasing.
There's no way I would ever stop being friends with him over this.
Okay, good, good.
He gets a lot of leeway, doesn't he?
Yeah.
Yes, he does.
Yeah.
So we didn't have time, guys, to teach the other two expressions because we got to hop off the mic.
But what we did use here is, of course, Charlie is late.
He wouldn't be caught dead showing up on time.
And then the other two, Michelle, what's the next one?
Well, you said there's no way he would ever call us or warn us.
So you could say there's no... That's a little bit more of a direct way to say it.
Being clear.
Yeah.
It's less idiomatic, right?
Yeah.
Right.
Exactly.
And then... oh, no, you know, I'm just teasing.
There's no way I would ever stop being friends with him.
So again, using that same expression, there's no way something would ever happen.
Good stuff.
All right, Michelle, what's our takeaway?
All right, Lindsay, this is a useful expression, but it packs a punch.
It's, you know, it's a very strong statement.
You want to make sure and use it in the correct kind of context.
And Lindsay, definitely answer our poll on Spotify because it's a lot of fun.
We want to get to know you.
Let us know what you like to do.
Are you team pajamas or team dance party, dance club?
Let us know, guys.
And Michelle, thanks for being on the mic with me today.
All right, Lindsay, thank you.
And thanks to Luca for that question.
Talk soon.
Bye.
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