This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2158, English vocabulary tips that hold up.
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Hey there, Aubrey.
How's it going today?
I'm great.
How are you, Lindsay?
Good.
I've got a question for you today.
You ready?
Yes, let's hear it.
All right, here we go.
So have you watched any older movies or TV shows lately that just didn't hold up?
Yes.
I went back and watched an episode of The Brady Bunch.
Do you remember that?
The Brady Bunch.
Oh my gosh.
Yes.
Of course I remember.
I remember loving it.
And I tried to watch an episode with my kids.
No, it doesn't hold up.
It didn't hold their attention.
They were annoyed by the laugh track, because shows don't usually have a laugh track anymore.
That's hilarious, the laugh track.
They just thought it was sort of cheesy and i don't know.
I could not get them to watch more than a few minutes and i also felt i'm like, oh man, this doesn't really hold up, i don't know.
Oh, what a bummer.
It's so sad when that happens because there has to be classics out there that do hold up over time, right.
But sometimes they don't.
And this we are telling you guys today.
We're teaching you a mistake that is made often by English learners with this phrasal verb hold up.
Lindsay asked me if I've seen anything that didn't hold up.
Sometimes learners will use this phrasal verb when they mean hold, when they should use the verb hold.
It's a really easy mistake to make.
Yes.
And I know we've talked about before on the show, love actually as well.
I think we have a divided opinion on our team around whether it holds up or not right yes, because there are some jokes about the one young lady's weight which really bother me.
Now i'm like we wouldn't have those now, so i still really love that film, but they bother me.
Oh, it's so hard.
It's so hard, some old classics that we have to kind of leave behind, right?
So let's get deeper into this episode on exactly what our listeners are going to get today.
Aubry, What are we getting into?
So this phrasal verb hold up has seven meanings and the verb hold or the word hold has 12 meanings, because we use it as a verb and a noun.
Not only that, Lindsay.
There are hundreds of idioms that have the word hold, and they all have different meanings.
So today we're going to really dive into one meaning of the phrasal verb hold up, contrasting it to the verb hold, in order to help you avoid this common error that we say that we see in English, will tell you what that mistake is, help you understand these two, this phrasal verb and verbs, so that you avoid this error.
But we want to go a little deeper into hold.
You guys, we want you to learn some of the idioms and some of the other meanings.
There's so much here.
Yes right, and this is going to be part one of a three part episode series.
But what's different today is this three-part series is across all three of our podcasts, isn't that right, Aubrey?
Yes, I'm excited about this.
Part two will be next week on the business English podcast.
We are going to share three meanings of hold up that are the most common.
We use them all the time at work, but we use them all the time in life as well.
You definitely want to hear this episode, so make sure you're following the business English podcast so you don't miss that one.
Yes,
Open that search bar now and just type in business English and you can hit follow.
And then where is part three, Aubrey?
Yes.
Part three will be on IELTS energy.
We're going to share the three most common idioms that we use with the word hold that are extremely useful on IELTS speaking, but also in daily conversations.
To spice up, use that idiomatic language.
So you should follow IELTS energy.
So much great vocabulary there, whether you're studying for IELTS or not.
Right.
I mean for our IELTS listeners over on IELTS Energy.
Once you pass the test, you're going to be in your target country, right?
So we need those skills as well.
So I love it.
This is the first time we've done a three-part series across all three shows.
So guys, make sure you are following all three shows.
All right.
Awesome.
Let's dive in here.
Yes.
We're first going to share an example.
I recently heard in a class where a student said they hold up a belief.
And I wasn't actually sure their meaning, because they could be meaning to say they hold a belief, or they could be meaning to say a belief holds up.
These two mean very different things.
Right, Lindsay?
Yeah, that's interesting.
Right.
So what do we need to know then when it comes to beliefs, talking about beliefs and the word hold?
So we're going to divide this and first talk about the phrasal verb.
Hold up what it means examples, and then we'll share.
Hold right.
Examples, beliefs, so that you guys understand how each are used so you can avoid this mistake.
Oh, my gosh.
It is such a kind of a diverse word, right?
A very robust word that we can use in so many ways.
And native speakers do.
Guys, this is real English here.
Exactly.
Okay, so let's dive in.
There are a lot of meanings for the phrasal verb hold up.
The one we're talking about today is the one you used in that first question.
You asked me like if a TV show holds up right.
It means to continue in the same condition without losing, like effectiveness or force or interest, maybe without failing in some way.
Yeah.
And it could be in a lot of different ways.
We talked about how love actually is is not as politically correct anymore, but we talked about how the Brady bunch is just kind of boring.
Right.
Exactly.
So this is the first way we want to share is just a great conversation starter.
To introduce a conversation like you did and say you know, does that movie hold up if you're talking about an old movie?
Or, you know, oh, I listened to some Michael Jackson.
Do you think it holds up?
It's a great conversation.
It's honestly, especially now, there's been so much cultural change in the U.S. since even 2019.
So, if you look back to even the time that this podcast was started, in 2013, it was a totally different era in terms of culture.
So we can have this conversation.
It could be super relevant to things that happened just 10 years ago.
Absolutely.
It's interesting.
It's definitely a way to get deeper, to really find out what people think and a lot of their values, right.
Because, you know, yeah, it's interesting.
But there's more to it than that, right?
We also talk about in this, with the same definition, a person holding up like under pressure.
You might say okay, he's holding up, well under the pressure.
It's kind of the same meaning, but kind of not, right?
It's kind of the same meaning, but like a different use in a way, would you say?
Exactly, right?
There's these seven definitions and either, under each definition, like we have this one definition, continue in the same condition without failing.
That one definition we use in all these different ways talking about media movies music people, right.
And a really common question you might ask someone is just how are you holding up if you know someone has gone through a hard time?
This is a really nice question and you know it's less sort of blunt and straightforward than, like you know saying, like you know, I know, are you okay?
Right, are you okay?
How are you feeling?
It just feels a little more, less intrusive.
How are you when it exactly everyone, it comes, a connection.
I think sometimes it's good to have something that just doesn't feel quite so, as you said, intrusive or direct right, a little indirect, Exactly.
Yes.
And then the same meaning is used also regarding arguments or theories for something to be logical, consistent or convincing.
It's in the same way.
Does it not fail?
Does it remain consistent without losing effectiveness?
You might say if you're having a discussion with someone and they share an argument that you really don't agree with, a polite way to say that would be I don't think that argument holds up.
It's a good way to respond, actually.
It's good because it's kind of disarming if you hear that.
It's summing up what you think of what they've just said.
I like it.
It's useful.
Or when you talk about a theory, you might say, after experimentation, the theory didn't hold up.
That means it was proven incorrect, right?
It failed in some way.
Yeah.
A bonus word here, Aubrey, for today that comes to mind is withstand.
It doesn't withstand the pressure, the time, the changes in culture.
Yeah, we'll say withstand the test of time.
Did that withstand the test of time?
That's just longer.
So instead we say, did that hold up?
Yeah.
So maybe that one will be a bonus today on the app.
We'll see.
We'll see.
All right.
Good stuff.
What else, Aubrey?
Yes.
So this, what we shared here, this phrasal verb, the mistake we hear, where someone would say like they hold up a belief or they hold up a theory, the correction might be with this phrasal verb and saying instead that belief holds up.
And it means like it has stood the test of time.
It still makes sense.
It still is valid.
And that could be what you mean.
So if that's your intention, you'd want to use the phrasal verb, right?
His belief holds up or that belief holds up.
It means I agree with it in spite of, you know, maybe time has passed.
100%.
Okay, Aubrey, what else do we need to know then here?
Yes.
So depending on what you mean, the correction of this mistake might be different.
Maybe what you actually mean to say is they hold a belief, which just means you believe something.
Right.
It's clear that words are getting mixed up from what you've heard from students a little bit, but what exactly do we mean?
We need to understand it to know what the correction should be, right?
So now we're moving into the second piece again about what we believe, the things we believe.
Exactly.
So we use this verb hold.
It has many definitions.
We use it as a verb and as a noun.
You're surely familiar with physically holding a book, holding someone's hand.
Oh, yeah.
Those are easy.
There's another definition that's a little bit more complicated.
That's about having something in mind as a judgment, opinion or belief.
Yeah, I'd say more interesting.
And I know our listeners want to be interesting when they speak.
They want to speak about these more figurative things, about beliefs values culture politics, things like that right.
Exactly.
So you could say, for example, she holds the belief that everyone should be equal.
And this is just sort of a more polished way of saying she believes that everyone should be equal.
It's a little, it's up-leveled a little bit to say it in this way.
Hmm.
Or, for example, I hold the view that this is wrong.
This feels formal, right?
But there could be a time and place to say that.
Yeah, I like this as a phrase for arguments and debates.
It's slightly less blunt than I think or my opinion is, right?
It keeps conversation professional and more formal, which tends toward calm, thoughtful conversations instead of heated arguments right.
And I think it's important that you mentioned debate, right?
This idea, this is so... quite far on the formal side that I wouldn't say this in a conversation.
Even if I were debating someone like sitting on the couch, I would need to be almost be on a stage behind a podium.
To say that.
Do you agree?
Yeah.
It's interesting.
It does feel quite a bit more formal.
But I could see myself saying like I understand where you're coming from if I feel something getting heated.
And then I say, you know, on the other hand, I hold the view that.
And you're very respectfully stating your opinion in a way that's not so direct.
Right, right, right.
I see what you mean.
Yeah.
So when things get heated, sometimes people do go to you know, in an informal situation go to become formal right.
To kind of mash the emotions at times.
Yeah, to eliminate maybe contention, or yeah, I think it's a really good skill to use language that isn't as divisive or isn't as inflammatory.
Both of those words I'm going to put in the app as bonus.
Great for the app.
Yes.
There's a lot of good vocabulary for diffusing a situation.
Okay.
What about hold a grudge?
Yeah, this is a really great expression.
This means you can't let go of feelings of anger or resentment, but it's using the same definition of hold right.
So someone who wronged you you're having a hard time forgiving.
We would say I'm having a hard time.
I'm holding a grudge.
And so painful to do that for you, right?
If you do it yourself, that's painful.
It's not painful for the other person because sometimes they don't even know.
It's about forgiveness.
Yeah.
Right.
But it might be eating away at you when you have these negative feelings and it's hard to get past it.
Not good.
And then holding against, right?
So allowing someone's past actions to have a negative influence on one's present attitude.
So what does that mean?
Yes.
So for example, she holds everything I say against me.
So you're allowing something from the past to affect how you feel about someone now.
It means you're holding something against them.
Oh, not good.
Okay.
So we've learned a lot of new angles on this word hold, Aubrey.
Should we do a role play just to see how this all comes together?
Yeah.
And this is what's crazy, how hold has so many meanings.
And even for one meaning, for one definition, we still use that in so many.
There's so many nuanced ways that we use that one definition right.
I know.
It's crazy, right?
We're not talking about 25 definitions.
We're talking about one definition and different uses of it, right?
That's important to, or five for our listeners here.
Okay yes, let's do a role play.
So in this one lindsay, you are maria, checking in with me, your friend, i'm sarah, and my relationship recently ended.
That's why i've given us different names.
Sometimes i'm like oh, this could be something we would say like my relationship did not recently end, so we were just in this situation.
But you go ahead and start us out lindsay, all right here, we go, all right.
So how are you holding up?
I'm all right, told you, he ghosted me, right?
I'm trying not to hold a grudge.
Oh, that's tough.
It'd be hard not to hold it against him.
A friend gave me the advice that i should stay angry and i'd feel better, but that theory did not hold up.
Oh yeah, i definitely hold the belief that letting go of that anger will help you move on right, and i'm sure that we've all learned this.
You know in the dating world that letting go of things really does give you that freedom.
Absolutely yes, because you're thinking about it more.
If you're holding this grudge and holding this anger, you're letting it affect your daily life.
Like, don't let them have that power over you right exactly exactly, wow.
So we want our listeners here to hold on for the next episode over on business english.
Right aubry, absolutely right.
There's so much great information about hold.
We want you to get those phrasal verbs that you'd use at work, the idioms over on ielts energy podcast.
So yeah, lots of good information today.
Yeah, good stuff.
Any final thought on just what we talked about here on All Ears English?
Anything specific about this use, maybe letting go, holding onto things, anything else?
Yeah, I feel like there has been a lot of great info here, right?
These are really excellent conversation starters.
This is how you make deeper connections with people.
Ask them how they're holding up if you know they've been going through something difficult, right?
Ask them about the beliefs they hold.
If you have gotten past the small talk and you're wanting to deepen your relationship.
This phrasal verb hold up and the verb hold is used in a lot of ways to do that
Yeah, these are connection.
These are the start of connection.
Just take one thing you've learned today guys put it into action in conversation.
That builds connection.
I love it.
So good, Aubrey.
Well, thanks for bringing this to the show today, Aubrey.
I appreciate it.
Yes, awesome.
We'll see you in the next part of the series over on the Business English Podcast.
Sounds good.
Talk soon.
Bye.
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