This is an all-years English podcast episode 2,211.
Ouch! How to respond to physical or emotional pain in English.
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Hey there, Michelle. How's everything for you today?
Everything is good over here. How are you?
I'm feeling great. I'm just back from my trip to Panama and I'm ready to get into allyearsenglish again, but you have a question for me today.
When's the last time you got physically hurt?
I remember when I was sandboarding in Southern Colorado. I got a nasty scab.
It really hurt. For you, Michelle, what about you?
I have always the toe-stubbing issue.
It's always a problem for me. I'm always crashing into things. It's funny. My kids are always falling in my family.
Also, the other day I got a paper cut in the grocery store. I was reaching up to grab coffee and it was in a cardboard box that I was grabbing.
And I got a paper cut there.
I guess it was a cardboard cut. Those could be nasty.
I guess the fact that you're always falling means that you're adventuring out into the world.
You're actually doing things on the ski hill. They say that if you're not falling, you're not challenging yourself.
That's a good thing that you and your family are always falling.
I would say it's more my kids.
My son is always, I think he fell, he fell just this morning on the way to school.
He just faced plan into the sidewalk. So that's fine.
So that's okay.
But we're going to be talking about this more today about the word ouch because we got to listen to a question on YouTube.
But before we get into that, we had a key poll, guys, if you don't know, we've been doing these key polls on Spotify.
Where we ask you specific questions to hear from you, to interact with you.
And then we read you the results once we get some good results.
So let's go over the results for one of them today.
This was from episode 2175.
So if you haven't listened to that episode yet, definitely go into it.
But what was the question for that, Lindsay?
Oh my gosh, yes. This is a great question.
So the question was, what is your diet? Are you more of a vegan?
Are you a vegetarian, which is not exactly the same thing, right, Michelle?
No.
Or are you a meat eater? And what was our result, Michelle?
What is the status of our audience diet was?
When you looked into this, you said, wow, we have a lot of meat eaters.
So 80% of you selected meat eater.
So that's a lot.
And then 14% was vegetarian and only 6% was vegan.
I feel like we can do really cool things with our surveys because we have a cross section of the entire world.
Right. Right. Our listeners are from all over the world.
We are getting, this is kind of a valid survey in a way of what the world's diet is.
Right.
It's not just one country. Very cool. I love it.
All right, Michelle. What are we getting into today?
Okay. So we are going to talk about the word, ouch.
But before we do that, guys, remember, if you haven't hit follow yet on the all-erase English podcast, make sure to hit that button so you never miss anything from us.
Totally. And by the way, we are now publishing episodes on Saturdays.
Yes. So take us along with you on your trip to the gym.
If you take your dog for a walk in the park, Saturdays are usually a little more chill.
Right, Michelle? I mean, what are your, what is your Saturday vibe? Like, is it more chaotic or is it more chill?
It depends.
It depends. Sometimes it could be more chaotic, but this weekend we had a little bit more of a chill weekend just in the area.
We didn't take the car anywhere. So that was nice.
All right. So guys, you have the option to bring all those English along with you.
Whatever you do, whether your vibe is chill or busier on the weekends, all right.
And don't forget to hit that follow button. Michelle, could you read our listeners' question from YouTube?
Yes. This is from Daniel Brooks, 4474.
And Daniel writes, my favorite word is ouch.
I don't know why, but I've always been fascinated by its use by so many people,
as well as the fact that it's not generally taught as an interjection in grammar,
but learned during childhood.
I'd love for you to analyze the word, its origins, use, etc.
So this was fun. The word ouch to do a whole episode on the word ouch.
I believe we talked about things like stubbing our toes, similar kinds of ideas,
but today we're really going to talk about this word ouch.
So this is a fun question. Lindsay, what does ouch mean? ouch.
Oh, it just means usually it is ouch. It means ouch. Right?
I mean, I've experienced some kind of pain. It was really what I think of when I hear the word ouch. Right. It's kind of an interjection.
Michelle, it's kind of an interjection, just a short word. Right.
And as you said, you can also say ouch. So those are really the same. Lindsay, would you say there's anything,
is there ever a reason, a specific reason why you would choose one over the other?
I would say they're quite similar. Yeah. Yeah. It just depends on your mood. Maybe ouch is a little bit more playful,
but no, they mean the same thing. Exactly. They mean the same thing. Yeah. That's what I would say.
So I did look into this and on oed.com, that's the Oxford English Addictionary.
They researched this a little bit and they, I'm just going to quote from their website.
It says, the earliest known use of the word ouch is in the 1830s. OEDs earliest evidence for ouch is from 1838 in the writing of Joseph Clay Neal.
ouch is perhaps a borrowing from German. So like, German would be ouch, I guess. Right.
I don't know how I would pronounce that, but A-U-T-S-C-H.
Well, it makes sense because a lot of the English language comes from German. Right.
So it makes total sense that ouch would be originally a German word. Interesting.
So I think learning words like this guy is what's really going to bring you to connection.
Because sometimes we bump, we stop our toe, we bump our head. What are you going to say?
You have to have something to say in English. Yeah. Yeah. You do need to have something to say.
And it's kind of a satisfying word to say. It helps you express that pain.
It would be weird to stub your toe or something and not say anything.
I think we've maybe talked about this with curse words before too.
I was going to say that it's better to have this, this is a better alternative than curse words. Right.
Because you don't know who's around. You don't want to be dropping curse words all the time.
Maybe just in your home, if you're on your own or with your partner. But yeah, if you're on the people around,
it's more polite to say something like ouch. Right. Right. Exactly.
So we're going to talk about two key ways that we use this.
So the first one is the way that we've been discussing. So something hurts physically.
So maybe I feel like it's mostly for sharp or something that happens that comes on that maybe you weren't expecting or doing.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. Like a stub toe, a random sharp pain.
Do you ever have that? Do you ever have something where you have this pain?
You have no idea where it came from and it's out of nowhere. Yeah. Oh, your body bone.
Oh, the funny bone. The funny bone. Yes. Not so funny.
I wonder if I'm sure there are translations and other languages for that.
But it's that weird bone in your elbow that when you hit it, it just hurts so much.
Ouch. Right. And I agree with you Michelle. It's like a sudden.
Ouch is appropriate for a sudden pain. It's not when let's say you're recovering from a surgery.
And it's an ongoing chronic pain that you've been feeling all day. It wouldn't make sense.
It's like, oh, I hit my funny bone. Ouch. Right. Or let's say you are recovering from a surgery.
And it's not it's a pain that comes on all of a sudden.
Maybe you're trying to move in your bed or something and you kind of do it the wrong way.
So just but the point is it's not. Yeah.
It's not really used for the dull, ongoing pain.
100%. That makes total sense. And I want to say one other way in which we might use it.
So not just for the person. So, you know, in college, you study mirror neurons. Right.
If you're a psych major empathy is mirror neurons.
You ever get that feeling, Michelle, when you're watching a show on TV and let's say someone breaks their legs,
you feel a pain inside you like you feel a jolt of.
Oh, you almost felt the pain.
Ever get that? Yes. Sometimes when you're watching, I don't know that I feel the pain, but you kind of kind of imagine what it would feel like.
And yeah, yeah, definitely it makes you flinch or you get some sort of reaction.
And I feel like probably human beings are the only ones that experiences. I don't I don't know for sure, but I doubt that animals experience this.
I feel like it's the highest level of empathy.
It's what allowed us to survive as a species.
But what I'm saying here is, out can be used to mirror back to someone else when they've experienced when you see like your son or your husband hit their funny bone.
You could say, oh, how's are you okay? Right. Yes.
Definitely. So it can show empathy that you feel something too, that you're concerned.
So it's good in that way as well.
And then you could also use it.
The second way is more for an emotional pain.
So you could use it about yourself or Lindsay, like kind of what you were saying to comment on someone or something else.
So let's give some examples there. You want to say the first one? Yeah.
So we can say, oh, okay, I didn't get the job out. Yeah. Right. So that hurt me. Right.
That's. Yes.
Or you could say she told him she wasn't interested in him. Ouch.
All right. Maybe she was really excited or he was really excited about this guy, this girl and like hoping that she was interested and then.
Oh, there's that sudden news. Right. Yes. Yes. We're here's a little role play. Lindsay. Okay. All right. Here we go.
Well, you're cooking isn't great. Ouch. Sorry. You knew that. I know. I know.
I just kind of out. Kind of direct, but we would have to be close friends.
Yeah. For me to be teasing you to say that. Yeah.
So that's interesting. So you've said something a little offensive, not offensive, but a little bit of a criticism.
Yeah. And maybe you're indicating sometimes people use this to indicate that what the person has said is maybe not okay.
Like it's hit them the wrong way.
A little bit.
Yeah. And you have to kind of say it in that way. Ouch. Ouch. Why? Why'd you bring that into the conversation?
Right. Whereas maybe the person thought it would be okay.
It's kind of interesting dynamics going on here with this word. So, Linda, do you think that the word ow would be as good with these context or yeah.
So that's interesting because we were saying there's really no not much of a difference. But I do feel for this emotional pain.
Ouch is more so used than ow. I couldn't. I don't know. I can't say myself going ow. It's more.
Yeah. I know that's a really good point, which I'm glad you said that at the top of the episode, we said when it comes to bumping something or having a sudden physical pain.
Yes. Ow. Ouch. But when we get into these more nuanced back and forth conversations criticizing someone or realizing you failed on a test or you're getting dumped.
No, it's just out. Yeah. Generally, of course, you're going to hear everything under the sun. But but generally, I would say that's a good way to decide how to use that word versus out.
Yes. Okay, Michelle. So tell us more about this word. Where are we going to take this?
Okay. So it can be used in more of a serious or joking way even when it comes to emotions, depending on the tone of voice. So in that example about the cooking, maybe it's something you always make fun of me about or maybe I'm self deprecating about my cooking.
So you said it and I'm right. Ouch. So it really depends on the tone of voice.
But yeah. And then also some kids may say something like they have an outchi. You ever hear that? Yeah. Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. And that's just for kids.
Like, don't say that. Yeah. No. That's that's for kids. And it's just when kids get hurt. Right. It's not because kids wouldn't really have the ability until a certain age to say when someone's criticizing that.
I don't think kids would really think that way at a young age. Right. Oh, you are a bad cook or an outch. No, it's that's a more adult like response. I think exactly. Yeah.
I wanted to my son if he told me something who is upset about I wouldn't say out. Or if he criticized me or something I wouldn't say out.
It's more it's more of an adult an adult way of speaking for sure. But in the future we can do a follow up on how to express disappointment using one word. So like, oh man, Shucks, things like that.
But there's this just it's fun to focus on this one word. It's really fun. Do you think out just two informal for work or what do you think?
Again, this really depends on your workplace. I don't think you would be too informal for our workplace. Right. Because there we have a very small team or remote team.
We're relatively close and casual. But in a large company, you know, if your boss is giving you feedback in a performance review annual performance review.
Yeah, I would avoid it. Yes, that is a very good point as far as for the emotional side that we were talking about if you're getting feedback from somebody who's your boss, somebody at a higher status level.
I wouldn't say out totally. But even even on our team, you know, if someone's giving feedback, I also wouldn't say that with us. It is a little bit unprofessional.
It's not a professional. Yeah, it's not a professional thing to say with the emotional aspect, I think. But what about physical? If you if you stubbed your toe in a meeting, would you say, out or do you think, out is a little bit?
No, no, no, I wouldn't worry. I wouldn't differentiate in that case 100%. I think both are fine. That's just a human event. And like we say, we are human beings at work in the office, whether we work for a fortune 500 or a tiny company like us. Right.
The only other way I would imagine using something like out in the workplace for any company would be, our numbers are down this quarter out.
What happened to happen to that line of business, right? Right. Because that's a collective thing.
Mm-hmm. That's a good point. That's a good point. So should we do a role play? Yeah, let's do it. Here we go. So here we are cooking dinner. We're cooking together. So here we go.
Okay, so I'll throw the pasta in. Ow, ow, ow. The water just splattered on my hand.
Who are you? Okay. Yes. Oh, you know, you should be more careful.
Ouch, Michelle. Ouch. Just kidding. I'm fine.
All right. So you're upset with me because I wasn't being careful with the water. And then we got into a little bit of a like,
out. Now we're offending each other and kind of hurting each other a little bit, right? Yeah. Exactly. And Lindsay just does a key word. What does that mean to splatter the water splattered on my hand?
I'm going to bonus work today. Yes. Bonus work today.
So it's when it's kind of like splash. Essentially it's what is the difference between splatter and splash? Actually, I'm going to come back to you with a question.
Okay. I think you put in this situation. I think you could use it interchangeably. The water splashes.
Yeah. I would say I would say maybe it has a depending on what the liquid is. For example, paint splatters. You want to say paint splashes.
Yeah. I think it has to be the item that's falling somewhere has to be more wet to splash as it contains more fluids, more liquids.
Whereas something that splatters could be like certain kinds of painting or like splatter painting. Like maybe Jackson Pollock, I don't know. I don't think I don't know.
Maybe he kind of use a little bit of that. Like we probably have artists that are just cringing right now. But you know, dip the paint brush.
The people will just splatter paint and just kind of like do that with their paint brush and get it all over the canvas. That feels like splattering. I'm sure there's some more artistic work.
So maybe splash would have been the better one. Actually, I don't know. Well, it's fine. I think you thank you. So you said all the other the pasta and then I said, ow, ow, ow.
Right. And I could have said, ow. So it doesn't. Yeah. Right. And there's a sense of urgency there. Kind of a warning. You're trying to step back from the heat. Yeah, you've been injured physical injury.
For sure. Have you ever been injured in the kitchen? Yes. I think I've talked about it on this podcast when I cut my hand open cutting open an avocado.
Oh, that's right. We know that story. Yeah. Okay. Good stuff. And then I you said, yes, you know, you should be more careful. And then now you're getting a little
confrontational. You're blaming me. And I'm saying, out Michelle. Mm hmm. And then I'm saying just messing around. And I just say, out just kidding. I'm fine. So. Okay. All right.
Interesting. So you guys have seen how we're using it for physical injury primarily. And then all sorts of interesting ways to connect. Right. With other people. Super interesting here. Yeah. This was
a really fun question. I enjoyed it. Take away for today is it's a lot. First of all, it's a lot of fun to have a conversation about one word.
And it's just one of those super useful words. Sometimes the smallest words are the most useful in a weird way. In English, the smallest words can say so much.
It's such a good point. Michelle, that is a good takeaway. We don't need to go study the dictionary and learn these huge words that we can't quite fully understand.
So just insert little words. We build connection. And that is our goal here in all English. That's right. All right. Let's say well, thanks again to Daniel Brooks for this question. And I'll see you on the next episode. All right. Take care, Michelle. Bye. Bye.
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