This is an All-Ears English Podcast episode 2214.
Hit the jackpot with these lucky English phrases.
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Are you a lucky person expressing that you feel lucky
or that something great has happened
is a high level connection skill?
Find out how to do it with this fun English vocabulary today.
Hey, Michelle, how you doing today?
How's everything?
Everything is good, Lindsay.
Would you say that you...
What, well, what would you say that you are lucky about in life?
Oh my gosh, Michelle, I could go on forever.
I'm so grateful for so many things and lucky.
My partner, my parents, my brother, my dogkeeper, of course.
Yeah, what about you, Michelle?
I mean, there's so much to be grateful for and lucky about.
Right, yeah, I feel grateful for my family.
I feel grateful for the experiences that I've had,
the traveling I've done, lots of things that I feel lucky about.
So today we're going to talk about how to say something really amazing happened.
But we want you guys to listen until the end for sure
because we have been doing Spotify key polls.
And these are, if you're listening on Spotify,
it's a great way to interact with us
because we have a poll for the episode
and then we can read the results for you.
So just wait until the end to hear what that is.
Yeah.
And also head on over to episode 2196.
That was when to do, when everyone says your name incorrectly.
So that was an interesting one.
Yeah, that was interesting.
We also did an episode about what to do when you share a name with someone
how to connect to that moment.
We've had a lot of good episodes about names.
So interesting.
I mean, guys, also don't forget to hit follow on the show.
And remember that we now publish all our English on Saturdays.
So we can be an exciting part of your weekend.
Right? If you're too busy during the week,
maybe you're listening, you want to add that Saturday episode,
maybe you have a little more time to catch up,
go into the back catalog.
We can be a part of your Saturday.
Right?
Excellent.
Love that.
Love that.
Okay.
So we are going to get to this.
So the phrase that we are starting to go over is to hit the jackpot.
Lindsay, what do you think about this one?
Yeah.
So this is obviously, you know, this is literally going back to,
I guess slot machines or, you know,
Las Vegas.
It can be literally, but it's often, so it can be,
sometimes it's about gambling, but it's usually not about that.
It's actually about something great happened in your life.
Right?
Right.
Right.
It comes from the idea of something with gambling, I believe.
Yes.
But it's, it's not really used in that literal sense quite as much because how often do people
actually hit the jackpot?
Yeah.
We're not condoning gambling in this episode.
Guys, don't get us wrong.
Don't misunderstand.
We're showing you a phrase that's been taken from betting and moved into the general conversation
in English, which is super interesting.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
So again, this can be more, can be more literal,
but the jackpot would be to be a lot of, make a lot of money,
but it's used more figuratively.
So let's, let's give some examples here at Lindsay.
What's the first one?
Wow.
I really have to hit the jackpot when I met you.
That's cute, right?
It's a nice compliment to someone.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
It's very complimentary.
What else?
Okay.
Or you can say she hit the jackpot with that new hire.
Yes.
Okay.
Interesting.
Or she hit the jackpot when he, when he got that car on sale,
sorry, he, he had the jackpot when he got that car on sale.
So it's about so much more than just being given something like a windfall.
It's about you got a good angle on something.
You found something great.
It's going to help you in the future.
You got a good deal, right?
It's a lot of things.
Right.
Right.
Could be a lot of different things.
So another thing you could say is luck out or lucked out.
So this is the same idea as hit the jackpot, right?
Lindsay, just it's not mentioning the gambling aspect.
Right.
Right.
For sure.
So for example, we lucked out having such great neighbors all these years.
Right.
Those are you have good neighbors?
Yeah.
Nowadays I do.
Someone new has just moved in next store.
For every what we live in a set of four townhouses and everyone is kind of on the younger side.
They want to invest in keeping up their property, which is good because we share walls, right?
Yeah.
So yeah, I feel like I lucked out.
What about you and your building?
Yes.
I really, well, one of them moved away, but there's one that lives across the hall.
I may have mentioned her and we have kids that are the same age.
And so we always run into each other in the hall.
And sometimes it's really great to run into each other in the hall.
And sometimes we mess each other up.
For example, if the kids are coming home at the end of the day and then they see each other
and they rile each other up.
Or if it's the beginning of the day and they're trying to go to school and then I come out into
the hallway and then everybody gets delayed.
Interesting.
Okay.
So sometimes in that case it's not the best time to interact, right?
But overall it sounds like you lucked out.
Is this the person that you were seeing all the time and then you finally introduced yourself?
Or is that someone different?
Probably the oldest story about like someone that you saw all the time at the coffee shop?
Or maybe that was someone else.
I think that's someone different.
I think that's someone different.
But yeah, no, but I definitely lucked out with my neighbors.
Or you could say we lucked out when we found our condos.
So people might feel that they got lucky with it.
Yeah, it's about finding something specific in your life, something specific happening.
And it's just a really good way to express this.
So you could say hit the jackpot, you could say lucked out.
We're going to go over another one in just a second.
Yeah, I mean, I would just add to that.
Also, this can often be about timing, right?
So for example, I feel like most people, if they bought a house in prior to 2021 before like,
I don't know, February of 2022, they feel like they lucked out because that's when
interest rates unfortunately started going up.
And that's an issue we have in our country right now.
A lot of people feel locked out locked out.
When you're locked out, you didn't lock out.
Yeah, unfortunately a lot of people do feel locked out of the housing market.
And it's causing, you know, issues for people for sure.
So that can be timing, right?
As well when you look at certain real estate is very much about timing.
I know that some people they can just make so much money when they sell a place
and then a couple of years later, you had the same place and you're not going to get that kind of boost.
It's pretty incredible.
Yeah, especially the roller coaster ride real estate's been on in the US in the last 10 or 20 years
as wild. Totally wild.
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
Okay, Michelle.
So are there other ways if we want to try something different that we've had a windfall?
Like something great has happened.
What could we say?
Okay, so this is a little bit different.
So this is too hit it big.
So this to me is more about the success aspect, but there's still a side of it that feels like
it's a little bit about luck. What do you think?
Yeah, I think it's the term hit it big.
It probably comes back to some form of betting or something, right?
Yeah.
So it does feel like it brings in luck.
Yeah, I hit it big when I decided to take a risk and quit my job.
I only found a better job.
Right?
Nice.
So yeah, you could have said I hit the jackpot and I found a better job.
So that would be good as well.
Or you could say she hit it big once she finally moved out of her place and pounded the pavement
to find a job.
Yeah.
Okay.
Nice.
This one to me feels as far as hit the jackpot, I feel it's a little bit more versatile.
You could say you hit the jackpot about a person, you hit the jackpot about a job, whatever
it is.
You wouldn't really say I hit it big with my friends.
It's more about probably used in more of a career aspect.
Yeah, or financial gain, I would say for sure.
Financial gain.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Exactly.
So Lindsay, I'm just curious.
Guys, again, we're not condoning gambling.
But have you ever have you ever hit the jackpot or lucked out or hit it big in the casino or
elsewhere?
I hate Vegas, Michelle.
I went to Vegas to see Adele and I just saw Adele.
I do not.
Yeah.
I hate it.
I hate the casinos.
I hate how smoking is allowed in the casino.
So if you go to a conference in Vegas, there's the conference rooms or everything smokey.
No, but I would say the place I lucked out or hit it big was getting my first department
in New York, which is a rent control department on the Upper East Side Lexington Avenue and
88th Street.
Yes, incredible.
Impossible to find a few blocks from Central Park.
I don't know how I ever left.
I'm glad I left because I had to explore the world, but it was a great deal.
So I hit it big.
That's good.
That's good.
Yeah.
But so you don't, so you're not a gambler.
No, I hate, I hate Las Vegas and everything.
I just know.
Yeah, what about you, Michelle?
Do you like to gamble sometimes or not really?
I mean, maybe for $5.
I played poker a little bit in my day, but for not very much money, really probably about
for $5.
Dan and I, Dan does like to try roulette a little bit at the casino if we go, but he has
a very, very conservative strategy.
Oh, good.
So, and I kind of, I think I hold him back a little bit because I say, okay, okay, it's
done.
We're done.
Yeah, you got to step away, step away.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So, but I do feel like I hit the jackpot when I met him.
So that's, I think that people use that expression a lot about their partners.
So sorry, that's a little mushy, but yeah, these are good.
These are good for connection because you can share pivotal, happy moments in your life
and also show gratefulness.
So, they're really useful for just showing that you feel lucky about something.
Oh, for sure.
I love it.
Yeah, and you have to recognize those things.
Um, obviously, you know, be aware who you're talking to, you know, like with the conversation
around buying a house, I'm always very aware when I bring that up that, yeah, around the
interest rates going up, I'm very aware that a lot of the population just wasn't ready
to buy a house at that time.
Right.
So, yeah, may feel locked out and that's a, that's a hard conversation.
So I wouldn't go around gloating about that.
Right.
No, just be careful.
Just be careful.
Let's do a role play here, Michelle.
Let's do it.
We are friends at dinner.
All right.
Here we go.
I can't believe we got a reservation.
We really hit the jackpot.
Oh, definitely.
There's supposed to be a three month wait, but we locked out.
Yeah.
This place really hit it big.
They deserve it.
Nice.
This is a great example.
Something is hard to get, but you got it, which is the seat at the right, a table at the
restaurant restaurant, which is very in fashion, but you got it and you feel lucky.
Great example of hit the jackpot here.
Hit the jackpot.
You feel unlucky.
Yes.
So, you said there's supposed to be a three month wait.
We locked out.
Yeah.
For sure.
And then you said, yeah, this place really hit it big.
And again, what do you mean by that?
They really, like they became a huge demand.
They're successful.
They're successful, very successful.
Yeah.
Maybe they were a little under the radar at first, who knows, but then maybe the right
New York Times columnists came in from the food section and realized, oh my gosh, this
place, they have an amazing food.
They have amazing food.
They wrote about them and then they hit it big.
They exploded.
Right.
Exactly.
Yes.
Yes.
So, guys, these are three expressions that you can use to talk about luck, something that
you feel grateful for.
And we mentioned that we were going to have a Spotify key poll.
So, guys, now that we are at the end, the poll is, did you hit the jackpot with your neighbors?
Yes or no?
So, we basically want to know, how lucky do you feel about your neighbors that you have?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They easy to communicate with.
Will they get your mail for you?
Do they keep their houses up to date, which affects your property values, of course, right?
All these things.
All right, Michelle, what's the takeaway for today?
Okay, well, this is all about luck connecting over luck and feeling grateful for something.
It's good for sharing stories about things that have happened in your life.
It's good for expressing opinions.
There's so much that you can use these for that have nothing to do with the casino or
Vegas.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then there's one last question I want to drop and see what you think, Michelle.
This is a hard question to answer.
It's something that we could leave our listeners thinking about in life in general.
How much of success is luck and how much is hard work in your opinion?
It's so hard to generalize, but what do you think?
I think it's maybe 70% hard work, 30% luck.
What do you think?
Nice, nice.
What do you think?
I might actually move these days more towards the 50, 50, actually, 50% hard work, 50%
luck.
I think there are so many things in life where we are lucky and we don't even realize
it.
I'm curious what our listeners think.
Maybe another day will ask that question.
We'll bring it back up maybe on social media or something.
Michelle.
Yeah.
Perfect.
All right.
Good stuff.
All right.
Well, this was fun.
Lindsay, thanks for chatting and we hope you hit the jackpot today on wherever it is.
All right.
Sounds good, Michelle.
Talk to you soon.
Bye.
Bye.
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