This is an All-Ears English Podcast episode 2,233.
Ugh, oops. Oh no! Put everything in English.
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Are you feeling stuck with your English?
We'll show you how to become 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.
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Looking for a quick way to get more comfortable in English?
Put your reactions to being clumsy in English by using key expressions.
Today, you'll get seven ways to do it in English.
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you?
Excellent, Michelle. How are you?
What's going on? I'm good.
I'm good. Lindsay, do you drop things a lot?
I do, Michelle. I'm constantly dropping my phone.
It's hilarious. Yeah, thank goodness.
That's why I always buy a case for it, because I don't know how it doesn't break, but it's always flying out of my hands.
Yeah, it's my phone. My phone is not in good shape.
The camera glass is falling.
Yes, I need to get a new one.
Do you spill things a lot?
Do you tend to spill things in addition to dropping things?
My children do. I have a joke with some of my friends that I feel, it seems that most days there's a spill in my house.
So for a while, I would take a picture and say, oh, here's the milk spill of the day and just send it to my friend.
I mean, yes, there's a lot of dropping things.
It's not always because of me, but I would say my son.
He's a big drop. That's cute.
That makes sense. That makes sense with spilling things.
These are aspects of being human, Michelle.
Very, very human. Yes, exactly.
So that's what we're going to be talking about today before we get into that.
Guys, if you haven't heard yet, we are doing something really fun.
We've been doing this for a while now on Spotify.
We have polls to interact with our listeners.
So we give you a question and we want to hear the answer.
If you're listening on Spotify, you can actually interact with us through these polls.
And then we read the results on air.
So we are going to share from a while back, we did episode 2195.
That was six phrasal verbs to describe your dating life in English.
And the poll we did was how long does it take to move on from a relationship?
So yeah. Do you want to read the results?
For sure, we got a good spread here, Michelle.
Different results. Of course, it does depend on what kind of relationship are we talking about, right?
And but this was just an open question for you guys.
So 22 of you, sorry, 22% of you said one week, 40% of you said one to three months, 14% of you said over six months, and 25% said over one year.
So Michelle, I think it just comes down to what kind of relationship was this?
Was this like a marriage, a multi-year marriage, or was this just like a few months of dating, right?
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Although a few months of dating, that can hurt too, you never, of course.
It all depends on how you felt.
And if you thought there was a future, right?
So it can take a while to get over it.
Maybe one person it takes longer than the other person.
Yeah, no, oh my gosh, when I was in, even in my 30s and 20s, like I definitely had some periods that it took me longer than maybe I felt like it should have to get over a breakup, right?
A shorter relationship, but it just hit me hard at that moment in life, right?
So guys, go back and check out that episode.
And we love talking about dating.
That's always a fun topic, Michelle.
It is. And then you always have the songs that come up.
Oh, yeah. When you hear a song, yeah, I mean, it actually isn't all of Taylor Swift's entire repertoire of bank of songs, all about breaking breakups, like that's what I mean, topic.
I guess. Pretty much, yeah.
So, yeah, interesting.
So thanks for sharing your results, your opinions with us.
So yes. All right. And also a reminder to get our AllEars English app, go to allewsenglish.com slash app.
Yeah, go over get the app guys.
You will see live transcripts right there inside the episodes human created with crosstalk, right?
And you will be able to tap on keywords that we've selected for you to add to your personal power list.
You can't get that opportunity anywhere else.
Michelle, let's get into this topic of just being human today, dropping things, spilling things.
Yeah. I was saying it in English.
I'm super excited for today.
I'm excited. So we came up with this idea on the Oopsy Daisy episode.
I don't remember that. Of course.
That was episode 207, make your English bloom with this flowery vocabulary.
And we were talking about naughty, naughty, nodding hill.
So that's where this episode was inspired from.
So go and listen to that.
But this episode is about short words that show frustration, often about dropping something, making a quick mistake.
And we last episode I'll shout out.
But we did a similar idea on episode 2211.
That was out, shout out to respond to physical or emotional pain in English.
So. Wow. Yes. Yeah. We really do.
Yeah, I think connection, not perfection.
That's what we believe in here.
And I think a big part of connection is finding English that lets you live life in English, not just making English an academic endeavor in the classroom.
Right? That's the old way.
That's the wrong way. The connection method, which is our method, focusing on living in English.
And in that case, we need these little words to express moments of feeling different things.
That's what we get today.
And guess what? Sometimes these are about talking to yourself.
Sometimes you're not saying this to anybody.
So, but maybe there's something that you use from your first language that you say all the time.
See if you can switch it over because even talking to yourself in English is going to help.
Yeah, for sure. And I remember learning other languages like Spanish, like Japanese, living in these places, and hearing these types of words, and thinking, oh, it just sounds so cool.
It just sounds so cool. These are words of here all the time.
It would be so cool if I could start to naturally develop these tiny little words and add them in.
I would be so natural in the language.
Right? Yeah. It's definitely the next step of just, if you've got even these little moments, they're kind of key.
Yeah, so all right. Well, then we left our listeners in the dark too long.
What are these words, Michelle?
Let's get it over here. All right.
Well, I think the main one is just, ugh.
We usually spell it, you G H, right?
Yeah. Yeah, you make that sound in your throat.
Ugh. Right. So it's interesting because when you look at the spelling of this, it looks like it should be, ugh, yeah, but it's not.
Yeah. Ugh. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
How might that sound, Lindsay?
Ugh, who say this? You could say, ugh, there go the apples.
What's the context there?
There go the apples. Yeah, they've fallen out of your cart.
Oh, yes. The dropping. Oh, of course.
Of course. You dropped some apples.
Right. You ever dropped something in the grocery store and it's like rolling down the aisle?
Oh. On the carto. It's another one.
It's in the pile. Yeah. Oh, for sure.
And there's definitely, this kind of has a connotation of your annoyed, right?
It's definitely negative, right?
Your annoyed. You are bothered by this kind of a sense of like, ugh, it's a bit hopeless feeling that you could beg through this, ugh.
Don't you think? What was the connotation behind it?
Yeah. Yeah, you're a little annoyed.
You're frustrated. Now you have to, you might have to pick up all the apples.
Right. And you have to deal with it.
Yeah. Sometimes it gives you a sense of piling something on top of something else.
Like let's say earlier in the day, you had a bed day work at the office.
And let's say you lost a client or something.
And then you go to the grocery store.
And now the apples are dropping.
It's like, ugh. It's like, you are already resigned.
Like you're already tired.
There's something there.
Do you know what I mean? Right.
Yeah. That makes me think of the expression when it rains at pores.
Right, right. Sure. I love it.
In the app. So yeah, it was like one one thing bad happens.
That's something else happens.
Yeah, you had a bed day at work.
And now you dropped all the apples out the grocery store.
Yeah. Exactly. I say don't use it too much.
I get at home in my private life.
I use this a lot. And my partner gets annoyed.
Oh, really? Yeah. Because it does have kind of a negative, I don't know.
It just sort of, if you use it too much, it starts to feel very negative, right?
Yeah. I don't know. I have a question.
Do you text this word? Yes.
Yes. I think I did that yesterday.
Yes. This is a textible word.
Yes, this is a textible word.
But it's not for, it's interesting.
I think it's a little bit different over text.
I think it's used. I don't, it's not used.
No, no, no, I think it's more used for, I mean, because it's not about dropping something.
It's just about something irritating them.
It happened. Yeah. Oh, I have to go to the, get my new driver's license.
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That's right. That's funny.
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Okay, Michelle. But that's not all right.
There are a few more. Not all.
I threw out a bunch today because these are short.
So the next one is oh no. Right.
Simple. Yeah. Yes. And I like this one because this can actually be a nice way to respond when someone shares something negative that happened to them.
Right. And that one's a little bit unique.
So yeah, I can say, oh no.
Did you did that get on your clothes?
I'll say you say that to your kid.
You know, they spelled their ice cream.
But also when your friend comes to you and says something like I lost my purse, you could say, oh no, do you know where you know where you last saw it?
Right. So it's double useful.
Double useful. Yeah. Double useful.
So right. Exactly. Oh no, it's this one is very, very common.
Oh no. Yes. It's a way of empathizing.
So I think it kind of goes beyond just physical mistakes or things rolling on the grocery store floor.
Right. Yes. Yeah. Exactly.
And two more. Whoops. Or oops.
You could use either one.
But you could say, oops.
Can you grab that? Yeah.
We love these. Or oops. Can you grab that for me?
Right. We love these. Super common.
They're everywhere, guys.
This is going to make your English super natural.
And the next one is very specific to, I think, a certain kind of personality.
Oh dear. Oh dear. I would never say this because for me, it feels a little older, but I think it's very cute at the same time.
You know what I mean? It's, I don't know.
Do you say it, Michelle?
I think I do say it. I think I do say it, but I think I might say, oh dear.
I don't know in a, in a cute way, trying to be cute, maybe.
I don't know that I use it as frequently.
Or I might just say, oh, you don't want my dad has been saying lately.
I don't know why. I love my dad, but he goes, oh my.
That's a good one too. Yeah.
That's a bonus for today.
Oh my. Yeah. Both of these, at least in my opinion, oh dear and oh my are both.
And the little older, like they could be coming from someone of an older generation.
So we pick and choose what we want to say, what fits our personalities, right Michelle?
Yeah. Right. Right. Exactly.
You're going to have fun with this.
Whatever feels natural to you.
There's no right or wrong answer, really.
But these little words are important.
Right. A lot of times we focus on the more academic words or just we think, oh, more is better.
But sometimes it's these utterances, these teeny tiny words that say so much they can express frustration embarrassment, empathy, it shows were vulnerable, so many different things with these teeny tiny words.
Oh my god, there's so much you can do here.
I mean, you guys can go over, check out the Al's energy podcast too, but I have a feeling in the speaking exam.
If you drop your pencil on the ground while you're in front of the examiner, it would help your score.
If you said, oh, something like, oh, no, or oops, or something along those lines, right?
Right. More than it would say something in your native language, for example.
So lots of ways this can help us.
Michelle, should we jump into a role play?
Yes. Yes. So we're going to use almost all of them, not quite every single one, but here we are.
We are in the grocery store and we're carrying, well, I guess we're leaving grocery store and carrying bags.
Uh-oh. The bag's going to break.
Okay. The other one you could say, yeah, uh-oh.
Right. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.
Yes. Here we go. Okay. So we'll make dinner when we get, oh, can you pick up that box for me?
Sure. Oh, no. I dropped my wallet.
Let me grab it. Ah, the eggs.
Jesus, what is wrong with us?
Oh, dear. Okay. I guess we have to get some napkins.
Yeah. So we are a disaster here in this scenario.
Disaster. Walking disaster.
Um, so we use some of these fun ones here in this conversation just feels very natural, right?
Yes. Uh-oh. So I said, okay, so we'll make dinner when we get, oh, can you pick up that box for me?
So obviously I had just dropped a box, right?
Mm-hmm. And I am annoyed.
I am resigned. I sense of just annoyance.
I dropped something. Oh.
Yeah. Especially if you've just been at the grocery store for a long time.
Just. Yeah. Maybe. Yes.
So then it sounds like I went to try and help you, but my wallet slipped out of my pocket.
So I said, oh, no, I dropped my wallet.
Let me grab it. And then I said, ah, the eggs.
And here I used ACK if you have the transcripts today in the app or by email, you'll see this one is spelled ACK.
The eggs. So maybe I dropped the eggs in some of them cracked, right?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's never good.
Okay. And then I said, geez Louise, what is wrong with us?
So this is an overall, okay, I, too much is happening.
And now I just have to comment on it.
Oh my gosh, we are a mess, right?
Yes, totally. And then I said, oh, dear, right?
And so this is kind of a metacomment on the entire scenario.
Again, oh, dear, we have problems.
We have issues today, right?
And the line with what you're saying, what is wrong with us?
Okay. I like it. What is the takeaway for today?
Oh my gosh. It's a spot. Yeah.
Well, these are great. You can connect with people over them.
You can make jokes. You can show your frustrated.
You can show your empathy.
You can talk to yourself.
Don't think just because you're alone in the grocery aisle and you drop a bag of avocados that you can't use one of these words.
Just try it because it just does.
It's kind of the idea of when people want to change their phones to the language they're learning.
So if you're putting your phone in English, put everything in English, right?
Even those little utterances, those little expressions, because it will give you a different feeling in my opinion.
It'll make you feel closer to the language.
It's a big deal to do this, to switch this over, right?
I like the way you said that, Michelle.
Put everything in English, including the moments like this, the moments when we are.
Very human. I bet actually that's going to help you to take more risks when it comes to the higher level academic words, the complex grammar and sentences, because you're going to feel closer to the language.
So this is actually a strategy, something we can relatively easily do in a low-risk way, because most of this we're on our own talking to ourselves.
Then that will translate over into more confidence and a sense of, hey, no one's perfect.
Yeah. I'm wrong. Oranges are rolling all over the floor.
No one's perfect. I can also not be, I can be imperfect with my language.
Right? Yes. Yes, exactly.
Oh my gosh, this was fun, Lindsay.
This was your idea. Great idea.
I very much enjoyed it. And everybody, keep your oranges in the bag.
Okay? Just try and be careful.
All right. Good stuff, Michelle.
Talk to you soon. Take care.
All right. Bye, bye guys.
Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to all ears English.
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