This is an All Ears English podcast episode 2326.
What do birds and efficiency have in common?
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Are you an efficient person?
Do you look for ways to accomplish two goals in one single action?
Today, learn a super common native phrase that Americans use to comment on efficiency in English.
Hello, Michelle. How's it going today?
How are you? I'm good.
Everything is a little bit hectic.
I was just telling Lindsay about how I'm in the process of moving.
So I'm sure our listeners have experienced moving before and it's a little bit hectic.
But that's okay. It's exciting too.
Oh, my gosh. I'm sure our listeners know exactly what you're going through, Michelle.
But today's topic is a little bit different.
So I mean, do you think that we should just kill two birds with one stone and we were going to have a meeting?
Do you want to kill two birds with one stone and do the meeting on the same day as our next recording?
That sounds good, Michelle.
I mean, I'm not really a killer of birds, but like, but, you know, sure, that sounds like it would be efficient.
An efficient way to spend our meeting time.
Absolutely. Okay. Great.
Guys, today, we are here to answer a really good listener question from YouTube.
This is about an extremely useful and fun expression.
Guys, this is going to be one of the top most used phrases I think that you will hear.
I mean, do you hear people say kill two birds with one stone?
Sure. And I say it all the time, too.
Absolutely. Because we're all about convenience.
We're all about getting as much done during a period of time that we can.
If we can double up and do two things during that period of time, we love that in such a production based society.
We're such a task list society.
Yes, exactly. So, Lindsey, would you like to read the question for us?
Yes, this question comes from Boomi Kavat.
And this was in YouTube.
Again, don't forget, guys, we have a whole YouTube channel, which you could go and watch us on video right now.
Right. You could go and hit subscribe over there and get an update every time we publish.
So the student says, hi, ma 'am, I love your podcast.
Could you make a video on the idiom kill two birds with one stone?
Yeah, it's a good question, Michelle.
Let's do it. Yeah. Yeah.
Oh, it's perfect, guys.
We love these really specific questions about a specific phrase and a specific idiom that you hear.
So definitely, you know, you can send your questions to us on YouTube.
Also, if you comment on our YouTube videos, we'll catch them there, too.
Yes. And before we get into the answer, I want to call out three very special listeners who reviewed us with a five star review over in the Android app.
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Thank you. Yeah, these were great.
We really appreciated everyone for the reviews.
Thank you so much. For sure.
So, Michelle, do you use this term yourself?
I told you I do. What about you?
Yeah, I do. I mean, I think it's just really, really useful to talk about logistics.
And like Lindsay said, efficiency and all of these things, planning so many things that it's good for.
But yeah, I never you never really stop and think about how morbid this expression is.
Awful. You know, why would we say this?
This is terrible. It probably goes way, way back to the days when people were, I don't know, hunting birds.
I have no idea, Michelle, but it's not very pleasant if you actually think about visual.
But but the fact is, even though it's it's not very pleasant, we still absolutely use it because we're a very, like I said before, we're a very a society that's very focused on productivity, getting things done, I think more so than other cultures, Michelle.
Oh, really? Yeah, I don't know exactly.
But yeah, we're definitely like a go, go, go culture.
Yeah, I think other cultures from from this is what I've observed in my travels.
I think other cultures are more focused on relationship building.
I know, of course, there are people that care about relationships in the US, but I think if you have to categorize a country into relationship focused or task focused, I think we would fall under task efficiency, getting things done, producing something rather than building relationships again, super
broad generalization.
But I think there's some truth to that.
Interesting. Yeah, we're definitely focused on efficiency.
I would agree with that.
So but what I mean, what does this mean?
Kill two birds with one stone?
And guys, we're not actually talking about killing birds.
Yeah. Well, essentially, the birds, let's just the birds represent the things you need to do.
And the stone is the action you take or the effort you put in.
So we have to be really clear about the meaning here of exactly what we're saying.
Right. If there's a goal or a thing you need to accomplish it, we'll get into it, Michelle.
We'll get we'll get some good examples here.
Yeah. OK. All right.
Let's do some examples.
It's interesting. I was trying to come up with examples and it's not that easy to think of the examples.
It's more one of those expressions where in the moment you know to use it.
When you're thinking of examples, it's kind of it's interesting, but I gave it a go.
So here we go. OK. If we can have this meeting on Friday, when I'm in the office anyway for payroll, we can kill two birds with one stone and work from home on Monday.
Yes. So just perfect.
So this is good. So to be clear, the birds are the fact that you have to be at the office for payroll and you need to be at the office for a meeting anyways.
Right. So instead of so I guess everybody just wants to work from home on Monday.
So they figure, all right, let's kill two birds with one stone.
Then we don't have to come in.
Yes. Love it. OK. Next one is she loved having a dog because she could kill two birds with one stone, get some exercise when the dog needs to go out anyways.
That's a good feeling in your daily life.
When you find these efficiencies where you accomplish kind of two things that need to happen with one action.
Yeah. Right. You need exercise.
The dog needs to go out.
You go for the walk.
You get both. That's two for the price of one.
Right. Yeah. Or one more example here is let's kill two birds with one stone and get the couch and the fridge delivered on the same day.
And I'm thinking about that because I'm moving and I did get the couch and the fridge delivered on the same day.
Yeah. Anytime you can chunk your work.
And my favorite example here is this this middle one that we said with the walk in the dog because that's essentially you're doing one thing, but you're accomplishing two goals.
Right. That's how I see this phrase.
One action achieves two preferred outcomes that you're looking for.
Yeah. Two different ones.
Right. That's the essence there.
Yes. Exactly. So yeah, you definitely know it more in the moment.
Yes. You when these things come along that you can use Russian.
But yeah, these are some useful examples that would help you to understand it.
Love it. Okay. So what is this about here?
Can we get into a little conversation about efficiency?
Yeah. Right. Exactly.
This is about being efficient, thinking about smart ways to save time or like Lindsay said, I mean, if you can just accomplish two goals, so the getting some exercise, getting some fresh air and and you don't think about it as much because you have to take the dog out anyway.
Right. Right. Right.
For sure. Or another example, if you walk to get your groceries, you're getting your daily walk in, you're getting exercise, maybe a little weightlifting.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. And you're getting your groceries.
It's like, again, you have two goals and you're doing your accomplishing both goals with one single action.
Okay. Right. Exactly.
So and like we already mentioned, this is a huge cultural topic.
I mean, I wonder if these expressions are if a similar expression is in other languages, all their cultures because I agree with you, Lindsay, it's that go, go, go mentality.
Yeah. And I would imagine for you, Michelle, as a mom, this comes up a lot.
I would imagine certain scenarios where you can achieve two things you're trying to do in one action.
Yeah. Yes. For sure.
I mean, always, you know, even something as simple as grabbing the coats, you know, grabbing all the jackets, getting everybody together, making the lunches, even so the guys, this doesn't need to be about some deep introspective thing.
This can also just be about very simple little tasks that you need to get done.
It can be used for small things or larger tasks.
Yes, exactly. And there are other ways because we're a culture that's so obsessed with efficiency and productivity and getting it done.
There are other ways that we say this because we can't just always say the same thing.
So for example, Michelle all in one go basically means the same thing, right?
Right. Yeah, exactly.
It's not necessarily though, two things.
I mean, it could just be, yeah, you know, it could be multiple things.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Right. Usually two birds in one stone is really just remarking that there are two goals with one action getting achieved design, but all in one go means you're doing it all at the same time altogether or things in a row.
For example, should we get the kids and the dog all in one go or take two trips?
Yeah. I mean, when I come back from, you know, vacations, I love the idea if I'm driving into town, get my groceries on the way home, get my dog on the way home with the dog doggy daycare and then not have to go back out.
Right. Right. Because you come home and then go back out.
So I just want to all in one go.
I want to just get it all done and then be able to stay, be home and relax.
I can understand that.
Yeah. I can understand that for sure.
Or another thing you could say is tackle two things at once.
So to tackle, right.
As sometimes it's not just about tackling in football, tackling can be getting something done.
Right. And that's another interesting reflection on our culture that we use these sports idioms to talk about productivity.
I wonder if our listeners countries and languages do that too.
That's really interesting.
So for example, let's tackle two things at once, pick up the food and call the handyman on the way.
Michelle, are you getting ready for a thing?
Because we're recording this a few days before Thanksgiving.
I wonder if you're killing two birds with one stone in any sense with your preparations for, for, are you cooking the meal or like preparing the meal or going somewhere?
What's your plan? We're going to Maryland to be with my family.
Okay. Okay. So no major tasks to accomplish then in that case.
Just the packing, just the packing and it's, you know, I, I just trying to get my, you know, my moving in order and unpack some things and then, okay, now it's time to pack to leave again.
So now I just feel, Oh, I wish I wish I had had maybe another week just to get things organized before Thanksgiving.
But that's all right.
That's how it goes.
When we came back from, we just came back from Slovenia and the day we came back from Slovenia, the next day we're getting our bathrooms renovated.
You know, it was just like one thing after the other.
It never falls perfectly with perfect breaks.
You know, exactly. And then the last one is just be efficient, right?
This isn't necessarily about a certain number of tasks and it can just be used more generally, but it's this idea of, you know, Lindsay, we talk about working smarter, not harder, right?
Just getting things done, thinking about what things can be chunked together.
Um, so, so let's be efficient and pick up all the supplies in one trip.
Yeah. Like if you're going to the other side of your neighborhood, maybe there's a grocery store and maybe there's a hair salon in the same area.
You want to try to do both at the same time, that kind of thing.
Yes, exactly. Exactly.
So I think these are super useful expressions for talking about logistics, about planning, all of these things.
Lindsay, would you like to try a roleplay?
Let's do it Michelle.
So here we are sisters and we're getting ready to leave on a big vacation.
Ooh, I wonder where we're going.
I wonder too. Yes. Okay.
Okay. So I can call the Uber.
Okay. And if you can do that and get the bags all in one go, that would be great.
Oh yes. I'll be efficient.
Okay. And I'm trying to tackle two things at once by making sure we are checked in for our flight and confirming the hotel.
Thank you. Of course.
You think we could kill two birds with one stone and grab some food for the plane while calling mom to ask her about the plans once we get there?
Good idea. Okay. So Michelle, I think we've said on prior episodes that you and I would never have a very, we would, if we traveled together, there would be no planning getting done and we would just show up in the country.
We're like, what should we do?
But that's the way I like to do things, right?
Yeah. Whenever we travel, it's always Dan doing all this research beforehand.
I do benefit from it.
But yeah. Yeah. I realized over the years, my partner also is the one that does the research, tons of research and does a great job planning.
And I've realized because now we take shorter trips, like 10 day trips.
I used to travel for months at a time, like backpacking for a year.
And I could just show up in that town, maybe take a nap at my hostel and then roll up and say, what do I want to do?
But now I don't really have the time to do that.
Yeah, it's true. Something is lost, but something is gained.
I suppose. I love it.
I love it. All right.
So sister, let's go through this role.
Okay, sister, here we go.
So you said, okay. And if you can do that and get the bags all in one go.
So you're saying call, you're asking me to call the Uber and get the bags all at the same time.
Yeah. Basically like, you know, you'd be holding your phone and then grabbing the bags.
And you know how that is when everybody's trying to get out the door with all the bags.
Oh, yeah. It's always very awkward.
Yes. And then I said, yes, I'll be efficient.
Okay, good. All right.
This trip is starting off, right.
I think. And then I said, I'm trying to tackle two things at once by making sure we are checked in for our flight and confirming the hotel.
So maybe, I don't know, maybe you're looking at me like, why are you sitting there staring at your phone?
So I'm explaining what I'm getting done.
Exactly. And then you said, of course, you think we could kill two birds with one stone and grab some food for the plane while calling mom.
So you're going to just basically go to the convenience store and shop for food and then also call your mom at the same time.
Right. That's a useful thing.
The fact that we can, we have handheld mobile phones, of course, now.
And we can walk somewhere or achieve something else while we're talking.
I know I always, the only time that I really talk on the phone is when I'm in transit.
I don't think that I really, or yeah, how often do you talk on the phone, Lindsay, where you're not doing something else at the same time?
I guess when I have friend dates, friend phone dates, I do actually kind of just like stay home and sit down and talk with them.
But I know what you're saying.
I mean, it's a good use of time actually.
You got to be careful when you're driving, of course, as long as you have like a hand, no handheld device and you can focus on the road.
We're not endorsing this.
It can be dangerous.
But yeah, if you're on the train, if you're on an above ground train or something, you're walking to work really good use of time.
Yeah. Or even I'll call my mom while I'm making lunch because I'm making my lunch.
Maybe I'm sitting eating my lunch, but I might not have time to sit down.
I try and kill two birds with one stone.
Not that calling my mom is killing a bird.
I love to talk to my mom, but I think it's good though because it means it probably means you end up connecting with people you love more often because you don't say I have to have the perfect set space of two hours where you would never connect, right?
So you probably end up calling people more often, which is fantastic.
Yeah, that's the thing.
With the phone is my best friend, she just had a baby a few months ago, and we've been playing phone tag just trying to talk for the first time.
And I mean, for so long, we're playing phone tag.
And I always think I have to sit down and have the two hour time.
I want to have the perfect conversation.
But the other day I just said, enough already.
I called her. I had 10 minutes.
I said, I have 10 minutes, but I want to hear your voice.
That's good. Sometimes that's it.
That's what you have to do, right?
When people's lives get busy, a hundred percent.
I love that. That's a good note to end on today.
I mean, there is another episode though that our listeners could check out if they're getting on this all their English, you know, vibe and they're loving it.
They want to keep listening.
Where can they go? All right, guys, head on over.
We did a Saturday episode.
It was, are you on a wild goose chase for better English?
Listen today. Excellent.
Any final thoughts on efficiency or connecting or getting things done?
Yeah. I think this is a huge cultural topic, as Lindsay mentioned, and that's a big piece.
So I'm definitely curious to hear from our listeners what it's like.
Do you have any expressions like this that are similar with a similar idea to talk about productivity?
Yeah, send us an email or leave us a comment on YouTube or on any of our social channels and let us know the answer to that.
Super interesting. All right.
Okay. Good stuff, Michelle.
Well, thank you for being on the episode today.
Thanks. And thanks to our listener for this great question.
All right. Talk soon.
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