This is an All Ears English Podcast, episode 2328.
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With your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl.
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In today's episode, our listener, Omid asks us how to use the word mind.
We show you three key meanings of this word.
Plus we give you tips on one way to open a connection with one key mind phrase.
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Hey, Michelle, I've got a question for you today.
Oh, what's the question?
All right. So who is in your mind the best actor or actress of our generation?
Oh, OK. Well, I guess I mean, I think the easy answer is Tom Hanks.
Yes. That's who I would go with.
What do you think? Geez.
Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep.
I think Meryl Streep is fantastic.
She's really good. Kathy Bates is really good.
Oh, she is very good.
She's really good. I'm thinking...
Oh, Judy Dench. Oh, OK.
Judy Dench. I think Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic.
Judy Dench, I don't know her, but...
Yeah, I don't know her either.
No, I just... I don't know her personally.
Exactly what you were saying.
Oh, I don't know. Could you introduce me?
Oh, yeah. That's funny.
So it's a great question.
And in the question I asked you, who in your mind is the best actor?
So that is giving our listeners a little hint into what we're talking about today in your mind and this idea of the word mind and so many different ways we use it in English.
Oh, yeah, for sure.
So we are going to get into that today because we have a great listener question.
We love your questions, guys.
Before we do that, well, Lindsay, we've been doing these fun polls on Spotify and we're going to share the results for one of our polls today.
And this was this was a fun one.
Remember this episode?
It was a Saturday episode.
It was What's Your Return Policy?
English vocabulary for shopping.
So guys, if you haven't listened to that one, definitely head on over.
It was a sassy Saturday.
And we asked the question, you know, do you...
Because we got into conversation about norms and kind of cultural norms, expectations about taking price tags off of gifts before you gift the gift, right?
And we asked, do you take price tags off of gifts?
Yes or no. Very interesting.
We have an overwhelming majority, 84 percent, yes.
And 15 percent said no.
I'm curious about the people that...
That doesn't equal 100 percent.
It doesn't equal 100 percent.
We'll just pretend.
All right. Our math is a little silly, but we don't know.
But, yeah, so I wonder about the noes, if in your culture, it's not expected the way it is here.
Right? It's a little bit of a faux pas here to leave the price tag on when you gift something.
Right. So very interesting.
So thanks for answering that, everyone.
And today we're going to answer this listener question about the word mind.
And guys, we want to remind you to hit follow wherever you are listening to the All Yours English podcast.
So you never miss anything from us, never miss a bonus.
Yes. Don't miss a thing.
All right. And don't forget, we're also on YouTube, which is exactly where this question came from.
Michelle, shall I go ahead and read the question?
All right. Please do.
All right. This is from Omid Zakari, 7393.
Here she says, Hi, Lindsay and Michelle.
Thank you so much for your amazing podcast.
I've been listening to your podcast for about nine years.
Wow! This is a nine -year listener.
Nine -year listener.
Oh, my gosh. This is so wonderful.
Thank you. Almost since we started the show.
We started the show 10 years ago.
So that's truly amazing.
We love our longtime listeners and our new listeners, of course.
Yes. All right. So would you mind telling me the various meanings of mind?
Because I think it has many meanings.
Thank you in advance.
Omid from Iran. Fantastic question, Omid.
Great question. Yeah.
I mean, we could just talk.
We could do a whole course on the word mind.
I mean, we could do a whole podcast, All Yours English Mind.
Yeah. Because there's just so many ways to use the word mind, including an idioms and just so many ways I can't even count.
But today we're going to focus.
And we can always do follow -ups.
We can always do more.
But we're going to focus on three main ways that we use it today.
I like that idea, Michelle.
Let's break it up into kind of into three buckets in a way of buckets of meaning, right?
Three different buckets, and that'll keep it simple.
And then, of course, we can do, like you said, we can do other episodes.
If there's a specific phrase our listeners want to know about, email us to support at allersenglish .com.
Let us know. We can come back to this term.
But these are the big buckets here that we need to know about.
So what's the first one?
Well, the first one is about your brain, about your thoughts.
So someone's mind is their brain, but it can also be thought.
So for example, he has a very strong mind.
So that would be maybe his very smart or he is a big brain or something like that.
This just all goes to your brain, really.
Or what's the next one?
I changed my mind, meaning you decided something different from what you had decided before.
You took a different path.
Right. And the next one, this is in my mind.
So we were asking this question at the beginning.
I said, who Lindsay said, who in your mind?
Right. So it's like in your opinion.
So again, your thoughts.
And this is a really good conversation starter.
Right. I hear this from a lot of people in my mind, you know, it's better to eat oatmeal in the morning than corn flakes.
Right. For example, any time you want to express your opinion, this is a super native and natural.
So I think if our listeners take away anything, this could be a candidate to take away to remember how to use this.
And then just as a fun bonus, we'll add the movie, a beautiful mind.
Right. Oh, that's right.
Yeah. Yeah. Did you see it?
I, you know, I know I saw I saw it.
I know there's a big twist.
Oh, it's a great movie.
The story. Yeah. It's a big twist.
Go ahead. Yeah. Remember the twist.
I think I did see the whole thing, though.
Yeah. The story of John Nash, the Princeton professor.
I don't know if it's a true story.
I think it might actually be a true story or based on a true story.
And he had schizophrenia, but he was also a genius professor, mathematician, I think.
And check out the movie.
It's worth it. It's just it's one of those words.
There's oh, I love movies with a big twist like that.
Yeah. You know what I'm talking about.
Yeah, for sure, for sure.
So Lindsay, what about changing your mindset?
Would you say you've changed your mind about things frequently?
Oh, I think I'm usually pretty.
I usually take some time to consider which direction I want to go in.
When I have a choice and I usually don't, I try not to go back on that because once I've decided there's a reason I've decided right.
And I try to stick with it and not change my mind.
What about you, Michelle?
Do you change your mind a lot?
Go back and forth? Oh, yeah.
Tons. But once the decision is made, I don't I don't think I go back on it that frequently, but I have a lot of buyer's remorse.
I mean, I'm always thinking, did I do the right thing?
But I don't necessarily change anything.
Buyers remorse is just a fact of human psychology.
It's our brain kind of playing tricks on us, I think, you know, it's.
But yeah, we don't always have to listen to it, right?
Yes, yeah, exactly.
OK, so yes. Now, let's move on to the next bucket.
Oh, and yes, now I was looking ahead.
So the next one is really about caring or bothering.
OK, so different. Yes, this is different.
So do you mind if I move this seat?
So it's like, will this bother you?
Do you care? Right.
In this case, we're using this as more of a verb, right?
It's no longer a noun of your brain, your mind.
It's a verb. Yeah. Take care or bother.
I love that. Mm hmm.
Yeah. And what's another example?
Yeah, I don't mind if you're a few minutes late, but the boss might hate.
Yeah. Oh, not good.
No, no. Lindsay, does Key Forever have to go outside in the middle of the night?
Only if he's sick. We've had a couple of just horrible scenarios where we were traveling and he had diarrhea and he had to go out like 10 times in the middle of the night.
And but that's only when he's having a problem.
So usually, yeah. So do you mind getting up in the middle of the night for that?
Oh, it's awful. But I just I hate the idea of him, you know, whining and being uncomfortable.
You know, I hate that idea.
So, of course, yeah, I would rather get up and take him out.
Yeah. Of course. Of course.
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OK, Michelle, what else?
What else here? OK, and the third one that we're going to focus on is this idea of being careful or taking care to do something.
So this one makes me think of, you know, in London when they say mind the gap.
Oh, my gosh. So famous.
So famous, right. So when it's about when you're getting on the tube and making sure that you don't fall into the little hole.
So they say, yeah, yeah, it's kind of fun that that really is more of a British way of using mind, right?
Meaning when the British people will use mind meaning pay attention to.
But we don't really use that that way in American English.
You would never hear the woman on the subway coming on the loudspeaker and saying mind the gap.
No, she does. She says other things.
Get off the train. Stop holding the doors.
And now it would not sound that proper.
Oh, it would also include a lot of four letter words.
Yes, that's New York.
That's New York. Right.
So so it's important to point that out.
Pay attention to only is you.
We only use mind in that context.
Really in British English, probably Australian English.
Right. Or this really like you probably heard of mind your manners.
That's similar. We don't use that that much.
But somebody I could see in in certain situations, maybe in a class for what is it called?
You know, when you're learning about manners.
Yeah, yeah. So they like that mind your manners or, you know, a mother might say that if they're being mind your manners.
And it's funny how in this phrase, mind your manners, mind also means pay kind of means pay attention to in a sense.
But we do in fact use this in American English because it's a chunk.
And it probably does come from, you know, because British roots.
Right. But we do use this.
And but we don't use our mind this mind that it has non chunks.
If that makes sense in America.
I agree with you. And that the last one, this is also about being careful or taking care to do something.
This one is very common, in my opinion.
What do you think? Yeah, this one's kind of a combination of the first bucket and the second and the third.
Yeah. In a way, yeah.
That's kind of cool.
Right. That's true.
Yeah. All these buckets keep in mind.
So that being what does that mean?
Basically, just don't forget.
Make sure you get your special attention.
So it's paying attention is the third bucket.
And it's also keeping your head, keeping your brain the fact that the report is due at 12, not at one.
Keep that in your brain.
Yep, exactly. Keep in mind that the report is due at 12, not one.
Exactly. So, Lindsay, what do you think is important to keep in mind when learning a new language?
I think especially at the beginning levels, but at all levels, it's so important to get input, meaning listening exactly what our listeners are doing right now.
We want to make it part of our daily life, preferably part of our entertainment of our daily life.
Right. Listen to a fun podcast, watch a YouTube channel.
Make it easy to consume and you don't have to understand every word that is OK.
But you get your you're accustomed to hearing the sounds of English.
Yeah. Love it. Yep.
So, guys, keep that in mind when working on your English.
Lindsay, should we do a role play?
Let's do it, Michelle.
In this scenario, we are friends having lunch.
Nice. OK. Hey, Michelle, do you mind if we move to that table over there?
I'm a little cold. Oh, no, that's fine.
I don't mind. Thanks.
Actually. Oh, that table's dirty.
Change my mind. Oh, that makes sense.
Keep in mind, they will probably killing it for us if we ask.
OK, then let's move.
OK. I'm really taking on a roller coaster ride here.
Yes, I don't know. I don't know where I'm going to sit.
Oh, gosh. All right.
So here you said I said, Hey, Michelle, do you mind if we move to that table over there?
I'm a little cold. Right.
So this is that second bucket, right?
To care, do you care, right?
Does it bother you?
And then I echoed that.
I said, I don't mind.
So that doesn't bother me.
That's fine. That's fine.
Yeah. Yeah. I don't mind.
And then I said, thanks.
Actually, that table's dirty.
Change my mind. Oh, my gosh.
Lindsay. Crazy. Yeah.
You're driving me crazy.
Yeah. And then I said, that makes sense.
Keep in mind that they'll probably clean it for us if we ask.
So keep in mind if that's a third bucket, right, being a well third and right.
We had a little bit of a bucket mix here.
Keep keep in mind. Remember, keep it in your head.
Right. Remember. Yeah.
It makes me think. One thing that when I practice, when I do my meditation practice, one thing that we try to focus on is learning to live with a little discomfort and not constantly moving to accommodate the discomfort.
And this conversation reminds me of that.
We spend so much of our lives trying to make everything just perfect.
Everything has to be a rearrange.
Everything has to be perfectly clean.
And it's a lot of wasted energy.
And in a way, if we could just sit at the table, it has this little dirty.
That might actually be OK.
You know, it's right.
You're right. Yeah.
I know. Yeah. And I think that that can change as you get older.
I don't know for me.
I guess to me that what it makes me think of is as a mom, I have to just kind of let a bunch of things go.
You know, I that the house it's not going to be perfect.
Also just something as simple as, you know, when you go for food and like we, you know, we I remember.
So we went to Costco.
And they have the little eating area.
And it was so crazy, crazy with my kids.
And I normally I would have wiped down the table and everything.
And here, you know, you just you can't do it.
Some things go. Yeah.
So, you know, it's not perfect.
But, you know, you just have to do your best.
Yeah, I know. That makes it.
I'm sure that nothing teaches you that faster than being a mom.
A hundred percent. Whatever.
It's fine. And I think our listeners are going to identify with that for sure.
Michelle, where should our listeners go to find another episode?
A winning episode of All There's English?
OK, guys, head on over and listen to why you should not say for your information.
Excellent. Any final takeaway, anything or listener?
I love how we've broken down today's episode into three important buckets.
Yeah. Right. Right.
So, guys, I mean, if I were you, I would focus on one.
The one that feels most natural to you.
Start off with one.
See if you go out today and see if you can if you can use one that you identify with the most and then another week.
Try another one. So don't feel like you have to use all of these at the same time.
Right. Just focus on one.
Make it like let your brain separate it out because there are so many uses of this.
So because of that, we don't want to overwhelm ourselves.
Yeah. And I would say if we if I could recommend any, as I did at the top of the show, looking into how you can frequently use in my mind, because this is a gateway to a connection skill, because what this leads to is you sharing your opinion and that leads to connection because that helps people know
you better. So if you're going to take away any one phrase, take away that one and get get comfortable sharing your opinion and asking others for their opinions on anything in life.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.
I love it. All right.
Well, thank you so much, Lindsay, and thank you to Omid for this question.
This was a really great one.
Excellent. All right, guys, hit the follow button right now on All Ears English.
And we'll see you next time.
All right. Bye. Bye.
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