This is an All Ears English podcast episode 2463, Like a Moth to a Flame, Share Your Temptations in English.
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Is there something in your life you can't stay away from?
You might be like a moth to a flame. Learn all about this expression on today's episode, plus hear about what Lindsay and Michelle can't resist in their daily lives.
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Hey, Michelle, how's it going today? Good, Lindsay, how are you?
Good, Michelle, I have a question for you.
We're talking about food. Well, I have a food question for you first.
Yes. What is a food that's impossible for you to resist?
Um, salty snacks. I mean, I know we, everybody, you know, if you've been listening to this podcast for a long time, you know, I love French fries.
I would say it's the popcorn, the chips, the fries, the stuff that's terrible for you.
Honestly, if I have it, sometimes I'll put it on a higher shelf.
Oh, smart. Strategic. Yeah. Yeah. But it doesn't always work.
I can still climb up there and get it. But I usually have to just avoid buying that kind of. like stuff.
I mean, popcorn is okay, but the chips, I can't have chips around.
What about you? I feel like. For you, if you pass an ice cream store, are you like a moth to a flame?
I am like a moth to a flame when it comes to ice cream stores, Michelle.
I got ice cream on Sunday. Yes. Um, it was really good.
It was chocolate, chocolate chip. So chocolate, really nice, rich chocolate with chocolate chips.
Um, these days, yeah, these days you have all these innovative flavors like lavender and all these things.
Yeah. And I think they've taken the place of the chocolate flavor.
So I'm a little bit, well, I'm with you.
Well, you know, what's funny is so sometimes, well, the other week I was, um in philadelphia actually and i tried a really good it was tahini chocolate i think oh yeah interesting That was delicious chocolate chunk or something.
So it was a little bit different, but really good.
And then The thing is a lot of times I won't, I might not order my own ice cream, but I'll just plan to eat my, my kids ice cream.
Yeah. Yeah. Sure. So, but the thing is they'll order sometimes like my son, he's kind of reliable with flavors, but my daughter, she'll be like, rainbow or just like no something like i want pink i want purple and i'm like come on girl like just get a real flavor Yeah, but I have to say the other day she got ice cream and my mom picked it out with her and it was kind of one of those stores that had different flavors and she picked. what I'm sure she thought of just as orange and it was Thai iced tea.
That was good. Oh, interesting. Toasting.
Thai iced tea ice cream. Oh, who doesn't?
I know it's so good. So sweet. That was delicious.
So, but normally I'm like, don't get this.
Just, no rainbow no rainbow no birthday cake no rainbow leave all that behind strawberry ice cream worst flavor ever created in my opinion Wait, really?
I don't like strawberry ice cream at all.
No, no, no, no, no. Not a fan. She just gets excited about the colors.
I want pink. I want pink. Yeah, for sure.
For sure. Anyway, sorry, guys, I got distracted.
But you might have noticed we use this expression like a moth. a flame.
I asked Lindsay if she's like a moth to a flame when she passes an ice cream store.
So we're going to be talking about that expression today.
That's a pretty common one. I hear that a lot in kind of a fun way. cute way, just a different kind of a way.
So we're going to talk about that in just a second, but we want to remind you guys to hit the follow button wherever you are listening to All Ears English Lindsay, why?
Oh, my gosh. Why? Good question. Guys, you don't want to miss a single episode of All Ears English.
We are here for you five days a week. And every episode is new, fresh, and fun based on your questions.
Often, most of the episodes are based on your questions. or things that we notice in our real lives speaking English.
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All right. Absolutely. All right. So. Like a moth to a flame.
I know. What does that mean to you? You said it makes you think of romantic movies or something.
No, yeah. The first thing that comes to my head is it's a first line of some famous song.
I want to say Madonna. Or some singer from the 90s or the 80s.
Like it's really, really, really much burned in my brain.
It is. I'll have to look it up. I'm looking it up on chat.
I want to see if I can find it. Yeah. But yeah, so what does this expression mean?
Oh, yeah. It just means if you think about we know what moths do.
When there is light or when there's fire, I guess.
Yes. Um, they go towards it. They go towards light, right?
They're attracted to it. Uh, so that's basically what it means.
It's very clear, right? With the idiot. Yeah.
Yeah. It's the worst. Do you get a lot of bugs in your area?
Um, this year we didn't get the moths, which makes me we're a little worried about the environment.
We normally get this Miller moth thing. where they come in June.
In the month of June, we get tons of moths in our houses here in Colorado.
They come in the house, they go all over the walls.
And this year we just didn't get them. They just never appeared.
So I don't know. And it's like, oh, it's kind of nice, but it does make you wonder what's going on.
Right. I understand what you mean. Yeah.
Yeah. What about you? Do you get a lot of bugs in New York area?
I'm sorry to say, I just killed a teeny tiny little worm.
Um, I don't know what, I don't know. It was so small anyway.
Um, yeah, I mean we, Oh, our big thing in this area.
Although it's more now in Maryland now is the spotted lantern flies.
Do you get those? No, we do not get those. those are you're actually supposed to they encourage you to kill them because they destroy trees they're like it's it's a whole it's kind of a whole wide campaign to kill these things, they're actually kind of pretty.
They have red on them, but when they smack, they'll just fly right into you.
Gross. Whoa, that's crazy. Tons of dead ones on the street.
That's gross. Anyway, I'm sure now that we've sufficiently grossed out our audience.
Yeah, I think in South Korea, I was reading they had a huge infestation of some kind of moth or fly or something or dragon fly where they were just ever like they were shoveling them. shoveling them from the streets.
Yeah. For any of our listeners from South Korea, feel free to chime in and let us know what happened there.
Yeah. So, but, but so with moths, mosquitoes, you know, they're attracted to the light.
So it's like they can't keep away. And I find it's worse in the summer when you're outside or even if you –
Even if you open your door for a minute and it's dark outside, they're all going to come in, right?
Yes, yes, yes. We're not actually using this expression.
We're not using it about bugs when we actually use this expression.
It's more in a figurative way, Lindsay. So what does it mean when we use it to not talk about the bugs?
Yeah, not talking about bugs, moving on from bugs.
Thank goodness. Yeah, I mean, we use it when we want to say that someone can't stay away from someone or from something.
So for example, with ice cream, I could say, I can't stay away from ice cream shops when I walk past them.
Seriously, it's like, a moth to a flame or i'm like a moth or you could say i'm like a moth to a flame right you could say that as well So exactly.
You can't stay away. I'm just imagining Lindsay passing an ice cream shop and zzz.
Yeah, coming back and turn around, turn the car around.
You're like... Definitely when I go on rural road trips and I pass an ice cream stand in the countryside, I'm like, oh, I need to go there.
But you can also use it to talk about people.
So this is common with breakups. Do you ever have any friends who have or yourself had a breakup that just takes? so long they keep on getting back together so oh yeah for sure especially in like younger days 20s college sure yeah right So you might say they broke up, but they keep getting back together.
It's like a moth to a flame. Exactly. Or maybe you love to travel.
I think a lot of our listeners will resonate with this example.
Maybe you have a favorite city in the world.
You could say, I'm booking another trip to Paris for next year.
It's my favorite place. With Paris, I feel like I'm a moth to a flame.
I would say it's a dramatic thing to say, don't you think?
It's kind of like a, theatrical sort of dramatic thing to say.
Yeah. Right. Right. It's different than just saying, oh, I really love Paris.
Yes. Right? Yes. It's different. So it's fun.
You use it to be emphatic. It's a really fun one.
I mean, Lindsay, I put ice cream on you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What else? Is there anything you're like a moth to a flame for?
Something fun or random. Yeah. I mean, the traveling thing I can definitely, especially when I'm already traveling, the idea of booking a trip while I'm on a trip.
I love that. You know what I mean? Once you get that taste of travel.
So, but I think ice cream is actually a great example.
Okay. Good. I know. Yeah. Um, For me, I was trying to think of some random things like grocery stores.
I have a hard time if I see a grocery store or...
For Oh, a clothing store for my kids. Oh, if I kind of like even even like a big box. store right like on marshalls or a tj maxx and i just like i love those find in there yeah people love that the hunt right at those stores the big box stores the tj mags they love the hunt to see you don't know what you don't know if you're gonna leave with something good but you might Yeah.
So it's funny because sometimes, you know, I'll be the ones that say, oh, I want to go to the grocery store.
And I actually, when I travel, I love going to grocery stores and seeing the different things that they have.
That's always so much fun for me. I love that too.
I love that too. Yes. Maybe coffee shops for me, you know, especially like fancy ones.
I love them. I know. I know it's bad. I do.
No, I have the two. Yeah. All right, Michelle, we're back.
So why do we think this is good for connection?
What do you think? What's the idea here?
Well, I think it shares a piece of you or it lets you talk about someone's preferences or their habits.
On one hand, if you're using it about yourself, you're sharing information about yourself.
Or if you're commenting on something else, you're showing that you kind of know someone, you know something about. them.
Um, so I mean, you could say, I might say my son is like a moth to a flame when it comes to toy stores.
So is my daughter. yeah right that makes sense that makes sense right for kids sure yeah right yeah yeah so that it's it's it's this idea of I mean, I almost had this visual in my head, not so much of the moth, but of somebody walking, trying to walk past somewhere. you know, kind of being pulled in and that's going to go to one of, um, another expression we're going to teach.
Yes. Being pulled in or this could build connection.
Um, I'm envisioning friends in a car, a bunch of friends in a car and you go past a coffee shop and that person is just like, Hey, I need to make a quick stop.
Will you drop me off at the coffee shop and pick me up around the other side?
And the driver might say, Oh, like a moth to a flame.
She just loves her coffee. Right. And she's saying that you're saying that to the other person in the car.
So it's like showing, you know, someone I think.
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Hiring Indeed is all you need. All right, Michelle.
So what are some other ways to say the same thing?
Okay, well, you could say you can't resist something.
So I can't resist an ice cold lemonade on a hot day.
Yes, I love that. Or can't stay away. Also very practical, right?
Whenever I see a good sale at the mall, I can't stay away.
Exactly. Or I love this one when you describe someone as a magnet or say people are like magnets.
Right. You could say my dog always sees his doggy friend at the park and I swear they are like magnets.
They love each other. It's so cute. Yeah, that always happens to me too.
I love that. I love watching that little dog friends.
It's so cute. They really do make friends, right?
They do. Oh, they absolutely do. All right.
Let's go into a role play, Michelle. So here we are friends going through the grocery store together.
Okay. Okay. Here we go. Yes. Oh my gosh.
There's a sale on my favorite ice cream.
Oh, I can see. Look at you. You're like a moth to a flame when it comes to that ice cream.
Got it. My favorite flavor, too. I can't resist it.
I get it. That's how I am with popcorn. I can't stay away.
I love popcorn too. My kids are like magnets to popcorn.
Really? Yeah, so all these kinds of foods tempt us, right?
And we can't stay away from them. I love that.
Yes. So in this example, again, you are then buying the ice cream, right?
You're the ice cream crazed person. So I say, you're like a moth to a flame, right?
Yes. And then I said, my favorite flavor, I can't resist it.
And then I saw the popcorn. I said that that's how I am with popcorn, right?
I can't stay away. Right. And then I said, my kids are like magnets to popcorn.
Yes. I love it. So this is really good for our listeners to show what they love, you know, whether it's food or maybe even like a kind of music or concerts going to concerts. traveling, whatever you love, you can use this to describe yourself.
Okay. Exactly. Yes. So guys, we also recommend that you listen to episode 2455.
That was should you poke fun at someone's niche interests? right so talking about interests or maybe things that they can't stay away from whatever it may be yeah check out that episode lindsey what's our takeaway for today Yeah, I mean, we love episodes where you can say so much about something or someone or yourself by just saying one thing.
And this is one of them, Michelle, right?
Where we can really, in a more dramatic way, this is kind of a theatrical dramatic expression.
But depending on your personality, if it matches, go ahead and use it to say what you love in life.
Life is about... indulgences sometimes, right?
Yes, exactly. And we all have our indulgences, our things that we can't resist.
So it's definitely a good thing to share and a good way to connect with people over these things because probably.
Most people like ice cream. And so yeah, talk about do you can get in a whole conversation with them. it kind of brings down the barriers and it, you know, no one's perfect.
No one can resist all their temptations.
And so if you can admit that, then it, like it breaks down those walls.
Okay. Exactly. Love it. All right, Lindsay, thanks for chatting about this with me today. and I'm going to go get some ice cream.
Oh my gosh, me too. I know. It's early for me for ice cream, but I'll do it anyways.
All right, Michelle, you have a good day.
Take care. All right. Bye. You too. Thanks for listening to All Ears English.
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