This is an all ears English podcast, episode 433 goofing off with Lindsay and Michelle.
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Today, find out what to say when something stops working or when someone misbehaves.
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Hey, Lindsay.
How are you?
Hey there, Michelle.
Doing pretty well.
Thanks.
And you?
I am doing well.
I'm doing well.
So annoying though, because I've been having a lot of problems with my headphones lately, so I think I might need to get new ones.
Oh, man.
I'm sorry.
Sounds like your headphones are really kind of...
Acting up, huh?
Yeah, a little bit, a little bit.
Which brings me to Gustavo.
Gustavo is a listener of ours who sent us a question.
Thank you so much, Gustavo.
And it's a really, really good question.
Okay.
So his question is, he said, I've heard expressions like goofing off or playing around.
But not sure if I can apply these expressions if I'm speaking of inanimate objects, right?
For example, could you say my email server is playing around?
Great question.
Thanks, Gustavo.
That's great.
That is a great question.
So yeah, we want to talk about this a little bit today, help Gustavo out.
And I bet a lot of people are wondering the same thing, right?
So let's start off.
First of all, what do you think about his question?
Like, do you think that you could say that your email server is goofing off or playing around?
I think for those, we can't really say that, right?
So I think in general, it really depends on the particular phrase that you're using, Gustavo, right?
So goof off is just a phrasal verb.
And for each one of these little phrasal verbs or expressions, we just need to know if we're talking about a thing only or if it's a person.
They could also do it.
But no, my email server cannot goof off.
You need a personality to goof off.
Right, right.
Definitely.
Yeah, absolutely.
Right.
So, This kind of, you know, got me thinking.
And I think we should talk today about, you know, misbehavior, right?
When things or people are malfunctioning.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When people misbehave and things malfunction.
Exactly.
Exactly, exactly.
People misbehave, things malfunction.
There you go.
So, unfortunately, you know, it's just a fact of life.
Sometimes things or people, they just really don't do what you want them to do, right?
And so, you know, how do we talk about that, right?
So...
Lindsay, what's your go-to process when your computer acts up?
It's not very constructive, Michelle, my process, my go-to process.
When my computer acts up, I punch the keyboard and I storm out of the room.
Oh my gosh.
And I go get a coffee or something.
Oh my gosh.
So you just leave it alone and you kind of hope for the best when you come back.
Yeah.
Usually we are able to resolve things.
I can come back and restart and kind of reset my mind and things work okay.
But yeah, that's what I do.
And my computer acts up.
What do you do when your computer acts up?
Um, yeah, I get pretty, pretty frustrated as well.
Like yesterday I was working on my computer and it just kept on freezing.
Right.
And it just it was being so frustrated.
So I did restart it and, you know, then it was fine.
But sometimes it can be frustrating.
Right.
Yeah, it's true.
It's true.
I mean, we have to, but our computers are so important, right?
So we have to take care of them.
I mean, I should not be punching my keyboard, but I do.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Yesterday I dripped just a little bit of water on my keyboard and I'm like, oh no, oh no, oh no.
But I think it's okay.
Anyway, so now, Lindsay, I'd like to play a game that we should call a person or a thing or both.
Or both.
I like it, Michelle.
I like it.
Let's play a game.
We don't play enough games on this show.
All right, so let's go through some phrases.
So...
The first phrase, Lindsay, is acting up.
What do you think?
Drum roll.
We haven't heard your drum roll in a few months, Michelle.
Oh, sorry.
Here it is.
Acting up.
Okay.
I love that drum roll.
That's great.
Okay, go for it.
What do you think?
So you're asking me if this could be used to describe a person or a thing or both?
Is that what you're asking?
That is the question.
That is the question.
Well, Michelle, I think that this could be both, right?
Because we've already been talking earlier today or in this episode.
We said you know what do you do when your computer acts up.
That's not a person.
That's a thing.
And also...
A person could act up, right?
Often like a kid, a child in a restaurant is acting up.
He's starting to cry and scream and run around the table, right?
So my kid is acting up and my computer is acting up.
Both are A-OK.
Yes, that is the right answer.
I'm having a little too much fun playing game show host right now.
I think you would make a good game show host.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right.
Let's do the next one.
So tell me, what do you think?
This one keeps messing up.
Yeah, when something keeps messing up.
Okay, so this one's tricky.
I mean, I think definitely a person could mess up, right?
A person could make a mistake, right?
Oh, I really messed up on my IELTS exam, right?
You know, I got a five.
I messed up.
Okay, so that could work.
But for a thing...
What do you think, Michelle?
Can we say my phone messed up?
Yeah, I think that you can say my phone keeps... That's a good... We don't know.
We don't know.
Yeah, if I say, oh, my phone just keeps messing up.
I think you could say it.
I think you could say it.
Yeah, I think you're right.
In a casual way, we could say it.
Yeah.
Oh, my phone keeps messing up.
Like maybe it keeps resetting back to the home screen.
Sometimes my phone crashes and I don't know why it crashes, but it crashes and it restarts.
Ah, it keeps messing up.
Yeah, we can say that.
You're right.
Definitely.
Yeah, that's what I think.
Some of these are a little tricky.
These are tricky, and that's why we appreciate this good question.
It is a really, really good, interesting question.
So, Lindsay, what's the next phrase?
Yeah, so when something isn't working, right?
So for this one, I only use this for a thing, right?
Because...
In this sense, in this meaning, we really can't say a person isn't working like a person isn't functioning.
You could say your body isn't working well, right?
My body today just isn't working, right?
It isn't functioning well.
Right, right, right.
We generally don't say a person isn't working, unless we're talking about working like doing our daily, like our job, our career.
That's different.
Right.
Right.
That's a different thing.
But yeah, you could say like, oh, my gosh, my my watch isn't working or whatever.
Yeah, my watch isn't working, my TV isn't working, just in time for the big game.
No!
Does your husband watch football?
He pretends to.
His friends are really, really into football and he's very funny about it because he just pretends to watch it and he wants to know just enough to be able to contribute to the conversation.
Oh, it's a guy thing, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So he's not too into it, but he does.
He likes, like the hype and he likes the fun associated with watching a game, but not I don't think he cares too much about the actual game.
Yeah, people are crazy about their football here in the States, right?
American football.
Yeah, that's right.
That's a different topic.
All right, what's the next one, Michelle?
Going off on a tangent.
Yes, that's exactly right.
Okay.
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Okay, the next one we have is giving me problems...
Yeah, so if someone gives you – I think a person could give me problems or a thing could also give me problems, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Like, oh, this microphone is really giving me problems.
You know, we had to re-record a whole episode.
Yeah.
Yeah?
Right, right.
Or I could say, like, oh, my gosh, my friend is giving me problems.
Like, she's just –
Always being so dramatic and getting mad at me.
She's just giving me problems.
Oh, that's awful.
Yeah, that's it.
So that works for both.
And then we have one other, two others, right, Michelle?
So what's the next one?
So the next one is, which we were talking about, which is goof off.
Yeah, goof off.
And I think that one is just for a person.
I mean, definitely, as we said at the beginning, my computer cannot goof off because it's silly.
It's got to have a personality to goof off and make jokes.
Right.
Exactly.
I could see somebody like yelling at their computer.
Like sometimes actually, we give our technology and we give our things little personalities, or we kind of like talk to them like they're humans.
Or is that just me?
Am I just like.
I think that's just you.
No, that's not you.
I know what you're saying.
We do.
We do do that because we're so close to our technology.
It's a little scary.
Right.
So I could see myself like talk if my phone is giving me a problem, giving me a problem.
I could see being like, oh, stop goofing off.
Right.
If I'm talking.
I could see it.
But in general, we don't use it to talk about things that aren't people.
Yeah, no, that's true.
I think that makes sense.
And then the last one is mess around, right?
This is kind of like to joke around or to not be serious about something.
Right, right.
Absolutely.
And that would be for a person.
Yeah, that wouldn't be a thing.
No, definitely not.
All right.
So what's next, Michelle?
Are we going to practice these a little bit and show our listeners how we use them?
You called it, Lindsay.
That's what we're going to do.
Okay, cool.
Here we go.
So let's do a couple little role plays.
So we're going to use some of these phrases and listen closely, guys, see if you can pick them out.
All right.
So, Michelle, I think we need to delay the recording for just a bit.
Oh, no, Lindsay.
What's wrong?
Oh, well, I'm so frustrated.
I mean, it's not that I'm goofing off.
It's just that my computer's acting up.
That's terrible.
Mine was giving me problems yesterday.
Maybe you should restart it.
I'll give that a try, thanks.
I'm the big computer wizard, aren't I?
Yeah, good answer, good answer.
Okay, so what did we use here, Lindsay?
So I said, it's not that I'm goofing off, right?
I said, I'm not goofing off and I'm not trying to get out of work, right?
Right.
It's just that my computer's acting up.
My computer's not working.
It's misbehaving.
Right, right.
So, like when you say we need to delay recording, like you're not sure, maybe I'm going to think oh, she's just kind of la la la goofing off.
Right.
But so you're telling me, nope, I'm not doing that.
My computer is acting up.
Exactly.
I'm not just trying to take a day off because I feel like it.
No.
And the other thing, I said that my computer was giving me problems yesterday.
Oh, right.
You said that too.
Yes, my computer was giving me problems yesterday.
And we said that that could be for a person or for a thing.
Yeah, exactly.
All right, let's try another one.
Okay, I'm ready.
I'm ready.
Lindsay, the worst thing happened to me this morning.
What happened?
My hair straightener wasn't working, and I hadn't dried it the night before, so it looks terrible.
Oh, no.
I just saw it.
You look fine.
Don't worry.
I know, but thanks.
I just hate when this happens.
If it keeps giving me problems, I'm going to have to get a new one.
I'm not playing around.
Just keep your hair curly.
Be natural.
It's cool.
Okay, Lindsay.
I feel like that's a real conversation we might have.
Yeah, it could be.
Exactly.
Yep.
Right.
So, okay.
Here, again, we use which phrase?
All right.
So here we said, you said it keeps giving me problems, right?
So you said your hair straightener keeps giving you problems.
And then you said I'm not playing around, right?
You mean I'm not joking, right?
I'm serious.
This is a big deal.
Right.
And this is the original one, one of Gustavo's original examples.
Right.
About the email server playing around.
Right.
So, yeah, here we said that that one's, you know, likely to be only for a person.
So I'm saying I'm not playing around.
I'm serious.
Exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
Did we use any others in here?
I think that's it, right?
I think that's it.
That's it.
So yeah, I mean, I'm really glad that Gustavo asked this question today, though, Michelle.
It's really useful, no?
Oh, yeah.
I absolutely think so.
These are really good little chunks that you can use to sound very natural in English.
And it's really good to make sure that you know the difference.
Can you use it for a person, a thing, or both?
Which was the game that we played, which was super fun.
Anyway guys, just to do a quick review, the first one we did was acting up.
Okay, which is for a thing or a person, right?
What was the next one, Lindsay?
So the next one was something keeps messing up, right.
Which was for a thing or a person too.
And then we had isn't working, which in this context would be for a thing.
Yeah.
And then we had something is giving me problems, which could be for a thing or a person.
That's right.
And then we have goof off, which is only for a person.
And then mess around, which is basically just for a person.
So, I mean, I think the key for this, guys, is just to keep your ears open, right?
Be all ears when it comes to native English.
And notice when people are talking about misbehavior or things malfunctioning, just pay attention.
What expressions are they using and are they talking about a thing or a person?
Right.
Absolutely.
All right.
Well, Lindsay, thanks so much.
This was awesome.
Yes, it was, Michelle, as always.
And I will see you back on this show next week.
So thanks for hanging out.
Thanks, Lindsay.
Have a good one.
Okay, Michelle.
Bye.
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