This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 838, a technical tip on a useful word.
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Today, get a quick and easy tip on how to use the word technically in a few different phrases.
What does it mean and what purpose does it serve in English?
Find out today.
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Hey Michelle, how you doing today?
Hey Lindsay, I'm good.
How are you?
Well, it's Monday and actually I don't really hate Mondays.
Like I feel very lucky that I don't hate Mondays.
So I'm feeling good.
Like when I wake up on Monday morning, I actually don't mind going to work.
I don't mind getting into work.
Good.
That's great.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I have a similar feeling.
Good.
That's important.
I feel like if we're dreading Mondays, I mean, a little bit of a case of the Mondays is okay, right?
I love that expression, a case of the Mondays.
Right, right, right.
I feel like a little bit of that is normal, because your weekend's been fun and now you got to go back to work.
But if we're like dreading it, if we hate Sunday nights, then we should look at our careers and see what we can do to change you know, because that's a horrible way to live your life, guys.
Good bit of wisdom, Lindsay.
I know.
Not to start with any deep thoughts on Monday morning here.
Get right into it.
Yeah, why not?
Get right into it.
No messing around here.
That's right.
Michelle, let's start with a quick role play.
Let me ask you a question.
Sure.
So you know New York really well by now, right?
I think so.
Okay, so what's your favorite part of New York?
Would it be uptown, midtown, or downtown?
Well, my favorite part is actually Brooklyn, which technically is part of New York City, even though you didn't mention it.
Yeah, that's right.
I think we've talked about this a few times on the show how people always forget that Brooklyn and Queens and the Bronx and Staten Island are part of the city of New York.
It's not just Manhattan.
Yeah.
So what word did we use there in that little exchange?
We used the word technically.
Yeah.
And when you hear this word being used, like what comes to mind?
When I hear the word technically being used, it's like actually.
Yeah, right.
But kind of like in a…
And like the fact, like really like talking about the facts.
Yeah, it's a correction, right?
Like there's something coming, like there's some kind of correction or an actually coming.
It's kind of, yeah, I think actually is a good way to say it.
Like get pointing to what is real, like pointing away from what people usually believe and what's the truth?
Right, right.
Yeah.
So that leads us into a question from a listener.
So Michelle, would you mind reading the question from our listener?
Sure.
Okay.
All right.
Here we go.
Hi, Lindsay, Michelle, and Jessica.
I'm Monika from India.
You are very different from other podcasts in several ways.
Well, thank you so much.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you.
That is so nice to hear.
Love that.
Thank you for listening.
Okay.
I am a fresher.
Fresher?
I don't know what that means.
Maybe it means like getting, maybe she's new or something.
Maybe.
Yeah.
In a software firm.
And I have to participate in technical discussions every day.
In the beginning I had a hard time listening to natives, understanding them and making them understand my message.
But now I'm confident to do all of those things.
It's all because of your podcast and my consistency in listening and following you.
Thank you again.
Wow.
You're making me feel really good about myself.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We really appreciate it.
All right.
Here we go.
I have a couple of questions to ask you girls.
How do you use the word technically in conversations with natives?
Could you explain my questions in your upcoming podcast?
Looking forward to your reply.
Cheers, Monique.
I think I'm saying that right.
I'm sorry if I'm not.
It looks like I think we're just going with this one question for now, but this is a good one.
Yeah, she also asked another good question about how to use the word fancy.
But I think that that is a good question.
So it deserves another episode.
So we're going to do that another day.
Can't wait.
Yeah, it's a good one.
Okay.
So all right.
Awesome.
So going to the word technically, right?
I asked you before, Michelle, you know, what does it do?
What does this word actually do when we say technically?
Hmm.
Yeah, so it states a truth, right, that sometimes people might overlook it.
Or it may give more detail on how something works, to draw attention to the exact definition of something.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, here's an example of like a commonly misunderstood truth.
You say something like most people think that tomatoes are a vegetable, but technically they're a fruit, right?
Nice.
Good.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
And then it can be used in conversation sometimes.
Can you give me an example of that, Michelle?
Do you have an example?
Sure.
So let's say like it's 12.01 on your birthday, like it just turned your birthday, right?
Yeah.
And your friend wakes you up and they say hey, I know you're tired, but technically it's your birthday.
Let's go celebrate.
Yeah.
Sounds like that friend just wants an excuse to eat chocolate cake or something.
Yeah, that's what it sounds like.
Yeah, so those are good kind of examples.
The first one is like a truth, commonly misunderstood truth.
And the second one is like going into the real like detail of something.
Like what's the real truth in it?
They're similar, but they're different, right?
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So how would you wrap this up into a phrase, Michelle?
This word technically
Yeah, well, technically, that's one of the ones.
So the first one is you could say, well, technically, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Well, technically, I'd say this.
Right, exactly.
And then the next one could be technically speaking.
I like it.
I like saying it that way.
You know, it sounds kind of smart.
Technically speaking.
Yeah, I like that too.
Yeah.
How about another?
Or technically, it's da-da-da-da-da.
Yeah.
So these are going to become more clear guys in the conversation here.
We're going to be talking about shopping for a car.
Michelle, when was the last time you went car shopping?
Actually, we just had to buy a new car just like a month ago.
Oh, weird.
Okay, that's funny.
Yeah, so it's very good timing.
What was that?
Like that process of doing research and, you know, like trying to figure out which car to get.
Was that tough?
Well, it happened very quick because our other car broke down.
So there wasn't much.
It wasn't like a, let's think about it, it was like okay, we better get one now.
Oh geez, um.
So it's a little bit stressful.
You know, dealing with buying a car is hard and you know yeah, expensive and thinking about what to do so, but yeah Okay, good.
Well, I'm glad you got it done.
Good.
All right.
Well, in this role play, we're both in the market for a car, so we're going to talk about it again, even though you probably don't want to relive that.
Yeah, it brings back bad memories.
No, no, no.
All right.
Hey, Lindsay, I'm in the market for a new car.
Any suggestions?
Well, Michelle, I'm actually I'm also thinking of getting a new car.
So I've been researching.
Oh, yeah?
What have you learned?
Well, the big question is luxury versus standard car, right?
In terms of the way it feels.
There's not a huge difference between a Honda and an Acura, for example.
But technically speaking, the way the engine works is extremely different.
Hmm, that's tough.
I think I'd rather save $20,000 and buy the Honda.
Yeah, probably a good call.
Nice.
I have no idea if that's true.
I really just made that up.
I was thinking, oh, I didn't know that.
Very interesting, Lindsay.
I mean, the only thing I know is that I know that Honda is like Acura is the luxury brand for Honda, but I don't know if technically they're much different with the engine or not.
I don't know if it's more the experience inside the car or if it's the engine.
I have no clue.
Or if it's just the name.
Yeah, who knows?
Who knows?
But it's definitely more expensive, I think.
So what did we say there?
I mean, we dropped one of the phrases.
All right.
So yeah, you said you were explaining it to me and the difference to me.
And you said there's not a huge difference.
Okay.
But technically speaking, the way the engine works is different, right?
Yeah, exactly.
And how did that feel?
Did that feel natural to you?
Oh, yeah, sure.
That felt very natural to me.
I could definitely hear somebody saying this like that.
Definitely.
I could hear someone like a mechanic you know, someone who really knows cars breaking into a conversation here, you know, just to kind of display what they know and help you out.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I haven't bought a car in a long time since like 2002.
So I would be out of practice trying to negotiate the price for a car for sure.
Yeah.
I know.
Yeah.
It's a toughie, but it worked out.
Okay.
That's good.
And then we had a bonus phrase here, Michelle.
What was our bonus today?
Yeah.
So you said, yeah, probably a good call.
I like that.
A good call.
What is that, Lindsay?
Yeah.
I meant to say like probably a good decision.
Right.
And I also took off that is.
So this is really natural, guys.
You're going to hear natives say this all the time.
Natives, you know, what we're saying here is that is probably a good decision.
Right.
But instead we say, well, Michelle, what's the phrase again?
Probably a good call.
We say, yeah, probably a good call.
Doesn't get more natural than that.
I don't know what else to say, guys.
Supernatural.
Learn that chunk.
Use it to connect.
Exactly.
I like it.
Yeah, today has been a short and sweet episode, but any takeaways for today Michelle, that we can share?
Listen for it.
You're going to hear this word out and about.
I like it.
It's very natural, and I think that it was a good question.
I really like these types of questions.
Yeah, listen for it.
Good question.
And don't be afraid.
Once you've heard it a couple times Monika, don't be afraid to start using it.
You know, use it with your colleagues at the software firm.
Once you feel comfortable with it, you know we can't.
You know, once we've listened, we've got to dive in and start using those phrases.
And I know you can do it.
All right.
And always go after connection, not perfection.
Nice.
All right.
Awesome.
All right.
So we're out of here for today.
Short and sweet, but that's okay.
We'll be back tomorrow with more good content for you guys.
All right.
Awesome.
Michelle, thanks for hanging out today.
Thanks, Lindsay.
Have a good one.
All right.
Take care.
Bye.
Bye.
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