This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2482, Agreeable Ways to Agree in English.
Welcome to the All Ears English podcast downloaded more than 200 million times.
Are you feeling stuck with your English?
We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA.
USA.
When someone makes a recommendation for a movie, a restaurant or a yoga studio, what can you say when you've tried it and you've had a great experience?
Find out today and learn how this moment builds connection.
Meeting new people just got way more fun because now you don't have to do it alone.
With Tinder's new double date feature, you and your bestie can match together.
Tap the double date icon to see profiles built for two.
When two pairs match, the group chat kicks off.
Scope the profiles, send memes, flirt a little, maybe plan a hang.
It's always better when you're in it together.
Try the new Tinder double date.
Explore all the possibilities.
Tinder.
It starts with a swipe.
Download Tinder today.
Hello, Michelle.
How's it going today?
Hey, Lindsay.
How are you?
Good.
Fantastic.
Michelle, do you like to joke around a lot?
Yes.
Yes.
I think I have a pretty good sense of humor.
I like to make jokes, be a little sarcastic.
I have a good time.
What about you?
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
I like to as well.
So, Michelle, today we're talking about a fun expression with the word kidding.
Are you excited for this?
Yes.
Yes, I am.
Because this is I've heard this one come up in my daily life a lot.
Yeah.
And definitely one worth highlighting.
Yes, I love it.
So Michelle, what does this expression kidding actually mean?
So to kid is like joking.
Yes.
Right.
Yes.
So the word kidding means joking.
So the expression that you might hear a lot is you weren't kidding, or you're not kidding, or you aren't kidding.
Right.
So, this is very common.
Would you say you hear this a lot or you say this, Lindsay?
I would say, yeah.
Yeah, I do.
I think it's a good way of expressing that someone is telling the truth, that you're kind of endorsing what they've said or what they're saying.
Okay.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Some.
Exactly.
So maybe you, maybe you, doubted them, or maybe you're just emphatically agreeing with their experience or their opinion, or whatever it may be.
I mean, Lindsay, what about intonation here?
Do we just say you weren't kidding?
No, we can never say that.
No, we have to say it kind of as someone has made a statement and we might say you weren't kidding, right?
There's got to be some feeling behind your words.
For sure.
Feeling.
Exactly.
So let's show our listeners how it's used.
Do you want to read the first one?
Yes.
Here's the first example.
I just tried to get a donut at the new dessert spot and you weren't kidding.
The lines are long.
I had to leave.
Okay.
Yeah.
So you know, sometimes someone tries to warn you oh, you should get there early because there's a lot of people who show up and you think eh, how busy could it be.
And now you're kind of saying you were, it's kind of like saying you were right.
For sure.
For sure.
Right.
You're affirming what they've said.
You totally agree.
What's another example, Michelle?
Yeah, you weren't kidding, this is the best pasta i've ever had.
So yeah, someone said you have to come here, you have to try the pasta.
I'm telling you it's the best pasta ever.
And you're saying you weren't kidding.
Yes, i love that.
Um, or someone has told you that the hot yoga class is going to be hard and you go to the hot yoga class and then you say you weren't kidding, the hot yoga class was hard, Yeah.
Hey, good.
Lindsay, so how does this kind of build connection, would you say?
Or what would this express?
Well, I think it's really a nice connection moment to affirm that someone has expressed an opinion.
Then you experience that thing and you listen to what they had to say.
And now you agree.
Right.
So it kind of endorses what they've said.
I do think that brings us together in connection.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It kind of comes full circle as this person said something and now you're bringing it back to that thing.
You know, in some ways, like I said, it could be, oh, you were right, right?
Oh, the lines were long, I had to leave.
But sometimes it's just... wow, I really agree with you from when you told me whatever you told me.
So it's interesting, but it does bring it around back to what that person said.
So it's very useful and good for connection.
100%.
And before we take a quick break, I do want to call out a couple of people that went ahead and left us a review.
So thank you to someone in China on July 28th Hallie Hollow from Switzerland on July 18th.
Thank you to Pijon, five-star review.
Beautiful from Taiwan on July 15th.
And someone in China on July 15th as well.
So thank you so much for these amazing reviews.
We have Chrissy D who left us a five-star review.
She's from the US on July 8th.
And there's also Renato Nunez, another five-star review, Michelle, from Brazil on July 7th.
Amazing.
Perfect.
Awesome.
Love it.
Thank you guys so much.
Yeah.
And guys, be sure to leave your review if you want to have your name read out loud on the show.
All right.
Great.
Yes.
You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday.
So how can you find amazing candidates fast?
Easy.
Just use Indeed.
When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need.
Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites.
Indeed Sponsored Jobs helps you stand out and hire fast.
With Sponsored Jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates, so you can reach the people you want faster.
And it makes a huge difference.
According to Indeed data, Sponsored Jobs posted directly on Indeed have 45 more applications than non-sponsored jobs.
I love that Indeed makes hiring fast.
Top candidates are in high demand.
And if you want to build a great team, you need to move quickly.
Indeed helps you do that.
So just how fast is Indeed?
Well, in the minute that I've been talking to you, 23 hires were made on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide.
There's no need to wait any longer.
Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed.
And listeners of this show will get a 75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeedcom.
Just go to Indeedcom right now and support our show by saying that you heard about Indeed on this podcast.
Indeed.com slash A-E-E.
That's I-N-D-E-E-D.com slash A-E-E.
Terms and conditions do apply.
Hiring Indeed is all you need.
Okay, Michelle.
So let's get into it a bit more.
What else do we need to know about this phrase, you're not kidding?
Right.
So, yeah, we've been talking more about you weren't kidding.
But if you're using it more in the present tense, you're not kidding.
You're not kidding.
Right.
That's something more in the moment.
You already probably experienced it.
So you can agree in real time.
So let's do a role play to show what that one might look like.
Okay, here we go.
This is really a good role play.
We need role plays to teach this, right?
I agree.
Here we go.
Our neighborhood has way too much litter on the street.
You're not kidding.
I just saw a whole bag of garbage sitting on someone's lawn.
Oh, man, you're not kidding, right?
So it's just an emphatic way of saying I agree.
But if you just say I agree, that's kind of boring, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
So yeah, this is you're agreeing in real time.
You've had that experience.
You agree.
So rather than you weren't kidding.
So also really useful.
So let's talk about a couple other things we can say.
So one is true story, right?
True story.
This one's kind of maybe a little trendy or something, kind of fun.
Right.
So for example, tickets for that class sell out every time.
True story.
I can never get in.
OK, so this one is more just the I agree rather than the you weren't kidding.
It's not really saying you were right.
It's more just true story.
Yeah, that's true.
It's just agreeing.
It's kind of just.
Yeah, I agree with you.
Right.
Yeah.
And then sometimes.
Go ahead.
Sorry.
Go ahead.
Oh, yeah.
The past tense.
So you weren't joking.
Right.
Right.
This is where someone has shared something with you, about a movie, for example right um, you weren't joking, that movie was incredible, so same thing like you weren't kidding, but you could also say joking, so um.
And then another one is you called it, so yeah, this is more about that situation where someone said something would happen.
Um so focusing, focusing on that.
You called it, so you called it, they were all out of chocolate cakes.
So it's like saying you said this was going to happen.
Yes, I love that.
You called it, right?
You predicted this thing was going to happen, or you called it, we got a parking ticket, right?
So maybe the person had warned you, don't park there.
And you said, oh, no, no, it'll be fine.
I'm sure that's happened before.
Right.
And that's the, you know, a lot of times if you hear somebody say, I told you so, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, that's kind of like that idea of, yeah, I called it, right?
Yeah, though that's not the best thing to say.
No, no, no.
Oh, that makes people mad.
Yeah, we all want to say that.
It's tempting to say it, but it's better to try not to say it.
Right to try to keep it in your head and know that that person probably knows, but sometimes it's so hard.
You just want to be like, yeah, I said that.
I know, I know.
All right, let's do this in a role play, Michelle.
You just went on vacation and you had lots of tips for me.
Because I always vacation in that same place.
Okay.
I do.
Sorry.
You vacation in that same place.
Oh, wait.
No, no, no.
You do.
Right.
Sorry.
I got confused.
Okay.
Okay.
Here we go.
So how was it?
Amazing.
You weren't kidding.
The resort there is the best.
I know, right?
And such an amazing value.
Yes.
And you called it.
I loved the shopping area.
I knew you would.
Yes, and the food is incredible.
True story.
I was stuffed after every meal.
You're not kidding.
I have to make reservations for next year because apparently they fill up fast.
You're not joking.
I booked two months ago.
OK.
So there's a lot.
There's a lot of that.
You're not.
There's a lot in here.
Yeah, for sure.
A little much.
A little much.
Yeah.
But it's a good connection.
It's a good connection conversation.
We're just excited.
Right.
Sharing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I said, how was it?
And you said.
You weren't kidding.
The resort there is the best.
Yeah.
So that's good.
That's really affirming the connection that I've made a good recommendation.
I've had a great time.
It is a connection moment.
It truly is.
Right.
And then I said, and such an amazing value.
And you said, yes.
And you called it.
I loved the shopping area.
So it's like you, you predicted this, you know, really giving the person a lot of credit here.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then you said the food is incredible.
And you said, I said, true story.
And that's kind of fun.
That one is the least common, but it's kind of the more creative one, I would say.
Interesting.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I like it.
It makes it add some variation to the, you're not kidding.
You're not joking.
Instead of like saying you, you, you, you called it, you weren't kidding.
This is just true story.
True story.
Yes, exactly.
And then you said I was stuffed after every meal and I said, you're not kidding.
Right.
So I'm saying you're instead of you're, you weren't kidding.
Right.
I'm saying, yeah, I have experienced this.
So yeah, I can kind of, talk from my own experience.
Exactly.
And then, and then.
This is the part that maybe you wouldn't hear in a real conversation, because we're kind of saying the same thing.
I'm coming back with a, you're not joking.
I booked two months ago, right?
But we're just doing this for the sake of examples.
Okay.
Yes, exactly.
So guys, check out another really good episode.
Check out episode 2475, which was, are you indecisive how to say it in English?
Lindsay, takeaway for today.
Takeaway.
It's a really cool connection moment when someone has informed you about something like you shouldn't park there, or this is a great yoga studio, or go see this movie, or try this restaurant.
And then you go and you do it and you agree with them like they were right to be able to go back to them and let them know that they were all right.
I think that. really wires connection for us as human beings.
I think that brings us closer to the person.
It's a cool moment if you think about it, right?
If you've made that recommendation and they enjoyed it.
So learn these phrases, guys.
Go ahead and use them and let us know how it goes.
All right, Lindsay.
This was fun.
Have a great day.
And guys, we'll see you in the next one.
All right.
Take care.
Bye.
Bye.
Thanks for listening to All Ears English.
Would you like to know your English level?
Take our two minute quiz.
Go to allearsenglish.com forward slash fluency score.
And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything.
See you next time.
