This is the All Ears English Podcast.
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Tell me about it. 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 host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS Wiz.
And Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.
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What does it mean when someone says, tell me about it?
It could mean two very different things depending on the intonation.
Listen in for two amazing ways to connect in English.
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Hey Aubrey, how's it going today?
I am great Lindsay.
How are you? Oh my gosh, busy, crazy week over here on my end.
Oh tell me about it.
I have got a to -do list a mile long.
Oh, we both have a busy week.
Yes, and we are, yeah we can really understand each other in that sense.
Oh man, this is such a great way.
This is what we're talking about today, this expression, tell me about it, which is such a great way to express solidarity but in a really fun natural way.
And also to kind of vent a little bit yourself, right.
Because if you're also, you need a way to vent that out.
You're also stressed or busy and you need to say that too.
So build the connection, express solidarity.
But before we get into this amazing phrase, let's ask our listeners to go ahead and hit that follow button.
Aubrey, why should they hit follow on All There's English?
Yes. We have five episodes every week guys.
So if you're not following the podcast, you might be missing some of these.
I know that's how I am with my podcast.
I just kind of like, I'll catch a couple.
But honestly most of the podcasts I listen to, one episode a week.
So if I had one that was five episodes a week, I would definitely hit follow so I didn't miss any.
Especially if you believe in our philosophy, which is connection not perfection, connection, human connection to us is the most important thing when it comes to learning a language.
That is why we're learning English.
Ultimately it is the reason.
And that's how we angle every episode over here guys.
So hit that follow button.
All right. Exactly.
Speaking of connection, I can't wait for this episode.
We got a great question on YouTube from Omid Zakari.
Would you like to read this question for us, Lindsay?
Yes. Let's do it. Here we go.
So Omid says, Hi Aubrey, Lindsay and Michelle.
First of all, thanks so much for your amazing podcast.
I've been listening to your podcast for nine years.
Oh my gosh, Aubrey, a nine year listener.
That is so great. It's so good.
I have a question for you.
I read or I read in a textbook the phrase, tell me about it, that it means I agree.
To be honest, I'm a bit confused.
Would it be possible for you to make a video and explain this phrase for me?
Thank you in advance, Omid from Iran.
Nice. Such a good question.
I love this when we get a question about one specific phrase and there's a reason Omid might be a little confused because we do use this two very different ways and they have very different pronunciations as well.
So I'm excited to dive into this.
And we don't want to mix them up because you could end up in a conversation you're not trying to be in.
Right. If you, right.
Exactly. It could be really confusing.
For sure. So how are we going to, which way are we going to talk about first, Aubrey?
For our listeners. First we're going to talk about the way Omid referred to where it means.
I agree. And this is a great connection skill instead of saying, just, I agree.
Right. This is more interesting, more enthusiastic.
I often say same. You for sure heard this in role plays.
I'm like, same. Yeah.
This is another fun way to do this.
Yeah. It's saying same is a little more trendy right now, I think, but I, you know, I think tell me about it is a classic over the years, over the decades.
I know people were saying this back in the nineties.
I was saying it a lot, but people still say it today.
Right? Absolutely. And to just be really clear up the top, there are two different ways that we say this.
And one is when we, something's negative or hard, right?
Like at the top of the episode, you said I'm super busy.
You're busy. I'm like, tell me about it.
So that's the first one here.
And the second one is when we're agreeing about something positive.
Our intonation is different.
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Love it.
So it's kind of generally still agreeing, right?
Still agreeing with someone.
Yeah. Both agreeing, absolutely.
But it's interesting how when it's something negative, we emphasize tell a lot more, tell me about it, right?
You can hear in my intonation that I'm upset about something or something's hard or frustrating.
Interesting. So today's episode is all about identifying, right?
This use of tell me about it, all about identifying.
So let's do a role play Opry real quick.
Yeah. So this is usually as a response.
So we're going to hear some real plays.
You and I are in a doctor's office in the waiting room in this role play.
All right. I'll start this out.
Yes. I've been here for hours.
This is so frustrating.
Tell me about it. I don't know what's going on, but I've been waiting forever too.
Right? So, yeah. So this is you can hear in your intonation.
You're also upset. Yeah.
And this is such a great connection skill.
If someone is upset to the point they're expressing it to you, a stranger, it's probably going to diffuse the situation and really help for you to also be like, I agree.
I'm right there with you.
Right. Cause imagine what is the flip side?
What if you don't say anything?
You just go back to your magazine.
You just listen to them.
Maybe turn your head, then go back to your magazine.
You don't, you need them or just be like, I don't mind waiting.
Yeah. That would be so weird.
So weird. Especially for a stranger to hear that coming from someone.
Exactly. Right. I'm always, if someone's ever venting like this, I'm much more likely to be like, tell me about it.
I know. Right. So frustrating.
Yeah. Okay. So here's another role play here.
We're waiting in the returns, the return line at Costco.
Michelle and I just talked about Costco.
Yeah. Oh, nice. I love Costco, but this one's positive.
So notice the difference in the intonation of the phrase.
Okay. All right. I love Costco's return policy.
Tell me about it. It's so nice to not have to keep track of receipts.
Yeah. So it's a little more positive.
How's a different, it's less common for sure.
Don't you think I mostly use tell me about it to express frustration, to agree about something negative.
You can hear it positive like this and it's definitely different intonation, but I definitely use it more and I feel like I hear it more for negative things.
What about you? Yeah, I would say so too.
I would say, yeah, it's really, it's, it's, um, commiserating as they say, right?
Tell me about it. Yeah.
Usually not about positive things in general.
Okay. So I feel like that covers, you know, the, the commiserating idea.
Now, where do we go from here, Aubrey?
Yes. We have a second totally different meaning, which is more literal where you're actually saying tell me more about it when you say, tell me about it.
Right. So you do need to keep in mind that you could hear this phrase and it might mean I agree and it might mean, you know, tell me more.
I love it. I love it.
So for example, what can we say?
I heard you're doing a fundraiser.
Tell me about it. Right.
Tell me about it. Give me some information.
Exactly. Yeah. Or Mark told me you got a new job.
Tell me about it. So this is really, it's very different.
It's like saying you're open.
You've heard something is going on and you're opening up a conversation.
You're saying I'm ready to listen.
I'm interested. Right.
Right. Right. So tricky that the exact same words have such a different meaning.
You can really hear the difference in the intonation when someone's like, tell me about it.
Yeah. Yeah. Like it's a little more flat kind of just like tell me about it.
Totally. So here's a role play.
You ready? I'll start us.
Anything new with you?
Well, I found a new gym that I really love.
Oh, cool. Tell me about it.
It's just around the corner for my house and they offer a ton of classes.
Well, that's good. Yes.
So you can see there's a flatter intonation, right?
You're not having to emphasize any words because you're just, all you mean is, oh, tell me more about that.
Exactly. I love that.
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Okay, Aubrey, should we have another role play now to bring everything together into one scenario?
Yeah, this role play has both of these uses, right?
So listen for the different intonation.
You can tell from context what is meant, but especially from intonation.
Yes, I love it. Here we go.
So weird. Yeah, New Year's Resolutions.
Okay, good topic. All right, making any New Year's Resolutions this year, Aubrey?
Yeah, I'm trying out a new diet.
Oh, cool. Tell me about it.
Well, it's intermittent fasting combined with just a balanced diet.
Nice, I should try that.
I just have a hard time staying consistent with anything.
Tell me about it. I'm hoping this one will stick.
Nice. Very different intonation.
Very, very different.
I hope your listeners got that.
Super different. Saying completely different things here.
Which is, I'm glad we're covering this topic.
It's perfect for the show.
Yes. Love it. Yeah, okay.
So the first one we used, I had just said I'm trying a new diet and so you said, oh cool, tell me about it.
This just means I want to hear more, right?
Give me some details.
Mm -hmm. I'm open. I'm ready to listen.
I'm interested. I'm curious.
All really good signs for connection, right?
Absolutely. What a great phrase because there are a lot of ways you can say it but this is another option.
Yeah, perfect. And then I said, nice, I should try that.
I just have a hard time staying consistent with anything.
And then you identified with me and you said, tell me about it.
And that is that kind of a bit of commiserating, a bit of shared pain kind of.
Right? Exactly, right?
You can say, oh, I agree or same, but this gives you a fun friendly.
I like this one the most, really.
It's not quite as common, but I feel like it is the most commiserating, like you said, like really showing that you understand and feel what they're going through.
Yeah, no, it's a good one.
It's a good one. This is good.
So where's our, what's our takeaway for today for our listeners, Aubrey?
Yeah. As you've heard from us before, sometimes intonation is really key for phrases like this.
So tell me about it can mean two very different things depending on your intonation, but also what a great connection skill to share with someone that you have this in common, especially when it's something that you're venting about.
I think both are good connection skills.
Showing your curious, interested, and open and ready to listen.
No, right. The first one we talked about.
For sure. And then commiserating also, I'm not sure which is stronger, right?
Sometimes it can be very strong to commiserate with people.
We've done episodes about that to share, talk about how you share their pain in a certain way.
It can be a strong connection skill actually.
Yes, absolutely. But you're right that the other one is so valuable too too.
We often have students asking us, how can I keep the conversation going?
This is one way, right?
If someone tells you something new, some kind of detail, oh, tell me about it.
Tell me more. Like be genuinely interested.
Ask for more details that will keep the conversation going.
Exactly. That's kind of a best kept secret of the great conversationalists.
Get the other people to continue talking, get the other person to keep talking, keep asking them questions.
I love it. So good.
All right. All right.
We are done for today, but I'll see you in the next episode.
All right. Awesome.
See you next time. Take care.
Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to All Ears English.
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