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Today, we answer a listener question about the phrase, you don't say, how can you use this and other ways to show surprise both genuinely and in a sarcastic way.
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Hello, Michelle, how are you today?
Okay. I'm good Lindsey.
How are you doing? Good, good.
Michelle, has anyone surprised you recently with something they've said?
I feel like we both probably are thinking of something similar, but.
Yeah. I mean like there are some news stories where people have surprised me, but they claim that are done.
But yeah, I would say that's the first thing that comes to mind.
How about you? Yeah, maybe politics, yeah.
A never -ending surprise.
Yeah, but nothing else really comes to mind.
But certainly when this happens for our listeners, we're all in this moment sometimes, the question is, you know, what do we say?
How do we react? And we have a great listener question, which was the inspiration for today's episode from Sophia.
Yes! Sophia asks awesome questions.
Thank you, Sophia. We love you.
Really. For sure, for sure.
And she's a listener over there on YouTube.
So check out YouTube, check out Allers English over on YouTube.
If you didn't know, we have a channel.
We do. You can leave comments.
You can subscribe and you can see us on video, which is another way to consume the show.
I'm going to go ahead and read Sophia's question.
All right, here we go.
So she says, Hey, I'm Sophia.
I love starting my morning with coffee and your podcast. Oh, Michelle, that is so nice.
We love that. I've heard people say, you don't say, but And I'm totally I'm not totally sure how to use it.
Does it always express surprise or can it mean something else too?
I'd love some examples.
Thank you for your answer.
Excellent question, Sophia.
Another great one, Sophia.
Love it. So let's get into it.
What does it mean when someone says?
You don't say? Yeah, you don't say so basically it expresses surprise.
Sophia was right. Uh, her hunch is here is that it expresses surprise.
it's kind of like saying, wow, really?
And maybe you're impressed with something, but you're expressing that you are surprised.
I personally don't really use this that much, Michelle.
Do you use this one, this expression?
I don't think so. I think it is maybe a little bit old -fashioned - Dated.
Yeah, yeah. A little bit.
However, I do want to point something out.
Do we, if you are going to say it, do people usually say, you don't say it's usually, You don't yeah.
Yeah, we never say what connected speech here, right?
You don't say right you don't say you know say when I connect that mm -hmm totally exactly so Before we get into some examples.
We also want to say thank you to Dan B 303 yes, we have an amazing listener who reviewed our podcast in the app the iOS app so huge Thank you to Dan B.
303 Thank you for your amazing five star review.
I'm actually going to send this to the team right away.
Thank you, Dan B. And guys, if you want to let us know what you think of the show, leave us a review.
We love seeing these reviews.
It keeps us going for you here at All Arts English.
So, review the show.
All right. All right.
Perfect. Thank you, Dan B.
So, let's do some examples.
We have some little role plays.
Here we go. All right.
I ran four miles yesterday.
You don't say. I thought you hated running.
I do, but I do it every once in a while.
All right, is that true, Michelle?
Four miles? No, absolutely not.
No way. I love it. Here's the next one.
I just got back from the mall.
Oh, you don't say? I was there too.
Yeah, I'm rarely found at the mall.
Only if I have to be there.
To be honest. Only if I have to be there.
That's funny. I actually, on a cold day, I like to go to the mall.
Like I don't, I don't go there when it's nights outside, I'm not going to go sit in the mall, but when it's cold and I still want to move around and walk and, you know, just kind of, I don't know.
There's something nostalgic about the mall.
I like the mall. There is absolutely something.
It reminds me of being a teenager in the nineties.
You got dropped off for the first time by your parents.
Oh my gosh. No, that never happened to me because I lived in the middle of nowhere.
So malls for me were actually an adventure with my mom.
So she came with me, We shop together.
I never had the I want to meet my friends at the mall thing because my time was so isolated.
There was no mall. There was no real mall.
There was like kind of a mill, but it wasn't the same as your typical commercial mall.
Yeah, I miss that. Yeah, it was Lake Forest mall, and yeah, it was always so, I mean, I loved going with my parents too.
I loved going shopping with my mom, and yeah, but it was very much, oh, let's go, let's, everybody meet at the mall And we go to the food court at the mall.
And I think I, I think a great movie for our listeners to check out, uh, to get the sense of this nineties consumer culture and teenager culture right.
It would be clueless, uh, clueless is always on TV.
Uh, and it's a fantastic movie just to get a glimpse into 1990s, California, teenager culture, mall culture.
So check that out guys.
Alright. So Lindsay, would you say, this is mostly when you say you don't say, Would you say it's mostly for positive surprises or also for negatives?
Yeah, I would say, yeah, if someone says something really bad, I would definitely not, if someone's family member died, I would never say, you don't say.
No, no, no, this is not...
No, it's not for that.
Even, you know, anything, it's for positive things.
Things are maybe a little surprising and they're positive, but they're not a huge deal either.
Like, if you say, the lottery.
You don't say, it's a little, I would say, oh my gosh, are you serious?
That's amazing. What are you going to do?
I wouldn't say, you don't say.
It's kind of like, you don't say, it's kind of like, oh, that's interesting.
Right? Basically that idea.
However, I do want to talk about one other similar, I mean, well a little bit different way that we do use you don't say.
So this one would be, it's also expressing surprise, but that might be a little bit more sarcastic.
Let's do, let's do this role play and then we'll talk about how like, what how it sounds.
Yeah, we love sarcasm.
Here we go. Oh no, buddy ate another shoe.
You don't say I told you to put them away.
Yeah. So that we've said earlier that this idiom in the, in the non sarcastic sense and the genuine sense might be a little dated.
And I agree with that.
Eighties nineties. Right.
But if you use it sarcastically, maybe it's even more relevant right now.
Okay. Right. So this is, this is basically saying like, Oh really?
I knew that was gonna happen.
Like almost maybe, uh, maybe kinda like I told you so, right.
I told you. So exactly, exactly.
Let's try another. So our listeners can get the vibe.
Okay. Oh, I feel terrible after that meal.
You don't say McDonald's isn't healthy.
Yeah, I'm being really, yeah.
And I can see myself saying this while you ate McDonald's, what do you expect?
You know, that's essentially what you're saying, right?
Right. So this is just another way that you can use it.
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All right, Michelle, we are back to talk a little bit about tone of voice and context.
What do we need to know here?
Right. Well, so we've given you kind of two ways, a more sarcastic way way, and a more genuine way that this is used.
And so, first of all, Lindsay, to ask you which way you would hear it most, it sounds like you think that the more sarcastic way is more relevant to now and maybe the other one is more dated, right?
Yeah, I watched this great show which our listeners would love this if you're studying language and history, the show called Ghosts.
I've mentioned this before, but what it is it's a story of this old mansion in upstate New York, and there are all these ghosts that died in the house at different times throughout history.
Like there's a Viking, there's someone from the 1800s, like a wife of a robber baron.
There is a singer from like the blues ages, like the well from the 90s.
Yeah, and anyways, there's a guy from the 80s and you can, every line that's written in that show is based on their time of living.
So they speak in a certain way.
They speak in a certain way.
So this guy, Pete, he is from the 80s and I could totally hear him saying genuinely.
Oh, we got tickets for the concert.
You don't say right?
Yeah. Yeah. 80s genuine smiley way.
Ah, I'm trying to say is watch that show number one to get to historical references.
And number two, it is a little dated, so I would use the sarcastic way, probably at this point.
Yeah. Yeah, I think so.
Maybe I don't know what that says about us as a I know what does that say about sarcastic?
But again, you have to think about the context if you're hearing it what how is it going to Like which way is it being used?
So the first one it's more like oh, you don't say and the second one is more Oh, you don't say right.
So you have to think about that and think is this being used more sir in our sarcastic way Is this person actually?
genuinely surprised by what is said, or are they kind of saying, I told you so I knew it or duh.
It's so important to pay attention to the tone of voice and context 100%.
And if we want to get away from you don't say if we just don't like it, for whatever reason, we can say other things, right, Michelle.
And these might be a little more relevant genuinely for you know, 2025.
Like, no way, right?
This one is very relevant.
No way. Yeah. So no way you're coming to visit.
Right. Yeah. This one do you find yourself using?
Michelle? I do. I certainly do.
I think so. Yeah, I would say so.
This is pretty common. Yeah, yeah.
You were gonna say something I cut you off.
I was gonna say would you say I mean, it could also be I was gonna say is it?
Would you hear this one in the sarcastic sense as well?
Like the? Oh, no way.
Right. Yeah, I would.
Yes. Yeah. I think so.
Yeah. I think it could be as we expected you got This right?
That's the cynical sarcastic wave. Yeah.
Right. Mm hmm. Yep.
Yeah. Um, what else?
Get out of here. Oh, isn't this?
Isn't there some kind of reference to a movie?
Get out of here. I feel like there's something, there's something there, Michelle.
But I don't know. No, there is.
Well, I always say people also say, Oh, wait.
Hold on. I'm seeing if I can find it.
Get out of here meme.
Let's see. Yeah, it's just not sure.
It may have to be a follow up episode.
We'll have to. Exactly.
It looks like it's in a lot of movies.
Anyway, but also sometimes people just say get out, right.
Get out. And that one it's to me makes me think of Elaine from Seinfeld because if somebody says something surprising, she'll say, get out and she pushes that person.
I'm so glad you mentioned that get out because if our listeners didn't know we might make mistake of thinking this person's at me to leave and we turned around with leave. Right?
No, we're not being asked to leave. The person is basically shortening the expression get out of here.
And she's saying get out.
I hear this more with women for some reason.
Maybe it is Lain. I don't know.
It feels like a female.
Have you heard her say that?
Yeah, for sure. And it feels like something she would say to Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So here we go. Here's an example.
It's raining again.
get out of here." So that is more the...
I'm surprised but I'm also annoyed, right?
So like again, it can have that kind of sarcastic tone or it can be more genuine.
Yeah. And I think I almost feel like get out is even more extreme.
Like you want tickets to the concert?
Get out. Get out. It's like your almost pause.
Get out. It's kind of like you're saying, I don't believe you.
Get out of this room, right?
Like you know, but you're not saying get out.
Don't leave the room, guys.
Don't leave the room.
Now I'm just imagining yeah.
Oh, I'm so glad we're going over this.
Yeah. I need somebody doesn't just actually walk out with this, right?
Exactly. And I think, you know, this also comes into people's personal vocabulary.
You know, like Elaine, some people tend to say this more than others, right?
Yeah, interesting. Exactly.
Or what's another one, Lindsay?
Is that so? Right. So for example, is that so you're leaving tomorrow?
Right. So again, this is a way of receiving news that maybe you didn't know and maybe you're a little surprised.
And this one I would say is a little more formal sounding.
Yes, I agree. Maybe a little older as well.
Like, I don't I don't picture, you know, Gen Z 'ers saying this, you know, I don't picture anyone under age 50 maybe saying it, it feels it feels older to me.
Yeah, a little bit older.
Or then there's you guys know this?
Really? Right? Really?
You can't? You can't make it?
Really? So yeah. Which one of these do you tend to use, Michelle?
I would say no way or I mean, or I mean, there's nothing wrong with just saying, really?
Yeah, really? For me, it's no way.
No way. No way. You put a lot of tone into that response.
Right? Right? Love it.
Let's do a role play, all right?
All right. Here we go.
We are friends and you are telling me about your trip.
All right. here we go okay so was it amazing well I ate my way through all of London oh you don't say I know you're a foodie yeah I think I ate Indian food every single night is that so was it delicious incredible I haven't eaten Indian food in ages really I thought it's your favorite I know I just haven't had it I I've actually been cooking a lot at home get out of here.
I know you don't or I didn't know you cook I do now.
So how was the weather in London?
Oh Rain rain rain. No way Are you being sarcastic there?
No Exactly Although the times I've been to London it's been beautiful I'm going again at the end of May so I will update that you are face.
Yeah. For a conference.
I'm going for a conference and then for a little vacay to travel around Belgium and different parts of Europe.
Yeah. Should be good.
Nice. That's where I studied abroad.
I think, you know, yeah.
You're going to have to tell me all your haunts, all your haunts.
Michelle, it's the last time you were there.
My hearts. I haven't been there in a long, long time.
Like, five years, I don't know.
Oh, okay. That's a long time.
Yeah. I was there a couple of years ago.
So I I'll uh, yeah.
Maybe I can give you some suggestions.
Excellent. Looking forward to that.
Alright, let's go through this, Michelle.
So, alright, so I started what I said, Oh, I ate my way through London, meaning I just sampled all the food.
All right. Yeah. That's something common when people talk about their vacations where they ate a lot.
They might say, Oh, I ate my way through this place and I highly recommend doing that.
Anytime you travel, I love to do food tours and things like that.
Oh, me too. And I said, you don't say I know you're a foodie.
Now this is interesting because Am I using this genuinely or sarcastically?
I don't know if it's like, I don't think it's sarcastic with like a meanness to it, but kind of uh, it's, I think it's sarcastic in a way of like, Oh, I'm not surprised.
I know exactly. That's what I think it is too.
So it's not really genuine.
You're not telling me something surprising, right?
Because that's what we talked about the genuine response.
There is sarcasm in there, but it's not a cynical sarcasm.
It's a positive sarcasm.
You don't say, like I'm not surprised that you ate your way through London.
Oh yeah. And then you said, I think I ate Indian food every night, London has some amazing Indian food.
And so I said, is that so?
Was it delicious? Yeah.
And maybe this one is a little more genuine.
Maybe I didn't know that or something, but yeah, a lot of Indian food in London.
Right? Uh, and then you said I haven't eaten Indian food in ages.
And then I said, what?
I said, really? I thought it's your favorite.
So that's a genuine.
Mm hmm. Exactly. And then you said I've actually been cooking a lot at home.
And I said get out of here.
I didn't know you both.
And I'm sort of saying, Oh, you're not telling the truth.
You're you're, you know, I don't believe you, right?
Yeah, yeah. Yep. And then when I asked about the weather in London, and you said rain, Rain, rain, rain and I said no way.
Like I I know I'm sarcastic because I know it's common rain to rain in London.
Yes. I love it. This episode has actually been an exploration in sarcasm actually.
Yeah, that's really interesting.
Very cool. So guys, don't forget to hit the follow button as we finish up today's episode.
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Michelle, where should we leave our listeners here.
Oh, man. Well, there's a lot to unpack here.
There's so much you could do.
This is really about language being an art form because you can use these.
You can sprinkle these in.
You can use them genuinely.
You can change your tone of voice and totally change the meaning.
It can show that you know something really well or someone really well.
Oh, you don't say I know you like to shop, something like that?
So it can it can really do a lot.
These are these are pretty versatile and you can have a lot of fun and play with them with your language.
Yes, really good stuff.
Thank you to Sophia for the question.
And guys, send us your question to support at All Arts English dot com.
If you have a good one like these specific questions that Sophia is sending in, send it to us.
We want to see that question.
All right. Definitely.
All right, Lindsay.
Well, this was fun and I'll talk to you on the next one.
Take care, Michelle.
Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to All Ears English.
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