This is the All Ears English Podcast, vocabulary that won't wear you out.
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 whiz, and Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.
To get real-time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android.
Start your seven-day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward slash app.
Do you ever hear native speakers use the term wear out?
Did you know that there are four different meanings for this phrase?
Today.
Find out what they are and how to know which meaning the person is using for better connection.
The countdown is on.
Holiday shopping season is officially here.
Uncommon goods takes the stress out of gifting, but thousands of unique, high-quality finds you won't see anywhere else.
Don't wait.
The most meaningful gifts get scooped up fast, and now's the perfect time to cross names off your list.
Uncommon Goods looks for products that are high quality, unique and often handmade or made in the US.
Many are crafted by independent artists and small businesses, making every gift feel meaningful and truly one of a kind.
Just like learning the basics of grammar is key to getting started with English, I've heard that knife skills are the foundation for good cooking.
Since I want to learn to cook, this year I went to Uncommon Goods and found an authentic Thai chef's knife called the Moon Knife, created in a small village in Thailand by talented artists.
It's perfect for cutting pork or poultry.
With a hand forged tool like this, I feel even more excited to improve my cooking.
So don't wait.
Cross those names off your list before the rush.
To get 15% off your next gift, go to uncommongoods.com slash A-E-E.
That's U-N-C-O-M-M-O-N-G-O-O-D-S dot com slash A-E-E for 15% off.
Uncommon Goods.
We're all out of the ordinary.
Hello, Aubrey.
How's everything?
I'm great.
Happy Halloween, Lindsay.
Oh, yes.
It's Halloween.
Oh my gosh.
Is this your favorite holiday, Aubrey, or not?
Honestly, Halloween really wears me out, which is perfect.
We're talking about that phrasal verb today.
And for a mom of four, it's exhausting.
I'm helping everyone get costumes together.
And as much as it's really fun, I love that it's on a Friday.
Halloween should always be on a Friday.
It really should.
It's really a Friday kind of holiday, right?
It should just be the last Friday of the month.
That makes sense.
It really should.
But it's exhausting.
At the end of the night, I'm going to be worn out.
I can imagine.
Oh, my gosh.
Totally worn out.
So we're getting into this phrase today.
We're also going to teach in a future episode the phrase don't wear out your welcome.
But that is going to be a follow up episode.
So, guys, hit the follow button right now on the show so you don't miss that follow up.
Yes, because we use this phrasal verb a few different ways.
It has a few different meanings, wear out.
And then we also have some idiomatic chunks like don't wear out, you're welcome.
So we'll cover that in the follow up.
And today we're going into these different meanings when you hear the phrasal verb wear out.
Yes, there's a lot of different things this could mean.
And we want to make sure we get the context and we get the meaning so we can respond appropriately.
Because when someone says they're worn out, we want to respond to that, right?
And support them.
Yes, this is such a good connection moment, right?
If someone shares this, they're being vulnerable.
They're sharing that.
They feel like they're going to be worn out or they are worn out, right?
They're asking for your support.
That's so true.
It's so true.
So the first meaning is to become tired from effort.
And this sounds like One of the ones you were using, I guess this is what I was using, right?
I'm worn out.
I'm tired from effort.
Exactly.
You might say I took a four hour exam yesterday and it completely wore me out.
So our students that are listening to the IELTS Energy podcast are potentially worn out after taking the exam right?
That would be...
Something that would wear you out.
Or she was worn out after the long flight.
That's another thing.
These days, more and more, I'm just really worn out after I get back from the airport.
Yes.
And as a quick grammar note here, this is a little bit tricky, this phrasal verb.
Because if it's in past simple tense, the past verb is wore.
W-O-R-E.
This completely wore me out.
But when we use the past participle, that's irregular.
It's worn.
So if it's present perfect...
Let me say, I have been worn out or she was worn out.
Yeah, so pay attention to that, guys.
That is definitely important to know.
What would be the second meaning, Aubrey?
Yeah, so this is related, but instead of being physically tired, we also use it to when we say we are emotionally or mentally tired.
So dealing with all that drama really wore me out.
Yeah, you're like mentally exhausted or I always feel worn out. after meeting with my therapist.
You're like wrung out emotionally.
It's exhausting.
Yeah, it can happen.
Or even I went to see a movie screening last Tuesday with my Buddhist group about.
It was called Berkeley in the 60s.
And it went through all the decades of the uprising by the students in Berkeley, like the 50s, the late 50s, the 60s, the fight for free speech on the campus, the Black Panthers.
It went through women's lib, everything that happened in the 50s, 60s and 70s.
And honestly, it was very informative and there was a lot of content.
But by the time we finished, I was like, I'm exhausted.
Yeah.
You're just mentally worn out, right?
Because it's not passive.
You're not just like watching a movie that's, you know, filler and light.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was exhausting.
So even movies can wear us out.
Books can wear us out.
Anything that we're consuming, but we're actually like really taking it in, that can wear us out.
Yeah.
If you're doing mental work or emotional work, you can feel worn out afterward.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Okay.
So let's change the tone here, Aubrey.
And what would be a third meaning?
Yeah.
Third is to use something until it becomes unusable, to wear it out.
So for example, I've worn out my favorite jeans.
They are threadbare.
So this adjective means where like, there's holes and patches, or you can see the individual threads, because it's worn out.
Yes.
Yeah.
Do you tend to do this?
Aubrey, do you wear your shoes down to the holes in your clothes?
I wear clothing until it's worn out.
Yes.
What about you?
Me too.
Me too.
Because by the time those shoes are worn out, they're so comfortable.
So why would I want new shoes?
Exactly.
I agree.
It's the best right before it's too worn out to wear is when it's the most comfortable.
Exactly.
Exactly.
The last thing you want to do is go shopping, right?
All right.
Or my kids wear out clothes so fast, right?
Because kids are running around tumbling or something, right?
Yeah, exactly.
I always want to hand clothing down to someone else to use it, but it's usually too worn out by the time my kids are done with it that it's like rags.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.
And then there's a fourth meaning still.
Yeah.
So this is to lose impact through repetition.
So we use this for words phrases, ideas that become less effective or maybe less funny over time due to overuse.
Do you remember in the 80s when kids used to say that you'd ask someone like Aubrey and you'd be like oh, that's my name.
Don't wear it out.
Do you remember?
Oh, yes.
I had forgotten about that.
That's exactly this meaning.
Right.
It was this silly little phrase.
I haven't heard it in a while.
Right.
But it was popular when we were kids.
When someone says your name, you say, that's my name.
Don't wear it out.
It means like, don't say it over and over or it'll be worn out, lose impact through repetition.
This isn't something we'd recommend saying now.
It's just a fun little phrase so you guys can understand the meaning of something we used to say as kids.
I never said it, but some kids used to say it.
I remember kids saying that to me.
It was always very annoying.
It was kind of an irritating thing to say.
It is annoying for sure.
So here's some less annoying phrases.
You're going to wear out that excuse if you keep using it.
So a parent might say that to a kid, right?
Yes.
I definitely have heard this from my parents.
I think my dad would say this, right?
If you use some kind of excuse, you're going to wear out that excuse.
You're going to wear that excuse out if you keep using it.
That sounds right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I love it.
Or what else?
Dad jokes.
Yeah.
These dad jokes are really worn out.
It would mean you've heard them over and over.
I don't know if anyone out there has a grandpa or a dad that says the same dad jokes over and over?
If so, I feel your pain.
I'm right there with you.
We should probably do an episode on dad jokes.
I'm not sure if we ever have.
And I think it'd be a great topic for a future episode, Aubrey.
That would be really fun, right?
Because some of them are, especially if you haven't heard them a million times, they are clever.
They're often puns or a play on words.
And a lot of them are really fun.
For sure.
Yep. hiring is not just about filling a position in your company.
It's about finding someone who will actually drive revenue or improve your business.
If you're in charge of hiring at your company, stop struggling to get your job seen on other sites.
Give your job the best chance to be seen with Indeed sponsored jobs.
It makes a big difference.
According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are 90 more likely to report a hire than non-sponsored jobs, because you reach a bigger pool of quality candidates.
If I needed to hire a new blog writer to join our team here at All Ears English, I'd be super specific.
I would look for someone with two years of experience and WordPress expertise.
Indeed can deliver on these specifications.
Spend more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes.
Less stress, less time, more results now with Indeed sponsored jobs.
And listeners of this show will get a 75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeedcom.
Slash A-E-E.
Just go to Indeedcom.
Slash A-E-E right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast.
I-N-D-E-E-D dot com slash A-E-E.
Terms and conditions apply.
Hiring, do it the right way with Indeed.
Okay, Aubrey, we're back for a role play.
And here we are co-workers and we're just waiting for a meeting to start, which is a really common moment, right?
We want to make sure we have the conversation skills in this moment.
Exactly.
And these often will be very informal conversations.
The meeting hasn't started.
This is a co-worker you know pretty well.
So it's going to be very similar to everyday conversations you'd have with most friends.
Exactly.
Exactly.
I'll start us.
Hey, Lindsay, you look drained.
What happened?
I took that certification exam this morning, three hours straight with no breaks.
It completely wore me out.
Oh, I remember taking that.
It's brutal.
At least it's behind you.
Yeah, and then I called my cousin right after.
She's going through a breakup and is pretty emotionally worn out.
Ooh, emotional support mode right after that test.
I bet you could use a nap.
To top it all off, my laptop stopped working today.
I didn't expect it to wear out this quickly.
When it rains, it pours.
Do you have a replacement you can use?
Yeah, I borrowed one from IT.
This meeting is going to be tough though.
I don't know how I'll handle it if everyone is using worn out corporate buzzwords.
Oh, I bet.
Those buzzwords get worn out a lot faster than laptops.
Yeah.
Some of the buzzwords are so bad.
I think we've done an episode on business English on how to avoid those or what they mean, or just being aware of them.
Guys, if you don't know about the business English podcast, you should be listening to that show as well.
Go over and search for business English by all ears English.
Yes, absolutely.
Okay, let's go through this role play.
We used all of them here.
So you first said, I took this certification exam.
It completely wore me out.
So that's that first meaning.
Though really, this is the second one, mentally drained.
But for something like this, often it's both.
After a long exam like that, you would be physically and mentally drained.
Yeah, it's usually.
Often it is both, right?
Yeah.
And then the emotional one comes next, talking about my cousin.
She's going through a breakup and is pretty emotionally worn out.
Yeah, so you're trying to be there to support her.
And then you say to top it all off, my laptop stopped working.
I didn't expect it to wear out this quickly.
So this any electronic device, we can say it wore out or it's worn out if it stops working, especially if it has lasted quite a while.
It's older.
We'd say it has worn out.
If it's brand new and something's wrong and it breaks, then we wouldn't say it wore out.
It just broke.
Yeah, exactly, exactly.
And then we get to the overuse of something, right?
I don't know how I'll handle it if everyone is using those worn-out corporate buzzwords.
Yeah, you're kind of sharing you're at the end of your rope.
You don't have a lot of patience.
You're mentally exhausted, so you're anticipating something.
These corporate buzzwords you've heard over and over and over.
I don't know if you can handle it.
I don't know if you've ever seen those in Instagram, but you know.
But I can imagine one person's like let's circle back.
And the other one's like, I'm drowning over here.
That's it.
They're pretty funny, actually.
What's the last one, Aubrey?
All right.
And then I said, those buzzwords get worn out a lot faster than laptops.
So I love we kind of have some banter here, right?
This is really.
We talked about this recently after Maya Rosinia Camilo's talking to us about, instead of just going with the small talk, having some banter building on you know something kind of funny or inside joke.
And here we're sort of bantering about these buzzwords that are getting annoying.
Yes.
Yes.
And the term she used was riffing, right?
If you missed those, we did two episodes on that topic.
Aubrey, you interviewed Maya and then we had a follow-up episode that went into this topic.
So this is really good.
So go and check out those episodes.
You do not want to miss that.
Yes.
Just recently.
So scroll up if you missed those.
Those were amazing.
And this really is a great connection moment, right?
Talking about what wears you out, or if someone shares with you that they are worn out or what wears them out.
They're asking for support and you want to try to be there for them.
Yeah.
Don't just brush it off or move on.
Address it if you're a friend or even a coworker.
Definitely.
You know, it needs to be addressed.
It doesn't mean you have to dwell on something for so long, but just address it.
Make the person feel heard.
That's connection right there.
Right, Aubrey?
Exactly.
I agree.
Nice.
Love it.
So good.
Great episode today.
Guys, hit follow if you love the show.
Awesome.
Thanks, Lindsay.
I will see you next time.
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.
Next up is a little song from CarMax about selling a car your way.
So fast.
Or like a month.
With OfferWatch.
So, wanna drive?
CarMax.
Pickup not available everywhere.
Restrictions and fee may apply.
