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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.
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Have you ever been in a situation where you are looking for something but it's hard to find?
Today, get one phrase that can help you express the intensity of your search in English.
Hey there Michelle, how are you doing today?
Good, Lindsay. I have a question for you.
Hello. Oh yes, I'm ready.
Have you ever felt like you were on a wild goose chase?
Wow, that's a big question.
My journey to find an apartment in New York might have had tones of that.
There was definitely a lot of chasing up and down, midtown, downtown, uptown, running from subway stop to the next to apartment.
It's just the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, Michelle, getting an apartment in New York.
Oh yeah, that's a great example of how this expression might be used.
Guys, well we are here today on our Saturday episode so hopefully you're relaxed today.
Maybe you're going out to the gym, maybe you're sipping your coffee however you're listening.
Thank you for being here with us on this Saturday.
Today we are going to talk about this fun expression, a wild goose chase.
But before we get into that, we want to remind you guys about our really great app.
Yeah, we have an app guys.
We have an iOS Android app.
It's custom just for all there's English.
This is a place you'll want to go if you want to deepen your learning with the show.
Of course, over there, you can listen to every episode for free, but if you become a premium member in the app, that's when you get to see the transcripts right there on your phone.
You also get tappable words in each transcript, there's five to seven tappable words in each episode.
If you tap on those words, you'll see the definition, you'll save them to your personal power list and at the end of each week now we are doing a weekly summary role play where Aubrey and I take all the vocabulary words from the week, not all of them, many of them.
We bring them into one role play, right?
So we're taking words from different episodes.
We're talking about what they mean to review them again.
Then we're doing a role play using those different words and this is what we actually need to do to touch back to those words in a review format to make sure we fully learn them.
I think for our listeners, a lot of what they tell us is I learned a word once and then I forget it and I don't know how to use it.
This is how we actually are able to use it on the spot is by reviewing.
I love that. That is so helpful because you might listen to an episode and then maybe you just go on to the next episode and forget about it.
This is just such a great way to put it all together in a larger way.
How can we fit these words altogether because these episodes don't just exist totally on their own, right?
This is all about how can we connect everything together in real life because real life isn't just one topic.
100 % right. You got it.
Sometimes you're going to need to grab an episode from a topic about X when you're talking about why it's going to be completely in a different context.
So what you see in those weekly summaries is those words are moved into a new context, which is really, really cool.
So, guys, that is only over there for premium members in the app.
So go over to allersenglish .com app, choose Android or iOS, download the app, give it a try, do the trial and check it out.
All right, good. All right.
And I bet this will be in a summary.
Wild goose chase. What in the world does that mean?
Yeah, I love this. This is so fun.
Oh my gosh. This means that you are or were searching for something that's impossible to get or that you just won't find.
Right. So maybe you go all over the place and you're looking and you're trying to get something done or find something and it just doesn't happen.
Or it's extremely difficult.
So we can use this on literal levels and metaphorical levels.
Right. And that's what I love about the advanced English in C1 we talk about using metaphors, speaking metaphorically.
This is where we're headed as a community to move towards abstract English.
So high level, so high level.
Yeah, I mean, so it's not always used to say that you are a bit OK.
So the meaning of an actual of a wild goose chase would be that it is actually impossible to find.
Yeah, right. Something it's I'm on a wild goose chase.
It doesn't it's not going to happen.
Right. Yeah. But sometimes we say I feel like I'm in a wild goose chase, which is more it seems that way.
But I know that I can find it.
But it's just everything is all over the place.
But it doesn't always mean, oh, it's not going to happen.
Right. Yeah. I just emphasizing it feels crazy.
Things feel crazy. Right.
Yeah. Do you use this Lindsay?
Uh, yeah, of course I have.
It historically in my life, I have used it for sure.
Lately, not as much, but I feel like I used it a lot or my mom might have used it a lot.
I don't know. You know, it could be even let's I don't know.
For some reason, this makes me think of the wild turkeys that cross the road.
You know, it's holiday time.
We're eating turkey.
Makes me think maybe you're making Thanksgiving dinner and you have a guess that demands, you know, 100 percent genuine cranberry sauce.
But you only have like a big box stores in your town that don't have fresh cranberries.
You want a wild goose chase all over your county to find fresh cranberries for this person.
Right. Right. Yeah.
Oh, that's a great example.
Yeah. I, uh, yeah, I use this for sure.
I don't know. I guess I'm just constantly on a wild goose chase.
I don't know. But I just, you're like Michelle, I love that.
I think so for you.
Yeah. Thank you. That's a, um, so, so again, it doesn't have to mean.
If you ever, if you really are in a wild goose chase, it's probably, you're not going to find it, but if you say, oh, I feel like it, or it's like I'm on a wild goose chase in a more metaphorical way, it's, you're probably going to find it's just annoying.
So let's go, let's go over some other examples.
I mean, Lindsay, this touches back on your New York example.
I mean, you did find an apartment eventually, so, but it was like a wild goose chase.
So yeah, looking for a house when the inventory is low, um, I know people who are currently looking for houses or have had to stop their search because they just don't, there's just not enough inventory.
So yeah, you could say I want to move and we've been looking everywhere, but it's like we're on a wild goose chase.
Yeah. I think anytime looking for any product, any item that's just rare, hard to find unexpected, that's the vibe that we're going for.
Right. Oh yeah. Or even now, because, yeah, the holiday time, if people might be searching, it makes me think of, you know, maybe it's different now because we have the internet.
But if somebody's looking for the hottest toy for their kid, oh my God, people get into the fights.
Don't you think there's a lot of holiday movies that come out all about that?
This kid has his heart set on this one toy and he just has to get it.
At the end of the movie, will he get his toy?
Right? Yeah, there's just so many holiday, I love holiday movies, by the way.
They're so light and fun.
Yeah, I do too. I do too.
It's a very special time of year.
So, okay, so here's another one.
Lizzie, what's the next example?
Trying to find an outfit to wear as a bridesmaid in a certain color that is really rare.
Oh my gosh, yes, this is always hard.
If you're honored to be selected as part of a bridal party, it's a wonderful thing.
But you might have a challenge ahead of you in terms of getting the right thing to wear, especially if they're not just telling you what to wear.
They're saying, oh, broadly try to get this color.
Right. So for example, the bride wants us all to wear a color called peacock blue, but I'm on a wild goose chase trying to find anything in that color.
Oh, and it's so hard because you don't want to stress the bride out.
You don't want to say the wrong thing in front of the bride.
There's a lot of deference given to the bride during these times.
And so in the background, the bridal party is always going crazy.
The bride might not even know it.
Yeah, right. It's true.
It's so true. OK, Michelle, we are back to continue on.
Now, what would be another example?
Let's give more context.
Yeah. So another example could be if you're trying to find a job in a bad economy.
OK, so maybe there aren't that many jobs.
So you could say, I've been applying to jobs everywhere and networking, but I'm on a wild goose chase.
Yeah, it's just kind of when you when you resort to the phrase wild goose chase, you're trying to say things are getting kind of crazy.
Right. Yeah. Writings are feeling a little exasperated.
You're a grim, grim, good, good word.
Exasperated is a good word.
Wow. Yeah. These are guys.
These are going to be on the app for sure.
Or what's what's one more example?
This. Yeah. Appeary.
So let's see. Yeah.
If you're trying to get signatures for documents that you need and you're spending a lot of time running all over, for example, maybe you need to get something notarized.
You print something out, but you don't have a printer at your house.
It just goes. Yeah, I actually I've felt this way over the last couple of years dealing with my aunt's all of her financial stuff, you know, family.
Yeah, it's pretty intense.
It's pretty hard to have a printer.
I actually do. And I'm glad I figure you would need to.
Yeah, I do have a printer.
Yeah. Yeah. I haven't had a printer and like most of the time I don't need one.
Sorry, I think I interrupted.
No, that's OK. I haven't had one in years, but there's and most of the time it's OK.
But there is that time when it comes up and you're like, yeah, why don't I have a print?
Totally. I think every household probably should have a printer.
I think especially if you're doing certain things like dealing with estates and people just like wrapping up their things when they pass away, there's a lot of that that has to go on.
So here's a sample sentence.
OK, so we need to get this notarized, but the notary isn't there and it's due by 12.
Right, man, are we on a wild goose chase?
I love that. I love that.
Yeah. So yeah. Yeah, that's a good example of when it might be all the forms.
It just becomes kind of a pain.
I didn't even like your example.
And I thought about a notary for some reason.
Oh, well, you have to call them.
Is it when is the notary in or the notary is not in today?
It's just like, right, are you serious?
Yeah, it's always some sort of paperwork, maybe something, a title of a car.
A maybe you're purchasing a house or or leasing an apartment and you have to get things.
You know, you have to prove your bank statements or whatever.
And sometimes it never ends.
You just end up in this spiral of bureaucracy.
I think I shared on the other podcast with Aubrey of trying to retitle a classic car that belongs to a family member, but there's no license plate.
There's no title. There's no registration.
And it's like a foreign car.
Like, how do you do that in the state of California?
We're going to find out.
You're going to go on a wild goose chase.
Yeah, in the middle of it right now.
So these it's when things become extreme, they become extreme, right?
It's not like I'm just going to go and find the thing and come home.
No, no, no, yeah. Right.
Right. Right. It's just you know, it's used.
It's interesting, because it's used kind of in a when you're frustrated or in or exasperated.
Right. But it's also very versatile because you can use it kind of humorously or sarcastically.
So it doesn't always have to be this extreme situation, not all the time.
I think most of the time it is.
But you know, you could say, oh, man, now I have to go on a wild goose chase to get all my kids school supplies.
And, you know, just it doesn't have to be extreme.
It can just be like, oh, I have to go searching around for something.
Yeah, I think this is useful because you need a way to say this is intense.
Right. Or I'm or this is annoying.
I mean, we are only so many hours in the day.
I really get annoyed by this kind of thing.
You know, when things are harder than they need to be, I just want to be spending my time hanging out with my dog or outside hiking.
I don't want to be running around chasing a notary.
You know, I know that notary.
Yes. Sometimes. Yeah.
I need to I need to find a neighbor notary or something.
And I just like you can do a mobile notary.
But it's expensive.
Really? I didn't know.
Yeah. Oh, I mean, they charge you for it.
You know, yeah. Yeah.
Anyway, so so would we see what is a notary?
I'm sorry. Just to be.
OK, we haven't defined this.
I think our listeners probably have, of course, they have the same thing, guys.
So a notary is if you're signing an important document, certain important documents require that you sign in the presence of a notary.
Someone who's been trained to say, yes, I've checked this person's ID.
They're who they say they are.
We are here in this place.
This is the date. This is the time they stamp it.
And then that kind of certifies the signing of the thing.
That cute little seal.
A little seal. Love it.
Yeah. Well, it's up to you.
Do we have time? We're still kind of early on.
I think we have a few minutes.
Let's do it. Let's do a few of these.
So all right. All right.
So a lost cause. This is the same idea, kind of.
I'm trying to find my glasses, but I think it's a lost cause.
So this is a little different because you have already decided it's just not going to you're not going to find the thing.
Well, goose chase, you could still have some hope.
Right. But by the time it's a lost cause, it's over.
Yeah. Right. Exactly.
And I think we could do a whole follow up on a lost cause.
But yeah, definitely could could be used in the similar way.
I think we'll skip the next one.
Yeah. Let's do a waste of time.
I mean, OK, well, this has been a waste of time.
We didn't find anything we needed.
So that's more after.
Well, it doesn't have to be after the fact.
You could say, I think this will be a waste of time.
But yeah. Yeah, a lot of unnecessary steps and things.
Yeah. And then in vain.
I think we're looking in vain over here.
I really think Franny threw out what we needed.
This should be its own episode in vain.
I mean, you've seen we've seen this in songs and poems and movies.
Right. Doing something in vain means you're kind of misguided in your search.
Yeah, it's not going to happen for another reason.
Right. Yep. Mm hmm.
Yes. Yes. So we can definitely go deeper into these examples, these other ones soon.
But let's do a role play on a couple of these now.
So here, Lindsay and I are friends looking for a birthday present for our other friend.
OK, here we go. Go ahead, Michelle.
Oh, it's you. I'm sorry.
Here we go. So she told me she wants a fondue making set.
Oh, boy. I don't even know where to start.
OK. I don't see anything.
Hmm. I think it's a lost cause.
I don't think we're looking in vain.
We may just need to try another store.
OK, well, I'll try one more, but it feels like we might be on a wild goose chase.
Doesn't feel like we tried that hard.
No, it's like we're like looking on one shelf at once.
Like if it's not in the aisle that I'm walking down, then I'm not.
I'm not even going to ask anybody.
That's what we must not like this friend very much like the very much.
Or sounds like I don't for sure.
You you have a little more hope.
I'm like, Oh, man, right.
Do it. Yeah, yeah, for sure.
So you and then so you said it.
So I said, oh, boy, I don't even know where to start.
OK, I don't see anything.
Not trying hard here, Michelle.
And then you said said, I think it's a lost cause.
I'm ready to give up.
I don't. And then I said, I don't think we're looking in vain.
Meaning, I think we could actually find this, you know, it exists out there.
Right. This thing she wants.
It is a real thing.
Yeah. And I said, OK, well, I'm sorry.
This is so OK. I'll try one more.
But it feels like we might be on a wild goose chase.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So that's the quality of the gifts you get and how much thought was put into it.
Right. We can always judge our friendships, I guess.
You know, how in it are our friends at that moment, right?
Into the friendship.
I don't see it. Yeah.
Michelle, is there another episode our listeners could check out here?
Guys, head on over to Episode 2315 was who asked you?
Rude phrases to avoid in English.
All right. All right.
So we've talked about what this phrase means, the intensity of it.
Is there a takeaway here?
I mean, a human connection takeaway, what it means for us?
Why? Well, I think that it's really used when we are kind of in an intense state.
Right. We've you're kind of like we use that word exasperated.
You're just kind of over it.
You know, you didn't unlike the role play.
It's not about looking at one shelf in the store.
It's you know, something is very annoying.
It's become irritating or you think it will be that way.
So I think it's just good to connect with people over this feeling.
I mean, even though it's a somewhat negative feeling, it's a good way to connect and to vent and to share maybe what will or won't be a waste of time.
Yeah, because if you've had experiences been very exasperating again, maybe you're physically out of breath when you're saying you've been in a wild goose goose chase, maybe you want to share that feeling.
Like you said, Michelle, you want others to really understand how hard it was to find this thing or maybe you haven't found this thing yet.
OK, so you can share your life with people in a sense.
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.
It's what it comes down to.
Thanks. All right. Thank you guys for listening.
I hope you don't go in on any wild goose chases in the future anytime soon, Michelle.
I'm naming. Yes. Yes.
Same to you, Lindsay.
All right. You have a good day, Michelle.
Bye. All right. Bye.
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