This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 1628, Rockets, Brain Surgery, and English Vocabulary.
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This idiom is not rocket science.
Stick with us today to learn a few new expressions, to say that something is not that hard in English.
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Hello, Michelle.
How's it going today?
How's everything?
Hey, Lindsay.
Good, good, good.
How are you?
I'm excited to see you on video.
I know.
It's good as always.
Always fun doing a little YouTube action here.
Guys, go and check out today's episode.
It's over on the All Ears English YouTube channel and make sure you hit subscribe there.
Michelle, I'm happy because I'm at the ocean this week.
Yeah, that's good.
You're in your happy place.
I'm in my happy place.
The smell of the ocean is the best thing in the world.
How are you this week?
What's going on?
What's new?
Yeah, I'm good.
I'm good.
Everything is good.
It's been hot as anything over here.
But yeah, not too much exciting stuff.
Just happy to be here.
But Do you think you'll be able to figure out how to send those files we talked about?
Well, I hope so, Michelle.
I mean, it's not rocket science.
Oh, okay, good.
Our little role plays are always so funny.
I know.
It's not rocket science.
Lindsay, what did you mean by that?
What I meant by that is that it's not...
It's not, you know, so, so hard.
At least it shouldn't be, right?
It shouldn't be so difficult that I can't figure it out.
What I think is funny is when sometimes you are talking about aeronautical engineering or science when it actually is rocket science.
Right.
Right, right, right.
I don't know if I included that.
Oh, wait, no, I actually did.
Never mind.
I'll teach I'll teach another expression later.
You're probably thinking of it, too.
Well, it's funny because, you know, I was just watching the news with my parents here last night where Jeff Bezos just did his rocket launch right to space.
What are your thoughts on that?
I haven't followed it too too much, but I did see something that was like.
You know, he's going to space for five minutes and that's like the time of a break for an Amazon employee.
Yeah.
I know.
This one's hitting me not in a great way.
I just think it's a weird moment to be doing it.
And I think the angle he's taking is environmental science, just awareness of the environment and climate change.
But what's his plan?
Is he going to send everyone to outer space so we can see the planet and how destroyed it is?
What?
How is this actually going to change climate change?
How is this going to help our environmental efforts, right?
I'm having a hard time connecting the dots of what the point is.
Yeah, I know.
Well, actually, I saw an interview, you know, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Yeah, I've heard of him.
Yeah.
Oh, he I mean, he's amazing.
And yeah, he said almost like he doesn't even believe that they officially went into space, like because they like him and Richard Branson, like they just wait like a tiny bit up and that's like not even like really considered anything.
So I'm not really sure.
Yeah.
I don't really understand it, basically.
And also in the midst of the whole conversation we're having around workers' rights, hourly wages, respect for workers.
It's just a weird time to be spending all this money on going to space.
And then I'm thinking, when I was listening to the news lesson, I'm thinking is he – trying to carve a way for us to go to a new planet to live like?
Is that the climate change plan?
Like to actually escape the earth?
You know, i i don't know, these guys think so big, which i respect how big they think, but i just it's a weird time for this.
Right right, right.
It is.
Yeah.
So yeah, I don't know.
Well, guys, we're talking about rocket rocket science today.
But no, I'm glad you brought it up.
It's an interesting thing that we'll be following.
It's really interesting.
Guys, this expression is a very popular one.
I mean, we did, I think Jessica taught it a little bit on IELTS.
So guys, if you search for it in the search bar, you might find it a little bit on an IELTS video or podcast.
So I wanted to bring it to all is English today.
I mean, Lindsay, what do you think of this expression?
Do you use it?
What do you think it implies?
Yeah, I've I think it's great.
It's a classic.
Guys, this is classic natural English, an idiom.
It just means it's not that hard, right?
It's not rocket science.
It's not complicated.
We should be able to do it.
I think it's interesting.
I mean, the more color you guys can add to your language, the more you're going to connect.
So we love to share these expressions with you.
Definitely.
Love it.
Yeah.
So guys, before we get more into this, we want to remind you that we have our All Ears English app.
We are on iOS and Android.
Right, Lindsay?
I know.
It's so exciting that now we're on Android and hundreds of students are signed up with the plan there.
They're subscribed.
So they are seeing transcripts every time, they listen to Alders English and they are choosing their keywords.
That's what's unique about this app is that you can actually select keywords to make your own power list that you want to remember.
I would imagine Michelle Rocket Science will be one of them for this episode.
Ah!
I imagine it will.
Yeah, guys.
So go on over to allersenglish.com slash app, A-P-P to get that.
Totally.
And guys, remember, we also do have an IELTS podcast.
Michelle, just a few minutes ago, you mentioned IELTS.
That is the IELTS Energy podcast.
If you're taking IELTS anytime in the next year or two, you definitely want to subscribe to that one.
All right.
For sure.
Love it.
So, yeah, this expression, I mean, when... I mean, we'll talk about, like, when you would use it.
I think it shows a lot of personality.
Yeah.
And I think...
I think it could go in two ways.
I think it could give someone confidence, right?
Like that you can do it, that you are able to complete a task that maybe you think is hard.
But I could also see it as being like a little condescending.
What do you think, Lindsay?
I agree, Michelle.
I think that's a good point.
It depends on any of these expressions, guys.
It depends on how you use it.
What's your tone of voice?
Yeah.
What's the context?
Just make sure we're not saying this.
You know, if someone's struggling with something and you come in and they ask you for help and you say oh, it's not rocket science.
Why can't you do this?
Obviously, that's going to degrade your connection with the person.
Right.
Right.
Exactly.
Like we have this little role play, like you know, listen and see if you guys think it's like nice or kind of rude.
OK.
OK, Lindsay, have you figured out the software?
No, I'm still struggling.
It's not rocket science.
Yeah.
And that's just annoying and tacky when people use these expressions to kind of make people feel bad, right.
That's just a personality thing.
I mean, if that's your personality, then you do you, right?
Yeah.
Exactly.
Oh, we should do a whole episode about the expression you do you.
You do you.
It's such a good one, Michelle.
We have to do that.
That's a good one.
All right.
I'm going to put that in the idea doc.
Put that on the list.
But it doesn't always...
Yeah.
Okay, here we go.
What?
What?
This spreadsheet, I mean, it's not rocket science.
Actually, Michelle, I think sometimes spreadsheets are rocket science.
I mean, I had to have someone help me with making pivot table.
Spreadsheets can get really crazy and very technical.
It's true.
I'm lacking a lot of Excel skills.
Sometimes I think it's like if you're the one just using the spreadsheet, you know, but if you have to build something and it's very complicated, it is a little like rocket science.
It's like I need a business degree or finance degree to make those tables work.
No, I think it is like there's a whole art to it.
There really is.
So, guys, you know, but I bet a lot of our listeners do work in spreadsheets all the time.
So for them, hopefully it's not rocket science.
Do you have another role play, Michelle?
Exactly.
Exactly.
Let's try this one.
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All right, Michelle, click that button.
Oh, that one?
Yeah.
Ah, will I remember this next time?
Oh, I'm sure you will.
It's not rocket science.
Okay.
So I think the way you said it, I think it was almost like reassuring.
So with that kind of tone of voice and that way, it could be really nice to say that.
Okay, so it just really depends on your tone.
And that's what matters in the end.
You know, that's our message at All Ears English.
It's the way you say things.
It's how you're supporting the speaker, how you're building the connection.
It's not really the words you use.
Right, right, right.
Exactly.
So, I mean, I think I think it's a I think it's a good expression.
I think it's fun.
I think it's a unique way to say something.
But here's the other one that I was thinking about earlier.
And I was like, I hope I put that on.
And of course.
Here is a whole thing about it.
What's this expression?
So the expression, it's not brain surgery.
So these are probably the two hardest careers, rocket science and brain surgery.
Yeah, yeah.
I could never be, you know, I did spend a little time this week in the hospital.
My dad was in the hospital.
Yeah.
But luckily, he had heart surgery and he came through it really well, guys.
So that's fantastic to report.
But I will say that I spent a lot of time this week doing visits to the hospital.
And I do not like hospitals.
God, they have a smell to them.
I could never work in medical.
I don't know.
Me too.
The pressure.
Unbelievable.
Well, we're glad to hear he's doing well.
Thank you.
Yeah, I mean, this expression, it's pretty much the same idea, right?
It's not brain surgery.
I think that this one can be used also in a slightly different way.
It's like...
Because brain surgery is also so... I mean, well, so is rocket science.
But like, brain surgery is so much like life and death that sometimes I've heard this in a way of like you know, if you're like worried about something, like oh, it's not like you're doing brain surgery.
It's like almost like kind of when you're stressed about something and you think oh, I made a mistake.
Sometimes I feel like I've heard people say like, you know, it's not like...
A mistake and a small mistake is going to kill someone, you know?
Exactly.
Unless it does, but Unless it does, but most of the time, like in our field.
I've thought about that before.
Like I think I chose the right world because if we make a mistake as teachers, no one's going to die, right?
No one's going to die.
I mean...
I just couldn't handle a job where the slightest mistake someone could lose their lives.
It's just not my personality.
But thank God for the amazing health care workers we have.
Right.
When I went to visit my dad on Thursday in the hospital came off the flight from Colorado, went straight to the hospital.
I felt so much gratitude for that nurse.
It was amazing.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, I completely agree.
But yeah, I couldn't deal with that type of pressure.
You have to really be a special kind of person who's okay with that.
And some people are and some people aren't and that's okay.
But, like you know, I could know not for us Michelle, not me, but if you guys are working in the medical field and the other way, it is similar to the rocket science, it is similar idea.
So let's do a role play.
Okay, all right, here we go.
So you'll take the six train and then you'll transfer at Grand Central.
Oh, I'm nervous.
Oh Michelle, you can figure it out.
It's not brain surgery.
Okay, Sometimes navigating Grand Central can feel like brain surgery at rush hour.
I know.
Well, I remember when my friend moved to New York and I had been living in New York for a while already.
And it's easy to forget how confusing it can be.
Yeah, you're not like if you're not used to it.
So I remember my friend was like, Oh, like, how do we get in?
And I'm just like you know, at first I wanted to be like No, it's like just like follow directions.
Fine.
But yeah, there's something about the New York subway system and the buses that it is intimidating.
It can be.
But I mean, Michelle, you've been to Japan.
So you've seen the big stations like Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza.
I remember when we did our live event with All Ears English in 2018.
I packed way too big of a bag for four days in Tokyo.
And I remember being in Shinjuku at rush hour.
And I knew Shinjuku because I lived in Japan.
But I was up against a pole and I was just almost panicking.
I was like, I can't move.
People are going everywhere around me and I have this huge bag.
Yeah, yeah.
That kind of felt like brain surgery trying to figure out where to go.
One thing that I thought I remember with the trains in Japan was very helpful was the people who worked there.
So I would literally sometimes go up and there would be like a man or a woman standing.
You know right by where you would enter.
And I would say the station name, and they would just like put up the number of fingers of like what track I should be going on.
Or say it or whatever.
And it was so helpful.
Like in New York, like...
Oh, God, that doesn't happen.
Like so efficiently or at all.
Like there's not always somebody sitting at the stand, you know.
So I found that that that really helped.
Oh, my gosh.
In New York, if there is someone sitting in that little house, that little mini house, as you go out, they'll yell at you if you're.
Yeah, I know.
It's scary.
Like, how do I get – yeah, I know.
So I appreciated that about Japan.
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
Yeah, but guys, this is in general a way to talk about things being, you know, easy.
And those two phrases have a lot of personality.
Absolutely.
Lindsay, what's another – what are –
Some other kind of simple ways to say this that don't have as much personality but are still nice and easy.
Right.
It's always good to have just a more descriptive, straightforward way to say it, guys.
So write these down.
So you could say this.
It's actually really easy or it's actually really simple.
Right.
So using actually Michelle, what's the function of that there in that phrase?
It's like oh, you may not think this, but it's like, believe it, you know.
Surprise, you know might be a surprise.
Yeah, exactly exactly what else Michelle, is there another you could say you can figure it out, like in a nice way, in a nice way, you know, if somebody says like I don't know how to get to the say oh, you can figure it out, it'll be fine, you know, like things like that yeah sure, And I also could imagine saying this to a kid.
Like I just spent the last week with my niece and like you know, she's eight and it's like empowering her to figure things out on her own.
Like, Hey, like how do we get there?
You can figure it out.
You do it.
Right.
So, but it also works when we're talking to adults, guys.
So yeah.
And then what's the last one?
It's easier than it seems.
Maybe we should do an episode someday on the word seem, right?
Because that's an interesting one.
It's kind of a weird verb.
What would be another verb that means the same thing?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That seems like a good idea, Lindsay.
Yeah, like it appears, right?
The word seem is like appear.
That seems like a good idea.
I'm glad you approve.
Yes, yes, yes, exactly.
So guys, these are all useful.
Like these ones aren't quite as colorful as the other ones, but sometimes you want that extra personality and sometimes you just need the basics.
So we wanted to give you both today.
Exactly.
It's great when you have both.
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So good.
So good.
Good, Michelle.
All right, Lindsay, this has been fun.
So, I mean, guys, the takeaway for today is these are all useful expressions.
Make sure you're not using them in an insulting tone unless that's how you want to be.
And sometimes that's... how people are.
Um, but listen for them and just think about that idea of like reassuring someone or you know that that moment, like maybe it could be even at work, if you know you're learning something and you know you have all these steps and somebody can be like pretty intimidated or overwhelmed.
And these kinds of expressions can be helpful.
Yes, I love it.
So good, Michelle.
So good.
And guys, go to allersenglish.com slash app to get the app.
And Michelle, we'll see you on the next one.
All right.
Bye, Lindsay.
Have a good one.
Take care.
Bye.
Bye.
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