This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2008.
It's like riding a bike.
How to say something is easy.
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Ever want to encourage someone to do something, but you need the words to tell them that it's actually pretty easy.
In this episode, get five ways to say that something is a breeze in English.
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Expires at midnight on Friday. allersenglish.com slash b-l-a-c-k-f-r-i-d-a-y Hey there, Michelle.
Good morning.
How's it going today?
Good morning.
I'm good.
How are you?
I am feeling awesome.
What are we talking about today on the show?
Well, can you ride a bike?
I actually can.
Can you?
I'm a little nervous of the answer.
I don't know if I've ever talked about this on the show before.
Does it sound familiar?
It sounds familiar, but you're going to have to refresh.
Plus, we have all these new listeners.
Exactly.
So I used to be able to ride a bike.
And you know how they say, oh, it's just like riding a bike.
And that expression doesn't really ring true with me, because I was on a trip once and And we were, I there was going to be like a group bike ride.
And I said, I'm not going to be able to ride a bike.
And all these other people on the trip were like, oh, I haven't ridden in so long.
I'm not going to be able to ride a bike.
And so we were I'm not going to be able to ride it.
I'm not going to be able to ride it.
And then all of them got on the bike.
And they were like, oh, I got it.
And I fell off right away, got my hands all bloody.
And so since then I haven't been, I haven't felt like I could ride a bike, like I just like it's not good, because that's not really what you should teach people.
You know, like that, you just give up.
But I don't know.
I just never got back on the bike.
Wow.
You never got back on.
Oh, my gosh.
OK, well.
This is the weekend to do it, Michelle.
When the weekend comes up, just take Dan out there and say, you have to teach me how to ride a bike.
Like we have to do some remedial stuff here.
Actually, we were just watching, there's an episode of Ted Lasso.
And there was just an episode where, like one of the big, like tough guys, he reveals that he can't ride a bike and another player teaches him.
And it's like a very cute scene.
So I appreciated that.
Anyway, but let's talk about, I mean, this expression I already said, it's like riding a bike.
So what does that mean?
And are we always talking about a bike when we discuss?
Yeah, it's the ultimate analogy that we use in American English when we want to say that something is easy, but the problem is, well... it's the problem is for you michelle it's not necessarily easy to ride a bike for me it's like oh no if it's like riding a bike i got a problem it's like riding a bike right right right but we want to you know we're going to talk about you know other ways to say that something is relatively easy um because why because you know people learn to ride a bike as kids and it's kind of a muscle memory thing right um right yeah well what is what is muscle memory muscle memory is where your muscles learn something and then you're no longer really engaging your brain it's like your muscles know exactly what to do right for me when i was a kid i hit so many tennis balls on our on our backyard uh backboard that i just developed muscle memory so i just know how to hit the ball you know skiing too like i i know there are things michelle that you have muscle memory for well i was thinking music like yeah you know there's um uh especially piano like eventually that's you know you memorize the song it's it's muscle memories you're just yeah like you said your brain doesn't really have to get involved you don't have to actively think about something yeah that um i would say that even stuff with singing there are certain like there are certain songs that i can probably sing with maybe the same notes as like a new song if i were just like but but it's easier for me on the old one just because i have even my voice has muscle memory.
Does that make sense?
Yeah, no, fair enough.
That makes sense.
And I also wonder if language is kind of this way too.
It is a kind of a form of muscle memory or an extension of that, because our not exactly muscle memory, but we know, once we get fluent in a language, we know what words come next.
We know that a preposition comes after a certain word, right?
So it's similar.
And also, I think, with pronunciation, and that's why That's why sometimes pronunciation can be so hard is because you have muscle memory for saying something a certain way.
And then to switch it, that's very difficult.
So yeah, this deals a lot with language learning.
Yeah.
And so today we're going to talk about Michelle, we're going to talk about how to say that something actually is pretty easy.
It's pretty straightforward.
Is that the plan for today?
Yes.
Yes, exactly.
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All right.
So guys, yeah, we did another episode similar to this was episode 485.
So that's quite a long time ago.
Yes.
Yeah.
How to make these English idioms a cakewalk.
So you can get some similar ideas over there, but different ones today.
And then also we have one episode 1628 was rockets, brain surgery and English vocabulary.
So head on over and listen to those.
Yeah, I think that was the one where we talked about rocket science.
Brain surgery, right?
It's not rocket science, another expression.
So guys, don't miss those other episodes.
But today, let's get into it, Michelle.
So this is a really important skill for our listeners.
As you become more and more fluent, you're going to use more of these sayings.
These are really sayings, right?
Just to say, how hard is this thing, right?
Encourage someone to do it. to do the thing.
And also specifically about this.
Like riding a bike, it's often used about something where somebody may have not done it in a while.
And so, and then they're getting back to it.
And so like, for example, it's like encouraging someone that something, even if they stopped doing this thing.
At one point.
You're able to.
You have that muscle memory.
So for example, you'll remember how to sew in no time.
It's like riding a bike.
Oh, yeah.
That's an important point about this one because most people learn to ride bikes as kids, right?
And then maybe they go away from it and they don't come back for a while.
And then it's like riding a bike.
You remember it, you pick it back up, right?
Or not for some people.
Yeah.
So the other ones.
This is a very unique one because it is dealing specifically with that muscle memory.
The other ones today we're talking about are a little bit more just saying that.
It's a little bit easy right.
So this one is a very special, special one.
I was going to say the next one, Michelle, right?
So let's throw out the next one.
So guys, this one, yeah, you're right.
These next three guys are more straightforward, right?
Just saying it's easy.
We're not saying you learned it as a kid and you have the muscle memory.
No, the expression is easy as pie.
You can pick it up like that.
You can pick it up like that.
This concept is easy as pie.
I wonder why we say that.
I don't know.
It's a good question.
I mean, is pie that easy?
I don't know.
That seems pretty hard to me to make a pie.
And why not cake?
Why not cake?
Why not cake?
Why not ice cream?
I don't know.
That's funny.
And then the next one is child's play.
Okay.
Oh, you can definitely put that furniture together yourself.
It's child's play.
It's easy, which is kind of insulting to children.
I guess it is.
Yeah.
Right.
Something that kids could do.
I don't hear that one quite as much.
And actually, when I think about that one, I think about the movie.
What was the like the scary like horror doll Chucky in the 90s?
That movie?
Oh, God.
Okay.
So I personally would stay away from that one.
But okay well, we won't say that you can if you want to um, or it might be.
I feel like it's also used about something that might be immature, i don't know, but yeah, so that one's a little bit tricky.
There might be a couple uses of it, but actually let me throw something else out there.
I think this a really interesting way for adults to use this would be when let's say you are learning about something.
Let's say you're learning about real estate, investing right and you are an expert.
And Let's say you had a journey.
You started in 2010 and now it's 2020.
And you started by just buying single family homes, let's say.
And now you're up to commercial real estate.
You could reflect on 2010 and saying, oh, that was child's play what I was doing.
Ah, yes.
That's a really good example.
Right.
Like compare like it's almost used to compare things.
Yes.
That was child's play.
Oh, like this is just child's play.
Now wait till you see what's next.
Exactly.
Like you've moved to another level of expertise or risk or performance.
Things have become more big time for you.
And you look back, oh, that was child's play.
So this is how I see our listeners really using this in a really interesting way.
Yeah, that's perfect.
I'm really glad that you were able to zero in on that one.
And the last one, Michelle. is a breeze.
It's a breeze, right?
You'll learn fast.
Really, it's a breeze once you get used to it.
Yeah, I like this one because it's easy breezy.
Easy breezy.
Straightforward.
Yeah, so good.
Lizzie, have you learned anything new recently?
Well, you're working on your Arabic and you're about to go on your trip.
I'm feeling a little nervous.
I don't think I'm ready.
Um, but I did prepare a whole deck of cards and we do have someone in our group who's very allergic to fish.
So I have a whole card that says in Arabic, in the alphabet as well as written she has a strong fish allergy.
I have a whole deck of cards with my phrases and I'm going to study more, but we'll see.
We'll see Michelle.
I think it'll just be.
It'll be amazing to be there and just put things into action.
Know yes yes, yes.
And guys, if you don't know, i don't know if we just said where you're going, but you are going to egypt, egypt.
Yes, i'm going to egypt and we've already made the announcement by the time this is out.
I will be back um, but so we're trying to organize a dinner with our listeners and hopefully that will come through and i'll have some stories when i get back.
Michelle can't wait to hear about it, but i hope your trip is long and wonderful.
Thanks, michelle.
All right michelle, so should we get into a couple of questions here for each other?
Yes,
Here, Lindsay, here's the first one.
What is something maybe, that you have relearned, or something that you hadn't done in a while.
That's like riding a bike.
Oh, that's a good question.
You know, I think skiing for me, because I stopped skiing for about 15 years when I lived in New York City.
I didn't have the money to ski and I didn't have the access to the mountains.
Like New Yorkers usually don't go skiing unless you are like a multi-millionaire and you can fly off your private jet off the top of top of your apartment building, right?
Most people don't necessarily go to the mountains all that much from Manhattan, and so I I stopped skiing when I was like 20, basically 18 and I didn't pick it up again until I was 35 or 36, so 18 years.
But when I started skiing again It felt like riding a bike, because I started when I was three.
And so I know it.
My body knows it.
It's just I know when to make the turns.
And then I was able to come to the next level of skiing.
It felt really good.
It felt like coming home.
Were you nervous at first like, did you, did you realize that you were gonna have that feeling of like oh no, i know how to do this?
Or did you think oh, i wonder, if i'm like rusty or i remember having those thoughts, am i going to be a disaster out there?
But then, as soon as i did a few runs, i was like, oh yeah, i know this sport, this is in my bones right wow great great yeah, it was cool, yeah.
So michelle, i have a question for you.
So what's something that is not easy as pie for you?
Not, not biking not okay uh, not biking.
Uh bowling, oh good, yeah about this before, but yeah no, not easy as pie.
There's something with my arm.
I always, things always go off to the side, so that is something that is not easy as pie for me.
Um, and let's see um lindsay, how do you feel when you do something that is a breeze?
It feels great, especially if it's a hard thing.
That's a breeze, especially if i expected it to be harder than it was and it's a breeze.
Um, then that feels fantastic, you know, i mean life is hard.
It's nice when things turn out to be easier than you think.
Yeah yeah oh, yeah for sure.
And then that leads me to um, i mean, i'm curious from a business owner perspective.
You know um, is there something that was one like that you would now consider child's play?
Oh, a lot of things, a lot of things.
Um, really grilling you, maybe just getting our podcast going right, getting everything set up, all the connections to the, the podcasting world.
We know a lot of people in this industry now.
We know the technology.
We pretty much have it all figured out.
Always learning.
But the basics of setting up a podcast are child's play for us at this point.
Awesome.
Love it.
So should we should we do a role play?
Let's do it, Michelle.
Here we go.
So here I am teaching you how to cook soup.
Ooh, I don't know if I could do that, to be honest, Michelle.
That's very unrealistic.
I think the roles should be reversed, really.
No, no, no.
I don't think either of us are great in the kitchen.
Oh, God, no.
I really need to learn how to cook before I'm like 80.
All right, here we go.
So you take the chicken broth and... Wait, how much?
Ah, I'm a terrible cook.
Oh, don't worry, Michelle.
This is child's play.
I'm telling you, you'll be able to do it.
Well, the recipe looks complicated.
It's like riding a bike.
Once you get going, you'll remember some of your old cooking skills.
Well, I never had any cooking skills.
This may be a breeze for you, Lindsay, but not for me.
It's easy as pie.
Let's just take it step by step.
All right.
Thanks, Lindsay.
I like this.
Well, here I made an assumption that you had already learned to cook.
That can be frustrating.
Right.
You made an assumption.
I'm like, I never knew.
Yeah, I run into this assumption when I play cards, because I didn't play a lot of cards when I was growing up.
I don't know all the rules of all the games.
I've shared this before on the show.
So I get into like a party situation.
Everyone's like, let's play Euchre.
Let's play these games.
And I don't know the rules.
And they expect me to be as good as they are, right?
They've been playing their whole lives.
And so then I get stressed out.
Okay, well...
Let's see.
So I said, I'm a terrible cook.
And you said, don't worry, Michelle, this is child's play.
So we were talking about this use of child's play.
Maybe you would have said like oh, this is child's play compared to the, the casserole you made for Thanksgiving, or something.
Right.
We talked about how that might be better with comparing something.
Right.
Instead of because when you say this is child's play, you're essentially comparing everyone else to you.
Right.
You're saying you should know how to do this.
This is easy.
So, yeah, I like that idea, Michelle.
This is child's play compared to what you already did.
That's a lot more positive.
Remember that year you did.
Yeah.
It's like maybe one time I made a really complicated dish and you're just saying like oh, this is, this is nothing.
That's something else you could say.
Oh, nice.
I like that idea, Michelle.
It's a good one.
So then I said it's like riding a bike once you get going, you'll remember, right?
But lindsay, this may be a breeze for you, but not for me.
Are you standing up for yourself a little bit here, right?
You're saying hey, this is not easy for everyone, and it can be a little diminishing when people assume something is easy.
That can be a little bit tricky, you know, and so you have to stand up for yourself.
And then i say ah, it's easy as pie, and i'm just not taking what you're saying here.
Right right right right, exactly.
Um so, okay.
So wow, we have.
We've gone through a lot of these things.
But i think lindsay, you really touched on a takeaway here is not assuming that something is easy for somebody that is easy for you.
Um, i think that's important.
We always want to have that in mind.
We do want to be mindful about how we use these expressions um, and you know, not just like badgering someone and saying oh, it's easy.
It's easy.
Why can't you do this?
So we want to make sure we don't come off that way.
Yeah.
And the other piece is it's fun to use the expression child's play or a breeze when you're talking about your own evolution, your own development.
What are the things you've learned?
Or congratulating someone else on the things they've learned.
Oh wow, you've come so far in X Y, Z.
It feels like what you were doing 10 years ago was child's play.
Now right.
Now you're in this world.
Wow.
So it can be used to uplift someone.
Absolutely.
I love it.
So good.
So guys, don't forget to hit follow on All Ears English right here.
And we will see you back here tomorrow in the next episode.
All right, Lindsay, have a good day.
Bye, Michelle.
Take care.
Bye.
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