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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 hosts Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl.
Coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA.
And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglishcom.
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Sometimes you are running late and you need someone to wait.
But if you always just say wait, you may sound robotic.
Today, get five fun and expressive ways to ask someone to wait, physically or on the phone, for the best possible human connection.
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OK, Michelle.
OK.
Yeah.
So what's going on over there?
Are you OK today?
I'm OK.
I guess I just needed I needed a deep breath.
I needed to motivate myself.
But I'm here.
I'm ready to go.
Oh, my God.
I actually didn't know if you were stopping, like really stopping.
I didn't see her.
No, I didn't know that you were.
Oh, that's funny.
Well, I'm a great actress.
What can I tell you?
You are.
You're a natural actress, natural performer.
I love it.
So good.
I wonder what we're getting into today.
Now I'm intrigued.
I'm intrigued.
Yes.
Well, I'm glad.
And everyone should be intrigued.
This is a very intriguing situation.
Guys, if you are intrigued by All Ears English, as I hope you all are, make sure that you hit follow now wherever you are listening to All Ears English, so that you never miss anything from us.
And also, Lindsay, we have another podcast called the Business English Podcast, right?
And we want our listeners to check that out.
Yeah, guys, go and check it out.
We just finished recording some episodes for that podcast.
We talked about some really cool things.
Like for example, the expression, let's put a pin in it.
It's everywhere in the corporate world, Michelle.
And we explained to you exactly what that means. over there on Business English.
So open your search bar, search for Business English.
From all there's English, you'll see the yellow and just hit that follow button.
Good stuff.
That's right.
All right.
So, Lindsay, we recently did an episode about the difference between wait and await.
And I was thinking about wait and how we should talk about that word and different ways to tell someone to wait.
All those weights.
Yes, I agree.
Let's talk about it a little bit more because we don't just use those two words.
I mean, in that episode, you guys will have to go check it out.
But we did come to the conclusion that 99 of the time you're going to use weight, not a weight, but that's not your only option, right?
Yeah exactly, exactly.
So guys, we also want to uh, send you to all.
There's english episode 1498, which was you're breaking up using phrasal verbs for telephone conversations, because things like hold on, things like that, can be used for the phone.
But lindsay, sometimes we need to ask someone to wait for something, so maybe it's in a friendly way, or maybe it's a little more direct if someone's being pushy, but Either way, we need the language to say wait.
And I'm more unique than just saying wait every time.
We need many ways to say it.
Oh my gosh, for sure.
Otherwise, we sound like that recording that we talked about in that episode.
Wait, wait, wait.
It's so funny.
Guys again, if you didn't hear that episode, that is in cities like Boston, New York City, probably Jersey City.
The big cities.
Many of them have a very annoying and, quite frankly, abrupt and rude recording.
When you hit the button to cross and you're waiting, it says wait, wait.
Very loud and obnoxious.
So yes, you don't want to be that person in conversation and connection who just says wait, it's actually.
That would be kind of rude, wouldn't it?
It would, it would.
So Lindsay, let's go through some of these other ways that you can say it.
So the first one is hold on or hang on.
Okay.
And this is good really for the phone, right?
It was probably on that episode I mentioned.
But you can say, hold on, I'm looking for my keys.
You could also say, wait, I'm looking for my keys.
But this just, it's just another way to say it.
Or what's another thing you could say?
What's something you could say with hang on?
Well, if we want to get even more casual, which I like this one because it feels a little more collaborative or something.
I don't know why, but it has a friendlier air to it in my mind.
Hang on.
Right.
Hang on.
I'm just getting a snack and then we can get started.
I'm not sure why.
Do you feel that way to hold on?
Hang on.
You know what?
It's funny.
I see what you mean.
Hang on more so than hold on.
Yeah.
I feel like it's a little friendlier, but it might just be my personal bias.
I see what you mean.
Yeah, no, I see what you mean.
I had never thought about until you said it.
But as soon as you said it, I agreed with you.
But I don't know why.
Yeah, we like to analyze language here at All Ears English.
But it's a negligible difference, guys.
Okay, so don't worry about that difference.
Use either one.
Both are super native and natural for connection.
What's the next one?
Stay put.
Okay, so this one is a bit more about not moving physically.
Okay, so don't leave, you know, stay put.
I'll be right back and I need to talk to you.
Now, this sounds like it could be a little bit scolding, right?
Like talking to a teenager or a child, but not always.
Right, right, exactly.
So you could say... stay put, I'll be right back and I need to talk to you.
Yeah.
Now, would you use this with anyone?
I mean, you know, let's say at work, anyone above you, below you at work, or just anyone?
Or are there only certain relationships where you would use stay put?
I don't think I would say this to a boss.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too.
Yeah, that would feel a little bit funny to me.
But I think really anyone else.
If somebody is just waiting for you oh, just stay put, I'll be right back, you know.
Right.
Or maybe a friend is waiting for you at it.
You're going for ice cream and you're meeting up and you got caught in traffic or the subway's late.
Where's your favorite place to get ice cream in New York, Michelle, by the way?
You have any favorites?
That's a great question.
I will always break for ice cream talk.
I know.
Oh, man.
Oh, gosh.
My favorite ice cream place in New York.
You know what?
I can't think of anything off of the, you're really the ice cream lady.
I'm the ice cream.
You're right.
You're the cookies girl.
I'm the ice cream lady.
So I'll tell our listeners, if you come to Denver, go to Licks.
They are, oh man, their ice cream is just sugary.
Anyways, I'm going to go for an ice cream cone after this, I think.
Go ahead.
You deserve it.
You deserve it.
All right.
What's the next one, Michelle?
What's the next one?
The next one is Stand By.
So this one makes me think of like a show or a broadcast.
Yeah.
Um, yeah, like waiting to do something or for some important information.
So like you might hear a newscaster and say like, standby, I'm getting some new information.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
This feels a bit more official.
It has a bit of more of a procedural official tone to it.
I've been on airplanes a lot.
I was in LA on Friday and back and forth, just going all over the place, Michelle.
And I remember hearing this yesterday, the captain saying to the flight attendants you know, standby flight attendants for cross check, standby for cross check right.
That's the one you always hear.
It's the same every time, Michelle.
Yeah.
Okay, Michelle, do we have another lovely expression?
Let's do one more.
This one is very unique.
This Did you watch Saved by the Bell?
Oh, yes.
I remember that Zack Morris would look at the camera and then he'd be like, time out.
Time out.
Yeah, he would make a T and everybody would freeze like he had this power and then he would talk to the camera or do something to someone.
And yeah, so time out is just like it's also used a lot in sports or in games.
Yes.
So, yeah, like a timeout, right?
The team took a timeout.
The coach called for a timeout so the team could talk.
Yes.
But people use it conversationally, too.
It's kind of unique, maybe not used quite as much as the other ones, but it puts a unique twist on it.
Yeah, for sure.
So here's a sample sentence.
Timeout.
We need to go through these files before we move on.
So I like how maybe this originally came from sports because, like we said, in sports there are timeouts, time out opportunities options, moments where you have to get out of the game or pause the game, but it does bleed into the business world or our lives.
Right, and I remember in Saved by the Bell, always being very confused because there was no context as to why he had those powers.
You know why?
It was never explained, he just had them.
That's weird.
Anyways, 90s TV, what can you do?
What can you do?
What can you do?
So, Lindsay, which one of these does... Do you gravitate towards any of these more than the others?
I really like Hang On because, as I said before, it feels Maybe I'm just reading into it, but it feels more friendly.
It feels casual, but it's still clear that I need to wait.
Yeah.
What about you, Michelle?
Any faves?
I like...
I like hang on to, um, I like timeout just for fun.
Um, yeah, I think each one of them has its own place.
I mean, I, when I think, when I hear hold on or hang on, I think a lot about the phone.
Um, when I hear a stay put, I think about not moving.
Standby makes me think of a TV broadcast.
Timeout makes me think of sports or saved by the bell.
So it all, they all have their special place and sometimes they might be more appropriate in certain contexts.
But yeah, I think we went over some of the basics today.
Yeah, we talked about some of the basic broad buckets here.
I also think timeout has a place with kids like parenting, right?
Oh, oh.
I mean, Michelle, yeah.
Yeah, the whole other discussion, right?
Yeah, to put a kid in timeout.
I've never once put my son in timeout.
Uh-oh.
I don't do it.
I don't do it.
Like some people believe in it and some people don't.
And that's okay, whatever you choose.
But like, I don't know.
I just like it.
I just never did it.
All right.
That works for me.
It sounds good.
Yeah.
So I mean so guys yeah, clearly there are some buckets.
We've conveyed to you guys that you know.
Like, like Michelle said, yo standby is a bit more procedural.
You hear it on an airplane.
Stay put is more physical.
Hang on, hold on, especially comment on the phone, but not always.
Right.
Let's go into a role play, Michelle, shall we?
Let's do it.
So you are getting a bag ready that I am going to deliver to your friend.
Oh, so complicated.
Okay.
I know.
It is a very complicated chain of events.
Guys, we're going to use a couple extras in here, some bonuses.
Okay.
Are you... Oh, you go first.
You go first.
No.
Are you ready?
Oh, sorry.
Not yet.
Hold on.
I just have to add a few more things.
Okay.
I'll sit tight.
Whoa.
Pause.
Where's the card?
Right there.
Oh, thank goodness.
Okay.
Stay put one more second.
Okay.
Ready.
All right.
So we didn't use all of the ones we taught, but we did add a couple of bonuses.
It's kind of interesting here.
I'll just call out this one first.
So in this case, you weren't telling someone to sit tight.
You said, I'll sit tight.
And that works.
That works, too.
Right.
Right.
So that's that was a bonus, guys, to sit tight.
Right.
Yeah.
You can say sit tight that so you can use that to say wait or that you'll wait.
Like, I'll sit tight.
Right.
I'm just I'm just waiting.
Yes.
And yeah, we didn't teach that one.
And we also didn't teach, whoa, pause, right?
Pause is something else you could say that's pretty casual.
Bonus for today.
But the ones we did teach, Michelle, were what?
What's the first one that we taught?
Hold on, right?
Hold on.
I have to add a few more things.
And then the last one is stay put one more second.
And again, we said that stay put is much more about the physical.
Right.
I would say it's really only about the physical.
I want you to stay in the same place.
Right.
It's not really on the phone.
That would be weird if you're on the phone.
You said stay put.
Right.
That'd be strange.
Yeah, we don't.
Right.
It would.
It would.
So, Lindsay, this was fun.
But the main idea is different ways to say wait.
Right.
Some of them are better for certain contexts than others.
We went through them today.
We did a role play.
We gave you some bonuses, lots of things.
But guys, sit tight for the next episode of All Ears English and we'll see you again soon.
Yeah, I love it.
And just to add on to that, Michelle, I mean, don't be that robot.
Right.
On the street corner that says a wait, wait, right?
So we're trying to get away from being robotic.
On this show, we're showing you how to be human, the human connection.
These phrases are connection worthy.
I love it.
So good.
So good.
Okay, Lindsay, thank you for hanging out and guys, we'll see you soon.
All right.
Take care.
Bye.
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