This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2102.
We couldn't agree with you more.
How to validate someone in English.
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When you really agree with someone, what can you say in English, whether it's at work or in your social life?
Today, get an emphatic phrase that will work to communicate your point every single time.
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Hi, Michelle.
How's it going today?
Hey, Lindsay.
I'm good.
How are you?
I'm feeling good.
I am excited for the weekend.
Always excited for the weekend.
Lindsay, you know what?
This is a great time of year.
Oh, I couldn't agree with you more.
Good.
Yeah.
I love the fall.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're filming this.
Well, this is coming out a little later in the fall, but we're filming.
Yeah, but it's still going to be the fall.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's an amazing time, especially in the east.
I think in the mountain west where I live, it's not really there really isn't a fall.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
There's like a week of fall.
You go from summer to winter.
It's just crazy.
But here there's a lovely fall and I really just relish it.
That's funny, because I think that people here still say that there's not much of a fall, that it does just kind of get cold all of a sudden.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You have to kind of, but it does exist.
Because you have to realize it when you're in it.
Because I think why people think it's not there is because it gets cold kind of suddenly, but it's not the coldest and that's the fall right for sure, and fall's kind of great because it has all these things that uh signify fall that are just ritualistic, like um, pumpkin spice latte, even though I don't drink that drink, but people love it.
And then you know, like boots and sweaters and flannel shirts, all the typical things that are becoming cliches, but we love them.
Apple picking, pumpkin, like the spice, the cinnamon smells, the candles.
There's so much.
It's like everything.
Mostly food.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So...
Well Lindsay, today we have a great listener question, not about the fall, but I'm glad that we had that talk.
That was really got me into the spirit.
So guys, but before we get into the, into the question, we want to remind you to hit follow wherever you are listening to all ears English, because the episodes will come straight to your doorstep.
Yeah, just makes it easier.
I listen to the episodes, the shows that are actually in my queue, that I am following, because they update every day for me.
Instead of going and searching for the show, just let us drop right into your phone, guys.
Good stuff.
Hit that follow button now.
So Michelle, shall I read the question?
Please do.
Please read Vivian's question.
Thanks.
I love our listener questions.
I love when we get it.
Love it.
Hello, Lindsay and Michelle.
I'm Vivian from Taiwan.
Three years ago, I started listening to All Ears English.
Since then, I've become a diehard fan of yours.
Oh, that is so wonderful.
Thank you.
That is so great.
Thank you, Vivian.
I'm ready to thank you for making high quality episodes.
Looking back, it's obvious that much progress has been made on my journey of learning English.
Big thanks to you.
Michelle, that's what we try to do, right?
We want our listeners to learn, but not necessarily not have it feel like work.
It feels like fun.
It feels like play.
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
Thank you so much, Vivian.
That's a really nice compliment.
And we're happy to be there for you.
Yeah, we're here for you.
So besides, I want to ask a question.
I've heard people saying I can't agree with you more.
I'm curious if there are any other ways we can show our support through our words.
Thanks in advance.
I'm looking forward to hearing your answer to my question.
Best regards, Vivian.
Love it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This this is a fun one.
I'm excited about I like when we kind of can focus on one specific expression.
So looking forward to talking about it.
Lindsay, we have another episode, a recent episode of All Ears English about corporate speak.
So that's episode 2087.
Should you minimize your corporate speak?
Because I actually think that this could be used in the corporate world as well, bringing corporate jargon down to earth.
So definitely listen to that episode as well.
Yeah, that was a really fun episode where we report back on just listening into a corporate call and exactly what we heard, guys.
So go check out that episode.
All right.
What are we getting into today to answer Vivian's question?
Okay.
So interestingly enough, I feel like I don't hear I can't agree with you more, quite as much.
You can say I can't agree with you more, but I feel like I hear I couldn't agree with you more.
What do you think?
I do agree, Michelle.
Yeah.
I couldn't agree with you more, Michelle.
Yay!
People might just say I couldn't agree more.
That's more just generally agreeing, not necessarily focused on the specific person, but here we are going to focus on it.
I couldn't agree with you more.
Now again you can say Oh, I can't agree with you more.
But I just feel like it's more common to say couldn't.
And so we're going to focus on that today.
I think that's more of a chunk.
So just guys, just take, you know, take the shortcuts, learn the chunks, go with the one we use the most.
I couldn't agree with you more and just kind of ditch the other one.
That's what I would recommend.
Yeah.
Just, just keep it simple.
Yeah.
Keep it simple.
Yeah.
So, um, People, I mean, this is just a very common expression.
But Lindsay, what does it mean?
It's kind of confusing if you just hear it thrown out.
I couldn't agree with you more.
Does that mean you do agree or you don't?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It means that you agree with someone so much that there is no way to agree more to increase the amount that you agree.
So if you stop, sometimes these are confusing.
If you stop to think about them, it makes it harder, you know?
That's why we just want to learn the chunk to understand harder to understand exactly what it means.
So it's a way to say that you just really agree.
It's just being more emphatic.
Yeah.
Like there, and sometimes there are certain expressions similar to this, like I could or I couldn't care less.
And so people can be confusing.
Yeah.
Argue about them.
But I think that this one is pretty much, you know, uniform agreement, that this means you really agree.
Yeah, it's actually pretty straightforward.
So exactly.
Play a little game.
Love games.
So OK, so I'm going to throw out some opinions and these are my real opinions.
And I am going to see if Lindsay couldn't agree more or if she doesn't really agree.
So I think I know all the answers.
Yeah.
OK, Lindsay, chocolate chip cookies are the most delicious dessert.
Michelle, I'm not with you on that one.
I'm not with you on that one.
No, ice cream is the best dessert.
We could debate this until the end.
We can keep debating this forever.
We've been working, I mean, almost 10 years of debate.
Why would you take a cookie when you could have a beautiful ice cream cone?
I've got a warm, a warm chocolate chip cookie.
Come on.
They're two hit or miss.
They're two hit or miss.
I've had a lot of bad cookies or just very average cookies.
Usually ice cream is good.
I mean, it's just it's cream, it's made with cream, you know, it's just good.
What's your favorite flavor?
Again, it's chocolate with well, a few things, like chocolate with big brownie chunks or chocolate with peanut butter chunks.
Anything chunky and intense is what i like.
Nice okay yeah, all right.
Well, all right, Agree to disagree.
But I do love ice cream too.
And in fact, I'm developing a new love for ice cream recently, but I still say cookie is the best.
Yeah.
Well, let me ask you now.
Let's see what you think.
Spring and fall are the best seasons.
I'm going to say I couldn't agree with you more.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I personally think that fall and summer are the best seasons.
Fall and summer.
Yeah.
I mean, I say I couldn't agree with you more, but I actually the only scene that I really just don't like is winter.
So other than that, the frustrating thing about spring is you're so sick of being cold.
Yeah.
And it's like, you're like, come on.
Like I want it to be warm.
I want it to be warm.
And so, and then it plays all these tricks on you.
Right.
And then you'll have a beautiful day.
It'll be 80 degrees.
And then the next week it'll snow and, It's just too much of a tease.
And then all of a sudden it's summer.
So I think summer and fall are where it's at.
But I like spring because there's a lot of hope and you're just getting started on good weather for a while.
Or that smell in the air in spring evenings when you're like, I smell summer.
I smell warm weather.
You can smell it.
It's a very visceral season.
Yeah.
The only thing I don't like about fall is then.
You know that winter is coming and you know that the clocks are going to change and that you're going to be depressed.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
Yeah, that's all right.
Okay, and here is the last one.
So the most fun thing to do is travel.
I couldn't agree with you more on that one, Michelle.
We're on the same page when it comes to that.
The best way to open your mind and just feel refreshed, you know, is travel.
Absolutely.
Gut, yeah.
All right, Michelle.
So tell us about this phrase.
I couldn't agree with you more.
Can we use this at work?
Is it informal?
Is it formal?
Do we think?
I think it's either.
I mean i, i i think you can use it anywhere.
What do you think?
Yeah, i agree, i agree, there's nothing, there's nothing like street language about it right, so you can get away with it really in any context.
How does it make the speaker feel um if, if you respond this way, you know, if i say i think oh, i think uh, this neighborhood is not as great as it used to be right, and you say i couldn't agree with you more what, how do i feel?
I think you feel validated.
I think um, i think you feel connected.
Um yeah, i think, especially with work, if somebody or an idea, if that you come up with oh, i think we should do this because this and this, and somebody says oh, i couldn't agree with you more, you kind of feel like oh like yeah yeah, i'm wonderful, like it feels nice.
It feels nice, yeah.
I would say, just with one caveat to that don't throw it around just to kind of please people or play politics at work, right.
Make sure you truly believe that, save it for very special situations.
Because at work, I think most of the time if you're in a brainstorming meeting, you might kind of agree with someone, but you're not completely in agreement with people.
You have your own opinions, right?
So don't just say it to play politics.
People will see through that right away, okay?
Right, and that's important.
I think an important distinction for the workplace.
But I think you know, like with the ice cream or travel, I think you can throw it around more frequently.
Like it's not going to.
Yeah, for sure.
I think it's more like but.
But if it's somebody's idea and you don't really agree and you're just trying to make them feel good, you know we want to be honest.
But at the same time, as we say frequently on the show, don't use this all the time.
Yeah, for sure.
What else, Michelle?
What for an example?
What do you think?
Yes.
OK, so.
I couldn't agree with you more that the design element is important, but unfortunately it's not in the budget.
So this is different.
So what do you think about that?
I like this as a transition.
So obviously, there's been a conversation that's happened.
Maybe another day.
Maybe we're picking up the topic again for a new edition of our conversation about a renovation of a home, for example, or maybe a new project at work.
And so...
Yeah, this is a good way to start.
You're validating what someone has said, but then you're disagreeing.
So I like it.
It's a connection skill.
Right.
So it's not only, it can be used in other ways than just Lindsay says, I like travel.
And I say, I couldn't agree with you more.
It can also be used as a connector to introduce another idea.
Yes.
I love it.
I love it.
What are some other things that we might say?
There's lots here.
And this is really important.
This is one of those major connection skills probably on our list of the top 20 that do matter to be able to know how to say this.
So here's the first one, Michelle.
I wholeheartedly agree.
I wholeheartedly agree.
Miley Cyrus is underrated.
I don't really know Miley Cyrus very well.
I don't either.
I probably had her... She came on my...
Alexa or something.
Yeah, probably when I was planning this episode.
Are you a Taylor Swift fan, Michelle?
Good question.
Um, no.
Are you really?
No, I think I kind of passed.
I don't know.
I think maybe I missed the boat when it comes to Taylor Swift.
I just never caught on.
I never got into it.
Her music is catchy.
I will say.
Yes.
When I hear a song that I like, I'm like, Oh, I like to, but I'm not, Oh, I'm not a Swifty.
Like I didn't go to her concert.
I didn't, you know, I don't, I don't have, I don't love her.
I don't have a problem with her.
She's just kind of there.
And I respect her as an artist.
But I don't, it's not, she's not like my favorite.
My favorite is pink.
Oh, I love pink.
Yeah.
We've talked about pink.
Yeah.
We're on the same page with that.
Yeah.
No, not, we're not Swifties here, but we don't have any, we, we, we respect her as an artist.
I like that.
That's a good way to say it.
Okay.
A little off topic.
Well, all right.
So another thing you could say is we are completely in sync on this.
So we are completely in sync with on this.
Let's keep going with the idea.
Yeah.
And we are completely in sync on this.
This is good.
And again, it's validating when you hear this, especially at work, as long as you know, that person is really in sync.
Um and another day.
I think we can come, we can, we can talk about like syncing up with someone as another important phrase for the office, but that'll be another episode that we'll come back to, maybe on business English.
So guys follow that show.
Yeah.
Um, next one we are in agreement right, good then, we're in agreement, we'll leave next saturday.
So this feels a little formal, feels like a lot to say right, if it's like your family, you might not bother to say this no formally yeah right sure, that's a more formal one.
And then the last one is just a kind of a fun one same mind, cool.
I actually don't know this one.
I like this Oh, OK.
So like if same mind.
OK, same mind.
I love that show, too.
It's the best.
So if somebody you really agree with someone, or I mean you've heard like same great minds think alike.
Yes.
Yes.
So I feel like that's where it comes from.
Like, OK, same mind me, you know, so you can try that as well.
I love when I learn new things on All Ears English.
It happens all the time.
Same here.
I want to add one to a bonus because Um, I've said it three or four times.
We're on the same page.
Yes.
That's a great one.
Yeah.
Yes.
It's going to be, this is going to be on the app guys in the personal power list.
Yeah, for sure.
Well, do we have a takeaway for today for our listeners?
Well, this was a great question um about this very specific, you know expression, um This chunk that we use.
It's a great way to connect with someone and makes them feel excited.
Wow, someone agrees with me or somebody likes my idea.
However, you want to use it in an honest way, to make sure that you're sincere, because otherwise people will be able to pick up on that after a while.
Yeah, don't play politics, whether it's at work or whether it's like in your neighborhood association.
Don't be that person, right?
Just say what you think.
And if you do really wholeheartedly agree, say the phrase i couldn't agree with you more, i would suggest ditching i what?
What was the other one?
I, i can't agree with you more.
I would leave that one behind and from today move forward with i couldn't agree with you more.
Just remember as a chunk guys, good for connection, all right, all right.
Well, this was great lindsay, this was fun, and thanks again to our listener for that great question Yeah.
Thanks to our listener and hit follow guys on All Ears English so you don't miss a single episode.
We'll see you in the next one.
Michelle, you have a good rest of your day.
You too, Lindsay.
Bye.
Bye.
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