This is an All-Ears English Podcast Episode2,224.
Listen to thisepisode, noifs,ands, orbuts.
Welcome to the All-Ears EnglishPodcast.
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Are you feeling stuck with yourEnglish?
We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing onconnection, notperfection.
With your Americanhosts, LindsayMcMahon, the Englishadventurer, and MichelleKaplan, the New York RadioGirl, coming to you from Colorado and New YorkCity,USA.
And to get your transcript delivered by email everyweek, go to allyearsenglish.com forward slashsubscribe.
When you want to say something with conviction inEnglish, how can you doit?
Use this common little phrase in a few different scenarios to make your pointheard.
Find out what it istoday.
HelloLindsay, how areyou?
HeyMichelle, I'm doing excellenttoday.
How's everything in yourworld?
Everything isgood. Everything isgood.
Lindsay, do you ever have to make an excuse for something that you can'tdo?
Maybe you can't gosomewhere.
You can't attend anevent.
Are you comfortable saying you can't dosomething?
Yeah, Imean, just last night I had to cancel on my meditation group because I'm a littlesick,actually.
I have a little bit ofcold.
And I didn't want to be in that small group in someone's homecoughing.
And then people look at youlike, why'd youcome?
Yeah.Yeah. That was reallysmart.
Yeah, I felt a little bit awkwardthere, but it's kind of common for people to cancel in thatgroup,actually.
It kind of depends on thecontext.
Like how common is it for people to bow out ofthings?
So that's a goodone. But generally inlife, I want to showup.
So if I can't go somewhere and dosomething,yeah, there's a little discomfort letting peopledown.
Yeah,definitely.Well, today we are actually going to talk about a way to say something musthappen,right?
So even if you have anexcuse, whatever itis, something musthappen.
Before we get intothat, we want to share some key pollresults.
Guys, we've been doing these reallyfun, Spotify keypolls.
We ask a question and our listeners can interact withus.
So episode 2188 of the Allers Englishpodcast, that was samename, how to connect over thiscommonality.
And the questionwas, do you like yourname?
Lindsay, what are theresults?
Could you share them withus?
The results areinteresting, verypositive.
So83% of you guys do like yourname.
That'sinteresting. And17% don't like yourname.
Sowow,okay, I feel good that people are happy with their names and everything'sgood.
Yes. That isgood. That isgood.
Okay, so let's get intoit.
What is this expression that we're going to be sharingtoday?
This is a funone, verycommon.
The expression is noifs,ands, orbuts.
Yes. And I think Ialso, I've heard another variation ofit, which is noifs,ands, or buts aboutit.
Oh. Have you heard thatone?
Let me show thatextension,no?
Okay. Andmaybe, ohwait,maybe, but notas, it'spossible.
I've heard itbefore, but not something that came to myhead.
Okay, gotit, gotit. Allright, tell us about thisexpression.
Well, this is a funnyone.
It's a little bit of a little bit childish sounding or with little juvenilesounding.
But it's used by adults aswell, especially maybe to talk tochildren.
Right.So, but it means it's this idea that someone can't respond with an excuse or a differentopinion,really.
So the idea is you can't sayifs,right?
You knowifs, you can'tsay,well, if thishappened,right?
You can'tsay,ands, you can'tsay, and I can'tcome.
And you can't saybuts, but I have something thatday.
Right? Noexcuses.Yeah,100%.
So let's do some examples for our listeners to make this reallyclear.
I need you here at10am.No,ifs,ands, orbuts.
Yeah.So,yeah. You're basically saying we won't acceptany, but I have to come at10.30.
No,unacceptable. Ineed, there's no deviation from theplan.
Okay.Yes,yes,exactly.
Another example wouldbe,sorry, I'mnow, I gotlost.
Okay, here wego. We are finishing your homeworktonight.
Noifs,ands, orbuts.So, that sounds like a parent is saying it to a kid who doesn't want to dohomework.
Mm, that you have that to look forward tosoon.
Michelle, eventually your kids will get to homework in theevening.
Yeah, that's a whole nother phase ofkids,yeah.
I think homework starts nextyear.
So, Imean, kindergartenhomework.
So, I think it'sokay, butstill.
Wow, they get homework inkindergarten.
No,geez, that seems kindof.
I thinkso. Imean, I'm sure it's cute thingslike,go,go, youknow, interview yourmom.
Youknow, cute things likethat.
I can't imagine it's a really gonna take that muchtime, but we'llsee.
I feel like I can get a homework until middleschool.
I feel like I started getting homework in kindof, maybe I'm forgetting it was so longago.
So, I don'tknow, but I feel like it was kind of later when I was closer to being ateenager.
I don'tknow.Oh, I don'tknow.
Interesting.No, Iremember, I rememberhomework, butyeah, it definitely gets more intense as time goeson.
So,yeah, that'll beinteresting.
So, this expression is a way of speaking with anauthority.
And maybe it's kind of with a little bit of anattitude.
Right. A little bit of an attitudethere.
Yeah, you're just basicallysaying, I don't want to hear anything back fromyou.
Yeah,yeah,yeah. I'm talkingback, noresponding, noexceptions, no exceptions to this rule that I'm settinghere.
Yeah.Right,right,exactly.
You could maybe use it in more of a positiveway.
So, forexample, I promise our team will get the job done noifs,ands, orbuts.
So, saying something will definitely happen no matterwhat.
So, you could use it that way aswell.
What do youthink,Lindsay?
Yeah, so in thatsense, you're holding yourself toaccount.
You're saying you can count onme.
I'm going to get thisdone, or we're going to get this done noifs,ands, orbuts.
Right?So,yeah, I think that couldwork.
Sure. Whynot?So, this is kind of funny because you asked if I say noifs,ands, or buts aboutit.
And I said I wasn't reallysure.
And here I used just that in anexample.
So, I suppose I didknow.
You did knowit.Yeah, clearly you did when you wrote theepisode.
Why? That's sofunny. I don'tknow.
I don'tknow. Sorry aboutthat,Lindsay.
I know you werelike,huh?
And then here Iam.Yeah, you've got ithere.
Well, my example was slightlydifferent.
Right. I said noifs,ands, or buts aboutit.
And your example here is noifs,ands, or buts aboutthat.
And both are totallylegit.
Right? I don'tknow. I don't know what came over me in thebeginning.
I guess he caught me offguard.
So, butyeah, you could say noifs, orands, or buts aboutthat, or aboutit.
And as Lindsaysaid, and I agreewholeheartedly.
So, you could say what's an examplehere?
She's the best teacher outthere.
Noifs,ands, or buts aboutthat.
Right?So, you could say aboutit.
Right. Aboutit. There's noarguing.
There's noexceptions.
There's no way to argue that that's nottrue.
It's just a definitivestatement.
Okay? Loveit.Yeah.Yeah.
Exactly.Exactly. Allright,Michelle.
There must be some other ways that we could say the samething.
Right?So, I guess it does kind of depend on the contexthere.
Right? Youknow, if you're asking your kids to dosomething, is a different context thansaying, we'll deliver on something atwork, but let's do someexamples.
What else could theybe?
Okay.So,again, these might more match the firstmeaning, thesetwo.
And it'sfunny. We both have thrown out these examplesalready, and naturally in theconversation.
So, the first one is noexcuses.
So, we have to find a time to gettogether.
Noexcuses.Yeah, I feel like I could see this with two adultfriends,like, let'ssay, like ladies in their 40s and they'rebusy.
They have families and they're comingback.
We're goodfriends. We have to find a time to gettogether.
Youknow, that kind ofthing.
We have to dolunch, youknow.
Right.Exactly.Exactly.
And thenyou, Ibelieve, said thisone.
What isit? Noexceptions.
Students need to submit a bibliography with eachpaper.
Mm-hmm.Okay.Yeah.So, you can't changeit.
There's noexcuse. No reason not to doit,right?
Yes.So, the other one ismore, we're going to teach onemore, that is more for the otherdefinition.
More for saying something isdefinite.
Right. And this one is no doubt aboutthat.
So, you could say he's an amazingfriend, no doubt aboutthat, or no doubt aboutit.
Yes, I love thatone. That sounds goodtoo,Michelle.
Verycommon. Whatelse,Michelle?
Where do we go fromhere?
The idea is that this is expressing some sort ofcertainty.
Certainty that something musthappen, something that willhappen, something that holds some sort ofstatus,right?
So, forexample, the no doubt aboutit,right, it's saying that's thebest.
That's theworst,right?
But the other ones are more about something musthappen, something willhappen.
Are you most likely to use one ofthese?
Lindsay, do you kind of identify with one of them themost?
Ooh,well, I think no doubt aboutit.
That is kind of fun tosay.
I don't know if I say it alot, but I like the way itsounds.
It has kind of a ring toit.
No doubt aboutit.Yeah.
Well, and I do want to point something out and saying no ifs ands orbuts, noexcuses, noexceptions.
These arestrong. You don't want to use these when it's inappropriate to usethem.
Also, I would not say them to yourboss.
Yeah. Unless you're using it in the positiveway.
Like,oh, we're going to get thisdone.
No ifs ands orbuts,right?
In thatsense, but ifyou're, it can sound like you're scoldingsomeone.
That's why it soundslike,oh, parentsare,oh, you're going to get your homework donenow.
No ifs ands orbuts. So you have to think about the context and if it's appropriate to be sayingthat.
Yeah, forsure. Forsure.
You need to also like just kind of understand who you're talkingto.
Andjust,yeah, it could sound a littleinsensitive, Isuppose, depending on who you're talkingto.
Yes.Yeah.Right.Michelle, should we remind our listeners to hit that follow button on theshow?
Yes. If you haven'talready, please make sure you hit follow wherever you are listening to this podcast so that we can come toyou.
Yeah,guys, hit that followbutton.
It's super easy to hit thebutton.
And then you'll be able to see us drop right into yourqueue.
Youknow, there's shows that I like to make sure I listen to everyday, five days aweek.
I subscribe tothem. I hit follow so that I don't have to go searching for themin, youknow, out in the world ofpodcasts.
So go and do thatnow,guys.
Good. We'll playtime. Let's doit.
Allright. We are friends who have just checked into ahotel.
Good.Okay. So we have to bethere.
Behere.Sorry. Holdon.
Startagain.Okay. So we have to be out of here by11.
Well, 12 should befine.
No. They said11. Noexcuses.
Okay.Fine. But we will make sure we are outthen.
No ifsans arebutts. No ifsans arebutts.
I can't believe there are noexceptions.
They'restrict. No doubt aboutthat.
Verygood. Verygood. Soundslike.
Yeah. You try and get alate.
Do you try and get a latecheckout,Lindsay?
When youtravel?Mm-hmm.
Sometimes, especially if I'm at a conference because you always want to go to the sessions in themorning.
But then you have to haul your bag and checkit.
It's like a wholething.
Youknow,yeah, Ido. I likethat.
Butgenerally, if I'mtraveling, I'm not going to stay in my room until 12 because usually I have something todo.
But it's kind of nice to be able to come back and check out after breakfast orsomething.
Yeah.Yeah.Definitely.
Allright. So Isaid,oh,well, 12 should befine.
And yousaid,no, they said11.
Noexcuses. Noexcuses.
Good. And then yousaid,okay,fine.
We'll make sure we're outthen.
And then Isaid,no,if, hands are buds andrice,uh,no,if, sands arebuds.
So it sounds like maybe in thepast, like we've struggled with checking out of the hotel ontime.
Right.Yeah.Yeah.Yeah.
And then Isaid, I can't believe there are noexceptions.
Yeah. They'restrict. No doubt aboutthat.
Right. So this is maybe we know each other prettywell.
And we've had some kind of drama in thepast.
And you see an extra charge onyour, and your creditcard.
Youknow, that sortof.Yeah.
Right.Yeah.Yep.Yep.Exactly.
Okay.Well, that'sfun.
So,um,yeah,Lindsay, what do you want to say for the end of theepisode?
What's thetakeaway?Well, I think the important thing to remember hereis,guys, youknow, when you want tobe, when you want to make sure someone knows that what you've said is theword, likeit's,it's, it's thetruth.
It's the thing that you want people to listento.
And you don't want any kind ofexcuses.
This, this expressionreally, it depends on thecontext.
Again, if you're talking tokids, and you don't want to hear excuses fromthem,perfect.
Or if you want to guarantee that something is going to workout, also perfect forthat.
But it just depends on who you're talkingto.
The meaning changes based on who you're speakingwith.
Okay.Yeah.Exactly.Yeah.
Very, very good way to putit,Lindsay.
Soguys,um, give these atry.
Think about thecontext.
Um, but I'm curious to hear how it goes foryou.
Theseare, these are really funones.
Very, verycommon. Allright,Michelle.
I'll talk to yousoon. Have a goodday.
Thanks.Bye.Bye. Thanks for listening to all earsEnglish.
And if you believe inconnection, notperfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't missanything.
