Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times.
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, U .S .A.
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The best comedians work hard to make sure their jokes land.
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Hey, Michelle, how's it going today?
How are you? Good, Lindsay.
How are you? Good. What are we talking about today?
What's the topic for our listeners?
Okay, I'm excited about this one.
So Lindsay, I have a question, though.
Have you ever made a joke that didn't land?
Oh, yeah, for sure.
For sure. Sometimes I'll tell a joke that I think is funny and clever and now doesn't land.
Yeah, doesn't land.
What about you? I mean, as a stand up comedian in your earlier life, in your other life, I imagine that must have happened a few times.
That's just the nature of the job.
Yeah, and it's one of those things where you just learn from it and you try to adjust or see what works and doesn't work.
But you can't get too upset by it.
You just have to move forward, right?
Well, I imagine that is the ultimate lesson in how to be present when you're on that stage and your joke doesn't land.
You have no choice but to keep going to the next one.
I mean, I've seen it in the movies.
I've seen it in the movies.
Exactly. How does this relate to today's topic?
Your jokes that don't land.
Well, guys, we are going to talk about this common expression that seems to be one of those trending ones lately.
I've been hearing it a lot.
So hit follow wherever you are listening to the All Yours English podcast.
And also we've been doing a lot of good episodes about these English phrases, trendy English phrases.
So head on over. We did episode 2268.
I think you did this with Aubrey.
It was put out Dumpster fires with these trendy English phrases.
So let's listen to that one.
This has really been the summer of trends, Michelle, when it comes to language.
True. We could put together a whole course just based on what we've taught this summer on the podcast, trendy language.
And this is one of them, too.
It's interesting that you're hearing this one more often, right?
Yeah. Yeah. It is interesting.
So the expression is something doesn't land or you could say something didn't land or even something doesn't land well or didn't land well.
But the idea is something doesn't land.
So what on earth does this mean, Lindsey?
Yeah. Well, before we talk about the definition, I do want to remind our listeners to hit that follow button again to get these trendy English phrases.
I'm sure there'll be another one coming up next week or the week after we just keep going into them.
So make sure you hit follow.
But yeah. So in terms of what that means, well, imagine an airplane landing and I'm not going to make an airplane joke because crazy things are happening these days.
But yeah, like you hope that all the wheels, you know, meet the ground eventually.
If you do watch them, though, by the way, they never really land perfectly.
It's always a little bit to topsy turvy like your summer, Michelle.
It's a little scary if you.
Well, there's always that moment when you're landing when then you know that big bump is coming and just for a second.
I'm prepping myself for it because it's just this bounce and it's kind of sudden.
Yeah, it's pretty funny.
It's but yeah. So I guess the idea of something hitting the ground and that means essentially something resonating.
It resonates or it doesn't resonate.
Right. Yeah, exactly.
So it's about if something doesn't land, it was not understood.
It didn't work well.
It didn't resonate.
Lindsay, I like that.
You I think summing that up into that word is really helpful.
Yeah, exactly. People don't people don't get it if it doesn't land or they just don't think it's funny.
Right. Right. Right.
Right. So this is definitely commonly used when someone's telling a joke.
So you could say something like, I know you were trying to be funny.
But it didn't land.
That means it didn't.
People didn't get it.
It didn't work right.
Like you say, did you get it right?
Did you get it? Right.
Did you understand it?
Right. Right. Yeah.
And I think this can also be used in the category of when someone tells kind of an off off color joke that is sort of inappropriate and they have the wrong audience.
You know, maybe I was in front of a certain audience, close friends, but then they they misjudge who they're around.
Yeah, it doesn't land.
But in that sense, it means it felt maybe offensive or wrong or out of place.
Awkward out of place.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So when something doesn't land, it is kind of awkward.
Yeah. So there's a lot to think about when we want to wind up a joke, right?
Who's around you? Who's listening?
What state of mind are they in?
Oh, my gosh. You know, and it's not only used with jokes, although I think that's one of the most common ways, but it could be used in other ways as well.
So let's do a couple other examples.
Can you explain that to the audience again?
That example didn't seem to land.
OK, so that's not a joke, right?
That's just explaining something.
And someone tried to use a story or an example and they didn't understand it.
It didn't. Yeah, again, it didn't resonate.
They didn't get it.
Or what's another example, Lindsay?
OK, I told her the situation, but it didn't land well.
She didn't seem to understand why we were making the changes and didn't agree with it at all.
OK, not good. Exactly.
It didn't land well.
Or the PR campaign didn't land with the audience, so they moved on to plan B.
Yes, it's interesting.
Sometimes, you know, brands will do some kind of big campaign that just doesn't land for the moment and the culture and the audience.
And it just is a disaster.
Yeah, yeah. And it's too bad if everybody was excited about it.
And then I know you never know until you try.
Right. You never know.
Really interesting.
So is this formal or informal?
Would we use this at work, Michelle?
What do you think? It sounds like some of our examples are sort of work related.
Right. Yeah, I think it can be anything.
I think you can use it at work in your personal life, whatever it is.
So yeah, I would definitely go ahead and feel free to use this.
Yeah. Any time in your life that makes sense.
100 percent. I agree.
It's just it's about getting the right context for the use.
And it's a very handy one, I think.
So we're going to take a quick break and then come back and keep talking about more examples.
All right. Here we go.
OK, Michelle. So where do we go from here?
What would you say?
Yeah. So you can also talk about something that does land.
You can use this in the opposite.
It's not only, oh, that doesn't land, that didn't land.
So you can talk about it in more of an affirmative way.
So, for example, let's make sure this lands.
Maybe a picture would help.
Yeah, that's interesting.
Right. And it's but I feel like people don't say, oh, that landed.
Right. So I think the way you phrased it here is the more common.
Let's prep this correctly to make sure it lands.
Will this land? Right.
Also might say, will this fly?
But that's another episode for another day.
Fly? Well, you got to be able to do both on an airplane.
Right. Will it fly?
Yes, you sure do. And you need to be able to take off, which is another thing.
Will it take off? Right.
Oh, my gosh, this is great.
Oh, Michelle, we could do a whole other episode on airplane vocabulary as it relates to our lives or projects.
That's so great. OK, guys, hit the follow button to come back for more.
All this is coming to you, guys.
It's coming to you.
It's coming. So, yeah.
So let's make sure this lands.
Maybe a picture would help.
And I think this is such a key skill, especially if you work in any kind of marketing or really technology or you design technology, design apps.
You are constantly thinking about how the audience is going to receive something.
I mean, we're always thinking about you guys and how you're going to receive these topics constantly.
Right. It's true. We have to make sure that I think we have a good episode title already.
Yeah, yeah. For sure.
This episode lands or something like that.
But yeah, we want we always want our episodes to land with.
Yes. Our audience. Right.
We want you guys to resonate with it, to understand it.
So we think of lots of examples.
We think of our conversations having a good time and how we how we interact with the audience.
Lots to think about to make sure our shows land.
Yeah. And to be fair, I mean, we publish so many episodes on this show, just 20 episodes a month.
So they don't all land as well as others.
Right. And we know that.
And so anyone that creates a lot of content or art or something, our music is going to know not everything they do is going to land.
But hopefully some of those will land.
Right. That's. And so when you think about your own work, what is it that you're putting out into the world that you're hoping will land?
You know, apply this to your own body of work that you're creating in the world.
Right. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
So I think, Lindsay, you had a good point about maybe.
Yeah, we don't say, oh, that landed.
I guess you could say that landed well, but it's not that common.
But we do talk about it in terms of preparations.
Right. Let's make sure this lands.
We need this to land.
Yeah. What can we do to make sure this land?
So it's in terms of preparing for something is when I would think you would use it in that way.
Exactly. That's where you're going to hear it more commonly.
So other ways to say this, Michelle, would be something is understood.
And we said earlier, resonate is a great one.
Right. The whole plan wasn't understood by the employees.
So they came up with a new idea.
OK. Yeah. And then this is the one we've been talking about a lot to get something to they didn't get the joke.
Yeah. Yeah. Did you get it?
Right. I don't get it.
I don't understand.
I think our listeners know this one for sure.
It's very common slang language or make sense.
That didn't make sense to me.
Can you write it all out and start again?
Also, very common. Right.
Very common. Yep. Exactly.
Lindsay, is there a comedian whose jokes don't land with you?
Is there anyone who you can think of that you don't really like their comedy or or maybe a show that doesn't land with you?
I don't know if like I'm a huge fan of Jimmy Fallon.
I know you I think you love Jimmy Fallon probably, right?
No. I don't know what you think of him.
No, I used to. He was I used to be I used to want to marry him.
I mean, I thought he was.
I thought he was adorable.
But I know I want to I liked him on SNL, but I don't watch his shows now.
Yeah, I don't know if his style lands with me as much.
I really like Samantha B.
She's really funny, I think she does a lot of smart political humor.
But yeah, Jimmy Fallon maybe doesn't land with me quite as much as others, but there's a lot of comedians to watch.
Wanda Sykes is fantastic.
Didn't you see her alive?
Yeah, yeah. We went to see her back in May in a sweltering auditorium, but it was great.
It was great. Really funny.
Classic comedian. So find who lands with you guys.
Find your favorite comedian.
You know. Yeah. Yeah.
What about you, Michelle?
Who's your favorite comedian?
Who lands whose jokes land with you more than others?
I'm going to I'm going to go Conan O 'Brien.
I love Conan. Yeah.
Yeah. I've always loved him.
Not everything lands with me.
Not everything, but I do love him.
And then I love I mean, I do love Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David.
Who else do I love?
I mean, oh, oh, you know, it was funny is John Mulaney.
Do you ever listen to him?
He sounds very familiar.
Yeah. Sounds very familiar.
I'm going to send you.
I'm going to send you one of my favorite clips of his later.
And I think you're going to be hysterical.
Yeah. I'll have to check it out.
There's also Tig Notaro.
She's a stand up comedian.
I think in an actress, too.
She's funny. There's a lot of good stuff out there.
A lot of stuff. Yeah.
Oh, this is fun, guys.
It's this is, I mean, a great conversation topic.
People love to talk about their favorite comedians.
They love to find new comedians because nowadays with social media, we can pull up clips and we can put these in our feet.
And, you know, there's some real value to just laughing every day.
You know, it makes life feel lighter.
It feels good in your body to laugh.
You know. Yeah. Yes.
Yeah, exactly. All right.
So should we do a role play?
Yeah, let's do it. So here, oh, I'm a comedian.
That doesn't feel right, Michelle.
It should be the other way around.
I'm going to practice my jokes on you.
I think you're the comedian here.
Michelle, that's why I did it because I thought I thought it was too easy.
I wanted to write. OK, here we go.
OK, what do you think about the joke about the couch?
To be honest, it didn't land for me.
What can make it better?
I think it would make sense to the audience if you paused a bit before the punchline.
You think they would get it then?
I think I would help a lot.
Otherwise, the jokes, the joke may not be understood.
OK, let me try it that way.
Great. So, Michelle, when you were doing stand up comedy, were you studying delivery as well?
That kind of thing.
Are there certain rules for comedians on the stage?
You've got to pause before this and that.
I have no clue. I you know what?
It was so long ago.
Honestly, I can't say a lot about technique, but I know that comic timing is everything.
Right. Some people just have this incredible timing.
They do a pause. They do something that elevates the joke so much.
Maybe it wouldn't have been as funny, but the timing was hilarious.
So I wonder if that's learned or more in our bones.
It's just a natural talent innate.
Yeah. What do you think?
Yeah. A little bit of both.
Yeah, probably a little bit of both.
I think I think it's funny.
Actually, just the other day, this reminds me of a conversation not to get too off topic, but I do think that people have to have some sort of innate talent for something.
I was talking to someone who was helping us make some design choices for my husband's office.
And I was asking her, she's a really good interior designer.
And I said, oh, I always when I was little, I wanted to be an interior designer.
And but I have no talent for that.
It's not. So I said, is that something that can be learned really?
And she said, yes, but you do have to have some innate.
Yeah, you know, you have to have an eye for it.
So I think that the same thing with the comedy and the timing, things like that.
Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense.
It's kind of like being an athlete, you know, to go the highest levels to the Olympics or even the high levels of sport competitions.
You probably are naturally, physically kinesthetically talented.
And then you nurture that talent by doing years and years of waking up at four 30 in the morning.
I mean, we just had the Olympics and we saw all the stories, right, Michelle?
So it's talent and then incredible dedication added on to that.
Yeah, yeah, interesting.
Exactly. So hard work and dedication.
So and we know that our students have that.
So our listeners. So let's go through this role play and see what we use.
So let's see. What did I say first?
All right. You said, to be honest, it didn't land for me.
Right. And that is the more common use of that in the negative.
Right. We that's what we're saying today.
More common. Yep, absolutely.
And then you I said, I think it would make sense to the audience if you paused a bit before the punchline.
And guys, punchline is a great word.
And we are going to put it on our list for today in our app so that you can have this word in your personal power list.
Mm hmm. Guys, go check out the app at all there's English dot com slash app.
Only premium users get to see those tappable words, save them to your list.
But you can do a seven day free trial.
All right. And then I said, you think they would get it then.
And again, we know this phrase to get it.
I don't get it. I do get it.
I get it. Right. We know this phrase.
Right. And next one, Michelle.
I said otherwise, the joke may not be understood.
Excellent. So that's kind of speaking more in that passive voice, right.
And taking the emphasis off, they won't understand you and focusing on the joke as the subject.
Right. Interesting.
OK, wow. Exactly. So we know the formula now to success in any industry is just raw talent, you know, added on to massive amounts of practice and training.
That's right. That's it.
That's all you need.
So that's all you need.
Yeah. Well, as far as takeaways go, I would say not everything we do lands and that's OK.
Yeah. If you don't keep on trying things, it's you're never going to move forward.
So even if somebody says like in that role play, I said, Oh, it's I didn't land and maybe you should try this or that.
It's about making these tweaks and having that dedication to make sure things land.
Oh, 100 % 100 % just putting something out into the world and then getting some kind of analytics or response feedback and then tweaking based on that.
I love it. It's such a good way to go through life, Michelle.
That's how to get to that expert level.
Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.
All right. So, guys, even if something doesn't land, you try a new expression.
Trying. Yeah, it might keep trying.
Just you'll be able to make it land some other way.
So inspiring, Michelle.
I love it. All right.
Great. Hopefully we'll come back to this topic another day.
And thanks for being on the mic.
Thanks. You, too. Bye.
Bye. Thanks for listening to All Ears English.
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