This is an All Ears English Podcast, Episode 2343, how to say that two people don't mix well in English.
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, USA.
To get real -time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android.
Start your seven -day free trial at allearsenglish .com forward slash app.
Do you have any friends who simply don't get along?
What can you say when two people don't mix well?
Listen in today. Make your next move with American Express Business Platinum.
You'll get five times membership rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on Amextravel .com.
Plus, enjoy access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection.
And with a welcome offer of 150 ,000 points, your business can soar to all new heights.
Terms apply. Learn more at AmericanExpress .com slash business dash platinum.
Amex Business Platinum, built for business by American Express.
Hey there, Michelle.
What's shaking? Nothing.
Lindsay, what is your favorite type of oil to use for cooking?
oh my gosh it's olive oil i really like olive oil but sometimes i know you're not supposed to use it to cook with everything yeah but i want to use it most of the time yeah what about you yeah i know there's a whole science with the boiling points and everything and i don't do you know about that not really
but i know you're not supposed to make it too hot yeah but i still do that and then it's just yeah um well i i also cook with um avocado oil now um but i've been trying to avoid vegetable oil and yeah different things so yeah me too me too sometimes i like avocado oil but it doesn't have too much taste
to it does that make sense like for me in my mind it doesn't um but it's a good other option like if you're cooking eggs or something it can work that's what i cook my eggs in every morning yes exactly yep so today we are going to talk about um an expression and dealing with oil and how you can use it
in your conversation so lindsey oil and water can they mix not really um when i think of oil and water i think of them kind of separating separating out in a bottle if you try to mix them um yeah yeah no that that probably wouldn't work so why why Why are you asking me that question, Michelle?
Are we getting into science today?
Well, a little science experiment.
Maybe we should pull out our test tubes.
So, something that is commonly said is that people are like oil and water.
And this expression means what you would think it means.
It means that they can't mix.
Either they're just polar opposites, which is another good vocabulary word, or they just don't get along.
So, to me, I would use it more about people not getting along.
what do you think lindsay yeah do you have anyone like this in your life two people that you care about that you try to bring together michelle and they just don't get a lot it just doesn't work i know some people who are like oil and water what about you yeah i think i do too i've never really tried
to bring them together necessarily or successfully but there are i mean people the world is full of different interesting people right and i i'm not sure that everyone is meant to necessarily fit together perfectly right right right right exactly so um guys we also want to remind you before we get into
it a little bit more um to get the all ears english app right lindsay this is i love this app oh it's fantastic guys if you want a way to listen to the podcast but then to get transcripts right in front of you and be able to tap on keywords see meanings save the words view role play reviews of every
week i mean there's so much in there guys how can you go and get the app right now go to all ears english .com app that's app yeah it would be a great way to start off the year by becoming a premium member and you can do a seven -day free trial so you can try out these features that i'm talking about and see
for yourself that you can't them anywhere else all right so allersenglish .com app good right all right so yeah sometimes this can make me think of siblings right so either siblings are completely different or they don't get along a lot of times you hear about people not getting along with their siblings
what do you think i was just having brother uh having having dinner with my brother on monday night he was in town and uh he was we were talking about how we really haven't been that close over the years but his wife is super close now with her brothers and sisters so that was kind of interesting but i
think usually brothers and sisters and sisters siblings tend to be quite different i mean it's weird how that happens but it's true so it wouldn't be true necessarily that you'd be super close with your sibling right right it's not a given yeah it's not a given i mean even with dogs like does keefer
get along with other dogs or they like oil and water?
No, he's great with other dogs.
There's one dog that he doesn't seem to like and it's very weird.
We'll walk past this apartment and this dog is on an overhang patio kind of thing and the dog will go nuts and Kiefer will go nuts and they'll bark at each other.
That's the only dog I've ever seen him have issues with.
Every other dog he loves.
Yeah, that's interesting.
You know what else I think of?
Maybe divorced parents.
So yes, my partner's parents are divorced.
And one Thanksgiving we had, we had a big old Thanksgiving.
Um, my partner's dad hosted and my partner's mom came with her new husband with her husband and you know, they're, they're just, yeah.
Yeah. The divorcees are just kind of oil and water.
They just, yeah. I mean, there's a reason there was a divorce, right?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Oh yeah. No, that can be, that can be awkward, I guess.
Yeah, for sure. It's kind of funny, but that's okay.
That's okay. What else?
Yeah. OK. So I think that this could be actually a really good connection expression because it can explain your background, your personality.
Right. Yeah. Or what else could it do, Lindsay?
I mean, it could be good for connection for sure.
Like you said, to explain where you come from, what kind of person you are and who you don't do and don't get along with.
You could be warning someone about someone else's relationship.
Like let's go to a party and maybe the couple it's hosting are having a hard time getting along or something right and they're like right water or they're two random friends that are coming that you just know are going to be oil and water right right so but yeah or yeah somebody just went through a breakup
a divorce and you know they're both going to be at the same party so you might say oh they're really like oil and water right now so maybe you try and keep her over there yes the other one will be over here so yeah these are important things conversations to have that friends need to support their friends
and make sure that things go over smoothly at the party.
Yeah. Yes. Yes. Or it could be good for just telling a story, you know, the, um, you know, sharing that somebody didn't get along.
So you could just say, oh, and I was with, I was with this crowd and it turned out that these two people were like oil and water.
And so we did blah, blah, blah, right?
Yeah. Those are good examples.
What else do we have any specific examples?
Yeah, let's do a couple.
So, um, My brother and I are like oil and water.
We only talk once or twice a year.
And I've talked about that.
I'm very close with my brother.
So I want to say that's true.
But yeah, for sure.
Or I thought I would love having two dogs, but they get along like oil and water.
It's not so fun. Oh, that sounds hard.
Sounds difficult to keep them separated.
Yeah. Yes, exactly.
Or she doesn't get along with her roommate.
They're like oil and water.
So try not to bring it up.
Did you get along with your freshman year roommate in college, Michelle?
I know we've touched on, you know, college.
Uh -huh. But did you get along with your freshman year roommate?
I did. I did. Um, we got along.
I had a little bit of a hard first semester.
I was very homesick, I think I've talked about.
Um, but then second semester, I felt a lot better, a lot more like myself.
So we got along. We don't, we're Facebook friends.
We don't really, we don't keep in touch, but I have like mostly, I have positive associations with her.
What about you? Yeah, we got along.
We didn't, we weren't really friends.
We didn't hang out, but you know, I had my own friends and she had her own friends, but we definitely got along.
There wasn't much drama.
Thank goodness. Because those college dorms are very small.
Yes, they are. They are.
All right. it's a new year and if you're in charge of hiring and you're faced with an open position you need to hire the right person fast as a business owner myself I've learned that competing for great talent is no joke you need the right tools when it comes to hiring indeed is all you need stop struggling
to get your job post seen on other job sites indeed sponsored jobs helps you stand out and hire fast.
With sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can reach the people you want faster.
And it makes a huge difference.
According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed have 45 % more applications than non -sponsored jobs.
I love that Indeed makes hiring fast because you're able to target your search to specific geographic locations.
Just how fast is Indeed?
In the minute I've been talking to you, 23 hires were made on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide.
There's no need to wait any longer.
Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed.
And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed .com slash A -E -E.
Just go to indeed .com slash a e e right now and support our show by saying you heard about indeed on this podcast indeed .com slash a e e terms and conditions apply hiring indeed is all you need all right michelle before we get into some more examples and potentially a role play later on I do want to
call out a couple of our reviewers.
You know, Michelle, we've been getting a lot of amazing five -star reviews for All Ears English.
What do you think about that?
Thanks, guys. Oh, I love it.
Yes. Thank you. So, a special shout out to Anonymous on December 5th, Ivana Charlie on December 4th, and Daniel Zaza on December 4th in Apple Podcasts, as well as Silly Goose 1909 on December 2nd.
And Silly Goose said, wish I could give it 10 stars.
oh amazing yeah amazing silly goose i love the name it's fantastic so if you love the show everyone let us know what you think guys go on over and leave a review leave a rating and we will be happy to announce your name on the show right michelle yes absolutely love it so um thank you guys so much yeah
so lindsay what are let's talk about some similar sounding expressions that are pretty close in meaning.
Okay. All right. So the phrase night and day.
So this is used more to say that something is an opposite, right?
So we could come back to this, Michelle, and I think we should just this one phrase another day.
But for example, I feel so much better today after the medicine.
It's like night and day.
So here, what are we saying?
What is like night and day?
How I felt yesterday versus how I felt the day before, before I took the medicine.
totally yeah and we could talk about this is different this is a little different right yeah yeah yeah lindsey is living in denver versus boston like night and day yeah i think it actually kind of is um there's a lot of sunshine here compared to boston in my experience and people are a little friendlier
i think you know people are a little lighter and more likely to smile at you on the street so it does kind of feel like night and day it's a very different lifestyle for sure interesting yeah yeah exactly so all right here this is another one that is i would say more similar to uh to oil and water so this is fire
and ice oh do you hear this one i've only seen this as like a name of a restaurant i think that's funny yeah um yeah so this is from ai i'm just gonna so it's it ai said that it refers to two opposing forces um represents passionate extremes I'm quoting a little bit like intense love and bitter hatred
yes and it's interesting it says that it comes from Robert Frost's poem of the title for fire and ice so yeah interesting to see a little bit of where it comes from yeah for sure so fire and ice this one I don't hear quite as much you know I hear the night and day thing I hear you know oil and water but fire
and ice, I guess. It kind of conveys there's going to be drama.
There's going to be sparks, and not in a good way.
Right. Right. Right.
Right. So the kids are like fire and ice.
I don't know how it got this bad.
For sure. Yeah. Michelle, what else here?
Yeah. I mean, what do you think?
Do you think you could use any of these in a professional context?
Would you say the more casual?
What do you think? Yeah.
I mean, I think that definitely this could work in both ways.
I would be careful when you're talking about people in general.
We've talked about this before in business, your career.
Be careful anytime you're talking about someone's personality and how it might clash with someone else's personality.
That's another bonus there, by the way, Michelle.
Clash. Yes. I'm going to put that word.
So guys, remember to get that app because that's going to be one of the bonus words for today.
Yeah, for sure. So I think you could use it at work.
Just be careful when you're having these conversations, who's around.
I would say just talk about other things not so much people's personalities you know that's what i would do right yeah yeah good um so let's do a role play and see how we could use it okay michelle so here we are friends we're talking about our childhood all right okay so did you get along with your
siblings when you were young oh no way we were like fire and ice but actually from then until now it's like night and day we're super close oh that's good what about you my siblings are kind of like oil and water i wish we got along better, but we're just too different.
That's too bad. Yeah.
Interesting. Oh, that would be kind of a cool survey for our listeners for today to see if our listeners are close to their siblings or not.
Yes. That will be our Spotify poll today.
So make sure you participate in our poll by going over to Spotify and voting in the poll.
Good stuff. So I asked you, did you get along with your siblings when you were young?
And you said, no way.
No, I said we were like fire and ice.
But then I said, but actually from then until now is like night and day.
So that's a little bit different.
So basically that's saying it's totally different.
Yeah. Now we're super close.
Yeah. I really like the expression night and day because it just, it just shows real contrast.
Something has changed.
Right. And I would encourage our listeners to try that one out today.
Yeah. All right, Michelle.
So is there another episode that our listeners could check out yes guys check out episode 23 32 was do you say i don't know too much that was a fun one i remember we did yeah i love that one guys go on over and while you're at it and make sure you hit follow on the others english podcast now michelle
what is our final idea today final thought for the day well this i mean it's kind of an unfortunate topic to talk about somebody who's like oil and of water, but it's important and we gave you the reasons why.
And we gave you two other ways to express this idea of opposites.
They're not necessarily exactly matches.
And I want to do a whole follow up and night and day because I think that's a really, really useful one, but give these a try and we hope you're not like oil and water with anyone today.
I know for sure. And I'm excited to come back to that night and day.
So hit follow on the podcast and Michelle.
I will see you another day.
All right. All right.
Bye. Take care. Bye.
Thanks for listening to All Ears English.
Would you like to know your English level?
Take our two -minute quiz.
Go to allearsenglish .com forward slash fluency score.
And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything.
See you next time. social psychologist dr sarah hensley explores how the brain affects relationships on the love dog podcast even our brain has an attention mechanism called a ras and it's the reticular activating system and it pulls your attention to different things and everybody's is developed in a little
bit of a different way so you can go through the same experience but your attention was on a different component of that experience and then you gave it different meaning based on your what lives in your subconscious all right this is the dating decoder .com to download the next episode of the love doc
