This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2451, emotion versus feeling.
What is the difference?
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Today, get emotional with Lindsay and Michelle as we break down the differences between the words emotion and feeling.
Plus, get a tip on how to be present during moments when emotions are running high.
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How are you today? I'm good.
Lindsay, how are you?
Good, Michelle. I have a question.
I think I know the answer, but I'm going to ask anyway.
Maybe you'll surprise me.
Who knows? I don't think I will.
Michelle, are you an emotional person?
I bet our listeners could answer this too.
I am an emotional person.
I definitely... I mean, I'm not to...
I mean, to a regular degree, but I'm definitely on the more emotional side.
What about you, Lindsay?
Yeah, I would say I am for sure.
I mean, over the years, I've learned how to kind of, I don't know, maybe distract myself sometimes from emotions.
But definitely, I am an emotional person at my core.
Absolutely. Yeah, I feel like that's one of the reasons you and I get along so well.
We both feel things very deeply, I think.
I'll feel all the feels as they say.
all the feels that's right oh my gosh that's another good one so yeah um well we're talking about this today because we have a listener question from rama 900 lindsay would you like us to would you like us like me myself and i would you like for me to raise a question would you like to read it sure michelle yeah go for it go for it yeah sure so it says i uh this comes from a review it looks like a five star review so thank you so much thank you um so it it says I like listening to your podcast. It's like treatment after a long day.
That's wonderful. Yeah.
I have a question for you.
What's the difference between emotion and feeling?
I searched and asked AI, but I feel more confused.
Can you explain and clarify the differences?
Thank you in advance.
Rama 900. Yeah. Oh, that's a good one.
I love this question.
And I totally totally understand that Rama tried to search on AI.
We're all using AI these days, but it really just kicks back what you would find on Google, right?
And so we're here to show you in context to really break this down for you, Rama, and for all the rest of our listeners.
But Michelle, first, what should our listeners do right now?
What is the single action we want them to do before we continue with the show?
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We want make it easy so you remember to listen you have it come straight to your cue so important and of course if you're watching in youtube which this show is on video in youtube hit the subscribe button in your case excellent michelle let's get into answering this question directly for rama emotion versus feeling what do we think so yeah this is i mean lindsay do you have kind of a first instinct if i instinct yeah how you would explain this yeah emotions feel a little more raw and more initial it's like the spark um and then the feeling may be kind of like the after effect sort of the the more
refined when we're kind of explaining yeah but emotions feel more raw to me what do you think right more raw yeah yeah i agree i mean so i was taking a look and i saw on this counselingcentergroup .com yeah it does explain it it says kind of the emotions are what happened initially and the feelings are as they describe it the afterglow so kind of they explain that emotions are kind of like you said more raw and maybe it happens right away and then this is interesting it says feelings are how we process and interpret these emotional reactions on a a conscious level.
So it says, you know, you could like, so like the emotion it explains is kind of like that physical feeling.
So it mentions a racing heart.
And then how you process it is the feeling.
So feeling, okay, now I'm feeling scared.
So it's, I mean, this is very kind of convoluted.
So, but this is again from counselingcentergroup .com.
So I think, I mean, in some ways that makes sense to me, right?
Emotion, like you said, is more raw.
Feelings can, to me, be a little bit more general.
I'm feeling happy. I'm feeling sad.
Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I also think that, I think another difference is that feelings are a bit more of a less articulate word. So if you're talking to a child about their feelings, you probably wouldn't say tell me about your emotions right it's right it's a more feelings are kind of the word is a bit more basic if that makes sense don't you think yeah yes i think so i yes you definitely i mean i'm also thinking of when you're watching something and or or let's say somebody's about to give a speech right about like a wedding or something you know and something kind of a high intensity you know a lot lots of feelings
they might say oh i'm getting emotional sorry.
Right. They wouldn't say, I'm feeling, I mean, you can say I'm feeling emotional.
Yeah. There is, there is no adjective that goes along with feelings in the way that emotions, emotional works.
That's interesting.
That is interesting.
Yeah. Yeah. So, okay.
This is, you know, we're kind of talking more about like from that, that site that I read from, you know, that's a little bit more scientific.
So, you know, they're not the same, but they are similar.
but this is one of those situations do you think it's helpful for our listeners to be sitting there thinking about which is the difference and when they're trying to connect with someone to be getting nervous about which one they should use do you think that's our time absolutely not Michelle and I'm glad you asked that question especially because here dollars English we're all about connection and when the the words of motion and feeling are coming out around the scenario you you should be connecting with someone, probably, right?
Instead of sitting there and thinking, which word should I use?
I know that our listeners sometimes, one of the biggest challenges is second guessing yourself, but when emotions are raw and there's been something that's happened that is good or bad, we want to be there for the person, right?
We don't want to be in our head in this cerebral mode.
Right, right, exactly.
So today we're going to go over, you know, how can we actually use this?
How can we actually apply this?
And what are some expressions, some common expressions that are really how we use these words and how can we apply them to our conversations to connect with people, to maybe comfort them, to share how we are feeling?
feeling. Yeah. Articulate exactly to articulate how we're feeling.
That's kind of the mark of a, you know, of a mature adult who can, someone that can articulate how they're feeling, right.
And relate to others around that feeling.
Right. Right. Right.
Right. Actually, that's interesting.
So yeah, if you think about it, emotion, it's not, it can't be a verb feeling.
feeling I am feeling sad right and feeling can't be enough you can't say you can't right so you can't say I am emotioning no that would be kind of cool though maybe we should make that up and start that kind of like it oh I'm emotional make that word go true let's make that word trend as they say yeah yeah I like it so interesting okay so let's get started on these I mean again basically emotions are a little more formal feelings are less formal a little more conversational but let's go through with some of these idioms these chunks lindsay what's the first one oh i just one thing which i i just
realized you can say emoting right and i guess this is what i look up what this means portray an emotion in a theatrical manner now this is a word i don't really use very much but i have seen it around but i think maybe this is more dramatic the use of that word yeah right i think so too and i also think that it's not as It's not quite the same thing.
If we want to say, I'm emotioning.
You wouldn't say, I'm emotioning sad.
No, no, no. It's not the same.
Or I'm emoting. You still wouldn't even say, I'm emoting this.
You really wouldn't.
That would be weird, right?
It's not real. There is that word emoting for sure.
That's a very good point to bring up.
Still feels a little different, right?
It feels a little different.
Yeah. Let's go through this.
so i love the expression mixed emotions yeah right so for example i used to love that restaurant but now i have mixed emotions things have changed recently yeah so here we're getting our emotions involved when it comes to our opinion of a restaurant so it must be something we feel pretty strongly about right right yes yes exactly so mixed emotions or uh here's um another one oh Oh, wait, that was sorry.
Oh, okay. So then there's just emotional, right?
Yes. So for example, in the last month of my pregnancy, my hormones made me super emotional.
So it just means you're up and down and feeling things very strongly.
Maybe you're like really excited and then you're really sad.
It's just a flip of the switch, right?
Yes, exactly. This one is very common, Lindsay.
What is the next one?
on oh emotional roller coaster so being friends with you is an emotional roller coaster oh my gosh that's not good there are people right i'm sure we could think of people in our lives we've known that kind of there's always drama all right there's always drama up and down and it is an emotional roller coaster yeah what does that mean i mean an emotional role i mean you've kind of said it already but yeah if we think of the way a roller coaster goes it goes goes up and down, it goes around.
The emotions are not stable.
They're always feeling good and then feeling bad.
It can be hard to be around that sometimes, those extreme swings.
This is a very, very common expression.
These don't need to be used for extreme situations.
These can be used also just for your basic, today was a little bit of an emotional roller roller coaster.
Um, you know, I, like I messed something up at work and then I, you know, it doesn't have to be like so extreme.
Um, right. So they're just, these are really common. I don't want you to think that these aren't, are only reserved for something tragic, right?
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
If it's a roller coaster for you, then you can use that, right.
Depending on what happens, roller coaster for someone might not be a roller coaster for someone else depending on what's actually happened right exactly yes good point interesting hiring is hard you have to be sure you ask the right questions sort through all of the details and find your star candidate who will really help move your business forward that's why when i hire i like to use all the best tools and that includes indeed stop struggling to get your job post seen on other job sites indeed sponsored jobs helps you you stand out and hire fast. With sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top
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all right michelle so let's go over to feelings you know the word feelings this could be a noun or a verb right right right um so you could say i have a good feeling or i have a bad feeling about something so you could you know a something feeling a bad feeling a good feeling a funny feeling, a weird feeling, a strange feeling, right?
Yeah. Yeah. A trademark phrase, Michelle, I feel funny.
I know. I was just thinking about that.
I feel funny. That's my trademark.
So, but yeah, I mean, so what does that mean to say I have a good feeling about something?
Well, it depends. So if I'm saying I have a bad feeling in my neck, it just means I have have probably some pain or like a knot.
Right. But I have a good feeling about X.
Like I have a good feeling that I'll get the job.
It's kind of like you have a hunch. You have a hunch. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. It feels like there's something in the air where there's signs everywhere that something good is going to happen.
Auspicious I think is the word. Right.
Yeah. Yeah. And then, you know it just go back to emotion you wouldn't say i have like a bad emotion in my neck right we that's another another point that we can make is a feeling would only be is the only one out of those twos that you can use for some something physical right yes 100 for sure we do not want to say i have a bad emotion in my neck that would be weird um all right next one feeling okay feeling feeling fine you know I'm feeling okay but I need more rest tonight people are checking in on you how are you doing often we're just kind of we're okay or we don't quite know how we are I
think honestly you know in at least an American culture I don't know that we're really taught to know how we're feeling all the time you know I know that emotions can really reverberate throughout the body and I don't at least I'll speak for myself I don't know if I really learned the skills of of understanding how feelings were affecting my body.
Does that make sense?
Yeah. Oh, definitely.
I mean, you realize all the time when you do some sort of relaxation or whatever, and they say, oh, unclench your jaw.
And you think of those things, and you realize, oh my gosh, I was holding everything, right?
Or another embarrassing example for me is a couple of years ago when I was coming back from Egypt, I got a massage in the frankfurt airport right you know airport massages in the chair so i had been really stressed out before i went on the trip and i sat on the in the massage chair and i started bawling like crying like crazy i could it was uncontrollable crying michelle like worse than i've cried in a long time and then i couldn't stop like i had to stop the massage pay the money and then i continued to cry it was incredible so like all this emotion was such a relief yeah it it was so weird. Wow.
And this might be cultural.
You know, I think probably other cultures do a better job of, I don't know, listening to their bodies or giving their body space to for emotions to flow through.
But I know for me, I didn't really learn that growing up.
Yeah, interesting. So what after that happened?
Like, did you feel like a weight was lifted?
Or how did did that help you?
Yeah, I think I felt a weight lifted.
Yeah, I would say I felt better.
A while. I I definitely cried in the airport for another half hour after I was from the from the massage parlor.
Yeah. So very weird. But not weird. Normal, I guess.
Yeah. But it's true.
Like, yeah, I always notice it when, you know, I watch like I don't know, there's even this guy on Instagram that will say, oh, relax this part of your face.
And you say, oh, you know, I think it's a lot in the jaw.
oh yeah yeah there's like a lot of like or are you clenching your teeth constantly throughout the day when you don't realize you don't even realize right or your shoulders I know a lot of people hold a lot of emotion their shoulders they clenched all day long so oh boy Michelle that's another episode another one is just to hurt someone's feelings right yes um you don't really hurt someone's emotions, right?
You would say, he hurt my feelings when he told me my bag was ugly.
Uh -oh. Yeah. And with this one, I would give a little caveat.
It's a little bit of a younger kind of phrase, right?
So, I wouldn't say like, oh, my boss hurt my feelings, right?
Like to my coworker, that's a little young.
It's a little, it's something you would say to a kid.
Did you hurt your brother's feelings?
Yes. Yes, exactly. Good point.
And then the last one is a gut feeling, right?
So that's your, your, like your special superpower, your, you know, like, I have an idea, like something's telling me in my body.
Yes, we've talked about this on the show before.
Some people are really good, you know, with their gut, they can just feel that something's going to happen or have a feeling about a person, right?
That's a good one. So what are, what are, yeah, one example with that is my gut feelings are usually right.
He's a bad guy. So again, And maybe you find that out later, right?
Maybe it's something you couldn't put your finger on.
That's a good expression for today.
But then, you know, a year later you realize why you didn't like your friend's boyfriend, right?
He did something, uh, that wasn't obvious in the beginning.
Yeah. Yes, exactly.
So yeah, basically what it boils down to is feelings are kind of less formal.
I would say they're, it's, I would say in general, they're kind of used like that word is thrown out a little bit more frequently.
It's a little bit more casual and common and emotions are a little bit more raw.
So I would say that's one.
And then also to think of those idioms, those collocations, don't worry so much about the science.
Think about how it's actually used in conversations and throw those out there.
I love that, Michelle.
Will said, let's get into a quick role play.
Do we have a few minutes for this.
Yes, let's do it. So we're going to use several of these in here.
So here we are friends and I am venting to Lindsay about my living situation.
All right, here we go.
So do you like it there?
Eh, mixed emotions.
Really? I have a feeling that you'll change your mind.
It's only been a month.
That's true, but it's been an emotional roller coaster with my roommate.
Oh no, really? Yeah.
I just have a gut feeling that this isn't going to work.
I think I heard her feelings when I told her I wasn't open to a housewarming party.
Oh no. Yeah. I mean, we talk about our feelings with our friends, right?
Um, maybe women do it more than men.
I don't know. I don't know.
Um, but definitely we talk about how we're experiencing things in real time by using words like emotions and feelings.
So I asked you how you like it.
It's your new living situation.
You said, eh, mixed emotions.
you didn't say I have mixed emotions you said yeah that's true emotions you said really I have a feeling that you'll change your mind so you're saying I have a hunch you know it's gonna be okay yes and then you said that's true but it's been an emotional rollercoaster with my roommate Yeah a very common response when someone you've gone through a lot with a person already yeah and then I said i just have a gut feeling this isn't gonna work sometimes you can know you can know when things are not going to line up between you and another person and you said i think i heard her feelings when i told
her it wasn't open to a housewarming party yeah maybe i should lighten up and maybe yeah i don't know sometimes you're just not a match you know for roommates or friends or partners it's just like not working you know emotionally that with roommates yeah it's okay sure it happens yeah me too i had a lot of roommates in new york and many of them were not a great match so yeah yeah what's another episode we could go to all right guys check out episode 2437 that was are you good cop or bad cop that was a really fun one i think i did that one with aubrey so listen to that i love it any final takeaway
here michelle yeah this is one of those episodes where we can dive in and get all into the science of what the difference is and but really it's about the context and how are we going to use it.
So I would say that is the biggest thing to take away from here.
We gave you some basic guidelines of parts of speech and this and that, but really it comes down to how do we use it and this is also really important for connections.
So if you're getting bogged down in your head in this moment and getting all stressed out about it, it could break the connection.
So let's focus on learning some of these these actual expressions, these idioms, these are what are really going to help you.
Yeah, this is live.
This is being a human being living and breathing, right?
This is experiencing emotions.
And so if you are in your head, don't be in your head for these moments because someone might need you, right?
Maybe there's been some kind of event and they need you with them, not standing outside of the group thinking, am I going to use the right word?
word. Okay. Right. Super important.
Yeah. Right. Because if you think of it, just one more point, like in the end, like, you know, even the rules we gave, like they don't always work.
Like for example, mixed emotions, you know, we're saying that emotions are more raw, you know, mixed emotions.
That's pretty conversational.
You know what I mean?
So it doesn't always, not everything fits into a bucket.
And so let's, you know, don't, don't, I wouldn't analyze too much or get too And always just come back to connection, where is the connection in that moment?
Right? I love it. So good, Michelle.
Great chat today about emotions and feelings and I will see you next time.
All right. All right.
Bye, Lindsay. Bye, guys.
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