This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2519.
Don't take it literally, four new English expressions.
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Sometimes we use expressions in English that are physical, but we don't mean them in a literal way.
Today get four things we say that you should not take literally.
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Hey, Lindsay, how are you?
Hey, doing great, Michelle.
How are you?
How's everything?
Yeah, I'm doing well.
Lindsay, did you ever have lice as a kid?
Yeah, I think I had a couple of bouts of it as a kid.
It goes around with kids, you know, like sharing hairbrushes in school.
And yes, I do remember a couple of bouts of lice, unfortunately.
It's very common for little kids.
Yeah, every once in a while I'll get an email from my daughter's school saying a student has been found with lice.
And then you get so nervous.
I never got it as a kid.
Lucky.
Yeah, but I know at some point it's coming from me.
I'm almost afraid to talk about it.
But I'm assuming, did you scratch your head a lot?
Sure, yeah, absolutely.
As a kid, you don't know what's going on, right?
And you have to use that special... comb and a special kind of shampoo.
I think my mom had to spend... Yeah, I was really young.
My mom probably had to spend hours just picking them out.
Oh, gosh.
Awful topic.
And people... Yeah, I know.
Hello, everyone.
I hope you enjoy this.
Yeah.
So today... But we're not talking... Don't worry, guys.
That's not what we're talking about today.
We are.
It doesn't have anything to do with lice, but we are going to talk about an expression that has to deal with the word head and scratching.
It's more metaphorical, though.
So a head scratcher.
Lindsay, what is it?
If I say something's a real head scratcher, what does that mean?
Yeah, it has nothing to do with having lice, thank goodness.
So we can stop talking about that.
We're done.
But it's that something, you know.
There's another reason we might scratch our heads beyond head lice.
It's actually when We are maybe a little confused, although I don't do that.
I don't actually scratch my head when I'm confused, but this is what this means.
Something that is a head scratcher is something that is hard to figure out.
Right.
That is interesting.
I don't think that many people actually do this, but it just came to be this expression.
Oh, it's a head scratcher.
Yeah.
I don't know where it came from.
I don't know.
But would you say this?
Oh, it's a head scratcher.
Uh, I, yeah, I probably would.
I probably would.
This is a real head scratcher.
I got to think about this a bit more.
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
Is there anything you can think of that is a head scratcher for you?
Yeah.
I mean, I think a lot of sports rules.
I actually went to a hockey game last night and we had amazing seats right on the ice.
We got them through my partner's work.
And I wish that I understood the rules a bit better of hockey.
I guess hockey is a little more straightforward than football, but I still don't know all the rules.
So I was just there watching it back and forth.
You know flying around the ice and it's fun, but you're not totally in it because you don't know the rules right.
So sports can be a little bit of a head scratcher for me.
Yeah same yeah, i would say that about football.
Um yeah, what's happening to my voice?
Okay Guys, we're going to talk more about this, but be sure to hit the follow button wherever you are listening to All Ears English, so that you'd never miss anything from us.
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Have the episodes come to you.
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Yes, good stuff.
All right, let's get into some examples, so our listeners can actually take this term and start using it in their real lives.
So are you ready for the first example, Michelle?
I'm ready.
Okay.
All right.
I want to build my own furniture, but the directions are a real head scratcher.
Oh, my gosh.
Following instructions when you get something in a box.
Oh, my gosh.
Yeah.
And a lot of times people might say a real head scratcher, right?
It's a head scratcher or a head scratcher.
But if you want to be more emphatic, you can say are a real head scratcher.
Yes.
Yes.
Actually, my son, my dad just got I sent an early birthday gift of this marble run.
Oh, no.
I took it out of the box.
I was exhausted.
I had a headache.
And he's like, oh, can we open it?
We opened it.
There's no words, only pictures.
Oh, no.
And I have no idea what it's asking me to do.
So I chose the easiest one to start off with.
There's many you can build.
And I did it and he kept on like coming in and going out and I just like okay, I'm just gonna do it.
And then he, I finally get one, and he's and he goes oh, I think that one's a boring one.
You should do it.
Oh no, you spent all your time putting it together, yeah.
And then he was bored with the game.
Yes, he was bored with that particular course that I made because I chose the easiest one.
Like you do it.
Yeah, you should have had him put it together.
I know.
But then my daughter was around and they were fighting.
Anyway, it's a whole thing.
Here's another example.
She explained the situation to me, but honestly, it was a head scratcher.
You may want to call her.
Yep.
So something that just was really unclear.
You came out of it pretty confused.
You're still confused about that situation.
Yeah.
Here's another one.
The outfit she chose is kind of a head scratcher.
I don't think she took the weather into consideration.
I do that a lot.
I was going to say I know you've talked about it, do that a lot.
I just did that.
Let's see, i just went somewhere.
That was cool.
I don't know what was it.
Recently, in the last few weeks i guess, i went to the mountains and it was, you know, 25 degrees again and i just went in jeans.
Just not, not smart, not smart.
I love that.
Would you say this is a formal or informal expression?
Uh, i would say this is probably pretty informal, michelle.
Um, you know so?
Yeah, but it's common.
I think it's not slang, but it's pretty informal.
Yeah, and we're going to take a quick break, but then we're going to go over some more with you right after.
Okay.
All right, Michelle, we're back.
So are there other expressions?
Yeah, tell us what.
Well, what I thought we could do is talk about some more like physical expressions that have more of a metaphorical meaning.
So again, you're not really, it's not really like, oh, I'm scratching my head because I have lice.
Sorry, knock on wood.
But it's more, oh, this means I'm confused, even though you're not really doing it.
So I thought we could go over some of these similar things expressions with a similar idea, right?
So the first one is hit me with something.
So Lindsay, is this actually saying hit me?
No, no, it's really not.
This is interesting, right?
So it's basically saying give me the information, tell me something, even if it's something that's going to give an impact, right?
That's going to be difficult.
Let's do a role play so our listeners can see exactly what we mean.
Mm-hmm.
All right.
Hey, I have a story to tell you, but you might not like it.
All right.
Hit me.
OK.
And then I would proceed to tell you the story.
Right.
So you're basically just saying you are braced for impact.
Yes.
Yeah, exactly.
It's when when something, you know, it's a little bit more intense.
Right.
Yeah.
And it's very important for us to know what this means, because I am not actually asking Lindsay to hit me.
So if somebody says to you, oh my gosh, hit me, don't.
And there's other ways we use this too.
There's actually, I think we could do an entire episode just on hit me, right?
Like it hit me.
Finally, I was trying to figure it out.
And then finally it hit me.
The idea came to me.
Another way of using that phrase.
So guys, maybe hit the follow button, hit the follow button.
And we will see if we can come back to that, this expression.
Yeah, definitely a good one.
There's a lot there.
What's the next one, Lindsay?
Drop it.
Right.
Drop it.
So this is.
I'm sure you may say this to your kids sometimes when they're being annoying and they want ice cream like drop it.
We're not getting ice cream today.
Right.
Yes.
Every day.
Let something go.
Right.
Stop talking about something is what this means.
Right.
What would be an example, Michelle?
I really wanted to ask him about a raise, but I'm going to drop it until next year.
So I'm not physically dropping something.
Right.
I'm, you know, this is more metaphorical.
I'm letting it go metaphorically and not physically.
You're setting it aside until later.
Exactly.
You're stopping.
You're not going to pursue it at that moment, right?
Or here's another.
I'm still a little upset, but I'm going to drop it.
But it's too much negativity for me.
Yeah.
I mean, sometimes we have to make that decision in life, right?
Yeah.
Whether we're going to hang on to something, keep a chip on our shoulders.
Mm-hmm. about something, be offended or upset forever?
Or are we just going to get over it and move on?
And sometimes I think, in the moment when something happens, you feel like oh, I could never drop this.
This is going to be, you know, always so, because you're still dealing kind of with the impact of whatever just happened.
But as time goes on, you can start to let it go.
I totally agree.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
And then I love this one.
Spit it out.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Are we actually talking about spinning?
No, guys, please don't spit when someone says this to you.
Please don't spit.
This is when you tell someone something that may be tough for you to say.
They will say, come on, just spit it out.
Just say it.
Right.
So say spit it saying spit it out is saying say it.
Just say it.
Right.
Right.
So here's a little role play.
Okay.
Okay.
I don't know how to say this.
Oh, come on, Lindsay.
Just spit it out.
Yeah.
And this is very casual.
I would never say this in a formal work scenario, right?
I mean, maybe you and I would say this because we're very casual at work.
But in like a boardroom meeting, you would avoid this.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
All right, Michelle, shall we mix it all up into a role play?
Let's mix.
All right.
So here we are friends and we are trying to build furniture together.
Oh, geez.
Yeah.
Just over the weekend we were trying to assemble a fire pit for our front.
You know our little front area sitting area.
Luckily, it wasn't too bad, but it could have gone really bad.
You know what I mean?
It's this kind of thing can really just and then you start throwing things and it's not good.
Yep.
Yep.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Do you typically look at the instructions very thoroughly first or do you kind of feel it out?
I don't I don't want to read the instructions like I just want to get into it, you know, but then I'm halfway through and I realize I use the wrong screws for something that I have to do it over.
So it takes longer.
Yeah, I know.
It's so hard.
Yeah.
All right.
Here we go.
OK, so what do we do now?
Oh, gosh.
What?
Michelle, spit it out, Lindsay.
We made a big mistake.
The piece should go here.
Oh, no.
Let me see that.
I wish these directions were easier to understand.
They are a head scratcher for sure.
Okay, so what do we do?
Hit me.
Do we have to start over?
I would ask Hazel to help, but she's still mad at me.
I wish she would just drop it.
Me too.
So we're going into our side conversation about Hazel, right?
Yes, Hazel.
I'm always trying to come up with Different names.
Hazel.
Right.
Right.
What was the name that you used to use in like every role play for a while?
I don't know.
Probably.
I can't I can't think of it now, but it was fun.
I don't know.
Now I'm always just lots of new names.
Yeah.
I love it.
Yeah.
So here we go.
So we're this is casual.
We're friends.
We're assembling something.
So we're OK to use spit it out.
Right.
Because it's not for not a formal situation.
Yeah.
So yeah, you said, spit it out, because you realize that we made a big mistake and it's.
But it's hard for you to say
And I'm afraid to say it.
I'm like, oh, Michelle, oh, I don't want to tell you this, but right.
Yeah.
And then you said, I wish these directions were easier to understand.
I swear, Michelle, I think they try to make the directions hard and complicated on purpose.
And the drawings sometimes are impossible to understand.
Gosh, I know.
I know.
And then you said they are a head scratcher for sure.
Yeah.
I'm just saying, yeah, they're really confusing for anyone.
And then you said, um, we're not so sure what to do.
And then I said, again, you're hesitating to say something.
And I'm saying, come on, hit me.
Meaning just say it.
Right.
Yep.
Right.
And then we move on to Hazel being mad.
And I said, I wish you would just drop it.
So let it go.
Yeah, nice.
And I feel like this is a pretty realistic role play too.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, all these, because these are very different expressions.
Right, right.
This is not really all about, you know, scratching your head, but it's just about these more metaphorical things, physical expressions that don't actually mean what it says.
We don't actually spit something.
Yeah, that's the, that's the rule of thumb from today's episode do not actually spit when someone and don't spit and don't hit.
Don't spit and don't hit.
If you don't do those things, you'll be just fine.
Yes okay, exactly.
Where else can we go to keep listening to All Ears English?
All right.
So we did a great series on All Ears English.
It was start out with part one, pesky prefixes, part one, insecurity or a lack of security.
Yes.
And what is our final takeaway for today?
Where shall we leave our listeners?
I mean, I love what we just said.
As long as you're not spitting or hitting, you're good.
Pretty much.
Yeah, that's pretty much the takeaway for today.
But yeah, these are all... common, useful.
So yeah, throw them in.
They're kind of fun.
And and yeah, enjoy good stuff for today.
I mean.
I like how.
I mean it's true.
I know that it's true in our listeners languages too, not everything is literal, and one key piece of fluency is understanding what is actually literal um, and what is what is not literal.
Because sometimes you might be at a i don't know a boxing gym and someone might say come on, hit me.
You know what i mean, like right or in football or something i don't know.
They say they use the term hit.
I guess he got hit, But you know this is totally different.
Right.
So if you are not in a situation where that would make sense, then figure that probably means it's being used in the more metaphorical sense.
All right.
Good stuff today, Michelle.
Guys, if you love our show and you don't want to miss any of the ideas that came up for today's episode for future episodes, go ahead and hit the follow up button.
All right.
Good stuff, Michelle.
I'll see you very soon.
Have a good day.
Bye, guys.
All right.
Bye.
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