This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2541, Real Raw English for Connection.
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Did you know that there are more ways to use the word raw in English than just talking about uncooked fish?
Today, get at least four ways we use it to talk about human emotions, physical states, and more.
Hey, Michelle, how are you today?
Good, Lindsay.
How are you?
Good, Michelle.
Have you seen the movie Wicked?
I know there's a new one that just came out.
Yes, yes.
Wicked for good.
I just saw it actually.
And I did not expect to get so emotional.
My emotions were like really raw and I cried at the end and wow.
Yeah.
And then it was funny, cause my son was sitting behind me and I said and I told him that I had been crying, and he's like Oh yeah, I was crying during that part too.
And I'm like, what?
And, and he's seven.
I'm like and, and then he's like Oh, but it's just because the the light was shining too much in my eyes.
So I'm like, what?
I don't know what that was.
But yeah.
Yeah.
So good one.
Okay, I'll have to go see it.
It was very good.
So I, but it's funny you know, we've talked about this before, Lindsay when you're watching a movie and and it's almost, you don't expect to cry.
You really don't.
And all of a sudden it just happens.
You're like, why am I crying?
I know.
And sometimes I feel embarrassed because, depending on who I'm watching with, you know, and I just sort of wish I was alone at times when I start crying like that.
Yeah.
Well, you remember.
I mean I've told you the story about the movie Dan ruined for me at the end, when I started to cry.
Do you remember what it was?
Trivia.
Oh, I can't remember that one.
Good Will Hunting.
Oh, Good Will Hunting.
Okay.
I do remember you said you cried a lot after the Chris McCandless movie.
We both bawled.
Yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
I do remember that about you.
Yes.
Oh my God.
That was like a 20 minute after the movie.
Yeah.
Into the Wild is the name of that one, by the way, guys.
Into the Wild.
Really good one.
Yes.
But yeah, your emotions can get super raw when watching a movie.
Very raw.
And you know it's funny because sometimes you don't.
You could watch a movie one day and not feel as raw.
Yes.
And another day you could watch it again and just be a disaster.
Just like, you know, like ugly crying.
Yeah.
Ugly crying.
So we don't know when we're going to get raw.
Like it just it could be a mode.
It could be like our body hormones at different times.
It could just be.
I don't know.
People are. mysteries, right?
We're all mysteries.
But we have a great question from Sophia.
We love Sophia's questions.
This is from YouTube.
So I'll go ahead and read it.
So hi, Lindsay, Michelle and Aubrey.
My name is Sophia.
In your episode, how to share what you've been through in English.
You mentioned the word raw in a sentence like sometimes it's just so raw that you can't talk about it.
I know raw can be used for things like raw fish or raw materials, but when I looked it up I found it actually has so many other uses, like emotions art weather, even skin.
Could you explain all the different ways raw can be used in English?
Maybe with examples from conversations, I'd love to learn how to use it naturally.
Thanks so much.
What a good observation.
Beautifully written.
Yeah, very well written.
Excellent.
And just, yeah, very...
Direct question.
Excellent, Sophia.
So thank you for always sending us these questions.
These are great.
And I love that Sophia has an eye for what other uses could be, right?
She's listening very carefully to the podcast and she's checking with her understanding up to that point, which is raw fish right.
But then maybe it could be used for other things.
And let's get into this.
I love that.
Let's do it.
So Yeah, great question.
So again, raw can be used in many ways.
So Sophia is absolutely right.
So we're going to go over these today.
We are going to go over four main ways that you will hear the word raw in English conversations.
So we're going to get into that in just a second.
But we want to remind you guys also that we have an excellent all ears English app.
Yeah, it's amazing.
And it's on for Android and iPhone.
So you can get it on any of those platforms.
And this app, tell us about it, Lindsay.
Yeah, it's a great way to solidify vocabulary that you've heard on the show.
We select seven vocabulary words in every episode seven, five to seven that we believe will take you to the C1 level if you learn them and start using them.
And so we highlight them.
We allow you to save them to your list.
You get full transcripts that have been checked by a human and, And you will be able to understand exactly what's being said on the show.
All right.
So go to allersenglish.com slash app for the best way to listen to Allers English.
Okay.
Okay.
Good.
All right.
I'm excited to get into this.
I feel like we're gonna have a lot of good stories here.
And this is just well, it's a very human thing.
Raw, right?
Yeah.
Especially when you talk about emotions, which is the first one, right?
Yep, exactly.
So the first one is all about emotions, feelings that something could be painful.
So again, about wicked.
So I said my emotions were so raw when I saw wicked for good.
It was a good cry.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Or I would call her, but I think everything is too raw right now.
I'll call her next week.
So what do we mean here?
Like what, what might've happened?
You might've had some sort of altercation or something happened to the person where you know they're very emotional.
Things are very sensitive right now.
Very touchy.
So sometimes it's good to put a little space in between that, whatever the incident is, and talking to the person.
Yeah exactly, are you good at that, michelle?
Um, having a sense of timing, like when you should actually talk to someone who might have like, if someone's just passed away, let's say that's the hardest example, someone's just lost someone do you feel like you're good at judging when to try to talk with them and help them?
I think so.
I, i think so.
Um, i tend to have a pretty good sense about that, although it's never easy to know what to say when someone Right.
As a close person pass away.
So it's always it's always tough.
But no, I mean, I think I have a pretty good sense of that timing.
What about you?
I think I'm pretty good, but it's easier when I'm around the person.
It's hard when you're not having contact.
Maybe they live somewhere else and you can't really witness how they're experiencing it.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
So that that's a very human one.
And then, Michelle, what's the second way we use raw?
Yeah.
Well, this one is the one you, uh, Sophia was also referring to, which is regarding food.
So uncooked food.
Um, So, for example, I cook mostly vegetarian at home because I don't like handling raw meat.
And that's actually true for me.
Me too.
I don't like touching it.
I don't like having to – I get nervous about the surfaces.
I know.
Yeah.
I'm, like, paranoid.
I mean, listen, like, I will if I have to.
You know what?
If it's ground meat, that's better because you just kind of pop it out into the pan.
Right.
Yeah.
But even salmon.
I mean, I'll do salmon.
I don't love I just don't like handling those things.
Yeah.
I worry about the chicken with the salmonella.
Yes.
You know, you could get all that stuff.
It's true.
It's kind of you have to be really organized.
I don't really cook meat at home either for that reason.
Yeah.
Oh, that's funny.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And here's another sample, guys.
My dad won't eat raw fish, so order him something else.
Does everyone in your family eat sushi, like raw fish?
Is everyone okay with that?
No, this is actually true about my dad.
Oh, this is your dad.
Yeah, yeah.
This is my dad.
Yeah, we – he's just – you know, we went with – so my son loves sushi.
So for his birthday, we took – my parents were here, and we took them to a sushi place.
And my mom will try some sushi, but they've never really – not into it.
Yeah not, they never really crossed over into sushi fan, so they usually eat other things.
But the thing is my um, they wanted to get.
They had like noodle.
They had other options like different soups that were wrong.
It was like a lot of different options but unfortunately their soup, like their boiler or something, wasn't working, so they didn't even have those options.
So we were all like, Oh no, that was just raw fish.
Yeah.
So that might.
But my dad found they had some things with meat and I don't know he he was able to find some there were.
They even had like um, like they had made these like fish tacos with like the seaweed on.
Yeah.
So, but yeah.
Um, what's your favorite kind of sushi?
Ooh, when I go to sushi, I really like to order the unagi, the eel.
Um, it's so yummy, but sometimes I like it.
Not even as I think technically it's not even sushi.
If you go to like an eel restaurant where you can get a full meal, our Japanese listeners will know what I'm talking about.
A full plate of the eel with the sauce.
I love that.
It's so good.
Oh my gosh.
It's amazing.
What about you?
What's your favorite sushi?
Um, I, I like anything with mango.
Okay.
I like when there's like, yes, I do.
Dan.
Oh, I like you know, if there's a role, that it's like salmon mango, avocado or something like that.
I like the, when there's something fruity.
Okay.
That's fair.
I love that.
Love that.
Interesting.
All right.
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Okay, Michelle, we are back.
So there's a third way that we use RAW.
What would it be, Michelle?
Yeah.
So this one is kind of means basically natural or unchanged.
So this is where raw materials come in.
So that would be something like metal, wood.
So just not changed yet.
So she sent me the raw footage from the wedding.
So now we have to go through and do our edits.
Yep.
That's a great example.
Sometimes when I film a video for our website, I will film the video.
And then when I import the video, I'll label it um, you know whatever the video is, and then raw in capital letters for myself.
So I know it hasn't been edited yet.
Like it's not ready to be uploaded into our video program.
Right.
Um, so it's a very common word.
We might, a functional word we might use if we're working with materials, as you said.
Um, or I have the raw data.
We have to make sense of it and put together the report now.
Right.
Exactly.
Yep.
Lindsay, did you have a videographer at your wedding?
Um, we had a photographer, not a videographer, so we don't have any video.
Uh, but we do have lots of great photos.
That's what we just decided not to do the videos.
A lot of people decide not to do it.
Yeah.
I have the video and of course I never watch it.
So Yeah.
Right.
But did you have a photographer as well or just a video?
Yes.
But I did not like the photographer and I, yeah, yeah, that's all right.
It's okay.
It's a lot of pressure being a wedding photographer.
I mean, gosh, you only have one shot, literally no pun intended.
That's funny.
Um, So let's do one more way.
So Sophia also brought this up.
So this is more of the physical way.
So sensitive, something hurts.
And Sophia brought up something.
This is commonly used with skin, right?
Your skin can actually be raw.
So here's an example.
Do you have chapstick?
My lips are completely raw.
Exactly.
Or I got a burn in my thumb from the oven yesterday and it's still raw.
Ouch.
Ouch.
Or sometimes if marathon runners will run like their legs will rub together so they have to get a special kind of cream so it doesn't get raw and cause like an abrasion.
If you're running a marathon, you could have major issues with that, right?
I'm sure some of our listeners who run a lot will know what I'm talking about.
So anytime that there's, would you say like, is it like repeated friction or friction, or just like the weather like dry?
I mean even now, like I'm noticing, my lips are getting to the be in that stage where I need chapstick all the time.
And yeah, I just, I hate that.
Does your skin get very dry in the winter in Denver?
Michelle, it's terrible.
It's so dry here.
You would never survive.
I really miss the East Coast sometimes because I grew up there and I love going back there because I almost don't even need skin cream.
I still use it, but I almost don't need it.
Out here, it's like three times a day I have to apply skin cream.
It's crazy.
Yeah, it's wild.
Yeah.
Anyway, so this is a lot of ways to use raw.
Let's put it all together, shall we?
Okay, here we go.
So here we are friends cooking a meal together.
Cool.
Okay.
Careful with that chicken.
I think it's still a little raw.
Oh, okay.
Thanks.
So did you talk to Ruth?
No, not yet.
I think the whole situation is still a little raw.
So I'm going to wait a few more days.
That makes sense.
I saw the raw email you sent me of what happened.
Yikes.
Yeah.
Hold on.
I need some chapstick.
My lips are so raw this time of year.
Oh, mine too.
So again, we're not going to use it over and over like that.
So the first use of it is the chicken, right?
This is our fears, the chicken.
And that's the other thing that I hate about it.
Lindsay is not only the surfaces, but to make sure that it's finished.
I know.
Well, I think I never really learned how to cook chicken.
So I yeah because yeah, you could serve it.
And then you could realize you're serving raw chicken and that would be mortifying and scary.
Right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sorry, I interrupted you.
So the example was, I think it's still a little raw, not cooked.
What else, Michelle?
All right.
And then I said you asked if I talked to Ruth.
So there's some sort of issue.
And I said, not yet.
I think the whole situation is still a little raw.
So I'm going to wait a few more days.
So it's still a little it. it hasn't had that space to breathe.
It's still so fresh would be like another word.
And just to clarify for our listeners are we saying there was probably an altercation between you and her or maybe something happened with her that's very emotionally kind of harmful and she's recovering unclear unclear, from this?
Yeah.
It could be either. but probably something happened.
Right.
And she is kind of emotionally harmed somehow.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's still raw for her.
Um, and then I said, that makes sense.
I saw the raw email you sent me of what happened.
So we're dancing around exactly what happened.
We don't know exactly what happened, but the email was raw, meaning it was very um.
It may have been more like stream of consciousness.
I just said, you know, um, right.
And then I said, hold on, I need some chapstick.
My lips are so raw this time of year.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We really nailed the big ones here for Sophia, the big ways in which and it's a great observation that Sophia made that yeah, of course, we use it in a lot of different ways, and you should start using it too, in all these different ways as much as possible.
Right?
Yes.
Good.
Absolutely.
Go over to 2538.
Are you working away at learning phrasal verbs?
Aubrey, I think that was one with you.
Sorry, Michelle, I think that was one with you and Aubrey together.
Is that right?
Did you guys record that one together?
Yes, you're right.
Yes, with adding away.
Yep.
Awesome.
So guys, go check that out.
2538.
And Michelle, what's our final takeaway?
Yeah, these are all really useful.
It's very common.
You'll hear it all the time.
So it is smart that Sophia asked about the difference, because there's not just one, two or even three meanings.
And there are even more than I covered on this episode that you could use.
So listen, listen out for the context.
Try one or two at a time.
And yeah.
Yeah, you got it.
That's it.
Exactly.
Guys, go on over to allersenglishcom slash app to really solidify your vocabulary after each episode of Allers English.
All right.
Michelle, you have a good rest of your day.
I'll see you soon.
All right.
Bye, Lindsay.
You too.
Bye, guys.
Okay.
Bye.
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