This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2623.
Whatever happens, you should be using this vocabulary.
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Find out today.
Hey there, Aubrey.
What are you doing this weekend?
I haven't been to the movies in ages.
So whatever happens, I want to see a movie.
Oh, I just went to the movies on Friday.
Oh, what'd you see?
I saw that movie Send Help.
Oh, I haven't even heard of it.
It was interesting.
It was a little crazy.
Would not recommend zero stars.
I feel like there are not a ton of great movies out right now.
I you know, there's a new one.
But you know, by the time this comes out, it'll be old anyway.
But yeah.
Yeah, it's true.
We're having a bit of a drought on like amazing movies that are worth going to the theater for.
I'm like, I can wait for streaming.
But I love going to the theater.
So I'll go to an average movie just to go to the theater.
Same.
I agree.
Well, this episode today, you'll notice I said, whatever happens, I want to see a movie.
We're talking about that phrase and some other ways to say that.
And this was inspired by something one of our students Jennifer, posted in the Allers English community.
She said, you are safe, happen to happen.
And then she said in Spanish, it's pase lo que pase.
She said, how do you say this in English?
I'm like, that's going to be a great episode.
Yep, yep, I'm so excited to get into this and kind of what it means, what it means for connection.
But first we have to take a minute to recognize and call out those that went and left us a review or a rating.
Wherever you listen today, we're looking at our Spotify listeners.
So first of all, Tony Sousa said, Hi, Lindsay and Michelle.
My name is Tony Sousa.
I'm from Angola.
Without a doubt, discovering your podcast has been one of the best things that's ever happened to me.
I've learned so much from you both.
That is amazing.
That is amazing.
Thank you, Tony, and everyone else who has left these amazing comments on Spotify.
We read them.
They make our day.
We really appreciate it.
Yeah, a huge thank you to Sadam Mod, Satomi Parisan.
Vlad Armstrong and Orens Rowe were some of the reviewers and commenters just recently in Spotify.
So thanks, guys.
If you want to have your name announced out loud on the show, leave us a rating and a review wherever you listen.
Yes.
Awesome.
So we are going to dive into these phrases.
There are a few ways we say this in English.
In Spanish, it's pase lo que pase.
The most common one is just whatever happens.
Is what this means like, regardless of anything that might happen in the future?
Yes, exactly.
Whatever happens, right?
Or whatever happens, happens, I guess, too.
Don't we sometimes add happens again?
You could just say that by itself, like whatever happens, happens.
But we'll also use that in a phrase like, for example whatever happens tomorrow, I'm proud of you for trying.
Or we'll stay friends, whatever happens.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So the direct translation of that is just whatever happens, happens.
We will often use this Latin phrase to que sera, sera, which means the same thing.
We'll hear it in music sometimes.
It means the exact same thing.
Yeah, for sure.
But you're saying we use it in English.
We take the Spanish and we use it in English sometimes, right?
Is what you mean?
Yeah.
Well, I guess that's Spanish.
I was thinking it was Latin, but I think it is Spanish to say que sera, sera.
Que sera, sera.
I think it's Spanish.
Maybe it's just two ways of saying that.
Listeners write in.
Tell us is that latin or spanish, or both?
Maybe it's the same in latin and spanish.
Maybe it's the same, but in english there are other things you could say, like no matter what happens, This basically has the same meaning.
It's a little bit stronger, more definite than whatever happens.
It's used to emphasize a true commitment.
You are committed to this person, this scenario, whatever it is.
We're not giving up no matter what happens.
I'm imagining like a survival situation, right?
Exactly.
Yes.
Right.
And I'm realizing, I'm like, is that French?
Because it would be que sera, sera means will be.
But with that accent, the way we say que sera, sera is not very French.
No.
Interesting.
I'm curious now.
But yeah.
So our second way very similar no matter what happens.
You could say we're not giving up, no matter what happens.
Or no matter what happens with the job interview, let's celebrate tonight.
Yes, love it.
And then Come What May.
Now this one's a little more rare.
I think it's more formal, more poetic, more dramatic.
You might hear it in a Broadway play or a poem or something. song maybe.
Exactly.
It's less common.
I did.
It's interesting.
I was able to use it in the role play and I think it makes sense.
I think sometimes we do use it in casual conversations, but it is more rare and we sort of intentionally use it to be more dramatic or a little more poetic with our speech.
Yeah.
For example, we'll move to the city and start fresh come what may.
Or she decided to speak her truth, come what may.
Yes.
Love it.
All right.
So let's see how these all fit into a nice, tidy role play, Aubrey.
So here, what's the scenario?
All right.
You and I are friends and it's the night before you move out of the country.
So you've got a big life change happening.
And I'm probably sad that my friend is leaving the country.
So these kind of conversations also remind me of leaving for college conversations.
Right?
Yes.
Did you have a lot of these when you're you know like you're 18 and everyone's going to different college?
At least for me.
We all went to different colleges and oh, whatever happens, we're going to stay best friends.
Absolutely.
Right.
We're all saying that no matter what happens, we'll stay in touch.
We'll stay friends.
And usually, unfortunately, that's not the case, at least for me.
Some of them.
Some of them.
Yes.
But.
I lost touch with a lot of people from high school, even from college.
I'm terrible at staying in touch with people.
Me too.
I'm so bad at it.
The other person has to be very intentional.
Otherwise, it's probably not going to happen.
Right.
That's so true.
Unfortunately.
Yeah.
All right, I can't believe I'm actually leaving tomorrow.
I'm excited about this new job, but I'm also terrified.
That's completely normal.
It's a huge change.
What if it doesn't work out?
Whatever happens, you're brave for giving it a chance.
Not everyone would be up for it.
I'm worried I'm going to lose touch with friends.
Well, no matter what happens, we'll stay friends.
You promise?
Absolutely.
Yours stuck with me come what may.
You got a little poetic in the end there, right?
Yeah, I was kind of, I'm intentionally getting emotional.
We're saying goodbye.
We might not see each other for a long time.
I could see myself using this phrase in this way to be like, you know, yeah, a little poetic.
A little poetic.
Exactly.
So again.
Yeah, this is a very familiar connection moment saying goodbye to someone that you care about, right?
So I said, what if it doesn't work out?
I'm nervous about my situation.
And you said...
I said, whatever happens, you're brave for giving it a chance.
And this I really love this phrase as a connection skill, because if someone is expressing doubt about a decision, they've made a big change that they're making there are a lot of things that you could say that might hurt the connection you know doubt that they made the right choice, saying anything that makes them even more nervous.
Like there are so many things you could say that could be a problem.
This is a great thing to say.
That's a good point.
Yeah, it's an important connection moment where the right choice of words really matters.
Yeah, you can say whatever happens, you're brave for giving it a chance.
And you're also saying because there is a chance that you would move there, hate it or be like too lonely and immediately move back.
That certainly has happened.
And I'm already giving you the out to say like even worst case scenario.
Even if that happens, I'm proud of you for being brave and taking this chance right.
What a great way to connect to let people know.
Whatever happens, however this turns out, I'm proud of you.
Yes, I love that.
And then I expressed another worry.
I'm worried I'm going to lose touch with my friends, right?
Including this person in front of me.
Including me, right.
So I said, no matter what happens, we'll stay friends.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, very common.
I feel like no matter what happens is the most common here.
I agree.
That's what I say the most.
It feels the most casual, conversational, even whatever happens.
We do use that chunk, like you mentioned, Lindsay. whatever happens happens.
We'll say that just to mean the same as this Spanish phrase, right?
Like there's no way to control the future.
Like whatever's going to happen is, is going to happen.
Yeah.
And so you're the stable friend here.
And so you got a little poetic at the end, right?
So you said you, I said, you promise.
And you said, absolutely.
You're stuck with me.
Come what may.
So that's nice.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's nice.
And it's also interesting because I sort of needed a few different ways to say this throughout this conversation.
So it's nice that I had all three, right?
You don't want to repeat vocabulary.
You need multiple ways to express something sometimes.
So that's another reason you might say come what may.
If you've already said, whatever happens, or no matter what happens, then you can say, come what may yeah 100, we have a couple minutes.
So aubrey, when is the time in your life when you felt most like this, like you're on the precipice of a big change, and you just were like oh, what am i doing?
Probably when I got married.
I think I've shared this before in the podcast or with you, Lindsay, that I did not know my husband very long when we got married.
We had only been dating and engaged for a few months.
We hadn't lived together yet.
That wasn't common in my culture.
And so we got married.
And I remember, like the night before and like my wedding day, sort of having these feelings of like am I ready for this?
It felt really big and like this huge change.
And so yeah, I definitely felt it.
But luckily it all worked out.
So maybe you remember someone that talked to you through it.
So we remember these moments, right?
And usually that person is quite stable and like well, you need someone who's counteracting your anxiety, in a way.
Yeah.
I remember talking to my mom about it the night before my wedding and I wasn't, it's not that I was having cold feet, but I was like, wow, this is a big change, you know?
And she probably would have said something like this like, no matter what happens, you're going to be fine.
It's all going to work out.
Yeah, I love that.
I love that.
So these are connection moments because we do remember them 20 years later, right?
I mean, for me, I think when I moved to Japan, I just think it was such a big change.
And I remember, I think my parents took me out for dinner.
I think I had a flight out of New York.
They took me out for dinner the night before and I was going through the crisis of I'm moving to Japan for the next two years.
What?
What did I even do?
You know, what am I thinking?
Right.
This very conversation you might have had with your mom or your dad, right?
Yes.
I'm excited, but I'm also terrified.
But in a way it's really good, because the more of these big chances we take in life, kind of the richer our life does ultimately end up being.
Absolutely.
Imagine if you went back, if you had never taken that chance, how much you changed and grew as a person.
You wouldn't change that for anything.
Absolutely.
100%.
So today's episode really matters for that connection, for thinking back to the people that mattered, that were there for you right.
And to each of our listeners.
You guys can think about those moments for you too, and how you might have this conversation in English.
Absolutely.
Yes, I'm excited for you to use this vocabulary to connect to give this advice, right?
Whatever happens, you're brave for trying it.
It's going to work out right to be able to support people in that way.
Yeah, guys, go check out 2616 if you love our style.
Our style is a special focus on human connection when you learn English.
That's what we do here.
So if you agree with that, if you love that, go check out 2616.
That's on me, admitting mistakes without making it awkward.
Okay.
What a connection topic because you can make it really awkward when you admit a mistake.
So you need the phrases to avoid that.
For sure.
Aubrey, we'll see you back here on the show very soon.
Have a good day.
You too.
See you next time.
Bye.
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