AEE: Pack Your English With Idioms!
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This is an All Ears English podcast. Pack your English with idioms. 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 host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz.

and Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com forward slash subscribe.

Sometimes an idiom is the only thing that fits when you're trying to convey your point. Today, learn three idioms that you can use to start cultural conversations and connect in English. Are you in charge of hiring at your company? When you're hiring, it feels amazing to finally close out a job search. But what if you could get rid of the search and just match? You can with Indeed.

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Hey, Aubrey. How are you doing today? Great. I have a question for you, Lindsay. Okay. When's the last time you were packed like sardines somewhere? Oh my gosh. I remember living in Tokyo. I remember a couple of times when I made the mistake of getting on the train at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. Rush hour. And I never did it again because...

I just couldn't believe it, how packed I was and how they just pack you in. They have people that push people all the way in and it seems to work in Japanese society.

Yeah. I had the same experience in Italy. I got on a train once in Italy and we were packed like sardines. Everyone was going to work and they're just like, get used to not having personal space because we all need to fit on this train. Well, I will say that Americans do have major, we might be the high maintenance ones around the world when it comes to personal space, Aubrey. Don't you think? It's true, right? The subway in New York City, even when it's pretty crowded, you're still not really touching anyone. Like no one's going to get on if it's that crowded.

Right, right. We just need space. We have a bubble that's probably much larger than most people's bubbles around the world. I've noticed that in airports I've mentioned before. I think, I don't know if it was Egypt or Argentina in the last couple of years where I was getting my bags at the airport and someone just came like right across me and grabbed his bag and I couldn't believe it. I was like, whoa, you're really moving into my space. Right, just like brushing right across. You're like, hey, here's my bubble. You're in it.

yeah really interesting but but we're yeah so why are we talking about sardines by the way yeah we got this great question and we're going to teach a couple of idioms today that our listener asked about so you want to read the question for us lindsay yes this is from baruz and baruz says i'm just wondering about idioms i know many idioms actually many of us don't understand their meaning for instance packed like sardines who asked you bring home the bacon

And so what do you think is what this listener is asking, right? - Yeah, so this is a great question. And I love how, like this listener is saying, "I know a ton of idioms, I hear all of these idioms, but I don't always know exactly what they mean. I'm not always sure exactly how to use them." And we talked recently about learning the background of slang. Same goes with idioms. When you know where something comes from, the background of it, what it's referring to, it's easier to remember and use.

Yeah, we've been talking about idioms and slang a lot in the last few weeks. So this is the place to be to learn natural, real English.

aubrey before we get into this question and answer it for our listener baruz i want to shout out to our listeners who left us a review wherever you're listening guys we would love to read your review apple podcast spotify ios or android app so thank you to matias mayor who left us a five-star review by the way aubrey it was a good one awesome thank you so much for the review we read these reviews guys we're so grateful for them so yes wherever you listen leave us a review

Yeah, perfect guys. Leave us that review. So Aubrey, what else do we need to know here to get us started today? Yeah. So Baru's asked about packed like sardines, who asked you and bring home the bacon. And so we're going to do a part two follow up about the phrase who asked you and other

phrases that can come off as very rude because this question, you have to be careful. It can sound very rude and there are similar questions that you also want to be careful with. So hit follow. We're going to do a part two about that very soon. Yeah, I agree. I think that one belongs in a different category, right? For another day, another episode for another day. But yeah, like you said, hit that follow button. You don't want to miss a single episode of All Ears English.

So let's go right to packed like sardines. All right. So what are sardines, Lindsay? Do you eat sardines? I actually try to eat sardines because they're so healthy. It's more like I buy them and then I look at the can for two or three weeks and

When I get good sardines, they're great. Like in good olive oil from Portugal, for example, really good. So guys, this is a little tin. It's usually like a rectangular shaped. You may eat these in your culture. You may be familiar with these. You kind of open the top of this middle little aluminum tin and there are these tiny little fish that are packed in really tight in like oil and salt and flavor or whatever. My dad would eat them all the time. He loved sardines. They're super healthy. Super healthy. Yes.

So that's where we get this expression from because the little sardines are packed so tightly into these little tins. And so when we say packed like sardines, it means crowded, but like really people are pressed in tightly. Right. So it wouldn't, you wouldn't say it for like traffic, for example, if there's a lot of cars and there's a lot of traffic on the road, it wouldn't be like. Oh, that's a good point.

these cars are packed like sardines. It has to be, it's like physical proximity where things are pressing next to each other, really. That's a good point. It's people, right? Mostly people. Yeah, we really just use it for people. The human body. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So that, yeah, that's a subtle point to understand for our listeners. It's not about a traffic jam. It's not about like other structures being packed like sardines. It's

people being packed like sardines. People in a confined space where you're like more close to other people than you'd want to be like, oh, we were packed like sardines. This will happen often in concerts, right? Or at sports arenas where you just end up really crowded and close. Did you ever play the childhood game sardines? It's like an outdoor game. Sounds so familiar. Yeah, it sounds really familiar. We played it all the time. It's very similar to hide and seek. But instead of...

everyone hiding and then one person finds them all. One person hides and then everyone finds them and when they find them, they hide with them. So they end up all packed into this tiny space trying to hide together. So that's why they call it sardines. Yes, we played that game. So fun. And that's a great example to help us envision, Aubrey, what this expression means.

I definitely remember leaving the once I went to see Serena and Venus Williams play each other at Flushing Meadows in New York at the US Open. And I remember walking out of that and feeling a little scared of how packed I was and how there didn't seem to be any proper exits.

You know, you can sort of have a panic attack at times if you're in the wrong place. You're like, what if something happened here? This is not, you know, the safest setup right now. Yeah. Something similar happened to me. We were leaving Boston after the fireworks after 4th of July. And we were all having to funnel to this little like bridge to get to our cars. So we were all packed in kind of just trying to get.

over there. I remember someone said in French, they were like, I can't believe people with their strollers or something like that. I was there with my stroller and I spoke French. So I responded in French. I was like, sorry, but I don't think I should have to stay home or whatever. They were so surprised that I spoke French. They were probably shocked. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

no that makes sense anything mean about your stroller if we knew you sure sure sure was it the Boston Pops that you saw yes the Boston Pops were like crying and then with the fireworks it was amazing but leaving leaving a fireworks display is always tough it's always crowded I think anytime we go into a scenario like this like Boston Pops or a sports game where we know there's going to be a we just it's a different mindset we have to get into in a way right you have to be patient it's gonna take a while to get out and we just have to be okay with it

Yeah, it's true. So do we have any other examples here that we want to share? Yeah, let's share a couple examples where you might say packed like sardines just in a regular conversation. You might say we're packed like sardines in here. I can barely breathe. Right. So that could be just any space where there are a lot of people really in tight.

Yes. Or the kids were packed like sardines in the classroom. That school really needs smaller class sizes. Yeah. And this is a situation where like the kids probably aren't like, you know, standing all shoved in there, but it's like too many kids, desks crammed in. You could still say they're packed like sardines. There's not enough space for everyone in that room.

Love it. All right. So I think our listeners have a clear picture of what that feels like, what that's like packed like sardines. What's our second one? It's still on the theme of food here. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Barry's asked about bring home the bacon. So this means earn money or succeed financially.

And I wanted to look up the origin because I was not clear. I'm like, okay, why are we talking about bacon when we're talking about making money, right? Yeah, interesting. So what I found, most people believe the origin of it was from 1906 when the mother of an American boxer named Joe Gans used this to encourage her son about the fight. She was telling him like, you know, bring home the bacon, meaning that he would win the

And so but then as I looked, there's several different theories. Like some people believe it started in medieval England. So this is one of those where like people aren't sure exactly where it originated. Interesting. Okay. We don't know exactly. It could have originated from medieval England or where bacon was like a highly prized commodity. So there were like sayings involving bacon. It might have also been from

There was like these competitions where someone would receive a side of bacon, like a chunk of bacon as the award. Also in 12th century England. So there are all kinds of different there in history. Bacon has been like an award.

or like a prize and so this might be where that came from okay or British you said British Fairground games is something you put in our notes here uh where they would another place it might have come from interesting so there are a lot of candidates a lot of options a lot of potential places but the most important thing is to understand what it means right which again you know it means earning money or succeeding financially especially in the context of your home in a way right it's really in the context of your home

Right. Exactly. So if you get a job that, you know, pays well, you might be like, oh, I'm so excited I can bring home the bacon. Yeah. Right. Or like, you know, we use it very informally to mean like I am now making a paycheck, like you said, Lindsay, that I can bring home to support myself and my family. Right. And this is such a connection skill, Aubrey. Why would we say that this is a connection skill for our listeners to know the slang and then to...

build it out yeah well especially because they're in many cultures there's currently a cultural shift about who brings home the bacon traditionally in a lot of cultures men would like go and get a job and bring home the bacon but in a lot of cultures now more and more women are working full-time and these traditional roles are switching

So this is a really interesting thing to talk about, to find out in someone's culture what this is like, what are these gender roles like, and are they changing? We want to teach you a couple of phrases that you can use to start this conversation because it is an interesting conversation to have. And you can use this idiom, bring home the bacon, when you start it. So for example, you could say, gender roles seem to be shifting and anyone could bring home the bacon for a family nowadays. What do you think of that?

So you're asking a pretty general open-ended question about like, what do you think about shifting gender roles? Yeah, this could lead to some really good conversation. It could be very cultural. It could become quite deep and maybe heated. Super interesting. Yeah, it is interesting. Or you could say, you know, my dad was the one who would bring home the bacon. What about you? Something similar came up in, I was teaching a class of girls in Turkey for be the voice of girls.

And we ended up talking about this. It was really interesting talking about the differences between US culture and the culture that they come from. What are the traditional roles? Is this shifting? And it became a very full and interesting conversation because this is a great connection topic.

Oh, huge. I'm glad you had a great conversation there. I also think it's interesting because often when we talk about money, it can get a little sensitive. And it's one of the things that we try to avoid talking about in American culture, right? Money, sex, politics, religion are things that we avoid talking about, right? In public conversation. And so we like to use an idiom to kind of dance around the topic a little bit. So bring home the bacon feels a little less direct than my dad would make all the money.

Right, exactly. My dad was the one who was working. My dad brought home the paycheck. All of these other ways it's true. Then you're directly talking about money. So we avoid that by using this idiom. Interesting. What if you could hear your favorite song for the first time again?

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Okay Aubrey, let's get into a role play here. So we are friends meeting up for a coffee. Alright. You want to start us? Yes. Wow, we're packed like sardines in here. These tables do seem very close together. I have to be careful not to bump the lady behind me. I understand them wanting to fit more people in but a little breathing room would be nice. Yeah, seriously.

Hey, how's the job hunt going? Not bad. I'm enjoying a few weeks off, actually. It's kind of nice not having to bring home the bacon. I can imagine. I could use a vacation. That's true, actually. Yeah, exactly. Right. Always. Yes. All right, Aubrey. So we started, I started by saying, wow, we're packed like sardines in here. So we're clearly at a coffee shop where, you know,

It's very crowded. Have you ever had this experience where they're trying to fit in extra tables so they're sort of just a little too close together like you can't back up your chair without running into somebody else? Yes, yes, 100%. 100%. Especially in New York City, they're like small places and they're cramming in all the tables they can. Oh yeah, for sure. No, that happens.

And then you said, Aubrey, what'd you say? You said, I was saying, this is an interesting way to use this too, where I'm saying like, you know, I'm out of work, I'm interviewing, and it's kind of nice to have a couple of weeks off and not have to be the one bringing home the bacon. Right. So if we're thinking about if you're the one supporting a family, it's like, okay, this pressure is off me, at least for a couple of weeks. I'm not worried about bringing home that check.

Yeah. And again, using that idiom when you're talking about money and look for other situations, guys, where we might do that. We might replace kind of a potentially controversial or private topic with an idiom. See if you can find more scenarios. Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting, isn't it? Yeah.

Yeah. Awesome. Well, I want to share, we just very recently, if you scroll up, 2313, we were teaching that slang, how to learn English slang at warp speed. We were also giving the background for these slang phrases, because this is such a great way to learn slang and

idioms to learn a little bit about the background. Where's this from? It's really going to help you add it to your active vocabulary so you can bring it to mind when you're having conversations. Yes, love it. And for our takeaway today, guys, we want to encourage you. We're giving you today not only a couple of great idioms, but most importantly, a really great conversation topic to strike up a conversation with really anyone, anyone that you want to connect with, that you want to go beyond the surface level.

- Absolutely, what's one of the best things to ask about to connect about cultural shifts that you are noticing and find out if it's the same where they live. This is very interesting. - I love it. So use these expressions, start those conversations. And again, Aubrey, when our listeners are going for these conversations,

connection, not perfection. Focus on that. Try to understand the person and their culture. That's the goal. It's not reflecting on yourself and did I make a mistake? Was that vocabulary wrong? Get out of your head and go to the other person, right? Absolutely, right? It's not a question of who's right, who's wrong, which culture is doing it better. That's not what we're talking about, right? We're observing. We're interested. We want to know what we have in common with others and we're just curious about how the world is changing.

yeah and just don't even don't focus on making mistakes within your language right just learn get it's a fact-finding mission trying to understand what that person's experience is in the world all right good all right aubry you have a good day i'll talk to you soon awesome you too see you next time bye 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.

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