Chapter 1: What does teasing mean in the context of English conversation?
This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2547, teasing direct how to know based on context.
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 hosts lindsay mcmahon the english adventurer and michelle kaplan the new york radio girl coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA.
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Today, learn a new phrase that can be used in multiple ways to mean different things. Build the skill to tease someone and be sarcastic or to be direct. Listen in to make your vocabulary more robust today. Hey, Michelle, how's it going today? Hey, Lindsay. I ate four bagels yesterday. Oh, wow, Michelle.
You've reached a new low.
Just kidding. I didn't eat four bagels. But sometimes I would like to. I know.
I know you're a fan of bagels. People love bagels. I'm kind of neutral about bagels. Really?
Yeah.
I'd rather have a donut.
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Chapter 2: How can sarcasm be understood differently in conversations?
But then you're saying yesterday you ate four of them, which is a lot of food.
They're giant. I mean, especially the New York ones. They are giant.
They really are. They're very blown up. Right. And so I'm kind of saying you went really far with your addiction to bagels. Yeah.
A little too far. Yes, exactly. Because I can't imagine anybody going through four of them. So that's just a lot to eat. So yeah, I mean, this is an expression about actually being worse than before. So like you said, Lindsay, it can be humorous. It can also be serious depending on the context. So again, the expression is reach a new low.
So we're going to get into that more in just a second here. But first, we want to say a huge, huge, huge thank you to our reviewers.
Oh my gosh. It's all about our listeners on this show, Michelle. And today I want to announce those amazing listeners who took the time to review us in the Android app. So a huge thank you to Jasan Sidhu, Myria Wormlinger-Lemes, Gabrielle Spaghiari, Madi Torabi. Thank you to David Rodriguez Lorenzo and Mohana Mozaffari. Most of these are five-star reviews, Michelle.
And it's just, it's amazing to hear from our listeners over here. Yes.
Thank you. Thank you so much, guys. You make our days, really. It's so meaningful and we really appreciate it.
Yeah. So wherever you're listening, whether it's in the Android, iOS app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, take a minute now to go and leave us a rating and review. Write us a little note. Tell us what you love about the show. You could ask your episode idea, your episode question there, but send us a signal and we'd like to know what you think of the show.
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Chapter 3: What does it mean to reach a new low in everyday situations?
This restaurant was going downhill, but their atmosphere has reached a new low. I don't think I'll be coming back.
And here are we teasing the restaurant, Michelle? No, not really.
No, this is the more straightforward one. It's getting worse. It's getting even worse.
Exactly. And here's the next one. Okay, your outfits have reached a new low. This is supposed to be formal night, right? So maybe for many, many times in a row, you were showing up too casual. And again, this time you showed up really casual, but you were supposed to be formal. So it's reached a new low.
Well, that reminds me of Dan because we've gone on cruises and he kind of they always have like a formal night on cruises and he's decided that he's not packing a suit on a cruise. So his formal night is like a Hawaiian shirt and shorts and it's like, no, no.
Is Dan one of those guys that wears shorts in the wintertime? Because there was an article, I didn't read it, but there was a headline I saw somewhere about dudes in the US who won't wear pants, like they'll wear shorts and sandals in the winter.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's just for like on vacation when it's warm. No, he wears pants. So, but yeah, you can see it's used with the truth or sarcastically. It could be self-deprecating. But again, you have to be very careful if you're teasing someone with this, if you're using it in a teasing way.
And what else is interesting, I thought, what I said to my son was, I realized this, I actually said, we've reached a new low. I don't think I said you've reached a new low. So I guess I meant it as a family as a whole and not to single him out. So kind of more humorous way that we say, you know, this, but like, if you want to back off a little bit, you could say we've reached a new low.
Well, that would be a whole other episode, Michelle. Guys, hit the follow button on the show. We're going to have to cover this topic. We haven't covered this yet. This is a great one. When we want to say something directly to someone, instead of saying you, we say we, but we actually mean you. And it may be possible that it was a little bit of that too at the same time. I'm not sure.
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Chapter 4: How can humor influence the use of expressions like 'reach a new low'?
Right. So, you kind of cross a line and now things get really bad, right? Right? Yep. And this isn't really about playing with someone or being sarcastic. This is just directly like you've gotten really bad. Yes, yes, yes. Or I stooped to a new low when I spilled wine all over my boss. Now, this is tricky because you didn't do it on purpose, right? Yeah.
But you're just kind of saying like, I got even more accident prone, maybe.
You're very clumsy, right? Right. So this might be in more of a, you're self-deprecating, you know, oh my gosh, I really stooped to a new low.
Yeah, it's a little bit playful. It is the way it's being used is kind of playing around with the words, right? Yeah. Yeah. So that's interesting.
Here's another one, to have outdone oneself. So this is, you know, really kind of in a sarcastic way. So it's like to have done even more than in the past. You're like you've gone really far. So, for example, I think this place has hit a downwards. Oh, wait. Nope. I'm in the wrong one. I didn't think I could be any more irritated at him, but he's outdone himself this time.
So he's gone further than you thought he could even go. Right.
Yes. Or, oh no, I burnt the cookies. I've outdone myself. Although I think I've heard this used though in a genuine way. Like if someone makes a really good dessert, oh, you've outdone yourself. This is the best dessert I've ever tasted from you. Right?
Right. So it could be used in more of a genuine positive way. And depending on the tone and the context, it's it could also be used in kind of a teasing way. So here you're being self-deprecating. I've outdone myself. Like I've outdone myself this time. Like, oh, last time I dropped it on the floor. This time I burnt them. Oh gosh, you know?
Wow. This is a very high level episode. I love it. It's because we're trying to figure out which deliveries are genuine, sarcastic, teasing, or direct, right? And there's so much nuance here because there's context, there's vocabulary, there's personal history between you and the person. Wow. There's a lot here.
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Chapter 5: When is it appropriate to use direct language versus teasing?
I think this place has hit a downward spiral. It's probably going to close. So this is a more serious context. But what about the next example?
Okay. Okay. Here's the next one. Okay. My shoe choice has hit a downward spiral. Will you go shopping with me this weekend? So here I'm making fun of myself, right? I am just saying I have just lost my taste in shoes. I don't know what to do. It's okay to make fun of yourself pretty much anytime, right? Especially if you're asking for help.
Exactly. And you could have said, okay, my shoe choice has reached a new low, right? So you could use that as well. But yeah, I would say that's true for my shoes, actually.
Oh, yeah. Are things getting worse when it comes to shoes for you, Michelle?
It's not getting worse. It's just that I only realize in certain situations like, oh, I don't have shoes for this occasion. I don't have anything. And, um, you know, so, but I don't realize it until it's that moment. It's the moment before you got to leave. Yeah.
Walk out the door. I get it. I get it. Yeah. Yeah. Shoe shopping is hard. I mean, if your feet don't fit most shoes, it can be really challenging for sure. I've been trying to buy a pair of boots for the last like three winters and I just give up every time I just say, I'll just wear shoes in the snow.
You sound, that's so me. Like I would totally do the same thing.
I just give up. All right. We have a great role play planned for our listeners today, Michelle. Let's do it. So what's our scenario here?
All right. So here we are, best friends, and we are looking at Instagram together. Okay. All right. Here we go. Okay. Here we go. Oh, geez. My time limit came up, meaning we've been doing this for two hours. Yikes. Okay. We've hit a new low. Definitely. But I actually think we hit a downward spiral back when we started looking up fashion pictures.
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Chapter 6: What are some examples of using 'reach a new low' in various contexts?
But every, yeah, it would be good if I paid attention to it, but it's just, oh, I just wipe it away. Okay.
Usually I just fill my feed with like dog videos, like border collies and huskies and things. And those are less harmful for me, I guess. But it's still really, it just, it feels icky. Just the scrolling, you know, and everyone knows exactly what we're talking about. That is a new low. That's a great example of this. So it's a great way to encapsulate this phrase.
So basically I said, yikes, we've hit a new low when I realized, when you said we had been on for two hours scrolling.
And then I said, definitely, but I actually think we hit a downward spiral back when we started looking up fashion pictures. So like the downward spiral, it's like it got worse and worse and worse. So I'm saying the start of that was Not now that we've reached two hours. Yeah, it's bad. But it was an hour ago when we started looking at fashion pictures that we couldn't stop.
And it's funny how the technology just facilitates that. Because if you click on one thing, the algorithm learns that you want that. It gives you more of that. So you go down that rabbit hole. Right. So it really becomes a downward spiral, literally created by technology. Interesting. Yeah. Right. Yeah. And then I said, oh, yes.
Also, that's when I realized my fashion sense has stooped to a new low. Right. So meaning it's never been this bad.
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And then you said we should go shopping. And then we were talking about. The mall, but it's not nice at the mall. So you said it was getting it was getting bad. But now that terrible store that opened has outdone itself. So it's even worse. Even worse.
Oh, my gosh, Michelle. This has been an interesting episode. I think our listeners are really going to want to gain the skill of sensing when is it okay to say something sarcastic to whom? And when do we need to be more direct? Right? Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. There are a lot of layers to this episode. There's more than just, oh, here are the expressions, right? There's really a lot here. Personal relationships, using it seriously or in more of a comical way. A lot of layers that you have to think about when you're using these expressions. So I would say that's the takeaway for today.
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