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All Ears English Podcast

AEE: No Dice! Fun Ways to Say Something Didn’t Work

23 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 6.244 Lindsay McMahon

This is the All Ears English podcast. No dice. Fun ways to say something didn't work.

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8.317 - 39.382 Lindsay McMahon

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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39.943 - 49.882 Lindsay McMahon

To get real-time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android.

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Chapter 2: What does 'no dice' mean in everyday conversation?

50.022 - 56.093 Lindsay McMahon

Start your seven-day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward slash app.

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58.807 - 69.373 Michelle Kaplan

When something doesn't work out, what can you say in a more lighthearted way without being too serious? Find out how this phrase maintains the connection today.

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75.952 - 100.12 Unknown

There's a big difference between understanding English and participating in English. Understanding means you follow the conversation. You participate by adding your ideas, reacting naturally, and keeping the conversation moving. Many English learners are strong listeners but hesitant speakers. Once you know your current fluency level, it becomes much easier to close that gap.

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100.1 - 118.176 Unknown

Take our free two-minute quiz to discover your level and what to focus on next. Go to allersenglish.com slash fluency score. That's allersenglish.com slash f-l-u-e-n-c-y-s-c-o-r-e.

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123.91 - 135.003 Michelle Kaplan

Hey, Lindsay, how are you? I'm feeling good, Michelle. How are you? How's it going? Everything is good over here. Lindsay, is it easy to find parking where you live?

136.265 - 152.03 Lindsay McMahon

Yeah, no, not really. It's tough because I live in a neighborhood where a lot of people don't have a garage. And so there's a lot of street parking that happens. So it can be tricky. But we actually have, we do have a garage, so we don't have to worry about it too much. So we're lucky. Yeah. What about you?

152.571 - 154.834 Michelle Kaplan

No problem. When I used to live in the city. Yeah.

154.894 - 155.295 Lindsay McMahon

Forget it.

155.435 - 176.007 Michelle Kaplan

Oh, gosh. I mean, I just remember circling and circling. Yeah. And then you have to park further away. And but now certainly it's much easier. Yeah. But yeah, in the States, if you don't live in a big city, you drive a lot. And so depending on where you're going, parking can be tricky. Yeah. Yeah.

Chapter 3: How can you express lighthearted disappointment in English?

211.415 - 226.743 Michelle Kaplan

It's for any casual situation. To me, this is a really fun phrase to learn because it's an easy way to build connection. It's playful. It's really about luck or chance. not really so much being lucky, right?

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226.903 - 231.992 Lindsay McMahon

Right, right. Because it's more often used, it's really just used in the negative, right? You don't ever say dice.

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232.493 - 232.753 Michelle Kaplan

No.

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233.254 - 241.689 Lindsay McMahon

No. So it's really not not being lucky. No, you wouldn't. It's only no dice. Right. So it's like saying you didn't get what you were looking for, didn't get what you were hoping for. Right?

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241.869 - 253.052 Michelle Kaplan

Yeah, but it's kind of a little bit lighthearted. It's a little relatable. So even if you're in an unlucky situation, it's a little on the lighter end.

253.152 - 265.556 Lindsay McMahon

Yep, totally. So we're going to get into this one today. We love giving you guys these supernatural expressions you probably never learned in school or in your dictionary or any other app or podcast. We're getting into them here on the show.

266.077 - 276.636 Lindsay McMahon

First, though, make sure you hit the follow button on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or if you're on YouTube, hit subscribe so you don't miss a single one of these episodes. All right. Exactly. Yes.

276.756 - 280.463 Michelle Kaplan

So, Lindsay, where does this phrase come from?

280.578 - 297.222 Lindsay McMahon

Well, it was originally about gambling. We looked into it a little bit. So in dice games, if the roll wasn't what you wanted, you could say no dice. Right. But then, of course, it expanded to be a common everyday saying. I love thinking about etymology of words, Michelle.

Chapter 4: What is the origin of the phrase 'no dice'?

751.671 - 769.838 Lindsay McMahon

I think it's I've heard Australians say this more. Actually, I don't know if it's British or Australian or both. Probably both because they're kind of like there's some connection there for sure. Yeah, I think you're right. That's interesting. But but I think it's good if our listeners know it because it does cross over into American English sometimes.

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769.818 - 772.444 Michelle Kaplan

Yeah. So I said, no luck either.

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772.464 - 783.908 Lindsay McMahon

They're not answering their phone. And I said, should we just grab takeout from that Chinese place and eat at mine? And you said, no go. It's actually closed today.

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783.948 - 798.893 Michelle Kaplan

We're just going to starve. No, there must be somewhere. We'll figure it out, Lindsay. Yeah. So guys, check out episode 2555. That was capture the connection when you agree with someone in English.

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798.913 - 823.688 Lindsay McMahon

Yeah. And there was another good bonus in this roleplay too. In the last line, you said, I know, I say we just call it and try again next week. Call it. Right. So this could be an episode in the future. Michelle, guys, hit follow if you want to catch this. Ways of sort of saying you're going to give up. Right? Right? Call it. Let's declare a loss. I don't know.

823.708 - 830.183 Lindsay McMahon

Well, you'll have to come up with what we're going to teach our listeners for that episode, but I know there's some good stuff. Exactly.

830.163 - 844.319 Michelle Kaplan

Um, so yeah, takeaway for today is just, um, yeah, these are some really useful expressions. No dice. We talked about how useful it is. Um, and yeah, sometimes things unfortunately just don't work.

844.9 - 866.447 Lindsay McMahon

Sometimes things don't work out and that's what this episode is about. It's nice though. If you can, I mean, these are scenarios that you can get pretty frustrated, especially the parking example is a good example. Um, And especially if you don't know the person well, you want to maintain the connection. No dice is a way to like maybe hide your frustration a little bit.

866.627 - 866.907 Michelle Kaplan

Yeah.

Chapter 5: When is it appropriate to use 'no dice' in conversation?

910.049 - 924.092 Unknown

Arki on juhlaa ja juhla on ABCen uudistunut noutopöytä. Nyt entistä enemmän kasviksia ja aina sataprosenttisesti suomalaista lihaa. Käykäähän valmiiseen pöytään. ABC.

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