Transcrição

Hi, everyone. How’s it going? How have you been? This is Ana with another
episode of the Inglês Online podcast.

Here we go. Today I have a question for you, especially if you’re sort of a long
time listener of this podcast – but also if you’re new. If this is one of the first
times listening to this podcast that is fine… I want to know your opinion as
well. But if you’re a long-time listener, you know that sometimes when I do the
podcast I speak a bit more slowly. Usually when I’m explaining English
expressions, when I’m talking about idioms and giving examples… Usually I
tend to speak a bit more slowly.

On the other hand, when I do sort of a free-form kind of episode where I just
talk about my life, and I just go on and on sort of telling a story… You know
that sometimes I can speed it up a little bit and talk a bit faster.

I have had requests – from some of you – both ways. Some people asking me
to do more podcasts speaking more naturally, faster and other people asking
me to slow down a little bit. Lately, though, I have to say… I think I have had a
little bit more of the latter, which is… more people asking me to record
podcasts speaking a bit more slowly. Instead of going one way or the other, I
decided to ask you to tell me which one you prefer.

In this podcast – obviously, not in the audio… but if you visit the podcast page,
this episode’s page on the website, you will see a little… This little sort of quiz
embedded in the post, in the page… And all you have to do is click on it and
you’ll see the question What would you like me to do?
Would you like me to do more episodes speaking slowly? Would you like me
to do more episodes speaking faster? Or do you think a balance is best? Let’s
say 50% more slowly, 50% quicker… or something like that. All you have to do
is click and choose the option. And I’m very interested in what you guys are
going to go for – which alternative is going to be number one.

I can do both – I’m happy to do both. As you guys know, especially, again – if
you’ve been listening for a while, I have started to do more episodes without a
lot of planning. There’s a lot more spontaneous talk… But anyway, I really
enjoy doing the kind of episode where I pick a couple of expressions and give
you examples, and repeat the expression a lot. And I also like telling you guys
about some… some interesting experiences that I go through because I think
that it really helps. Like some real life experiences, where I tell you what other
people that I run into every day, say. They talk about their lives… it’s like
different situations, everyday experiences… I think that’s interesting as well,
and in those kinds of episodes I usually speak a little bit faster.

I’m curious to see what your choice is. Feel free, after you select your choice,
to leave a comment as well. Looking forward to hearing from you guys.

Talk to you soon. Bye!

Vocabulary

● speed it up = acelerar, ir mais rápido

● the latter = ultimo ou segunda coisa a ser mencionada
● run into something/somebody = se deparar, encontrar ou esbarrar com
algo ou alguém
● feel free to = fique à vontade para
Transcrição
Hi. How are you? This is Ana, back with a new episode of the Inglês Online
podcast. Hope all is well. What’s the weather like in Brazil? I think it’s getting
cold in Brazil, isn’t it?

Today I came across this really, really cool idiom, which is keep your fingers
crossed. Keep your fingers crossed. Open your hand and look at your fingers:
you have your thumb… Let’s say your thumb is the first finger to the left, and
then the next two fingers, if you sort of intertwined them… That’s your fingers
crossed. Cross your fingers and keep your fingers crossed, because… Let’s
say, tomorrow I have my English exam and I’ve studied so hard, and I’m
hoping (that) I’m going to do really well. Please keep your fingers crossed. I
have to get a good grade on my English exam.

That’s basically what keep your fingers crossed means. It’s like a lucky… It’s
as though if people keep their fingers crossed for you, that is somehow going
to help you. I guess that’s a symbol of their good wishes or maybe good vibes,
I don’t know… But people say to each other “I’m trying to do this thing
tomorrow that I really want to be successful. Keep your fingers crossed”.

I did a search on the Inglês Online blog and then I found this old article that I
wrote with two idioms. One is “high five” and the other one is “keep your
fingers crossed”. Actually I had already written about it!… but it doesn’t have
any audio.

Here are some of the examples I included in this article (and you’re going to
find the link at the bottom of the podcast episode page). One example was
Jane said “I have a job interview tomorrow finally”. And then her friend Tom
says That’s awesome. Do you feel ready? And she says I’ve been practicing
my interview skills or questions. And Tom says Great, I’ll keep my fingers
crossed.

Another example that I used in the article was about Mary saying that her
driving test is tomorrow and then she says Fingers crossed! After all, she has
failed the exam three times already. Hey third time’s a charm! Fingers
crossed. “Please root for me”… Which is a bit funny – it is a funny thing to say,
because I don’t know what crossing your fingers will do for the outcome of the
situation that you’re going to go through.

I haven’t really looked into the origin of this idiom, but I bet it’s pretty
interesting. If you know what the origin of this is… If you know why people say
“fingers crossed”, “Please keep your fingers crossed for me”… If you know
why they say that and why it means that maybe there’s a bigger chance of
what you’re going to do being successful, let me know.

Transcrição
Hello. How’s it going? What have you been up to? Are you social-distancing or
are you self-isolating? Here where I am we are all social-distancing, we’re
talking online, we’re meeting online to chat… You know the drill.

Today I’m not going to talk about coronavirus, thank God. I’ve got something
really, really cool, really interesting that people do with the English language,
that the native speakers do… And I think I’ve touched on it on the website. I
think we have an article about it but I don’t think I’ve ever addressed this on a
podcast episode.

Here we go. Listen to this little example: let’s say your cousin Marilyn gave
you a skirt. Let’s say you’re a girl… Your cousin Marilyn gave you a skirt on
your birthday, and the skirt is orange in the front – and green in the back. It’s
an unusual skirt. The funny thing is, you have a shirt that is also orange in the
front and green in the back. They were made for each other – the shirt and the
skirt. Obviously, you think that the shirt will be perfect with that skirt. They will
match completely, but you’re saving this ensemble for a costume party
because you know the colors are so strong… You don’t really want to wear the
skirt and the shirt every day. Orange in the front, green in the back… It looks
more like a, like some sort of costume, maybe for carnival.

Let’s say your friend Marilyn gave you that skirt in March and now it’s June,
and she realizes she has never seen you wearing that skirt. She asks Hey,
I’ve never seen you wear the skirt that I gave you. What is it? Do you not like
it? And you say: No, Marilyn. I do like it! I do like it, but it’s so unusual. It’s
such an unusual color combination… I’m really waiting for the right occasion
to wear it. It goes with my shirt. But I do like it! And you’re being honest, you
do like it but it’s not a skirt to be worn every day.

Here’s another little story. You had a Math test last week and you got a four
out of ten. Your teacher graded your test and you got a 4. Your friend Marcy
says Hey, you didn’t study for the test, did you? I thought you were going to
study so hard for this. I thought you needed a good grade. Where were you?
Why didn’t you study? And you tell Marcy Wait… actually, I did study but I had
a cold the week before the test and that really got in the way of my studying. I
was feeling really sick and I was in bed most of the time. I tried to study but it
didn’t go very well. Yeah, I did study.

Did you notice that in these two little stories I said ‘I do like it’, ‘I do like the
skirt’ and ‘I did study’? ‘I did study’. I said, ‘I do like it’ instead of ‘I like it’ and I
said ‘I did study’ instead of ‘I studied’. When you do that, you’re emphasizing
the action. You say that when you want to really emphasize to the other
person that you are doing that action or that you did that action or that you
really like something. They’re thinking that maybe you don’t like it, maybe you
didn’t do something, maybe you didn’t do that action… But then you say No…
I do like it. I did study.

“No… I did see you at the movie theater, but you know… I was with my friend
who doesn’t really like you, I didn’t want to upset her – that’s why I didn’t
wave! But yes, I did see you at the movie theater.” “Yes, I did like the food, but
I had a stomach ache and… that’s why I didn’t eat much.”

In all of these situations, you want to emphasize the verb. You want to
emphasize that it is true that you like something, that you saw someone, that
you studied, that you liked the food… And we use that little auxiliary particle to
do that. I just wanted to give you these two examples today and sort of ask
you to start paying attention to that. That’s something that you will acquire the
more you listen to English. Start paying attention to that when you’re watching
your favorite TV shows or when you’re watching movies and you’ll start
noticing how often people do this — because this is really a very common way
to express things.

See you next time or talk to you next time! Bye.

Key expressions

● I do like it / I did study

Vocabulary

● you know the drill = você sabe o que é; você sabe o que fazer, você
conhece/sabe o caminho das pedras
● ensemble = conjunto
● graded your test = corrigiu/deu a nota para a sua prova
● costume party = festa à fantasia
● wave = acenar