Shadowing Practice: 2710 - Should You Tell Someone They're Aging Like a Fine Wine? - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Hello, Lindsay.
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How are you today?
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Hey, Aubrey.
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I'm feeling good today.
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How are you feeling?
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How's it going?
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I'm great.
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Question.
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I'm going to love this one.
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How do you feel about getting older?
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Oh, I know.
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Speaking of getting older, how I feel, my knees today are a little crickety.
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And how do I feel about getting older?
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I feel like we live in such a culture where it's like, no, don't get old or don't look old.
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I know.
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It's true.
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I'm really curious if that's how it is around the world, how much that's emphasized in other cultures,
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but in the States, especially in certain pockets here in Arizona, it's really big Scottsdale, especially,
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I feel like so many people are getting like Botox and fillers and they're really trying to avoid wrinkling.
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And of course with like celebrities, so many celebrities are trying to avoid looking older.
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So that trickles down to society.
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No. Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I think we've mentioned this before in the podcast, I also have people in my social circle who are,
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you know, like eight years younger than me that are, have already gotten treatments.
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And I'm like, oh my gosh, if I'm the only one that doesn't get it, you'll be the only one looking old.
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It's crazy.
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I'm excited to talk about this because it's also cultural how we talk about this, the phrases we use if we want to be polite,
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because a lot of ways we can talk about getting older can come off really harsh
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or rude because a lot of people, we don't want to be told that we are old or we're looking old.
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Yeah.
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And it's especially important because let's get down to some real truths here.
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I don't think sadly that American culture is a place that respects the elderly.
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I'm just going to say that flat out.
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You could disagree with me if you want, Aubrey.
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No, I don't.
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But compared to other cultures that I've seen and lived in and maybe that you have,
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I think people are respected in different cultures more than in the U .S.
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That's such a good point.
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So we're dreading getting older because we worry that we won't be treated with the respect that a younger person is.
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That's terrible, actually.
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I think in the beginning, maybe we're afraid of becoming maybe professionally irrelevant, for example, right?
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As we get into maybe our fifties or sixties or something.
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But then like, as people get old and frail, it's just, yeah, it's worried you'll maybe be a burden to your family rather than being like,
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you know, still a fun presence at the dinner table.
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It's so tricky.
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So this is very loaded.
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So as a way to compensate for that, it's really important in American English that we know the right things to say.
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Yes, definitely.
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So we got a great question from one of our community members named Kin,
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who was asking, what is the best way to say someone is getting older?
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Like, are there ways to say that that have a negative connotation?
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And there definitely are.
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This is such a great question because some of the language around getting old, getting older does have this sort of negative connotation implication.
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It's amazing how just slight changes to the phrases can have a whole different feeling.
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Slight changes to the words we choose.
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And also, I think the way we deliver them, right?
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We're going to show you the correct delivery here today too, not just the individual words, but just be aware guys,
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that there is a whole cultural narrative, cultural value kind of against aging.
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I think it's almost worse for women aging than men, at least in the workplace, but that's, maybe we'll get into that a little bit later.
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Yeah.
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That's interesting to think about, but yeah.
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Yeah.
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So what do we need to know here before we get deeper, Aubrey?
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Yeah.
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So we are going to share some phrases, positive and negative, that refer to getting older.
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And we're going to talk about which feel a little rude or a little harsh in American culture.
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And then this is one of those episodes where we would love to hear from you.
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What is this like in your culture?
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So come back to YouTube, leave a comment, um definitely hit follow subscribe to the podcast
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we want to hear from you as well yeah let's get a conversation going
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i also could see this becoming a nice robust conversation inside
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of open conversation club aubry what is open conversation club just
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so our listeners have some context yes every member of our community
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so that's anyone who is taking any of our courses is invited to become a member of our community
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and then they're all able to come to weekly open conversation club meetups.
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This is bonus live speaking practice that we provide for our students
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because it's not always easy to find people to practice speaking with when you're learning English, especially if you don't live in an English speaking country.
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So we like to provide
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Zoom calls where community members meet each other.
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They get to know us, the hosts of All Ears English, and they're having conversations.
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They're building fluency.
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It's really the best place to build language fluency.
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Yeah.
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And we've also just recently this summer fall added Asia time.
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So Asia specific times, weekends in Asia.
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So if you have joined a course before and couldn't make the time work,
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maybe check out another course because now we do have a broader range of times.
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Yes, I'm glad we're able to offer more times because it's a global community here at All Ears English.
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We have listeners and students all over the world.
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So we want to do that.
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We want to try and provide the speaking practice at a time that's convenient for all of our community.
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You got it.
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Guys, before we go any deeper, hit the follow button right here on the podcast so you don't miss a single episode of the show.
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Okay, Aubrey, I think we're ready.
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Let's get into it.
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What do we need to know?
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Okay, so the best really and simplest way is what we said many times at the beginning of the episode, just getting older.
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This is kind of, you know, matter of fact and neutral, but it's interesting how it really doesn't have any kind of accusation or implication.
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It doesn't feel negative to say I'm getting older or someone else is getting older.
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Yeah, getting older.
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Right.
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It's pretty, I agree.
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I think it's pretty neutral.
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Is that what we're saying here?
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Yeah, right.
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It's just a natural part of life.
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It's just kind of more a statement of what's happening rather than like a judgment of anything about it.
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It's just nature.
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That's what happens, right?
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Things get older.
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People get older.
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Every year we're older, no big deal, right?
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You might say that.
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But it's interesting how, and we'll talk about this in a little bit, but when we compare it to phrases that are so similar,
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like just getting old, if we don't add that ER, suddenly it sounds a little harsh.
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I'm excited to dive into that.
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But this, just like this, getting older, where we have the ER there on the end, that doesn't seem so bad.
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That's doable right it that would actually make a fantastic episode adding er to adjectives
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and when and why it's needed we'll touch base on this today a little bit
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but guys hit the follow button
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because i do i think we should definitely old is definitely not the only adjective
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that this is the case for so i love
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that there's other ones really good that'll be a great yeah
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let's do like a mini role play to kind of show how this might look in a little conversation um
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i'll start us out how's your mom doing well she's doing well
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but she's definitely getting older she's not quite as active these days yeah perfect right
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that's kind it's not it's just neutral right oh she's getting older
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or right wow he's getting older i know he's almost in college now yeah
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so whether we're talking about a grandparent ourselves a child to say someone's getting older it just is
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so sort of matter of fact and neutral.
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There's no implied judgment.
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There's no negativity there.
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There's no negativity.
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And these two are also very different scenarios here, right?
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When it comes to the loadedness of the word old.
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So if we said, but she's definitely, she's doing well, but she's definitely getting old.
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That would be very rude.
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And I wouldn't want to talk about my mom that way.
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Right.
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I mean, maybe I would with my partner or my very close friends just to be totally frank, but to be polite.
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Whereas the second scenario, it's okay.
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Like it doesn't make sense to say he's getting old.
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Um, why Aubrey?
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This is interesting.
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We're going to dive into that because there are a few ways to say this that do have this judgment,
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sort of an implication of something negative or judge, you know, a judgment of it being negative.
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So we're definitely going to dive into that as well, but let's share a couple of other positive phrases that there's no negativity.
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There's nothing implied here.
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One of them is to say someone's aging like a fine wine.
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This is kind of a fun idiom.
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Just like anything improves with age, people do as well, right?
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So this isn't really something that like kids would say, but adults will use this idiom probably for people over like 35 or 40.
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It's a compliment.
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It says that someone's aging gracefully.
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Yeah, I just was somewhere with multiple generations.
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I think I was with my in -laws or something
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and someone used this term to refer to someone else
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or maybe to refer to themselves that could happen too right yeah right yeah
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and they might even say it sarcastically
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or they might be like well i'm not exactly aging like a fine wine
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but here we are
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or you could say i'm aging like a fine wine here with all these wrinkles right
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you know you could be yeah there's a lot we could do here yeah
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so this is interesting it is a little cheesy
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and maybe it's a little more likely to be used by the older generation
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because it is maybe a little less common right now, but I don't feel like it's rude or offensive.
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If someone, it's interesting how, depending on who said it, if someone said it to me,
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it might make me uncomfortable because there is a little bit of an implication that it's a comment on my appearance, right?
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Because if you say someone's aging like a fine wine, really you're commenting on their, whether they look older, if they have wrinkles.
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And we've talked about this on the podcast before.
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Exactly if it's not someone you should be commenting on their appearance, you also wouldn't want to say this about them.
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Yeah.
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So there's some nuance here.
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We have to have a lot of cultural insight and knowledge.
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So be careful with this.
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Just observe around you here.
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Listen, if someone is using it around you, let's do an example, Aubrey, here.
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Right.
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So I might say I'm turning 50 this weekend.
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Wow.
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Well, aren't you aging like a fine wine?
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Yeah.
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I would not say that.
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It's interesting if we were really close friends.
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or sisters, right?
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Then maybe you could say this to someone, but it is interesting.
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Be careful at the workplace.
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Yeah.
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I wouldn't use it at work.
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I wouldn't use it with people.
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Honestly, anyone, if you would not comment on their appearance, I wouldn't use this because really that's what it is.
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It's commenting on someone's appearance.
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Interesting.
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Yeah.
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And we've done a lot of past episodes on this concept of commenting on someone's appearance.
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So guys, go into our archives.
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The best place to do that is probably in the app,
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allairsenglish .com app to find our old episodes and listen in to get your base of knowledge for this episode.
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Love that.
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Yeah.
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Right.
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Cause we sure compliment what people are wearing, things they can change, but you could make someone uncomfortable if you're complimenting something they can't change.
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Right.
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And then we have a similar phrase aging gracefully.
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Yeah.
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What about that one?
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Aging gracefully.
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So very similar, right?
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It means you're just aging in a natural and beautiful way, but just like aging, like fine wine,
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this also is sort of an implication about what you look like.
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mm -hmm exactly so again also not for kids
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because kids aren't really aging kids aren't I mean they are getting older
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but we don't say they're not aging there's a difference between getting older
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and aging aging is starting to show signs of uh well wrinkles on your face maybe
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or hair is getting dry
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or something whatever those symptoms are right exactly it's interesting how I feel like
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when I use these when I hear these use the most is about someone that you have no relationship with at all
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You might say this about a celebrity or someone that you just don't write.
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You might say she or he is aging like a fine wine.
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You wouldn't say it to their face, but you might, you're sort of making a judgment about the,
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you know, how they're aging because you have no actual connection to them.
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Yeah.
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I mean, you also might say, I definitely aging gracefully, aging like a fine wine.
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I often would say, oh, that person's aging well, right?
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Just very basic, but straightforward.
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Or I might say that to a friend commenting on the movie star or something.
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Yes.
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Same.
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Yeah.
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Or you might say, how was your aunt's birthday?
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Great.
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She looks incredible.
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She's really aging gracefully.
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Yeah.
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And this is the same where I probably don't know.
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You're like, we don't have that connection.
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This is a kind thing to say about someone.
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This is interesting because I do think it's used more about women.
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And this is sort of what you were talking about, Lindsay, that it is kind of gendered.
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Sometimes the language we use about aging and how much it's prioritized for one gender over another.
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Oh, yeah.
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If we have time to get into it, we can.
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But yeah, there's a lot there.
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There's a lot there.
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We'll take a quick break, and then we'll be right back to keep going with this conversation.
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This is good stuff today.
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Hey, quick question.
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and subscribe we're here five times a week to help you connect in English all right
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now let's get into kind of the more negative side
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that we're obviously gonna want to be careful of
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so it's kind of a what not to do yeah
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or strategically use these at the right time right exactly right the other one
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And we couldn't help but mention it because it's so close to getting older.
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If you just drop that ER and say someone's getting old, all of a sudden there's a negative connotation.
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It's kind of fascinating.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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It's kind of the thing where, you know, maybe a kid
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that doesn't have the social awareness of this whole issue of his grandparent comes over and he might say, oh, you're getting old.
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Right.
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Exactly.
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They don't realize how that, what that sounds like.
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It's just much more blunt and harsh
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so this is one we definitely recommend avoiding you certainly could say it again about like a celebrity
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or someone you have no connection to
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but I probably still would say just getting older
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because it just sounds
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so harsh to say they're getting old yeah you can use this to refer to yourself
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if you want if you're looking in the mirror
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and you're like oh I'm getting old I need to start using uh anti -wrinkle cream
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or something right but just be really careful when you are speaking to other people because it is pretty offensive.
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Exactly.
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Yeah.
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Good point.
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Yeah.
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Let's do an example.
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Okay.
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So I might say, oh, my back hurts all the time.
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Oh, same.
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We're getting old now.
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This is probably okay.
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Right.
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Cause it's a, we, and I'm empathizing with you.
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I have the same issue.
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Yeah.
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This is interesting.
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It still implies a close relationship though.
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I feel like, because it's so playful.
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Be like, yeah, we're getting old, even though you're lumping yourself in there with me, this is still kind of implying a relationship where you're,
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there's banter, you can tease each other.
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Cause otherwise I still probably would just say like, Oh, it's difficult getting older if I have more of a formal relationship with someone.
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Right.
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Yes.
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Interesting.
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And then another example here, what would you say?
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I might say, Oh, he's getting old.
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I know he can't keep up like he used to.
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I could imagine saying this about like someone I play volleyball with.
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If I say to you this about someone else, I certainly wouldn't say it to his face.
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You're getting old.
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That's so rude.
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But I might say it about someone. For sure. For sure.
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And now I love the phrase not getting any younger.
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Now this is pretty different, right?
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Yeah.
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The way this is used for different strategy kind of.
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Yeah.
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This is interesting.
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You know, it's like about losing youthfulness it's often about more like not having energy right
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if I like have insomnia
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and I'm like then I might say this about myself like oh not getting any younger
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but we also will often use this
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when we're we're meaning like we want to take advantage of an opportunity right be like well
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we're not getting any younger like
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so let's do it today uh -huh for sure um you know
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or the more serious or offensive ways of referring to certain sensitive topics you shouldn't wait too long to start a family.
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You're not getting any younger.
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Now this sounds like something that a, like a mother -in -law would say.
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Right.
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This is interesting.
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Sometimes people will get, you know, frustrated if they're hearing this over and over.
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So two things here for us to be more careful to not say it, to recognize, not only is this a cliche, it's rude, right?
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So to avoid that, just to, you know, we should be careful of who we say this to.
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You're not getting any older and you're not getting any younger, it means the same as you're getting old.
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Yeah.
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Right.
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It's really implying it's kind of masking it a little bit, but it's not because we know exactly what you're saying.
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Exactly.
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What else?
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Another phrase is getting up there.
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Right.
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And so this is kind of implying the years are piling on, you're approaching old age.
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So it also is slightly negative, but it can be used playfully.
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Right.
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So we're like, oh, you're getting up there to a good friend to like imply that they're getting maybe on a birthday, you'll say this.
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Yeah. Or sarcastically.
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I mean, the sarcasm is always an option.
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We'd like to show you how to use sarcasm in English.
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Now, maybe you're, you have a friend who's much younger than you, right?
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You're 30 and the friend's turning 24 or something and the friend complains, they feel old.
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It's like, oh yeah, you're really getting up there.
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Yeah.
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Right.
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Right.
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And what you mean is you're still young.
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So you're still young.
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Don't complain about it.
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Right.
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Exactly.
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And then the last one is older than dirt.
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My grandpa used to say this about himself and say, I'm older than dirt.
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Right.
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It's more playful, dramatic.
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It's just a fun way to describe.
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We'd mostly say it about ourselves.
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We probably wouldn't say this about someone else.
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Right.
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Definitely about ourselves.
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And also to kind of in reference to maybe we're not keeping up with certain things, maybe technology.
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Right.
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Maybe we're still wearing clothes from another time frame or something.
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Right and be like, oh, I must be older than dirt to still be wearing these skinny jeans.
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Exactly.
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Exactly.
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All right, Aubrey, this has been a very rich episode, but let's squeeze in a role play.
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Shall we do that?
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Let's do it.
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We are friends that went to high school together in this role play.
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I'll start us out.
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It is crazy seeing everyone after so long.
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The 10 -year reunion didn't feel like a huge change, but 30 years, we're really getting up there.
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I know right but some people look amazing did you see
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Jenna she is really aging gracefully
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I know I heard Danny tell her she's aging like a fine wine classic
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he was always flirting with all the girls uh
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that definitely hasn't changed but he's getting old now to be fair we're all getting older yeah
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but he's still single and he's not getting any younger honestly I think he's happy that way,
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but I guess we'll see at the 50 year reunion.
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Oh, wow.
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By that time we'll be older than dirt.
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Okay.
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This is great because this feels real.
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This is the perfect scenario, right?
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We know each other well.
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We went to high school together.
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We're close friends that can, you know, banter with each other about this and kind of poke fun at the other people our age.
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We're all getting older.
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Exactly.
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So the first thing you said is we're really getting up there, right?
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And this is not sarcastic.
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This is real, right?
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I'm not being sarcastic here.
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It's 30.
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Have you been to a 30?
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I haven't actually gone to any of my reunions ever, but I imagine it would be just like this.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I went to my, I think my five year, but that's sort of worthless because it hasn't been that long for most people, just college.
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People went to college, but I've never been to any other reunions.
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I've always wondered if I should go or what it would be like.
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I feel every summer though, when I'm home, cause a lot of people never left my hometown.
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So it kind of feels like that.
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You have a reunion every year.
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Like the 4th of July thing.
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I'm always running into people from high school.
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That's the reunion every year.
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So you have your version of a reunion every year.
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Right.
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But I like this one.
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We're getting up there.
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It means the same thing as we're getting older, but it's playful.
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It's fun.
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I like that one.
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Yeah, we're really getting up there.
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And it's also okay because we're together in this.
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We're in this together.
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Exactly.
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Right?
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We're in this together.
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We're all experiencing the same thing.
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We're the same age.
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And then you said, but some people look amazing.
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Did you see Jenna?
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She's really aging gracefully.
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Yeah.
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And this just feels kind, right?
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I might not say that to her face, but to say it to you, I'm just saying like, she looks great for her age, right?
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Yeah.
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And then this is interesting to say, I heard Danny tell her she's aging like a fine wine.
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And we point out that that's flirting for sure, because he is commenting on her physical appearance.
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Yeah.
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He's flirting with her.
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Right.
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Exactly.
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And then I said that definitely hasn't changed, but he's getting old now.
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He's getting old.
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I wouldn't say that to his face.
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No, you would never go up to Danny and say you're getting old,
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but we can say it to each other because we're friends and we're just, we're sharing that experience of observing people.
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Exactly.
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And then I'm like, we're all getting older.
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Yeah.
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It's interesting.
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And then I like this one.
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You're saying he's still single.
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He's not getting any younger.
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This is, it's implying like he should be dating.
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He should be trying to find a partner.
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Yeah.
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And in our script here, there's a dot, dot, dot after that, because our tone of voice changes, right?
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He's not getting any younger, just note that tone of voice change, guys.
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This is really high level, but important.
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You're drawing out saying that he should be getting married or something.
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Yeah.
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It's high time.
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He got married is what we mean by that.
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So that's why you want to be careful.
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If you say this to someone, it's not, you know, it's not polite for sure.
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Exactly.
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Exactly.
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And then we're talking about our 50 year reunion.
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And we say by that time we'll be older than dirt.
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You know what I think would be interesting, Aubrey, is to see if our listeners have,
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because I feel like this is kind of what reunions are in the U .S.
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They are sort of like people looking to see who's gotten old.
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I mean, I'm sure it's fun, but I feel like that's the narrative around reunions in the U .S.
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That's probably true.
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I wonder if part of that is because we have such a stigma against aging in American culture, even though it happens to everyone.
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I wonder if in other cultures that respect the elderly more, there's not as much of a stigma.
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And so there's less of this.
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Let's see who has better skin.
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That would make sense.
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What do you think?
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I think there probably is a correlation.
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I would be fascinated to know.
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Guys, definitely come back on you.
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Leave us a comment on YouTube.
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We would love to know what this is like, where you live in your culture.
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Are the elderly respected more?
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Do you feel like there's a correlation between that and the way you talk about aging?
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Super interesting.
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This is connection here, understanding cultures, understanding what we can share with the person next to us, depending on how well we know them.
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Right.
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Um, guys, yeah, go over to a Saturday episode.
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Can you use yet with past simple tense?
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That was just, I think last Saturday, go and check that one out.
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Don't miss it.
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Getting into some grammar stuff here.
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Scroll up to check that out.
498
And just as a takeaway, getting older is pretty safe, but fascinatingly drop that ER and you say someone's getting old suddenly, that seems so rude.
499
Yeah.
500
That's a great takeaway.
501
Very, because this was a robust, complicated episode.
502
So good to leave our listeners with that takeaway and always default to connection and what,
503
but to do that, we need to know what, what is okay.
504
Like don't break those norms.
505
Right.
506
Love that.
507
Yes.
508
Awesome.
509
Okay.
510
All right.
511
Aubrey, talk to you soon.
512
Have a good one.
513
See you next time.
514
Bye.
515
Bye.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “2710 - Should You Tell Someone They're Aging Like a Fine Wine?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: older, aging, interesting. This video has 51 sentences and 4581 words to shadow. The speech runs for 23:04. The speaker talks fast, about 199 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start. 70 of its 51 sentences are questions, so it is good practice for question intonation and short answers.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| phrase noun | /ˈfɹeɪ̯z/ | A short written or spoken expression. |
| reunion noun | /ɹiːˈjuːnjən/ | The process or act of reuniting. |
| imply verb | /ɪmˈplaɪ/ | To have as a necessary consequence; to lead to (something) as a consequence. |
| rude adjective | /ɹuːd/ | Lacking in refinement or civility; bad-mannered; discourteous. |
| refer verb | /ɹɪˈfɜː/ | To direct the attention of (someone toward something). |
| judgment noun | /ˈd͡ʒʌd͡ʒ.mənt/ | The act of judging. |
| dirt noun | /dɝt/ | Soil or earth. |
| harsh adjective | /ˈhɑɹʃ/ | Unpleasantly rough to the touch or other senses. |
| implication noun | /ˌɪmpləˈkeɪʃən/ | The act of implicating. |
| celebrity noun | /səˈlɛb.ɹɪ.ɾi/ | Fame, renown; the state of being famous or talked-about. |
| neutral adjective | /ˈnuː.tɹəl/ | Not taking sides in a conflict such as war; nonaligned. |
| podcast noun | /ˈpɑdˌkæst/ | A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on… |
| listener noun | /ˈlɪs(ə)nɚ/ | Someone who listens, especially to a speech or a broadcast. |
| offensive adjective | /ˈɔˌfɛnsɪv/ | Causing offense; arousing a visceral reaction of disgust, anger, hatred, sadness, or indignation. |
| ear noun | /ˈɪə̯/ | The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| get up verb | To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb. |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| come off verb | To become detached. |
| come over verb | To affect in a sudden, unprecedented or surprising manner; to overwhelm a person's ordinarily contrary impulse. |
| get down to verb | To start focusing on doing something serious |
| keep up verb | To maintain; to preserve; to prevent from deteriorating or falling. |
| keep up with verb | To manage to remain beside or just behind someone or something that is moving away from one. |
| point out verb | To identify among a group of similar subjects, or in a scene where the subject might not be readily seen or noticed, with a gesture of the body. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- How do you feel about getting older?
- What is this like in your culture?
- What do we need to know?
- How's your mom doing?
- Wow, well, aren't you aging like a fine wine?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've mentioned · have already gotten · I've seen |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be told · are respected · won't be treated |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | anyone who is · friends that can |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 168 contractions and reduced forms, such as we're, you're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: worthless /ˈwɜːθ.ləs/, empathize /ˈɛmpəˌθaɪz/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: harsh /ˈhɑɹʃ/, implication /ˌɪmpləˈkeɪʃən/, correlation /ˌkɔɹ.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, accusation /ˌæk.jʊˈzeɪ.ʃ(ə)n/
- Long words — get the stress right: implication /ˌɪmpləˈkeɪʃən/, celebrity /səˈlɛb.ɹɪ.ɾi/, uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, correlation /ˌkɔɹ.əˈleɪ.ʃən/, naturally /ˈnæt͡ʃ.(ə.)ɹə.li/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like phrase, reunion, imply.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.