2654 - Do You Love it or Hate it?

[00:00:00]Hi Michelle, how are things? [laughter] Things are good. Aubrey, how are you?

[00:00:04]>> I'm great. Question for you. Do you allow eating in any room of your house or are some rooms off limits?

[00:00:15][laughter] Well, it's a good question. I don't think that I have like an actual strict rule about it. I think Dan is better at trying to get the kids to not eat in certain places, but I have been known to eat a meal in bed. Um, >> that's my favorite thing to do.

[00:00:33]>> Don't tell anyone. But like I would never have my kids do that.

[00:00:36]>> No. Absolutely. Right. This is it's pretty strict in our home. But same same as you. It's my husband who is much more strict about it. Like no food upstairs [clears throat] at all.

[00:00:46]>> No food like kitchen only kitchen or outside. Take your popsicle out to the backyard, right?

[00:00:52]Not anywhere else. But do the kids listen? Do the kids do that? Absolutely not. They have food and [laughter] snacks hidden in their rooms.

[00:01:00]>> They're constantly We're constantly getting after them.

[00:01:02]>> And I I don't eat in the bed very often, but every now and then.

[00:01:06]>> No, me either. It's like an emergency situation.

[00:01:09]>> Yeah.

[00:01:09]>> Totally.

[00:01:10]>> Yeah. Emergency. Emergency. Like I have my glass of wine next to the bed and I'm like, >> it's an emergency.

[00:01:16]>> That's fine. Yes. Exactly. [laughter] Um, so today we are going to talk about a fun yet light way to say that you don't like something. And we're talking about this because I heard Dan say this in the context of what we're talking about. Love it.

[00:01:32]>> Um, so the story is my kids were eating something with honey. I forget what it was. And it was they were on the couch over the carpet and he said, "I don't love honey on the [laughter] carpet."

[00:01:47]That is amazing. I say this a lot and my husband does too, right? And what we really mean is you should not be eating on the carpet. You should not be eating while sitting on the couch because what we're saying is I don't want you to get honey on the couch or on the carpet. So, I don't want you to be eating honey over there. And this is how we say it.

[00:02:06]>> Don't Sometimes we'll say like, "I don't love the idea of honey on the carpet or I don't love honey on the carpet."

[00:02:12]>> Totally.

[00:02:12]>> Yeah. And I and I wrote it down because it just made me laugh and it's very natural and it's a common way to say you don't want something. You don't want something to happen like don't do something. Absolutely. Um >> yeah. So this is this is going to be fun. So [laughter] um first we first of all guys we want to remind you to hit the follow button or subscribe on YouTube wherever you are listening to listening to or watching the All Ears English podcast so you never miss anything. And also, Aubrey, we want to say thank you so much to our listeners who have written reviews for us.

[00:02:47]>> Yes, exactly. We're going to shout out a couple of your names now from Apple Podcasts. Annie in China and Cel Rosam, thank you so much for your reviews, your ratings. Everyone who leaves a review wherever that is, Spotify, Android, Apple, in the app, on YouTube, all of these comments and ratings and reviews, we love them. We read them. They really help us have the motivation to keep going to plan these great episodes for you. Absolutely. So, if you haven't written in a review, please do so. We really do read them. We send them around to each other. Makes our days. So, um All right. So, let's get into it. So, this construction is I don't love X. I don't love something. [laughter] >> For example, I don't love staying up past 11. That's true for me, except I could say I don't love staying up past 9.

[00:03:40]>> Yeah, >> I'm tired because I'm up so early. So, I'm tired really early to get up early.

[00:03:45]>> Yeah. Um or I don't love the redecorating done in this room, right?

[00:03:51]So, I don't love it.

[00:03:53]>> Don't say that to someone who did the redecorating.

[00:03:56]>> No, [laughter] no, no.

[00:03:59]>> Or I don't love this combination of salty and sweet. So, this is a kind of a positive spin when you're in a restaurant, for example, and what you mean is I don't like this, but you're trying to be positive. You're trying not to say something rude. This is a nicer way to say that. I don't love this.

[00:04:16]>> Right. Right. Exactly. So, yeah. I mean, you answered my question. I was going to say, how does that sound to you? It does sound like you're trying to be a little bit soft softer. Um, you know, you're not trying to be too blunt. Um, >> and you might give more details after.

[00:04:31]You might be like, "I don't love it, but I've had worse." [laughter] Right. Exactly. Yeah. So, to me, it sounds very light. And even though you may not love it, you may not hate it.

[00:04:42]Right. It just depends on the context and the tone. So, for example, >> wouldn't say this if you did hate it.

[00:04:47]You'd say something else. You'd be like, "It's not my favorite." Something like that.

[00:04:50]>> Right.

[00:04:51]>> Right. Right. Exactly. So, here's an example. I don't love this color, but I think we should go with it for now. So, maybe you need to make a decision. um for a presentation or whatever it is and you're saying, "Okay, well, we need to just get this done." So, I don't love it, but let's just go with it. I probably said this about the color we painted our house, because we wanted to go really light, like almost white, but we had to choose from HOA colors, like pre-approved colors, and none of them were very light, and we were so frustrated, and they find you if you don't choose one of their colors. So, we chose the lightest one they had, which was not as light as we wanted, and we'd be like, "I don't love this, but we're just going to have to go with it because we have no other option."

[00:05:38]>> Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's a perfect example.

[00:05:41]>> Um or Aubrey, you were talking about wine >> in bed. Um you could say, "I don't love this wine with this dish, but I see why they put them together."

[00:05:51]>> Oh, yeah. cuz sometimes there will be a a suggested pairing and you'll be like it's not what I would have chosen but I can kind of get it like I understand it right >> for me I don't know about you Michelle but I'm like every cabernet so give me a cabav I'm going to love it I don't think I've ever had a cabav I didn't like I love >> I like malbeck >> oh malbeck's good too yes I mean everyone has their favorites but uh in general um I even like the like $4 one at Trader Joe's like gimme delicious.

[00:06:21][laughter] Um, that's so funny. Um, so this could actually though also sound a bit more serious or even used to reprimand someone or give rules like Dan and the honey like I don't love honey on the carpet. Like we're not, you know, doing this. Um, >> what you really mean is don't eat honey on the carpet. Don't do it.

[00:06:42]>> Exactly. [laughter] >> Right. Right. So I don't love where this conversation is going right now. So, it's like you can tell things are maybe getting a little bit more argumentative with someone. Things are coming up and so you might say, "I don't love where this is going right now. Like, maybe we should just talk about something else."

[00:07:00]>> And this is really interesting. It is a little bit loaded. If you are wanting to pivot to something else, we've talked about on the podcast ways to do that, ways to change the subject. And this is one way to do that, but there is an implication here of criticizing the other person. you are telling them something they just said or the way they're handling the conversation, the way they're reacting to you or not listening to you, you don't love. And so you are letting them know that in a kind way before pivoting away. And so when you say this, you're intentionally giving them that message like I don't like the way you've been h something about the way you've been handling this.

[00:07:36]So let's talk about something then you're going to change the subject. Um but you want that message to be clear and that's when we would say this.

[00:07:43]>> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Or what's another example, Aubrey?

[00:07:47]>> Yeah. Then you might say, "I don't love how you've been ignoring some of my emails." So, this could be a coworker that is not responding to a lot of your emails, and you're trying to figure out a way to say it a little bit playfully, but also let them know like, "You need to read my emails and respond."

[00:08:05]>> Yeah. Yeah. Be careful with this one to a coworker, you know?

[00:08:08]>> It would have to be like I would say this to you, Michelle. Maybe.

[00:08:11]>> Exactly. Somebody somebody you're close with. You can be truthful with >> well playful, right? I'd be like so playful with you love the way you're ignoring all of my emails, [laughter] >> but I also I don't even know if I would do that because I would know there's probably a reason. You're super busy and there's still implied criticism there.

[00:08:29]So I would probably still be like, "Did you happen to see my last email?"

[00:08:32]>> Right. Right. Right. Exactly.

[00:08:34]>> Yeah. Because this doesn't show care really. Like you do need to be careful.

[00:08:37]This is maybe more if you have already tried to be careful and now you need to be more clear, but you're still trying to use language that is kind and polite.

[00:08:48]This would work.

[00:08:49]>> Yeah. Yeah. Really interesting. And you also might just hear people say, "I don't love it." Right? So, for example, let's do this little role play. Uh, what do you think of the new roller coaster they added? I don't love it. Yeah. And this I'm probably going to share more details because if you just stop there, it's like it feels a little brusque, but then if you're like, I got sick honestly, we were upside down way too long. You would probably give details about why you didn't love it.

[00:09:17]>> Exactly. Um, all right. So, we are going to uh go over the opposite um in just a minute after the break. All right. Hey, quick question. Do you want to feel more confident when you speak English? If so, we made a free guide for you. It'll help you avoid those common mistakes and start speaking more naturally in [music] real conversations. Go grab it in the description below. And [music] if this is helpful for you, make sure that you like and subscribe. We are here five times a week to help you connect in [music] English. Okay. So, Aubrey, so can you say the opposite? Can you say I don't hate something or I don't hate it?

[00:10:01]Absolutely right. Well, I don't hate it.

[00:10:05]It actually means the same thing. I think if I'm like, I don't love it or I'm like, I don't hate it. It's kind of the same for me. [laughter] Both of them. I'm like, >> that's true. That's so interesting.

[00:10:16]>> It is interesting.

[00:10:17]>> That is really interesting. It is kind of the same. [laughter] >> Yeah. Um, so you could you could say, "Oh, I don't I don't hate it."

[00:10:26][laughter] >> Yeah, that's what I >> And Right. And it can actually be pretty positive sounding in a weird way. Um, so let's do this little role play. What do you think of the coffee? I know you're a coffee snob.

[00:10:40]Let's see.

[00:10:42]H I don't hate it. Okay.

[00:10:47]>> Yeah. Interesting.

[00:10:49]>> Yeah, it is interesting because if I said I don't love it, >> it would mean more I like it sounds worse than saying I don't hate it. That is really interesting. And I guess that makes sense cuz I don't hate it should mean a little more like I actually like it. And it is like this feels more like actually I like it. And we'll often say that when we're surprised like maybe we expected to not like something and then we liked it.

[00:11:12]>> I don't hate it. Like I thought I would hate it but I don't. [laughter] >> So funny how these expressions work. Um but you can also use it like this. So here's an example. I went to the mall and they put in a new restaurant. I didn't hate it. It'll probably do well there. Nice. And I when I say this, I I the intonation is interesting, right? If I say like, I didn't hate it. That sounds like I also didn't love it. But if I say like, I went to the mall, they put in a new restaurant. I didn't hate it.

[00:11:46]>> It'll probably do well there. That means I really liked it. It's all about your intonation. There's intonation that can make it sound, right? I didn't hate it >> is like >> you absolutely have to you can't just say this in a monotone.

[00:11:59]>> No at least it wouldn't >> you have to give us like I didn't hate it that sounds like I didn't really like it but I didn't hate it.

[00:12:06]>> Right. Right. So if you if you are a little bit more emphatic like oh I didn't hate it and sound a little surprised that sounds more positive.

[00:12:14]>> Totally interesting. [laughter] >> So this is tricky. You could confuse someone depending on the intonation you use and the context. Right. You need very clear intonation and also recognize that is a possibility. These there are lots of different meanings depending on the intonation. So anticipate that that there could be misunderstandings when you're trying to use these. And then make sure to share details after that make it clear. If you're like, I didn't hate it. It was actually amazing. The dessert was fantastic. The entree.

[00:12:40]Right. The more details you share, the more it's clear what you meant by that phrase.

[00:12:44]>> Exactly. Exactly. I mean, or you could say something like, I don't hate what they've done with the design. Right. So that's more positive sounding rather than like, oh, I don't hate what they've done with the design.

[00:12:56]>> Exactly. And again, the more detail you share, if you then share how you loved the spiral staircase or you love whatever about the lines, the motif, then that's going to clue [clears throat] them into what you actually mean, >> right? Yeah. So guys, again, it can be a little tricky because of context, intonation. Aubrey, you you also used the word loaded to talk about this earlier. There's a lot to this. Um, like I would say I think I don't love it is a little bit more natural and easier to kind of navigate, but I don't know if you agree. Um, it just really I can see what you mean. I think I use I don't love it more often. I use I don't hate it more with like really exagger exaggerated intonation to share that I expected to dislike something, right?

[00:13:43]And I'm surprised how much I loved it, >> right? if I get like a cheap ice cream that I'm like this might not be good because it was two bucks at the or whatever and then I'm like oh I don't hate this because I'm also sharing that I expected >> to not be impressed and then I was >> yes and isn't that the best you might also say I'm pleasantly surprised right that's a good bonus pleasantly surprisedly surprised yes >> so let's do a role play we are friends at a hot sauce store trying samples Michelle I have to tell you because hot sauce has come up here. Have you seen the TV show >> corporate? What's it called? Corporate Retreat.

[00:14:22]>> Company Retreat.

[00:14:23]>> Company Retreat.

[00:14:24]>> Aubrey, we have so many of we have to talk about this later.

[00:14:27]>> We will. So guys, we Michelle, >> that's exactly what I was thinking about when I Michelle when so we're going to speak more about this off the air, but I just want to share with all of you listening. If you haven't seen it, you've got to watch it. I loved it so much. You need to first watch Jury Duty.

[00:14:42]That was the first season, which was incredible. James Marsen is is so amazing in it. And the the whole setup is that there's one person who doesn't realize they're on a TV show that they're it's like Candid Camera where they don't realize everyone else is an actor. Everyone's an actor except one person who's just a normal person like me or Michelle or anybody out there listening >> and they're but they're filming everything because they're like, "Oh, we're filming for a documentary, whatever." So, they know there are cameras. So, they're maybe on a little bit on better behavior because they know their cameras, but they don't know that everyone else is an actor. And these actors are doing increasingly crazy stuff to see how this regular person reacts. And it is so funny. I laugh so hard. So watch Jury.

[00:15:24]>> We're obsessed with it. It's like And it's also so good because there's such short episodes. Like it's not like they're not >> Yeah, it's awesome.

[00:15:32]>> So go watch it. I'm glad you read the name of it. Corporate Retreat, but it's company retreat.

[00:15:37]>> Company company retreat.

[00:15:39]>> Yes, guys. Go watch it. Leave a comment for us on YouTube to see if you liked it as much as Michelle and I did and then we'll talk about it more later. I'm obsessed. I think it's so fun.

[00:15:48]>> I love it, too. I love it, too. Um, all right. So, here we are out of the hot store.

[00:15:53]>> So fun.

[00:15:54]>> Trying samples. Okay, this one is called Hot Hot.

[00:15:58]>> Okay, I'll try it.

[00:16:00]>> H I don't love it. Yeah, I mean I don't love when there's a fruity taste to a hot sauce. Like if it's sweet.

[00:16:09]Same. All right, next one. Hotter than the sun. Okay, here it goes.

[00:16:15]I don't hate it. Yeah, it's not bad.

[00:16:18]Nice. Right. And so there when I say I don't hate it, I mean I really like this.

[00:16:23]>> Interesting. So good.

[00:16:25]>> Yeah. So, first I said I'm trying it, I said, hm, I don't love it. So, this definitely sounds like I'm not a huge fan. Exactly. You're like, I don't hate it, but I certainly wouldn't like order it and put it on a barbecue sandwich, right? I don't like it that [laughter] much.

[00:16:40]>> And then I said, "Yeah, I don't love when there's a fruity taste in a barbecue sauce." We'll often use it this way. I'm saying it means the exact same thing as I don't like when there's blah blah blah blah, but we say it this way as well. I don't love when it's like this. Yeah. And then um I said, "Okay, next one." So, we're going to the next sample. I said, "Her than the sun." And you said, "Okay, here goes." And then you said, "I don't hate it." Which means you're pleasantly surprised. you thought that you were you you you didn't have high hopes based on the >> after this other fruity one I'm like these are all going to be gross and then this one I love. So I'm like okay I don't hate it meaning I don't really like this one [laughter] >> but again if the intonation were different if I was just like I don't hate it >> I don't hate it >> that would mean like it's okay. So it really depends on your intonation here.

[00:17:30]So go back and listen pay attention to the intonation we're using. It is sort of overexaggerated if you're wanting to say, "I love this.

[00:17:38]>> I don't hate this." It's pretty extreme intonation. Yeah. [laughter] >> Um, so guys, if you haven't already, go back a few episodes. We did that was 2648 of the Allars English podcast. That was tough love for your English. Um, so Aubrey, takeaways for today. I mean, this is just so interesting. There's so much about context, intonation. Um, really paying attention here and considering how how you want to use these phrases, but they are very natural.

[00:18:08]>> Absolutely. And variety of vocabulary.

[00:18:11]You don't want to say, "I like this, I like that, I don't like this, I don't like that, that's so boring." These are way more interesting ways to say that.

[00:18:18]Go. And if listeners, if you are preparing for the IELTS exam, you know, we have another podcast, IELTS Energy.

[00:18:24]But if you're listening to Allers's English, which you should be as well to to learn vocabulary and strategies and improve your listening skills, this is a great IELTS strategy to avoid vocabulary. This is high-scoring vocabulary that pushes you to use highscoring pronunciation to instead of saying I like this and I like that. I didn't hate that. I didn't love that.

[00:18:46]Use this on IELTS speaking exam.

[00:18:49]>> Uhhuh. Exactly. All right, Aubrey, this has been so much fun. And guys, we'll see you on the next episode. See you next time. Bye. [music]