In every language, there are funny little sounds that we make that are very important! In English, we have lots of noises we make while speaking. In this episode, we’re looking at sounds that mean yes and no. Listen closely as Harp and Maura give their best examples of mmhmm, uh-huh, and uh-uh using different tones. Are you going to learn from this episode? Mmhmm.

What is a Member?

Harp:	Mmhmm. Uh-huh.
Maura:	So, these can be used just like the word yes. They can be used to answer someone, so when you use these sounds in response to a question, it’s like you’re saying yes.
Harp:	Or these sounds can be used to agree with someone; to show that you agree with what they’ve said.
Maura:	Right. Just like yes. Now, here’s where it’s a little bit different. You can also use these sounds to show someone that you’re listening to what they’re saying. So, in English, when you’re listening to someone talk and maybe they’re talking for 30 seconds or they’re telling a bit of a longer story or something with more detail, the listener has to show that they’re listening.
Harp:	Yes. And if you’re in person you can just nod, but oftentimes you add a little bit of noise.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast; Image: The giving heart™

What is a Member?

Maura:	So, if we imagine that in the past, at a special event like a fair or some kind of community gathering, there would be a person who was making hotcakes and selling them and they were very popular. So lots of people would buy them, they were in high demand. Well, that’s where the origin of this expression is supposed to have come from.
Harp:	OK. That makes sense.
Maura:	Right. So now we can use this expression, selling like hotcakes, to talk about a whole variety of items. And usually this expression is not used to talk about food.
Harp:	Yeah. It’s usually an object, not food.
Maura:	Right. So this expression originated from the popularity of hotcakes, or pancakes, and now we use this expression to talk about some kind of item that people love and they buy a lot of.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: Cartoonstock.com

Have you done something extra special lately? In that case, you may want to toot your own horn! This episode is all about speaking well of yourself. It’s all about how to do it while staying humble. For example, we don’t want to want to toot our own horn, but we think our podcasts are pretty fun and informative!

What is a Member?

Maura:	Right, and that means that you talk about that experience. So if you did really well on a project at work, you toot your own horn when you tell other people about what a great job you did. Or if you did really well on a test, you toot your own horn when you tell other people about how well you did.
Harp:	Exactly. And if we think about this, to toot your own horn, if someone blows a horn, it’s a celebration. It makes a noise and it gets people’s attention. If you talk about your own accomplishments, you’re celebrating your own success.
Maura:	Right. You’re drawing attention to yourself. And if you toot a horn, you definitely draw attention to yourself.
Harp:	Definitely
Maura:	Now, one possible origin for this expression is a connection to royalty.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: Zazzle

What is a Member?

Harp:	Maura, how often do you go to the dentist?
Maura:	I was hoping you weren’t gonna ask, Harp. When I was younger, I used to go often. But I don’t have insurance, and so I don’t go very often.
Harp:	When was the last time you went to the dentist, Maura?
Maura:	The last time I went to the dentist, I think, was about a year and a half ago.
Harp:	OK. Not too bad then.
Maura:	No, it’s not so bad. But I think there was a period where I didn’t go for about 5 years.
Harp:	Yeah, because if you don’t have insurance, it’s very expensive to go to the dentist in Canada.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: InfoBarrel

What is a Member?

Harp:	You don’t have to be wearing a ball gown to use this expression.
Maura:	Right. Especially for women, they do their hair and they do their makeup, but for guys too, they might get a haircut or do their hair a special way. They might also pay extra attention to shave their face.
Harp:	Yes, definitely.
Maura:	When I think of this expression, to get dolled up, I always think of dolls.
Harp:	Yes, exactly. Because for a doll, you can dress them up and put new, fancy clothes on them.
Maura:	Right. And dolls normally look pretty and cute, so I make that connection when I think of this expression.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: Hot Beauty Spot

What is a Member?

Maura:	So, there is an example where we use the expression fat chance. And this means that there is not a good chance of that happening.
Harp:	Exactly. There’s very little chance that I’m ever gonna marry Brad Pitt.
Maura:	Sorry to break it to you, Harp, but it’s true. There’s probably a very small chance and it’s almost impossible that you’ll marry Brad Pitt.
Harp:	I would say it’s impossible.
Maura:	So, that is how we can use fat chance. And like we said, we didn’t use fat chance in a sentence, we just responded to the idea of marrying Brad Pitt by saying fat chance.
Harp:	Yeah, ’cause this is the student that always answers the question, always puts his hand up, or her hand.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: Culips

Maura:	So the first one is teacher’s pet.
Harp:	Yes, a teacher’s pet.
Maura:	And this is the kind of student who’s always interested in learning and always wants to get really, really good marks at school, which is a good thing. Right, Harp?
Harp:	Definitely.
Maura:	But other students can find it kind of annoying.
Harp:	Yeah, ’cause this is the student that always answers the question, always puts his hand up, or her hand.
Maura:	Right. And this kind of student is always trying to be really nice to the teacher because this student wants good marks.
Harp:	Yes, definitely. This is the kind of student that brings in an apple for his teacher.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: cliff1066™

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Here’s one of the videos that we talk about in our latest episode about viral videos. It’s one of my all time favourites! And look, it has more than 27 million views. Wow. ~ Maura

Here’s an example of a flash mob, like we talked about in the Viral Videos episode. This one is well organized and one of my favourites!

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: s.yume

Send us a postcard from wherever you are in the world, and we’ll send you one back from beautiful Montreal, Canada, with a hand-written message from one of the Culips hosts. Just mail your postcard to the following address:

Culips
4663 Christoph-Colomb Ave
Montreal, QC H2J3G7
Canada

Maura:	Now, this is an interesting expression, to go out on a limb, but there is a possible origin or a connection to trees.
Harp:	Yes, because on a tree, a limb is an open, exposed branch, so it’s like one of the arms of the tree.
Maura:	Exactly. And if you’re an animal who lives in trees and goes out on a limb, I mean actually goes on a limb, it’s a dangerous place to be because you’re exposed and maybe a hunter or a predator or someone who wants to get you could get you because they can see you.
Harp:	Yes, definitely. Or the limb could break because it’s too weak.
Maura:	Right. So that’s another danger when an animal goes out on a limb; the limb could break and the animal could fall to the ground. So going out on a limb actually is dangerous.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: photogramma1

Maura:	So first we’re gonna talk about ourselves, because Harp and I are both Canadian, but like most Canadians, we have a family background. And many Canadians have different stories.
Harp:	Yup. Maura, what’s your family background? Tell us your story.
Maura:	Right. You can’t just make pudding and then one minute later, start eating it, because it’s not ready. You have to make the pudding, let it set, and then the real way to tell if it’s good or not is not by looking at it, it’s by eating it.
Harp:	Yeah. So the proof is in the pudding means that you have to wait for the end result before you can judge something.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: stu_spivack

Maura:	Now, this expression means that too fully test something, to see if it’s good or not, you have to experience it yourself. And it can’t be judged when it’s in the process of being completed; you have to wait till something is finished and you can judge whether it’s good or not in the end only.
Harp:	Yes. And if you think about it, the proof is in the pudding, pudding is a dessert. It’s a creamy substance, and when you make it, it’s liquid, so you have to wait for it to set, so you have to wait until the ending before you know if it’s good or not.
Maura:	Right. You can’t just make pudding and then one minute later, start eating it, because it’s not ready. You have to make the pudding, let it set, and then the real way to tell if it’s good or not is not by looking at it, it’s by eating it.
Harp:	Yeah. So the proof is in the pudding means that you have to wait for the end result before you can judge something.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: stu_spivack

Maura:	Now, we’ve also had a little bit of experience with other languages, right? How much Korean did you learn when you lived there?
Harp:	When I was there, I knew a lot. I could not have a basic conversation, but I was teaching English and I was working with kids so I was able to speak with them, give them commands and I was able to read Korean because Korean is a very easy language to pick up in terms of the written part of it, but it’s still a complicated language.
Maura:	Oh yeah. Well, when I lived in Japan, I learned a little bit. I learned some expressions and some words that were important. But to be honest, I had just been trying to learn French for a year and then I realized how difficult it was to learn a language. And so when I was in Japan, I didn’t really immerse myself in Japanese. I just learned a little bit to get by.
Harp:	Yeah. I learned enough to talk to taxi drivers, shopkeepers, and the kids in school.
Maura:	But I do think that Japanese was much easier to understand orally than French, because the pronunciation was so much clearer, that in French I found it really difficult to understand at the beginning.
Harp:	Oh, that’s very interesting.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: cleverClaire

Maura:	Sometimes when you’re sitting at home and you’re trying to brainstorm by yourself, you can’t think of anything. And then when you turn to someone and you ask them about an idea, sometimes the ideas just come so much more easily.
Harp:	I find that this works for us at Culips all the time. When it’s the two of us together working on something, it goes so fast.
Maura:	Definitely. I don’t even waste time by myself thinking about all the different examples that we could use in our episodes. Now I just discuss them with you right before we record, and then our examples are even better because we had two heads thinking of it.
Harp:	Yes, because two heads are better than one.
Maura:	Yeah, two heads are better than one.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: torres21

Maura:	Yes. The next expression, which also means that you have to start something again, is to go back to square one.
Harp:	Yes, to go back to square one.
Maura:	go back to square one means that you have to start something again, also usually because there were some problems or it wasn’t working out the first time, so for some reason you have to begin again.
Harp:	Yeah. So to go back to square one . In this expression, square one means the beginning. So when you say to go go back to square one , it means to go back to the beginning.
Maura:	Yeah, it makes sense because one is the first number, after all.
Harp:	It’s true.
Maura:	This actually has a really interesting origin.
Harp:	What is it, Maura?
Maura:	Well, to go go back to square one is likely from a game…

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: stevendepolo

Maura:	There are a few different ways that green can be used in a slang way. But today, we’re looking at calling someone green when they don’t have a lot of experience in a certain area.
Harp:	Yes. So when they don’t have a lot of experience doing something, you can say that they’re green.
Maura:	Yes. And this green person might also feel shy or nervous or be acting awkward because they’re inexperienced; they don’t know how to act.
Harp:	Yeah. It’s usually when you’re younger and you’re awkward, and maybe you don’t know how to do something, so you feel green.
Maura:	Yeah. You could be green in so many different things. You could be green in different activities, in sports. In this way that green is used for slang, it means that someone is new to an experience or a situation and they feel kind of awkward about it.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: makelessnoise

Maura:	We can say, when you feel afraid, that you have shivers down your spine.
Harp:	Yes, shivers down your spine.
Maura:	And a shiver is usually something that you feel from cold air and you kind of, you move around and it’s like a cold feeling that comes over you.
Harp:	Yeah, it’s a little bit like you’re body’s shaking a little bit because of something surprising.
Maura:	Yeah, and your spine is down your back, so you feel a cold breeze and you kind of get goose bumps all down your back.
Harp:	Yeah. So shivers down your spine is the same idea as heebie-jeebies. It’s when you get this feeling that you’re scared or that you’re uncomfortable. It’s just not pleasant.
Maura:	Yeah. I think the idea of having shivers down your spine comes from thinking that you’ve seen a ghost or had an experience like that because sometimes we associate, especially in the dark, a sudden cold breeze that comes from nowhere and passes by you is possibly a spirit in front of you, so then you get shivers down your spine.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: Matthew J.

Maura:	It sounds so simple. It sounds like nothing, but it really is something that we use when we’re talking, blah blah blah, and we usually say it fast, blah blah blah.
Harp:	Yeah, blah blah blah.
Maura:	And blah blah blah is the slang term that we might use when someone is telling a story and they don’t want to give all the details, so instead of all of these details, they say blah blah blah.
Harp:	Yeah, it’s when you’re telling a story and you’re trying to give a little bit of context but you don’t want to give all the little details in the story, you just wanna kind of shorten it to get to the important, the juicy, part of the story. So you say blah blah blah.
Maura:	Right. When you say blah blah blah, it means that some things were still happening, time was still passing, maybe someone was still talking, but the details of what was actually going on aren’t important so you can just pass over it.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: Adikos, Edited by Culips English Podcast

Maura:	So, to stick out like a sore thumb means that a person is different from everybody else and so they have a lot of attention on them and, like we said, it’s not positive attention.
Harp:	So maybe they’re wearing different clothes than everyone else or maybe someone speaks a language that not everyone else there speaks.
Maura:	Yeah. There are so many different ways that you can feel different from a group of people. It could be because everyone has a certain kind of job and you don’t, or everyone knows each other but you don’t know the people very well.
Harp:	Or everyone has the same style and you have a completely different style of clothing.
Maura:	Yeah. So, it could be physical, by looking at someone, but it also could be something different from the inside, maybe.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: Sarah Reid, Edited by Culips English Podcast

Maura:	So first we had a light bulb moment, and now what’s the second expression?
Harp:	The next expression is to dawn on.
Maura:	Right. To dawn on. And usually, you talk about something dawning on me or you, or a person. It dawns on someone.
Harp:	Yes. And dawn is the time of day when the sun is about to rise and the sun starts rising for a new day.
Maura:	So, it’s the same idea as a light bulb moment because there’s a sense of light. When the sun is rising, there’s a lot of sunlight and light really means knowledge or some brilliant idea. So when something dawns on you, it means that you have a new understanding or a new idea about something.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Satoru Kikuchi

Harp:	What ideas are you the most excited about for next year?
Maura:	Well, one episode that I was really happy with and really excited to do was the episode about blah blah blah.
Harp:	Ha ha, yeah. The episode about blah blah blah.
Maura:	Yes. And if you’ve never heard that, it might sound very funny, but it’s actually how people talk sometimes. Just last week, actually at work, I heard someone telling a story and they said blah blah blah and then they told a little bit more of the story and again they said blah blah blah in the same story. And I thought, “Great!” Because this is actually being used and we’re going to do an episode on this.
Harp:	Yes, definitely. So stay tuned next year to hear this episode.
Maura:	Yeah. This episode actually has blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, whatshername and whatshisname, and whatchamacallit. So it’s a really good one.
Harp:	Whatchamacallit.
Maura:	Yeah. What about you? What are you looking forward to in terms of Culips episodes?
Harp:	Well, there’s gonna be a super fun and interesting episode about fears and what we’re afraid of.
Maura:	I’m already scared for that one.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Camdiluv

Happy Holidays!!

Maura:	First we’re gonna talk about Christmas past; then we’re gonna talk about the present, what’s happening right now; and the future, upcoming Christmases.
Harp:	Yes. So let’s get started, Maura.
Maura:	Oh, Christmas past. I like thinking about past Christmases; I feel so nostalgic.
Harp:	I know, me too. I love Christmas. I love the Christmas season.
Maura:	You know, it’s interesting, though, how things change as the years go by and things are different now from when we were young. Do you have any good Christmas stories from when you were younger, Harp?
Harp:	I just remember waking up on Christmas morning and my mom would never know what to get us when we were in our teenage years…

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Luz Adriana Villa

Maura:	So, you can say that you’re going to give a talk. That’s one way of talking about public speaking. Another verb that you could use, another expression, is to make a speech.
Harp:	Yes. To make a speech. To give a speech and to make a speech—it’s the exact same thing; it means that you’re gonna go in front of people and you’re going to do some public speaking.
Maura:	Yeah. To make a speech is really when you’re speaking. If you’re preparing for the speech that would be you’re writing the speech or you’re practicing the speech. But if you make a speech, you’re actually speaking in front of people.
Harp:	So you could say to make a speech or to give a speech. And this is much more formal. When you talk about a speech, I imagine someone standing in front of an audience, maybe behind a podium, very formal and they have very specific things they want to say.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Brandon Atkinson

Harp:	When I think of making something from scratch, I’m thinking of a nice soup or something good that’s homemade.
Maura:	Yeah, something delicious.
Harp:	Mmhmm.
Maura:	Food made from scratch is just so much better than pre-made stuff that you can buy in stores.
Harp:	I know. Stuff you buy in stores that’s already made before, it’s faster, but food definitely tastes better when it’s homemade, when it’s made from scratch.
Maura:	Oh, yeah. What’s the last thing that you made from scratch, Harp?
Harp:	You know, I actually made chicken stock this weekend from scratch.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Jake and Lindsay Sherbert

Maura:	So first, let’s let everybody get to know you a little bit more.
Kelly:	OK.
Maura:	Tell us where you’re from.
Kelly:	I’m originally from a city called Regina, Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan is a Prairie province in the west of Canada. It’s very, very flat. I came to Montreal about four years ago and started teaching English at high schools here and I love it.
Maura:	Yeah, yeah. And I’m sure it’s very different from the flat place you’re from.
Kelly:	It is extremely different from the flat place that I’m from; flat in many senses of the word. It’s pretty boring, too. Here there are a lot more places to go, restaurants, people to see, concerts. I like it a lot.
Maura:	Yeah. So let’s talk a little bit about Regina, because Canada is such a big place and most of the time at Culips we talk about Montreal and what’s going on around here, which is exciting, but I’m sure many people listening don’t know much about Regina and that part of Canada.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Culips ESL Podcast

Harp:	So if someone is cheap and likes to save all their money, you could call them a tightwad.
Maura:	Yes. Now, let’s explain this word, tightwad. A wad is actually some small thing, like in the shape of a ball; it’s really not a specific thing. It’s just some small thing that’s in the shape of a ball. Now, if you imagine your money is all rolled up, tightly, it’s like a wad. And a tightwad means that you don’t wanna open it up, you don’t wanna take any money out, you don’t wanna spend it.
Harp:	Yes. So when you’re a tightwad, that means you’re cheap and you don’t want to spend all your money. And one thing we need to mention right away is that you would never say this to someone. It’s a very rude thing to call someone. So you could maybe say it behind their back…
Maura:	Yeah. The thing with being called a tightwad is that it’s never a compliment. No one really likes to be seen as someone who doesn’t wanna spend money. It’s not a positive thing. And so you might use it as a joke. That’s the only way you could use it, because it is rude.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Images Money

No matter where you are in the world, it’s important to be healthy. This episode looks at some expressions that people use to inspire and remind themselves and others to eat healthy food and to exercise. It may be tough, but there are all kinds of things you can do to stay motivated: Get friends to help you stay on track, work hard to achieve you goals, and get a mantra! Learn all about the saying a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips in this episode!

Maura:	The first expression is you are what you eat.
Harp:	You are what you eat.
Maura:	Yes. You are what you eat. And this just means exactly what it says.
Harp:	You are what you eat: If you eat something healthy, you’re healthy.
Maura:	Right. So what it wants to say is that what you eat reflects how healthy you are. So if you eat vegetables and fruit and good grains for you, then you will have good health. But if you eat a lot of potato chips and chocolate bars, then that might not be very good for your health.
Harp:	Yes. I’ve known of this expression since I was young, you are what you eat. When I was young, I would remember my mom saying it to me, “Harp, remember, you are what you eat.” And I would say, “What am I, a cucumber? What am I, french fries?”
Maura:	Yeah. As a kid, you take it completely literally. Obviously, if you eat an apple, you don’t become an apple, but if you eat an apple, that’s a healthy choice so that would mean that you’re probably a healthy person.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Martino!

Maura:	We’re not going to make this a serious episode, because all of these expressions about dying are not to be used in any serious circumstance. You would never use these expressions if you were talking about a real person actually dying.
Harp:	Yes. These are expressions if a thing dies or if someone dies who you don’t know or you’re not close to.
Maura:	Right. So what we mean by that is someone who dies in the news that you don’t know at all or a person that dies in a movie or a book, someone that’s not really real. Anyone who is actually dying in real life, in the life of a friend or someone you know, these expressions are completely inappropriate.
Harp:	Yes.
Maura:	But the reason we decided to do an episode anyways, because there are so many expressions that mean to die.
Harp:	Yeah, and there are fun expressions that you can hear out on the streets.
Maura:	Yes. They’re funny, they’re not serious, and they’re not used in any serious way.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Mark Fischer

Harp:	Another thing that parents do is they give an allowance.
Maura:	Right. Especially for doing chores. So, parents will give their children a certain amount of money per week and then it’s their money to do with what they want. So they could save it, or they could spend it. And that’s called an allowance.
Harp:	So often times in families, when kids are growing up, when they do their chores, they get an allowance and the amount would depend on the family.
Maura:	I probably don’t even know what kids get nowadays but I would say maybe $20 a week or something?
Harp:	I have no idea. I never got an allowance when I was growing up.
Maura:	Yeah, me neither.
Harp:	It always seemed to be so cool though. On TV I would see in shows that people would get an allowance, and I would imagine the things I would do with money.
Maura:	So right, children do chores, sometimes they get allowances, and then they also possibly get into trouble.

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Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Sander van der Wel

Maura:	So let’s do one more thing that we’re known for, which is that we’re very polite.
Harp:	Almost to the point that we’re boring.
Maura:	Yes. But very polite and not necessarily arrogant or aggressive, but a quieter kind of people, I think.
Harp:	Yeah, that’s definitely the image we have; we’re peaceful, polite. That’s what a lot of people think of when they think of Canada.
Maura:	And it’s so nice, but it is; it sounds so boring, Harp.
Harp:	It does. But in another way, I think it sounds nice.

Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:

Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Ruben Schade