AEE 2424: You Strike Me As Someone Who Will Love This Episode

Summary

All Ears English Podcast Episode 2424 Summary: "You Strike Me As Someone Who Will Love This Episode"

In Episode 2424 of the All Ears English Podcast, hosts Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan delve into the nuanced use of the phrase "strikes me as" in everyday American English. This episode offers intermediate to advanced English learners practical insights into employing this expression to enhance conversational fluency and foster meaningful connections. Below is a comprehensive summary of the episode's key discussions, insights, and examples.

Introduction to the Episode

The episode begins with an engaging prompt aimed at enhancing listeners' conversational skills:

• Aubrey Carter (A): "This is the All Ears English podcast, episode 2424. You strike me as someone who will love this episode." [00:00]

This opening sets the stage for the episode's focus on the phrase "strikes me as," illustrating its practical application in making conversations more engaging.

Understanding "Strikes Me As"

Exploring the Expression

Lindsay introduces the topic by presenting a real-life scenario where the phrase "strikes me as" is aptly used:

• Michelle Kaplan (B): "Well, I'm not sure if this is a great example, but this morning I accidentally hit the car against a brick wall when I was backing out. That was a little odd for me because I don't do that kind of thing very often." [01:47]

Aubrey validates the example, highlighting its relevance:

• Aubrey Carter (A): "That's a perfect example. That does strike me as odd that you would hit something cuz it's. You're not the type of person to make an error like that, right?" [02:03]

Variations and Contextual Use

The hosts delve deeper into the versatility of the phrase, discussing how it can be paired with various adjectives to convey different nuances:

• Michelle Kaplan (B): "And I was wondering if I could use this chunk with any adjective or only with odd or smart. Such a good question." [03:23]

They explore how "strikes me as" can be combined with adjectives like "strange," "peculiar," "bizarre," and "interesting" to express surprise or unexpectedness:

• Aubrey Carter (A): "It's definitely most comm. Like odd, weird, strange. That strikes me as strange. That strikes me as peculiar. Maybe bizarre." [04:22]

Present vs. Past Tense

Aubrey and Lindsay discuss the importance of tense when using the phrase:

• Aubrey Carter (A): "If we're saying it strikes me as odd, we're sort of talking about a general something that's always true. Usually." [06:43]
• Michelle Kaplan (B): "Right. So we do need to use different sort of variations of this word in the present and past tense." [07:15]

Practical Applications and Examples

Expressing Impressions

The hosts provide examples of how "strikes me as" can be used to convey first impressions or assessments of people:

• Aubrey Carter (A): "So she strikes me as the type of person who is a good leader." [07:26]

This example demonstrates how the phrase can be employed to share opinions about someone's character or potential.

Narrating Cognitive Processes

They illustrate how the phrase helps in narrating one's thoughts or feelings:

• Michelle Kaplan (B): "I find it odd that she never called." [08:33]
• Aubrey Carter (A): "I fear that they may have broken up." [10:07]

Connecting on Common Observations

The hosts emphasize using the phrase as a tool to connect with others over shared observations:

• Aubrey Carter (A): "If something strikes you as odd or interesting, strike up a conversation about it." [16:15]

Role Play: Applying the Phrase in Conversations

To illustrate the practical use of "strikes me as," Lindsay and Michelle engage in a role-play scenario:

• Michelle Kaplan (B): "I found it odd that Marie wasn't speaking to Jack. Did you notice that?" [13:45]
• Aubrey Carter (A): "I fear that they may have broken up. If that's the case, though, I'm surprised they both went to the party." [13:52]
• Michelle Kaplan (B): "Yeah, that does strike me as peculiar. You'd think they'd want to avoid each other for a while." [14:01]

This role-play effectively showcases how the phrase facilitates subtle and non-invasive conversations about others, avoiding the pitfalls of gossip while fostering meaningful dialogue.

Additional Insights and Tips

Avoiding Repetition of "I Think"

Lindsay and Michelle advise listeners on varying expressions to avoid the repetitive use of "I think," which can hinder fluency and vocabulary scores, especially in language proficiency exams like IELTS:

• Michelle Kaplan (B): "I find it odd... Or it seems odd. Or it strikes me as odd, too." [08:36]

Positive vs. Negative Connotations

They clarify that "strikes me as" is typically used in contexts that imply surprise or concern, rather than positive attributes:

• Aubrey Carter (A): "You wouldn't say, I fear something positive. That would be weird." [15:39]

Enhancing Conversational Depth

Using "strikes me as" allows speakers to introduce deeper topics and engage others in thoughtful discussions:

• Michelle Kaplan (B): "Issue, like anything about the way society is run. Maybe you want to question that and see if someone else agrees with you and you can start a conversation." [10:21]

Conclusion

Episode 2424 of the All Ears English Podcast offers valuable lessons on integrating the phrase "strikes me as" into everyday conversations. Through examples, discussions, and a practical role-play, Lindsay and Michelle provide listeners with the tools to express opinions, narrate thoughts, and connect with others more effectively in American English. By focusing on connection rather than perfection, the hosts empower English learners to engage in more natural and meaningful interactions.

Notable Quotes:

• Aubrey Carter (A): "It's like you're just sort of, saying I think this about this person. I think she's probably a good leader." [07:43]
• Michelle Kaplan (B): "We're just kind of like, this struck me as odd. What do you think?" [14:53]
• Aubrey Carter (A): "It's an interesting chunk just to say, I think this about this person." [07:55]
• Michelle Kaplan (B): "It's kind of like gossiping... You're just kind of floating above the gossip." [14:53]

By mastering the use of "strikes me as," learners can enhance their conversational English, making interactions more engaging and reflective of native speech patterns.

Transcript

[A]

This is the All Ears English podcast, episode 2424. You strike me as someone who will love this episode.

[B]

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz and Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer, coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, usa. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com subscribe do you ever find yourself observing a situation that's out of the ordinary and wanting to connect with someone over what you today get? 3 ways to achieve this connection skill in English.

[C]

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[A]

Hi Lindsay, how are you?

[B]

Hey Aubrey, I'm doing great. How are you?

[A]

Excellent. I have a difficult question for you. Let's see if you can think of something off the top of your head.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Has anything happened recently that struck you as odd?

[B]

Well, I'm not sure if this is a great example, but this morning I accidentally hit the car against a brick wall when I was backing out. That was a little odd for me because I don't do that kind of thing very often.

[A]

That's a perfect example. That does strike me as odd that you would hit something cuz it's. You're not the type of person to make an error like that, right? No, no.

[B]

It's hard. We have a huge SUV and a very tight driveway. A city, city townhouse. And normally I do like a 15 point turn to get out of our driveway, but this time I was going about my 15 point turn and then I heard it and then I realized, oh shoot.

[A]

Oh no. And it wasn't beeping at you like proximity warning.

[B]

Oh no, no, Aubrey, our car is from 2005. Ye beeping.

[A]

I have a feeling a lot of the listeners probably have newer vehicles. Most of them for the last 10 years or so have these proximity warnings. So it's like beeping at you really loud if you're getting too close.

[B]

No, no, no.

[A]

Nope, not for Lindsay. That's what happens. Yeah.

[B]

So that. That's odd. Just. It's not odd that it happened, but for me it's odd because I don't really hit things very much. Yeah, I'm usually pretty careful, so.

[A]

No, that's a perfect example. I love this. For this expression, for something to strike you as odd. We got a great question about it. I' vocab because this is an interesting way to. To connect about things that strike you as odd.

[B]

All right, good. And this is a question from Matos. We love your questions, guys. Send them in to support Allers english.com right?

[A]

Yes. All right. Want me to read it?

[B]

Sure. Go for it.

[A]

Said. Hey, Aubrey, thank you and Lindsay so much for answering my question about sick and sickening on the podcast. You're welcome. That was a great question. That was a fun episode. I have another one. I've been hearing native speakers say that struck me as odd or that struck me as smart a bunch of times. And I was wondering if I could use this chunk with any adjective or only with odd or smart. Such a good question.

[B]

Yeah, it's a great question. And this is a feature of what native speakers tend to say. It's a really nice way of fine tuning your English for connection, don't you think, Aubry?

[A]

Absolutely. I agree. And I had to think about this a little bit because it's definitely most comm. Like odd, weird, strange. That strikes me as strange. That strikes me as peculiar. Maybe bizarre. Also surprising, interesting. That strikes me as surprising or interesting because it definitely implies that something is unexpected or strange. Right.

[B]

Okay. Out of the ordinary.

[A]

Out of the ordinary, yes. But I don't feel like I have heard it with anything positive. Like even that strikes me as smart. That strikes me as intelligent. I don't use it this way. Feel like I've heard it. What do you think?

[B]

No, no. If something is wonderful, let's say, for example, I wouldn't take the time to say that strikes me as wonderful. I would just say that's wonderful.

[A]

That's wonderful. That's awesome. Yeah, because that's true. That's a good point. This is sort of a longer chunk that you're sort of saying as you're processing how peculiar something is. That strikes me as concerning.

[B]

That strikes.

[A]

Strikes me as peculiar.

[B]

So it's sort of like you're. You're narrating your cognitive process.

[A]

There's. Right, exactly. So we're going to dive into this today. We want you to use this amazing phrase and also a few other ways that we express this because really, these are just interesting. Ways of saying I think. Right. You're just sharing your thoughts.

[B]

Right. But we don't want to always have to say, I think. I think. I think that gets boring. Even if we're on the IELTS exam, the speaking test, we don't want to always be repeating I think. Right?

[A]

Yeah. That'll hurt your scores, your fluency scores, your vocab scores. You can't repeat vocabulary. But even in conversations, you don't want to be the person that's using the same verb over and over. There's so many fun options.

[B]

Yeah. Don't forget, guys, if you are preparing for the I exam, we have a whole other podcast called I Energy Podcast. Aubrey is over there, Jessica's over there. I'm over there. It's a good time to get the skills that you need for I. So, Aubrey, how can our listeners find that show, by the way?

[A]

Yeah. Search I Energy. Wherever you listen to podcasts, hit follow. Honestly, even if you're not studying for I, we teach so much great vocabulary over there, speaking and writing strategies. But especially. Especially if you're preparing for the IELTS exam, you need to make sure and listen to that podcast.

[B]

Exactly. And while you're hitting follow, hit follow right here on All Ears English. All right, good. All right, what's the. Let's go deeper into. It strikes me as.

[A]

Yeah, let's give a couple of. A couple more examples here. Right. I love. We've kind of shared when we would use this. So I might say. And in the past tense, too. It struck me as odd when he arrived early. He's usually late.

[B]

Yeah. And again, we're narrating kind of what we're thinking. We're thinking, oh, I. I felt it was weird. I thought about it and, yes, it seemed weird to me. Right.

[A]

Yeah. And it's interesting to think about the difference between present tense and past here. Right. If we're saying it strikes me as odd, we're sort of talking about a general something that's always true. Usually. Right. It always strikes me as strange when something happens. And then if we're talking about something in the past that was surprising, that's when we're going to say it struck me as odd.

[B]

Right. So we do need to use different sort of variations of this word in the present and past tense. So here's an example. In. In the present, always. It always strikes me as surprising when someone gets really aggressive. Yes.

[A]

Right. So we're not talking about a specific instance here. We're just saying, like, this always strikes me as surprising. I Always find it shocking.

[B]

Good. And what would be another one? Our opinions of people.

[A]

Right. Yes. We use it this way a lot. So she strikes me as the type of person who is a good leader. And this is an interesting chunk just to say, I think this about this person. I think she's probably a good leader. She seems like she would be a good leader. This is just an interesting way to say that.

[B]

Yeah. And this is not going to the meeting of something out of the ordinary. Right. This is just saying my impression, my feeling, my first impression, how I take in that person is that they would be a good leader. Okay.

[A]

Right. So this is a totally different way that we use that expression. It's more idiomatic. Right. And we're just sort of being colorful with our language. Instead of saying she seems like. We'll say she strikes me as.

[B]

Yeah, I like that. I want to use this more. I don't use it enough. I'd like to agree.

[A]

I really like. Yeah, this is a good reminder to both of us. Let's add this to our. Ready to use it more. I agree.

[B]

We're learning so much on this show, Aubrey.

[A]

All right. All right. Our second option. This is very similar. Instead of just saying, I think I find it, we'll say I find. So, for example, I find it odd that she never called. And really, what I mean is, I think it's odd that she didn't. Yeah.

[B]

Or it seems odd. Or it strikes me as odd, too. Right?

[A]

Yeah, same meaning.

[B]

She found it strange that he doesn't lock his doors at night. Aubry, did you lock your doors when you're growing up? This is always a good question for people. Never. Okay.

[A]

We would leave keys in the car in our driveway. Really? And not lock them. It was in the middle of nowhere. That was very rural. Right. Our closest neighbor was a couple of miles away, so someone would have to, like, really want to steal something. We just felt so safe.

[B]

Yeah. I felt. Always felt safe where I grew up, too. We did lock our doors, but I don't know that we needed to really, you know?

[A]

Yeah, it is nice to feel that safe, but it's still probably smart. I mean, I've definitely heard a lot of true crime stories about someone in the middle of the woods getting murdered. So we probably should have locked our doors.

[B]

Well, I think that's the thing. The 80s, it was before the true crime boom. Right. Of podcasts. And we weren't aware. Yeah, we weren't aware. We had the movies and everything. Friday the 13th, but we didn't really have true crime in the way we have it now as a form of entertainment.

[A]

Now we know that we. We need to be careful. We need to lock our doors. Right. And here's another one because this is. We'll also use this. Like, it strikes me to talk about kind of something that's always the case. Like, I've always found it strange that horses can sleep ending up, for example. Right. Something you've always thought that always strikes me as odd.

[B]

And this is another good way of asserting who you are and what you think. Right. Just the things that we find odd or strange are a good conversation starter or a good way to show our values and our views. Okay.

[A]

Yeah. Or what a fun way to. Like if you say something that, that you have always found strange and then ask what about you? Do you think that's odd? Or is it just me?

[B]

Or just the other connection piece is things that the whole world takes for granted that you want to question.

[A]

Good point.

[B]

Deeper things. Right. Issue, like anything about the way society is run. Maybe you want to question that and see if someone else agrees with you and you can start a conversation.

[A]

Yeah. This might be a great way to strike up a conversation with someone that if you're not sure they agree with you, this is a pretty non abrasive way to say, you know, it struck me as odd when I read this in the news. What do you think? Right. Because you're not going in hard on, like, I think this very strongly. Right. You're sort of broaching the issue to see if this is a topic you could talk about.

[B]

Interesting. Interesting. Now, there is a third aubry that we want to share with our listeners. What is it?

[A]

Yeah, this is a little less common, but I really like. And it's fear that I fear that. So, for example, I fear that she is getting more stubborn by the day. I might say this about one of my children. And really it just means I think, I think she's getting more stuff.

[B]

Okay. It's kind of like in something that's negative. Right. You. You're observing something that seems to be negative.

[A]

Exactly. Yes. Right.

[B]

Or I fear that we missed out on our opportunity.

[A]

Okay. Yeah. This almost sounds a little more poetic. Right. It's a more beautiful way of speaking if you're like, ooh, I fear that. Or you might even say it to be sort of facetious, like jokingly, a little bit like, I fear that we missed the train as the train goes by.

[B]

Right, right, right. I was gonna say poetic or theatrical or dramatic or something. Right.

[A]

Yes. Maybe at work. We fear that this is going to be a mistake. Right? Really? You're just. I think this is going to be a mistake.

[B]

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[A]

Yeah. So you and I are friends, describing something that happened at a party we both attended.

[B]

Okay, let's see what happened. Here we go. I found it odd that Marie wasn't speaking to Jack. Did you notice that?

[A]

Yes. I fear that they may have broken up. If that's the case, though, I'm surprised they both went to the party.

[B]

Yeah. That does strike me as peculiar. You'd think they'd want to avoid each other for a while.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This is interesting because this. If you. If you notice something out of the ordinary. Right. I would strike up a conversation like this with a friend. Be like, did you notice that? Did you think it was strange? Or was it just me?

[B]

Yeah. What I like here too is this is useful. If you are standing on the outside of something happening.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Next to someone and you want to connect with them. This is commentary, right. You're not in it. You're not. What are the names of the. The two? Marie and Jack. Right. But you're on the outside. That's kind of a cool connection skill as well.

[A]

Yes. And this is interesting, too. If you want to ask someone about this, but you don't want to gossip, there are phrases that would be so much more like gossiping. Right. Whereas this, you're just kind of like, this struck me as odd. What do you think? Right. It is. You're kind of floating above the gossip on just so. More just like, talking about, like, what do we think?

[B]

Yeah, I agree. It feels a lot less gossipy or shallow, these phrases.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Relational.

[A]

Yeah. Yes. Right.

[B]

So I started by saying I found it odd that Marie wasn't speaking to Jack. Did you notice that? And I'm checking in with you, which is another thing we do as social beings to read the room, right?

[A]

Yep. Yep, exactly. It just means the same as I thought it was, but a little bit less. Yeah. A little softer, kind of just like, oh, I found it odd. What do you think? And then I said, yes, I fear that they may have broken up. And this is me sort of saying, I think they may have broken up. But it does have this little bit of an implication of, like, I don't know for sure. I'm worried this is the case. It might be, but I don't know.

[B]

Yes. And then it's a negative thing, right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

You wouldn't say, I fear something positive. That would be weird.

[A]

I fear that they just won the lottery. No. Except that maybe that's, you know, I fear. Because then I didn't. Right. No, it would be something negative. Yes.

[B]

Good. And then I said, yeah, that does strike me as peculiar. Right. And peculiar is a good bonus word for today. Right.

[A]

Peculiar, strange, bizarre. And it's interesting. There are a lot of options. I think the most common is this chunk that strikes me as odd. Really? Any of the synonyms for odd? Peculiar, strange, bizarre. Absolutely. And then anything else? As long as it's kind of that connotation of something being surprising or different, there are a lot of options.

[B]

Wow, Aubrey, I feel like today we found a lot of different social contexts in which this can be a connection skill, don't you think?

[A]

Yes, I agree. Right. If something strikes you as odd or interesting, strike up a conversation about it. I would love to have that conversation with you guys out there, listeners.

[B]

I love it.

[A]

It's interesting.

[B]

Yeah, for sure. Guys, don't forget to hit the follow button so you don't miss a single episode of this show. All right, Aubry, I'll see you next time.

[A]

Awesome. See you next time.

[B]

Take care. Bye.

[A]

Bye.

[B]

Thanks for listening. To all ears. English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com forward/fluency score. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.