AEE 2486: Don’t Sleep on This Trendy New English Slang

Summary

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All Ears English Podcast – Episode 2486: Don’t Sleep on This Trendy New English Slang

Hosts: Lindsay McMahon & Aubrey Carter
Date: September 29, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into trendy, contemporary English slang—specifically, how to use "don't sleep on," the dual meanings for "sleep on it," and other hot expressions like "fire" and "let them cook." Lindsay and Aubrey respond to listener questions, break down these phrases, provide real-life examples, and discuss their cultural relevance. The focus is on helping ESL learners become more fluent with up-to-date American English for smarter, more connected conversations.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Listener Question: The Dual Meanings of “Sleep on it”

Inspired by Rowita from Sudan’s question

• Traditional/business meaning: "Sleep on it" = wait until the next day to make a decision.
  • Usage: Common in business settings and big life decisions (job offer, purchases, etc.).
  • Explanation:

    "When we say sleep on, it means to wait until the next day to make a decision after giving it more thought."
    – Aubrey (04:15)

• Slang meaning: "Don’t sleep on [something]" = don’t miss out, don’t underestimate, don’t overlook.
  • Newer usage among young people and in casual contexts.

2. Examples of “Don’t Sleep On” in Conversation

• Lindsay explains she’s often behind on shows, joking,

  “So you’ve been sleeping on it for a while and now you finally realized.” (02:02)

• Aubrey urges,

  “Don’t sleep on this show. It is so good. You should definitely check it out.” (01:44)

• Additional usage:

  “Don’t sleep on that thrift store. I found designer jeans for 10 bucks!” (06:05)

• Describing something or someone unexpectedly great; urging not to overlook or miss out.

3. Nuances and Register: Formal vs. Casual Use

• Formal: “Due to” feels stiff; better to match slang with casual language.
  • “Don’t sleep on this movie just because it got mediocre reviews.” (07:14–07:23)
• Casual contexts: These phrases are best used with friends and in informal situations.

4. Trendy Slang: “Fire” and “Let Them Cook”

• Fire: Means “amazing” or “impressive.”
  • "My kids use this all the time, but I've started hearing it a lot on podcasts, on TV shows." – Aubrey (07:59)
  • "This track is straight fire. I’ve had it on repeat all day." – Lindsay (10:44)
  • “Straight fire” is an intensifier.
• Let them cook/cooking: Means “doing something really well,” especially performing, playing, or achieving.
  • Aubrey recounts a WNBA controversy about the phrase (08:58–09:44).
  • Context: “Let them cook” = give them space to do their thing; they’re on a roll.

5. Language, Generations, and Trends

• Phrases become dated as adults and parents start using them.

  “[W]hen the moms got on Facebook, the kids left Facebook.” – Lindsay (08:28)

  • Trendy slang fluctuates; once “adopted” by older generations, youth often abandon for new terms.
  • Slang is cyclical:

  “That's not new. My dad used to say that in the 80s … Like, everything that's old is new.” – Lindsay (09:44-09:55)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On not missing out:

  “[D]on’t sleep on it. Really fun.” – Aubrey (02:14)

• Highlighting casualness:

  “Especially when you’re using slang like this, it’s very casual, it’s conversational.” – Aubrey (07:29)

• On adult use of slang:

  “When they hear their mom or an adult say it, they're like, ‘Mom, you shouldn't be using that, probably.’” – Lindsay (08:49)

• On connection:

  “Remember, the goal is connection, right? So it’s not about the words we use. It’s about using those words to get to a moment of connection.” – Lindsay (14:47)

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Key Examples & Role Play

(Start – 12:19)

Scenario: Deciding where to have lunch

• Aubrey: “There's a new Caribbean spot downtown. I heard it's fire. Someone told me the jerk chicken is next level.” (12:24)
• Lindsay: “Oh, I saw that place. It looked kind of sketchy.” (12:31)
• Aubrey: “It's not in the best area. True. But I'm not gonna sleep on a place that might have amazing food just because it's not fancy.” (12:34)
• Lindsay: “Okay, you convinced me. Let's go check it out.” (12:41)
• Lesson: Best food is often found in unexpected places, and using "fire" and "don't sleep on" makes your English sound up-to-date and connected.

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Important Timestamps

• [01:44] – First use of “Don’t sleep on” re: TV show
• [04:15] – Definitions of “sleep on it”
• [05:54] – “Don’t sleep on it” (slang meaning explained)
• [06:05] – Example about thrift store
• [07:59] – “Fire” as slang explained and contextualized
• [10:44] – Usage of “fire” in a music context
• [12:19] – Role play using “fire” and “don’t sleep on”
• [13:42] – Tips for Business English
• [14:21] – Takeaways: Context, usage, and the importance of connection

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Takeaways & Final Insights

• Understand context: “Sleep on it” means very different things in formal (decision-making) vs. informal slangs (don’t overlook).
• Slang is fluid: Usage and meanings shift; listen for context and audience.
• Connection matters: The ultimate purpose of slang is to connect, not to be perfect or trendy for its own sake.

“Slang belongs to all of us. Let’s enjoy. And remember, the goal is connection.” – Lindsay (14:47)

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Resources Mentioned

• Business English 441: Deeper dive on “sleep on it” for workplace situations

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Keep practicing these phrases in real, casual conversations to sound more natural—and don’t sleep on using trendy slang for greater connection!

Transcript

[A]

This is an All Ears English podcast. Episode 2486. Don't sleep on this trendy new English slang.

[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 in today's episode, you get three trendy new English slang phrases to sound fun and relevant in English and go for more connection action.

[C]

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[B]

Hey there, Aubry. How's everything today?

[A]

I'm great, Lindsay. How are you?

[B]

Good, Aubry. Any new shows you're watching lately?

[A]

Yes, I've been watching Yellow Jackets. It's really good. Have you seen it?

[B]

That one? I haven't. I'm never up on what's new.

[A]

Okay. Don't sleep on this show. It is so good. You should definitely check it out.

[B]

Okay, good to know. I will check it out. I just finished this series Younger. Did we talk about that?

[A]

I think I talked about it with Michelle maybe. Yeah, Yeah, I haven't seen it yet.

[B]

Well, but that one came out in like 2015, so I tend to find shows five years later.

[A]

So you've been sleeping on it for a while and now you finally realized.

[B]

Yes. And I love, I love that you're using this phrase, sleeping on it.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Does it mean literally that I'm sleeping? I mean.

[A]

No. Right. This is trendy new slang to mean like don't miss out on it. Be sure to check it out. Don't sleep on it. Really fun.

[B]

Yes. So excited to get into that in this episode. But first, Aubrey, we need to make sure our listeners know what's happening in the next couple of weeks. Aubrey, what's. What's coming up soon?

[A]

Yes, our. We are working hard on our professional English Level 2 course and we are so excited for you guys to check it out. It's probably our best course yet.

[B]

Yes, exactly. So in the Spring, we launched Professional English level one. And this takes your learning to the next level. This truly makes your skills more sophisticated. We show you how to perform in English with an understanding of culture, interpersonal skills in these high stakes moments. Presentations, client negotiations, situations that our listeners find themselves in as they get better and better at English. Aubrey, where can they go to opt in to be on the list to be notified when it's ready?

[A]

Yes. Go to allearsenglish.com High stakes H I G H S T A K E S for those high stakes situations. Right. You can sign up and then we will let you know as soon as this course is ready.

[B]

All right, we'll see you there at that list, everyone. All right, Aubrey, today's episode is inspired by a question from Rowita from Sudan, right?

[A]

Yes. Do you want to read it for us?

[B]

Okay, let's. I'll go for it. Here we go. I like your podcast. It helps me to learn English, but I'm still learning. I want to ask about the idiom sleep on it. What does it mean? Thanks, guys. Love you. Oh, that's so nice. I love that.

[A]

Hello. Hello, Rowita, thank you for sending in this amazing question. And this is going to be fun because we use this two very different ways. Right. One is very common in business English as well, and the other is trendy new slang. So let's briefly go into the first one because we actually talked about it in a recent episode of Business English. So if you are sleeping on the business English podcast, you might have missed it.

[B]

Good one. I see what you did there. I see what you did there. So we'll start with this first meeting again. So this means when we say sleep on, it means to wait until the next day to make a decision after giving it more thought. Aubrey, are you the kind of person that wants to do this or do you, you know, make those quick decisions and just go with it?

[A]

I do often want to sleep on it. Right. Especially big decisions like let me think about it for a while or let me decide and then see how I feel tomorrow. So, yeah, I do. What about you? Do you often sleep on the decision?

[B]

I do. I don't like to rush big decisions, you know, but sometimes I'm just. I am indecisive and it's hard to know. But usually if you sleep on it, I think you're more likely to get to what your gut is telling. Absolutely, you know?

[A]

Yeah. And then you'll feel like, okay, I took the time to make sure I made the right decision. Yeah, but you might Hear this in a job interview, right. Or at work, when someone's giving you time to consider, say, well, sleep on it. Let me know how you feel tomorrow.

[B]

A job interview or maybe specifically a job offer. Right. If you get a job offer, a package or something, and you're not 100 sure, maybe the, you know, the person offering you the job to sleep on it, let us know in a couple of days.

[A]

Right. Exactly. I know this is a big decision. Sleep. Sleep on it. Get back to me in a couple of days.

[B]

Or he said he's going to sleep on it and let us know tomorrow. Yes.

[A]

So be sure to stay to the end. We will share with you the episode of the business English podcast where you and Michelle actually Lindsay, dove into this phrase and similar vocabulary, like, think on it, mull it over. So stay to the end and we'll give you that episode number.

[B]

Okay, sounds good. Now let's get into the trendy one that all the young kids are saying now, right?

[A]

Yes. So when we say don't sleep on it, don't sleep. This. This is newer slang that means don't overlook it, don't miss out on it, or maybe don't underestimate it.

[B]

Okay, I like that. That's a variety of reasons. Don't overlay, don't overlook, don't underestimate, don't miss it. So for example, don't sleep on that thrift store. I found designer jeans for 10 bucks.

[A]

Store has unexpectedly good stuff. Right. If you're not going and seeing what's there, you're going to miss out. So be like, don't sleep on that store.

[B]

Yes. Aubrey, I just got a great idea. We need to do an epis about when you should say bucks and when you should say dollars.

[A]

O.

[B]

That'd be a great episode to understand because there is a little bit of connotation to it. There's a little bit of when we say bucks, which we mean dollars. Right. It's a little bit more casual and it matters who we're around.

[A]

And it might imply how much money. Right. Just 10 bucks, maybe. Interesting. So hit follow. We'll cover that.

[B]

Hit the follow button, everyone. All right, Aubrey, what else?

[A]

Yeah, so another example here. If you're telling someone about a movie, you could say, like, okay, don't sleep on that movie due to its mediocre reviews. It's one of the best I've seen all year. So you're telling them, like, don't miss out on it because you're seeing bad reviews. Don't sleep on it.

[B]

And we could, as a bonus, we could make this a little more casual by saying something like, don't sleep on this movie just because it got mediocre reviews.

[A]

Right.

[B]

We can bring. Because that feels formal to me.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Do two to me feels a little bit formal. What do you think, Aubrey? Agree.

[A]

Yeah, for sure. Due to. It's a mediocre reviews. I agree. Right. These, especially when you're using slang like this, it's very casual, it's conversational. So a lot of these are also often more of a response. Right. If I'm telling you about a movie and you're like, ah, I saw it, had some bad reviews, so I probably wasn't going to watch it, and I might just be like, oh, don't sleep on it. It was amazing.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Exactly. Very casual response. Perfect. And then what is the other trendy word that people are saying now to go along with this?

[A]

Yes. We wanted to share a related trendy new word, which is just fire. You guys use fire, but it's used in a new way to mean that something is amazing or impressive. So in the same way, anything that you should not be sleeping on, you could call fire. And we'll often say straight fire. My kids use this all the time, but I've started hearing it a lot on podcasts, on TV shows. It's sort of being adopted into the language more. So excited for you guys to be using it.

[B]

Don't you think that when, you know, it's kind of like with Facebook, when all kind of the moms got on Facebook, the kids left Facebook. Right. Do you think that the kids will leave the slang when the moms and the adults start using this fire?

[A]

That does happen sometimes, right? We'll adopt a phrase into standard English and a lot of us will start using it and then the really young kids will stop using it because it's not cool anymore.

[B]

And it's so funny, right? When they hear their. Their mom or an adult say it, they're like, mom, you shouldn't be using that probably.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Or something. What is it? How do they.

[A]

Absolutely. Well, this reminds of so recently. So you know this new trendy phrase, cook. To say like, oh, I'm cooking, like, we're cooking. And then the WNBA used it and it was like, let them cook. Did you see this? And so then there was a big uprising because people were like, we shouldn't be implying that women should be cooking in the kitchen. And then. But it was a misunderstanding. For people who didn't realize this is this new Slang. That means, like, doing something really well. If you say, like, let them cook, it means, like, let them play. They're awesome. So it's funny now, ever since that I'm like, now I wonder if the kids will stop saying cooking. And that happens to me, where I'll be like, oh, I'm cooking if I'm doing something well. And my kids are like, don't say that. You're too old to say that.

[B]

Yeah, but the funny thing is, that's not new slang. My dad used to say that in the 80s. That's. That's not new. Like, everything that's old is new. Like, I would bring home, like, good grades or something. Be like, you're cooking.

[A]

That's so true. Or we have the phrase, like, now you're cooking with grease. Right. And so they've just sort of adjusted it a little bit and adopted it and have decided that only kids can say it.

[B]

It's just like fashion, too. Like, right now, kids are wearing what we Wore in the 90s.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[B]

It all just kind of comes back.

[A]

It's so, so true. Right? It becomes trendy, it becomes super popular. They decide that only kids can use it, and then they reject it once everybody's using it.

[B]

I love it. So funny.

[A]

All right, well, let's use a couple examples here. Yeah.

[B]

We didn't have the ex.

[A]

For example, I might say that new burger spot downtown is Fire. You gotta try it just means it's amazing. It's really good.

[B]

Nice. I'm gonna start using this now. This track is Straight Fire. I've had it on repeat all day. Yes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

That's really good, right? A song that you really love. Oh, this is Fire. Or this is straight Fire.

[B]

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[A]

Okay, perfect. You want to start us out?

[B]

Yes. So where do you want to go for lunch?

[A]

There's a new Caribbean spot downtown. I heard it's fire. Someone told me the jerk chicken is next level.

[B]

Oh, I saw that place. It looked kind of sketchy.

[A]

It's not in the best area. True. But I'm not gonna sleep on a place that might have amazing food just because it's not fancy.

[B]

Okay, you convinced me. Let's go check it out. Yeah. Most of the time, the best food is not necessarily in the fanciest places. Right.

[A]

It's so true. My favorite Thai place is in this sketchy strip mall, like, downtown. But it's delicious. It's by far the best. Like, Penang curry in the valley.

[B]

There you go. It's worth it.

[A]

Totally worth it.

[B]

All right, so here we have. We dropped the fire, right? So we said, you know, where do you want to go for lunch? And you said, there's a new Caribbean spot downtown. I heard it's fire. And you probably have to punch that word a bit.

[A]

Right? Yeah. It would be strange to say, like, I heard it's fire. You do have to emphasize it.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Put some enthusiasm into it.

[A]

Right.

[B]

All right. What else, Aubrey?

[A]

And then I said, you know, this would be a good place for me to say, like, oh, don't sleep on that Caribbean place. Right. I'm saying I'm not going to sleep on a place just because it's in a bad area. Right. That means, like, I'm not going to overlook it. Underestimate it. I'm not going to miss out based on, you know, the area it's in.

[B]

Yes. I love it. Guys, go over and check out business English 441. This is the one where we mentioned sleeping on something. Right. How to buy time to make decisions at work.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Totally different episode, different skill, but equally important.

[A]

Yeah. It's fascinating that we would have two such very different meanings for this. Right. One, the sleep on it that we use, you know, in everyday conversations as well, but a lot at work to say to, like, really Seriously consider a decision is so different from the slang version. So you just have to know in context which someone means.

[B]

You got it. Aubry, what should be our takeaway today? Anything else?

[A]

Yeah, I think whether you use trendy new slang often depends on your personality. I think all these phrases that we're talking about today, anyone can use. I've started hearing them more in media all over the place. But. And you know, it depends on who you're with as well, the situation. Because these are all very informal words. Right. But in casual situations, try using this fun new slang.

[B]

Yes. Enforce the gen zers to invent something new.

[A]

Right.

[B]

That's. That's the idea, you know, have fun with slang. It belongs to all of us. Let's enjoy. And remember, the goal is connection. Right? So it's not about the words we use. It's about using those words to get to a moment of connection. All right.

[A]

And what a great way to connect. Right? To share what someone should not be missing out on. Whether that's a TV show, a restaurant, a movie. Right. And this is a fun way to say it. Don't sleep on it.

[B]

All right. Good stuff, Aubrey. See you soon. Have a good day. Awesome.

[A]

See you next time.

[B]

Bye bye. Thanks for listening. To all ears. English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com 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.

[A]

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[D]

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