AEE 2518: Fish and Company! English Phrases for Overstaying Your Welcome

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: All Ears English Episode 2518

“Fish and Company! English Phrases for Overstaying Your Welcome”

Host: Lindsay McMahon & Aubrey Carter
Date: November 24, 2025

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Lindsay and Aubrey tackle a delightfully awkward topic: how to talk about overstaying your welcome as a houseguest. They introduce three idiomatic American English expressions related to the theme, discuss cultural expectations about hospitality and guest duration, and share personal stories and role plays to showcase these phrases in context. The goal is to help English learners not just understand the language, but also the social customs and cues surrounding guests and hospitality in the US.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Stories: Overstaying Your Welcome

• Lindsay’s Campfire Episode

  • Lindsay recounts a mortifying experience where she and her partner unintentionally lingered too long at a friend’s house post-COVID, missing the subtle cues to leave.
    • “Sam, one of the other members of the other couple, was like, ‘OK, I’m going to go to bed now.’ And we realized what we had done, and we were just mortified.” (03:20)
  • Aubrey relates, mentioning parties where guests linger, and the hosts must escalate from subtle to obvious hints.
    • “There’s always someone that lingers, right?” (03:47 – Aubrey)

• Cultural Variations

  • The hosts note that guest duration varies worldwide, using Indian weddings as an example of longer gatherings, highlighting the importance of context and cultural cues.
    • “It could be cultural too, right? I mean, it could be that in different cultures, people stay longer.” (03:55 – Lindsay)

2. Community Connectors in All Ears English

• Aubrey explains the “Community Connector” role—students who engage actively and help build the podcast’s learner community.
• Listeners are encouraged to participate in the All Ears English courses to join this community.

3. Three Idioms for Overstaying Your Welcome

The episode’s core segment centers on three idiomatic expressions:

a. “Guests, like fish, stink after three days”

• Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, it highlights the idea that after three days, even the most delightful company can become unwelcome.
  • “It’s often shortened to just ‘Fish and Company’, or we’ll say, ‘You know what they say, Fish and Company...’” (07:00 – Aubrey)
• Often used after the fact, not directly to a guest.
  • “I wouldn’t recommend it for your friend when you guys were there a little too late at their home…It’d be a little rude to be like, ‘OK, Lindsay, Fish and Company!’” (08:16 – Aubrey)

b. “Don’t wear out your welcome”

• Means not to take advantage of someone’s hospitality or stay longer than is comfortable.
  • “This is also an idiom that means, just don’t stay too long. Don’t take advantage of someone’s hospitality.” (08:59 – Aubrey)
• Can be used reflexively when declining an invitation or recognizing a host’s subtle cues.
  • “You might push back and say, ‘I don’t want to wear out my welcome. Are you sure that’s OK?’” (09:27 – Lindsay)

c. “Company is like snow: The longer it stays, the more it’s in the way”

• Less common in the US, but similar in meaning to the first idiom.
• Used to discuss the gradual transition from welcome to inconvenience.
  • “It’s not as common in the States, but I kind of like it. It’s very similar to Fish and Company…” (10:23 – Aubrey)

Role play examples were interspersed to show how these might appear in natural conversation.

4. How to Communicate When Someone Has Overstayed

• Aubrey and Lindsay discuss the challenges of addressing an overstaying guest, balancing politeness and honesty.
• Strategies vary by relationship closeness—more direct with family, more subtle with acquaintances:
  • “If it’s your parents or a parent, you'd probably be more direct… If you really don't know them as well, I would probably start to be relatively direct as well if they're just not getting the hint.” (14:40 – Lindsay)

5. Language, Etiquette, and Cultural Curiosity

• The hosts reflect on how these expressions and the underlying attitude toward guests may be very culturally specific, and encourage listeners from around the world to share their customs via a poll or YouTube comment:
  • “I’m really curious, guys. Come back to YouTube, leave a comment. How long is appropriate for guests to stay when they’re visiting you?” (11:57 – Aubrey)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Lindsay’s confession:
  • “So, yes, we overstayed our welcome.” (03:23)
• Social signals during gatherings:
  • “You have to start the subtle clues at first and then more obvious.” (03:49 – Aubrey)
• Using idioms with nuance:
  • “It’s playful, it’s lighthearted… It’s not as harsh as it sounds when we say it.” (07:31 – Aubrey, about ‘Fish and Company’)
• On ‘Don’t wear out your welcome’:
  • “You might push back and say, ‘I don’t want to wear out my welcome. Are you sure that’s OK?’” (09:27 – Lindsay)
• Cultural speculation:
  • “This might just be kind of an American or Western mentality.” (12:16 – Lindsay)

---

Key Timestamps

• 02:28–03:35 – Lindsay describes personally overstaying as a guest, and the hosts discuss missing social cues.
• 05:09–08:16 – Introduction and deep dive into Idiom #1: “Guests, like fish, stink after three days.”
• 08:51–09:59 – Discussion and usage of Idiom #2: “Don’t wear out your welcome.”
• 10:08–10:46 – Introduction to Idiom #3: “Company is like snow: The longer it stays, the more it’s in the way.”
• 11:27–11:41 – Role play using idioms in natural conversation.
• 14:12–15:14 – How to tell someone they’ve overstayed; discussing directness vs. subtlety.
• 15:14–16:19 – Role play: Lindsay directly uses “fish and company” with Aubrey, illustrating when directness happens among close friends.
• 17:00–17:30 – Reflection on how these idioms help lighten awkward situations and invite cross-cultural conversation.

---

Conclusion

Lindsay and Aubrey use humor, personal anecdotes, and practical language examples to demystify American expectations about houseguests and how to talk about them. They emphasize that while these idioms can lighten awkward situations, cultural norms can vary greatly, and encourage their international audience to share their own experiences. The episode models both language use and intercultural sensitivity, underscoring the show's motto: Connection, not perfection!

---

Follow-up

Listeners are invited to contribute their perspectives via YouTube comments and a Spotify poll:

• “How long is it appropriate for guests to stay in your culture?”

---

End of Summary

Transcript

[A]

This is an Allers English podcast episode 2518 Fish & Co. English phrases for overstaying your welcome.

[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 don't wear out your welcome. If you're visiting someone's home in the us, There's a very specific amount of time that you should not exceed. Find out what it is and how to talk about this tricky subject in English today.

[A]

This Black Friday. Stop piecing together random TikToks and YouTube videos that don't lead anywhere. Join our 2026 English Mastery Bundle, a complete 9 to 12 month curriculum designed for goal oriented learners like you. You'll follow a clear, structured path from intermediate to high intermediate and even to advanced fluency with every course flowing naturally into the next. No gaps, no guesswork, no searching for extra resources. Plus you'll get live speaking practice, community and teacher support. It's a done for you. Plan everything you need in one place, all unlocked with a single one time investment. This Black Friday only Build your English for the long term. Start today. Go to allersenglish.com Black Friday to save 50% off the normal price. Expires at midnight on Friday. Allersenglish.com B L A C K F R I D A Y.

[B]

Hello Aubry, how are you today? How's it going?

[A]

I am excellent. Lindsay, I have a question for you to start us out.

[B]

Yes?

[A]

Have you ever had someone visit who overstayed their welcome?

[B]

Well, I do actually. It was me. It was us. So I have a story.

[A]

Visited someone else and overstayed your welcome?

[B]

Well, so a different kind of overstaying welcome. So when I think of your question, I think of like days at a time that you're staying with someone, but this actually happened just an evening at a friend's house. So my partner and I were at another couple's house. We were sitting around their campfire and it was kind of just after Covid, so I think our social skills were a little weak. We're like not a little rusty and we missed some of the signals that it was time to go. Like it was getting late, it was like a Thursday night or something. We missed some of the Signals. Until finally, Sam, one of the. One of the other members of the other couple was like, okay, I'm gonna go to bed now. And we realized what we had done, and we were just mortified.

[A]

They're like, you can story, but I'm going to bed.

[B]

Yeah, pretty bad. So funny. It was like all the social skills had kind of gone, you know, after Covid. So, yes, we overstayed our welcome.

[A]

Well, you're not alone. This has happened. I've had people overstay. Add up that that happens more often. That'll be like a party, a get together. I'm like, yeah, I wish that I were at someone else's house so I could go. But it's at my house, there's always.

[B]

Someone that lingers, right?

[A]

Yes, that happens for sure. You have to start the subtle clues at first and then more obvious.

[B]

Yeah, you really got to look for those clues. And. And it could be cultural too, right? I mean, it could be that in different cultures, people stay longer. I mean, I know weddings in India last like, like seven days, right? So there may be an expectation in different cultures that people will stay longer at parties.

[A]

That's such a good point.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And the social cues will be different. That's going to be interesting to figure out. How long can I stay if I'm a guest in someone's house or at a party is going to be different depending on where you are. But this came up in a recent chat I had with one of our amazing students, Jorge, when I met with him during his community connector chat. He is one of the community connectors in our community, and he was staying with family in California and felt that he had overstayed his welcome. And he was like, how can I say that? What are expressions in English for saying that? And I immediately said, this is going to be a great episode for allers English.

[B]

Oh, it's so good. This is a fantastic episode. I'm super excited. So in today's episode, we're actually going to share three expressions for this, right? Three expressions where we're essentially saying you shouldn't overstay your welcome kind of idioms or well known sayings in our culture. Exactly.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

These expressions we use to talk about it because this is a great way to connect, like the story you just shared, Lindsay. If you accidentally do this to chat about it, it's a fun thing to connect about.

[B]

Yeah, this is great. But first, what is a community connector? You said Jorge was our community connector last month or a few months ago. What is a community connector?

[A]

This is awesome. So in the Allers English community, anyone who signs up for any of our courses joins the Allers English community. And we have community connectors who are especially good at building community where they're commenting on others posts, they're hosting student led conversation, speaking practice at times that are convenient around the world. And we give them a shout out for building community. We have like a 15 minute chat with them. There's a certificate, we give them shout outs at open conversation club and fluency parties. We are grateful for all of our community connectors. So all of you out there, thank you for all that you have done to build community at Allers English.

[B]

And we do have a vibrant community that has really grown and become quite robust over the last couple of years. But the way to actually be included in this community, to be invited to the live speaking events, to be inside the special website we have just for is it's just for students. So you do need to be inside a course at Allers English. So Aubrey, where can our listeners find our courses?

[A]

Yes, go to our website, allersenglish.com and then you can see all of our courses in the drop down says courses along the top and see which course would be the best fit for you and then you'll immediately join our amazing community. We'd love to have you there.

[B]

Yeah, it's such a cool benefit of studying with Allers English. You know, most schools you just get the class, you get the content, the material, the curriculum. But with us, you get the curriculum and you get the community. Right?

[A]

Yes. Huge bonus. Absolutely. So let's dive in with these three expressions. This first one is funny. It is guests like fish stink after three days. This is actually attributed to Benjamin Franklin I saw online. But what's interesting is it's often shortened to either just Fish and Company or we'll say like, you know what they say? Fish and Company. And then we know what's implied. They, they both stink after three days.

[B]

Yeah, it's so true. It seems harsh, but it's just a saying. It's just an expression.

[A]

Right, exactly right. It's not as harsh as it sounds when we say it. It's. It's playful, it's light hearted. Right.

[B]

It's fun. Let's do a little role play and see how it gets into action here. So you had good friends visiting from out of town, Right. How did that go?

[A]

Good, but they stayed for two weeks.

[B]

Oh, Fish and Company.

[A]

Yeah. You're telling me that's too long.

[B]

I agree. And I think three days is Just about right. Anytime. Because we have a guest room, and anytime we have, like, you know, an aunt or an uncle come or a friend, it's like three days, three nights. Just about right. It's true.

[A]

Right after that, you kind of need to get back into your regular routine. But it's interesting, this phrase. I. I wouldn't recommend it for, like, your friend when you guys were there a little too late at their home.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It be a little rude to be like, okay, Lindsay, Fish and Company. Right. That's not really how we use it. It's more like later when you're sharing that story, like, I accidentally stayed too long. Fish and Company.

[B]

Yeah. You don't say it to the person that is overstaying their welcome. Yeah. You. There. There's other things. There could be another episode we might have to do.

[A]

That'd be a little harsh.

[B]

You do need important emergency phrases in that moment to figure out what to do. Right. But it's not bad.

[A]

It's probably just like, what your friend said, like, well, I'm gonna head to.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

That's a good one.

[B]

Exactly. Okay, then, number two, very common phrase, don't wear out your welcome. So tell us about this one. Aubry.

[A]

Yeah. This is also an idiom that means, just don't stay too long. Don't take advantage of someone's hospitality. We use this phrasal verb, wear out. We actually recently did an episode about this phrasal verb, wear out, which also sort of inspired talking about this idiom, wearing out your welcome.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And this can be for either, like we said, guests that have stayed for several days or being at a party a little longer than the hosts want you to be. You've worn out your welcome.

[B]

Yep. And we also say this to refer to ourselves. You'll say something like, oh, I don't want to wear out my welcome. Let's say they invite you to stay an additional night, and that would exempt this whole situation, like, they want you to stay longer. You might push back and say, I don't want to wear out my welcome. Are you sure that's okay? Right?

[A]

Yeah, good point. Or sometimes we'll recognize that it's sort of a courtesy invite. Like, in order to not be rude, someone's inviting you to stay longer, but you are picking up the social clues. You feel like it might be a courtesy invite. You might say, oh, thank you so much, but I don't want to wear out my welcome.

[B]

Yep. So you decline. So we have to pay really close attention to the social cues.

[A]

It's Huge.

[B]

So important. What's number three?

[A]

Third one is one I found online that I'm curious if this is common for you. I didn't hear this as much growing up in Idaho that people say company is like snow. The longer it stays, the more it's in the way.

[B]

Yeah, I, I, yeah, I don't think I've really heard it before, actually.

[A]

So I'm really curious if this is more common in other English speaking countries. It's not as common in the States, but I kind of like it. It's very similar to Fish and Company. But this is really true about snow, that it's so beautiful when it first lands and it's so pretty and white and then after a couple of days it's like muddy and annoying or it's slick on the roads and you just want it to be gone.

[B]

That's what I love about Colorado. It melts in 24 hours. It's so great.

[A]

That's ideal.

[B]

Yeah, it's ideal. I'm sure that probably in Idaho when you were growing up, was that the case? You probably got a lot of sunshine.

[A]

It was terrible. It stayed. And often they wouldn't plow the roads well enough so that it would pack on the roads and they would become so slick. I was always sliding off the road in the ditch.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. Scary. Yeah.

[A]

It's bad or it will, it'll turn into like black ice if there's just enough water on the road and then it melts a little and then freezes.

[B]

So. Yeah. Yep. We had a lot of black guys in New England. That was a big thing there too. So anyways, yeah, companies like snow. So let's go into a role play then. Let's take a look.

[A]

All right.

[B]

All right. We're staying with my in laws next month for a while.

[A]

Oh, yeah? How long?

[B]

Not sure yet. Maybe a week.

[A]

Well, be careful not to wear out your welcome. Company is like snow. The longer it stays, the more it's in the way.

[B]

It's also interesting too, because I feel like, honestly, I don't know. I, I'm from the US so I kind of know my own culture. But I have a feeling this, this mentality, this feeling might not be true across all cultures either. Do you know what I mean?

[A]

Yeah, I want to know. I'm really curious, guys. Come back to YouTube. Leave a comment. How long is appropriate for guests to stay when they're visiting you? I would say in the States, about three days. And that's probably why we have this fishing company. They usually Say three days.

[B]

It really is.

[A]

Yeah. I'm curious what that's like in other cultures.

[B]

Yeah, that might just be kind of an American or Western mentality. We're gonna have to put a poll up around this question.

[A]

Yes, Aubrey, this is our Spotify poll, too. So come back to Spotify and let us know how long is it appropriate for guests to stay.

[B]

Super interesting. Yeah. All right, we'll take a quick break, and then we'll be right back.

[C]

My family lives hours away from me. But with Aura Frames, we stay connected. It is the best gift you can give someone. To be honest, I take so many pictures of my kids that I frequently run out of storage. They are always doing something silly, cute, or funny. Like for Halloween, my son was an inflatable kid being picked up by an alien, and my daughter was a box of donuts. We had so much fun that night, and I took a ton of pictures. It was a memory I wanted to share with their grandparents and aunts and uncles. I generally use my phone, but this way they get it straight to a frame for a wonderful surprise and a big version of a picture. You can preload photos before the gift ships, and you can keep adding them from anywhere, anytime. Every frame comes packaged in a premium gift box with no price tag. Perfect for the holidays. You can't wrap togetherness, but you can frame it for a limited time. Visit auraframes.com and get $45 off Aura's best selling Carver Matte frames named number one by Wirecutter by using promo code AEE at checkout. That's a u r a frames. Com promo code AEE. This exclusive black Friday Cyber Monday deal is their best of the year, so order now before it ends. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply.

[B]

All right, Aubry. So if a friend or family member stays too long, how can you tell them? Right.

[A]

Yeah. This is interesting because it could potentially hurt the connection. I love how your friend was, like, very subtle, polite, just like, well, I think I'm gonna head to bed. But if people are staying, let's say someone has stayed with you a week, two weeks, and they're clearly not leaving. What do you think, Lindsay? What would you say? It would be different, depending if it's immediate family that you're very comfortable with.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Or friends that you don't know quite as well.

[B]

Right. Like, if it's. If it's your parents or a parent, you just would probably be more direct with them. Right. But if you really don't know as well I would probably start to be relatively direct as well. If they're just not getting the hint.

[A]

You might just say, hey, start saying why. Like, give specifics about what the inconvenience is politely, but share like. We've got a lot going on this week, so it's tricky. I think we should do a follow up with phrases that you could use to politely let someone know that they've overstayed their welcome. What do you think?

[B]

Yeah, I agree. I. Yeah, let's do it. This is really interesting, but for today, we have a role play to finish up the episode. And in this role play, Aubry, you have been staying with. With me. With me, your friend Lindsay, after flooding happened at your apartment. Okay.

[A]

All right, let's do it.

[B]

Yeah. All right. So how's the apartment cleanup going? Any update from your landlord?

[A]

Not yet. They're saying it might take a few more days. Mind if I crash here just a little longer?

[B]

You know I love having you here, but as they say, guests, like fish stink after three days. Oh, I'm saying it directly to you.

[A]

We just said not to do it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Wow. Okay. Tell me how you really feel. I get it, though. I know I've been bit underfoot. I'll see if I can stay with Megan for a few days.

[B]

Oh, yeah, good idea. You're always welcome. Just preferably in short doses. Okay. There's some sarcasm happening here. We must be really close friends.

[A]

Like, definitely. We're clearly close friends. Talking like we're sisters. I would say this to my sister. I have a couple of really close friends that I probably would be this direct. Funny would be like laughing, right?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

But this, it would be not everyone. Could you say this too?

[B]

Yeah. So we know that we've just contradicted our advice of don't say these directly to the person. But again, because in this role play, you're supposed to be very close. In that case, you do have an exemption there, right?

[A]

Yes. And if it's not someone you're extremely close with, you would need to be more subtle. Would be tricky, what you said. So definitely hit follow. We'll do a followup with the phrases that you could use to do this in a polite way.

[B]

Yeah. So anything we want to highlight here, Aubrey?

[A]

Yeah. I think today's phrases are great for lightening what could be a really awkward situation or just connecting about this happening to you. Like you said, Lindsay, I'm sure you've told that story to people. Yeah. This is a fun thing to connect about. We've all been there.

[B]

Yeah, we tell stories where we've been that person or we've had that person staying with us. It is a social connection topic for good conversation and it's a human thing. And I'm also really interested to hear what our listeners say in the poll. Yeah, like how cultural is this? I have a feeling it's quite cultural. I have a feeling that the amount of time is different depending on the culture.

[A]

Yes, I agree. Yeah, that would be really interesting. So let us know. You can answer the poll or come back to YouTube. Let us know where you're from and what this is like, where you live.

[B]

Really good stuff. Aubry. We'll see you very soon. Have a good day.

[A]

Awesome. See you next time. Bye 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. And Doug, here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us. Cut the camera. They see us.

[A]

Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty.

[B]

Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Fairy Underwritten by.

[A]

Liberty Mutual Insurance Company Affiliates.

[B]

Excludes Massachusetts.

[D]

Men need a store that has the right thing for their thing. Like a Kenneth Cole suit made with Showflex fabric to keep them cool at their cousin in law's third wedding in the middle of July. Whatever the thing, Men's Wearhouse has the clothes for it. Love the way you look. Men's Wearhouse.