AEE 2556: Don’t Blow Off Phrasal Verbs!

Summary

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All Ears English Podcast

Episode 2556: Don’t Blow Off Phrasal Verbs!

Air Date: January 28, 2026
Hosts: Lindsay McMahon & Aubrey Carter

Episode Overview

In this intermediate-to-advanced ESL episode, Lindsay and Aubrey continue their three-part series exploring phrasal verbs that use the verb "blow." They introduce and break down three more "blow" phrasal verbs—blow over, blow away, and blow off—explaining their meanings, usages in both literal and idiomatic contexts, and how they help bring down the wall of formality to create more connection in conversations. The episode includes explanations, casual anecdotes, and a role play to illustrate the dynamic ways these verbs appear in real English. The guiding principle: using everyday phrasal verbs is a key to sounding natural and building genuine connections in English, rather than just aiming for perfection.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Why Phrasal Verbs Matter

• Using phrasal verbs makes English sound casual, friendly, and less formal—essential for true conversational fluency.
• “We intentionally use the phrasal verbs to pull down that wall of formality, to be more personable with them.” (Aubrey, 15:01)

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Phrasal Verb #1: Blow Over

Definition: To pass without serious consequences; to subside.

• Literal use: Often used for storms or bad weather.
  • “The storm blew over. I think the storm’s going to blow over.” (Aubrey, 04:12)
• Figurative/idiomatic use: Describes arguments, scandals, or controversies dissipating with time.
  • “Don’t worry, the argument will blow over soon.” (Lindsay, 04:32)
• Commentary on today’s fast news cycles:
  • "These days there's always a scandal... Many of them just kind of blow over after a few days because of the news cycle, the 24-hour news cycle." (Lindsay, 04:59-05:10)

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Phrasal Verb #2: Blow Away

Definitions:

• To impress greatly.
  • “Her performance blew me away.” (Aubrey, 05:25)
• To be physically carried away by wind.
  • “Papers were blown away by the wind.” (Lindsay/Aubrey, 05:51)
• To soundly defeat someone in competition.
  • “Our team blew them away in the finals. Maybe the score was like 60 to—That’s when you’ll say we blew them away.” (Aubrey, 06:40)

Anecdotes:

• Aubrey shared stories of living in windy Idaho, highlighting literal “blow away” moments with both people and papers.
  • “The wind is so strong where I live in Idaho... You’d step outside and be like, physically pushing...” (Aubrey, 05:51)
• Discussion of seeing “crazy” winds up to 100 mph in Colorado.
  • “Parts of Colorado get really windy too... It was crazy.” (Lindsay, 06:11)

Related Phrases:

• Hosts joke about creating more episodes on other ways to say “soundly defeat,” such as “crushed,” “clean up,” etc. (06:54-07:07)

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Phrasal Verb #3: Blow Off

Definitions:

• To ignore or intentionally skip something.
  • “He blew off the meeting to go golfing." (Aubrey, 07:18)
  • “It’s never when you can’t go. It’s when you don’t want to go.” (Lindsay, 07:32)
• To release energy or stress (commonly said as “blow off steam”).
  • “I like to run to blow off steam. Sometimes I’ll do a bike ride to blow off steam or go for a walk, play sports...” (Aubrey, 08:03)
• Cultural touchstone: “playing hooky” or the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
  • “Ferris Bueller’s Day. Right? He blew off school.” (Aubrey, 07:47)

Host banter on running as stress relief:

• “I know how good it is for you, but I just really hate it.” (Lindsay, 08:15)
• “All my friends who are like marathon runners ... are like having surgery now. So, a little running is good for you, but not too much.” (Lindsay, 08:15)

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Role Play Demonstration

[10:20-13:58]

• Scenario: Friends (Aubrey and Lindsay) chatting on an outdoor patio, using all three phrasal verbs naturally in context:

  1. Blow over – “I think it’ll blow over in a day or two.” (Lindsay, 10:31)
  2. Blow away – “That gust of wind almost blew your papers away.” (Lindsay, 10:39)
  3. Sports – “Our team blew them away; it wasn’t even close.” (Lindsay, 10:49)
  4. Expressing being impressed – “I was absolutely blown away by the final goal.” (Aubrey, 10:52)
  5. Skipping meetings – “Yeah, I kind of blew it off. I needed a break.” (Aubrey, 11:01)
  6. Releasing stress – “Sometimes you just need to blow off steam.” (Lindsay, 11:03)
  7. Method of stress relief – "I went for a long run and felt way better afterward." (Aubrey, 11:08)

• Debrief:

  • They note it’s unlikely you’d use this many “blow” phrasal verbs in one real conversation—unless you’re deliberately joking about it. (Aubrey, 14:11–14:21)
  • Chit-chat about outdoor dining weather quirks in Arizona and New England, including patio heaters and water misters. (Lindsay & Aubrey, 11:17–12:18)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Casual expressions like this, phrasal verbs that are just colloquial, they’re everyday, are the seeds of connection.” (Lindsay, 14:49)
• “We intentionally use the phrasal verbs to pull down that wall of formality to be more personable with them.” (Aubrey, 15:01)
• “If we use there are other verbs that mean all of these things, but it would be a little more formal of a conversation.” (Aubrey, 15:01)

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Key Timestamps

• 02:29 — Introduction to today’s three “blow” phrasal verbs and episode structure
• 04:12 — “Blow over” introduction & examples (literal & figurative)
• 05:25 — “Blow away”: being impressed, wind, and defeating in competition
• 07:18 — “Blow off” (to skip; to blow off steam)
• 10:20-13:58 — Role play using all three phrasal verbs in context
• 14:49 — Takeaway: Why phrasal verbs are essential for connection, not just vocabulary
• 15:01 — The idea of “pulling down the wall of formality” with phrasal verbs

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Actionable Takeaways

• Write these three phrasal verbs down and make a conscious effort to use them in everyday conversations to sound more natural and personable.
• Notice when native speakers switch to phrasal verbs—they’re often signaling comfort and friendliness.
• Use comments and reviews on platforms like Spotify or YouTube to ask the hosts language questions or to share your English experiences.

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Suggested Next Steps

• Listen to Episode 2552 for part one of this series, focusing on confusing past tense verbs in English.
• Subscribe and follow All Ears English, so you don’t miss the upcoming part three on more “blow” phrasal verbs.

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Connection, not perfection! Use these phrasal verbs to connect more deeply and express yourself like a native speaker.

Transcript

[A]

This is an All Ears English podcast. Episode 25:56 don't blow off Phrasal Verbs.

[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 this part two of our three part series, get three more phrasal verbs that start with the word blow and find out how they bring down the wall. Formality for more connection. You already speak English, but does it sound the way you want it to? Do you understand conversations but hesitate when it's time to jump in? Do you know what to say, but the words don't come out naturally? Do fast conversations still make you feel a little unsure of yourself? If that sounds familiar, you may be stuck. This year it's time to upgrade your English from good enough to powerful. The Allers English B2C1 bundle helps you speak clearly, confidently and naturally in real conversations. Plus, you'll be invited to our weekly speaking club to put what you learn into action. You can save up to $200 this week only, but the offer ends soon. Go to allearsenglish.com b2c1 that's allearsenglish.com b number 2c number 1.

[A]

Hey, Lindsay. How's it going?

[B]

Hey. It's going pretty well, Aubry. I'm getting ready for the weekend, so. All good? All good. What about you? How are things?

[A]

There's anything this weekend that you're going to that's just gonna blow you away?

[B]

Oh, I don't think so. I'm not sure what's on tap for this weekend. Nothing major. I really want to watch the movie Father of the Bride again. I was talking to my friend.

[A]

You're like, that's a rewatch. Though it might not blow me.

[B]

That's movie.

[A]

It's a good one.

[B]

Yeah. What are we talking about on the show today?

[A]

Yeah, this is part two of a three part series. You can definitely listen out of order. So stay to the end. We'll give you details if you missed part one. Many of the verbs and phrasal verbs with below have multiple meanings. We talk, talked about, blow dried and a few others that were especially tricky in past tense. And today we're going to cover three more of these, each of which Has a few different meanings.

[B]

Amazing. This must be one of the most common base verbs in the English language.

[A]

Yeah, it seems that way, right? So many different meanings. And then three more in part three. So definitely hit follow so that you don't miss that one when it comes out.

[B]

I love it. But before we get into it, I want to call out some of our amazing listeners over on Spotify for leaving us incredible reviews. And thank you so much, guys. We do read these and we appreciate them so much. They keep us going. Thank you to Rosa Magia. Thank you so much. Thank you to Bernardo Mariano Mon Berna, Gabrielle Alvarez G Rays. Thank you to Jesus Medina, Cesar Go Chronica Criminal and Leah Ferney. Great reviews over here. Students have asked their questions. Guys, you can ask your question in your Spotify comment. That's a great way to make sure your voice gets heard, gets over to us and we answer your question on the show. Okay?

[A]

Yes. Thank you for all of those comments. I love reading those. It's often just like the show is amazing and it gives me a little pickme up.

[B]

I love it. It really does. We work hard for this show. So guys, keep us motivated. Let us know what you think. And while you're over there on Spotify or Apple or maybe YouTube, hit follow, hit subscribe so you don't miss a single update from us. Okay?

[A]

Yes. Awesome. All right, let's dive in with these fun phrasal verbs.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So the first one is blow over, which means to pass without serious consequences. We'll often say this about a storm. The storm blew over. I think the storm's going to blow over means it's going to pass us without being like extreme or terrible.

[B]

Yeah. So that's kind of the physical, the literal use of that phrase. But then we also use it for situations that you hope will pass. Like, don't worry, the argument will blow over soon. Right?

[A]

Exactly. Like it's going, we're going to get past it and you're thinking it's not going to explode first. Like it's going to blow over. Right. Or the controversy blew over after a few days, kind of petered out is another way we'll say that. Like it's going to become less serious. We'll be past it.

[B]

Yeah. I feel like these days there's always a scandal. It's like every week there's a new scandal and a new news story and usually many of them just kind of blow over after a few days. Because the news cycle, the 24 hour.

[A]

News cycle, something else comes up. Exactly.

[B]

I Know the CNN loop. Right. So blow over. Really common blow away. And this is the one you me at the beginning. Right. To be impressed by something. Right.

[A]

Like her performance blew me away. Maybe you go to an impressive opera, Broadway show, something like that, a great film, say like Wicked. I was blown away by the performances in Wicked. But then of course, has two other meanings.

[B]

Yeah, Literal meanings. I mean, you grew up in Idaho. There's some really strong wind in Idaho. Right? Aubrey, have you ever been like, as. Did you ever have, like, papers blown.

[A]

Away or physically blown away by the wind? The wind is so strong where I live in Idaho, especially in the winter that you'd step outside and be like, physically pushing and. Yeah. Or like, yeah, the papers were blown away by the wind. This is very common. The wind's just throwing everything over. You can't ever schedule anything for outside where I live.

[B]

Wow, that's wild. Oh, my gosh. Parts of Colorado get really windy too. I was seeing something in the news the other night. One town, I think, in southwestern Colorado got up to 100 mile an hour winds. It was crazy.

[A]

That is so crazy. Like you can. Can't really even stand up outside when it's 100 miles.

[B]

No, the cows fly away. I mean, it's crazy.

[A]

It's like tornado wins. Oh, man.

[B]

Then if we think about competitiveness and y' all competing, how does this play into being defeated?

[A]

Yes. A blow away also means to defeat easily or like soundly by a lot. So you could say our team blew them away in the finals. Maybe the score was like 60 to. That's when you'll say we blew them away.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. That's clearly a win. And there are other. I mean, we could do a whole other episode on Allers English about how to say you really crush someone. Right.

[A]

Yeah. There are a lot of ways to say that. You need all of the words for, like the sports headlines.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Lots of ways to say that.

[B]

Clean up. Right. There's a lot of things we could say. So that'll come another day. Guys, make sure you're following the show, but for today, our third phrasal verb with blow is blow off. What does this mean? Aubry.

[A]

Yeah. So first to ignore or skip something, you know, he blew off the meeting. To go golfing would mean he just decided not to go and not because he was sick and couldn't go. Like to intentionally not go, you blow it off.

[B]

It's never. It's never when you can't go. It's when you don't want to go. Right. It's not like, like you said, not when you're sick or physically can't go into work or something. Right?

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You're playing hooky. Exactly.

[B]

Like Ferris Bueller's Day. Right?

[A]

He blew off school. Exactly.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then we could also say release energy or stress. I mean to. I like to run to blow off steam. Aubry, what do you like to do? To blow off steam. If you want to release wish.

[A]

I like to run to blow off steam. Sometimes I'll do a bike ride to blow off steam or go for a walk, play sports. But yeah, running. I've always wanted to get into running. I know how good it is for you, but I just really hate it.

[B]

Yeah, it's good for you. But then all my friends who are like marathon runners in their 40s and 50s, they all have bad knees are like having surgery now. So, like a little running is good for you, but not too much.

[A]

Not too much. Right. We don't want the knee issues that come with it. It's true.

[B]

It's true. Okay, so Aubrey, we're going to take a quick break and then we'll come back and do a role play. All right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

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[A]

It does sound wonderful. Except it might be a little windy, so that I could use one of these.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right. I'll start us out. Oh, yesterday was a mess. I got into an argument with my manager.

[B]

Yeah, I heard. Honestly, I think it'll blow over in a day or two. Stuff like that usually does.

[A]

I hope so. I don't want it turning into a big thing.

[B]

Whoa. That gust of wind almost blew your papers away. Should we move inside? No.

[A]

It's so nice out here. I'll put them in my bag. By the way, did you watch the game last night?

[B]

Yes. Our team blew them away. It wasn't even close.

[A]

Totally. And that final goal, I was absolutely blown away. I did not see it coming.

[B]

Oh, wait. I just realized. Didn't you have a meeting this morning?

[A]

Yeah, I kind of blew it off. I needed a break.

[B]

Honestly, I get it. After a week like that, sometimes you just need to blow off steam.

[A]

Exactly. I went for a long run and felt way better afterward. This is how you know it's not me in this role play.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You probably wouldn't do that.

[A]

It's true.

[B]

I love this scenario. Do you ever get in a scenario where it's, like, early spring, Spring, and you're just hoping it's nice enough to sit outside, but it's really not? Maybe in Arizona, it's just nice enough all the time.

[A]

But in New England, there are definitely days where you'll sit on the patio, and then it's still too hot. The sun is. Or sometimes it's a little chilly. And if they don't have, like, patio heaters. So sometimes it seems like it would be nice enough, and then it's just a little too cold or a little too hot?

[B]

Yeah. That was definitely a hallmark of life in New England. We would try to go out and sit outside in April or May, and then it'd be sunny. We'd be like, this will be great. We can eat outside first time of the year. And then. Then the wind starts, and then the cold starts, and then we sort of make eye contact. We're like, oh, we're still lying to ourselves. It's not that great, but we're gonna grit our teeth. True.

[A]

Often with us, with the heat, the cafes here will have. Or any restaurant has misters on the patio. So they're like misting water to make it cooler. But then often you'll see it's too hot. Nobody's on the patio. But the misters are going, I'm like, what a waste of water.

[B]

Shooting all this water out.

[A]

No one's sitting out there.

[B]

Wow. Yeah, we don't really have those as much in Colorado. That's interesting. So it's really, really hot climate in Arizona. Yeah. Wow.

[A]

Let's go through this. We used all of them here. You first started with, I think it'll blow over. I'm talking about an argument I had, and you're kind of helping reassure me that you don't think it's going to be a big problem. Like everyone's going to get past it in a couple of days.

[B]

Exactly. Get past it. It's going to move on. We're going to forget about it. We're going to move on. It's going to pass. Right. And then I said, whoa, that gust of wind almost blew your papers away. So your papers almost physically, you know, launched.

[A]

Blown off the table. Exactly. So then I'm like, I'll just put him in my bag here. And then we start talking about sports. You're saying saying our team blew them away. That means the score was not close. We won by a landslide.

[B]

Yep, exactly. And then you said, totally. And that final goal, I was absolutely blown away. So you were shocked. Right.

[A]

It must have been something big, like a Hail Mary or soccer, like the bicycle kick or like something really impressive.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Something really good. Or in tennis, they call it the pesci, where you hit between your legs and like, I've seen a passing shot like that before, like win a match. It's wild.

[A]

That's awesome.

[B]

It's always.

[A]

Especially when it's like a game winning shot.

[B]

So cool. It's so cool. Yeah. And then you said, didn't you have a meeting this morning? And you said, yeah, I kind of blew it off. Right. I needed a break. Right. So you just kind of no. Showed.

[A]

Yeah. And I might have let them know, but maybe I lied and said I was sick or. Right. I intentionally didn't go when I could have. I blew it off.

[B]

Off. Yep. And then what did you say? That was the last thing you said.

[A]

And then we're saying after a week like that, sometimes you need to blow off steam.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And then I say, yes, I went for a run to blow off steam. That's often if you're stressed or there's too much going on or if you're upset, we'll say we blow off steam. It's just anything you do to get all of those emotions out.

[B]

Love it. So as you guys know, probably unlikely we'd use blow so many times in a little conversation, or we would at.

[A]

Least mention it at the end. One of them would be like, did we just say blow like, yeah, 14 times.

[B]

We make a joke of it, which we still need to do an episode on that. Right? Making it like all of a sudden you're somehow repeating each other or repeating a theme, and then you make a joke about that. The fact that you're doing that. Great episode idea for another day. Aubry, where can our listeners go now?

[A]

Yeah, so go check out part one. If you missed it, that was episode 2552, how to master confusing past tense verbs in English. So don't miss that. And then hit follow so that you don't miss part three.

[B]

Yeah. And for the takeaway today, guys, I mean, casual, you know, expressions like this, phrasal verbs that are just colloquial, they're every day, are the seeds of connection. Right, Aubry? I mean, this is where it comes from, right?

[A]

Yes. If we use there are other verbs that mean all of these things, but it would be a little more formal of a conversation. We intentionally use the phrasal verbs to pull down that wall of formality to be more personable with them. And we're much more likely to use phrasal verbs in a conversation like that.

[B]

Yeah, I love the way you put that. Pull down the wall of formality. We've mentioned that a few times on the show, but this is how you get connected to someone. Okay? So write these down, use these as much as you can and let us know how it goes. All right?

[A]

Awesome. Yes, let us know in Spotify or on YouTube. Thanks again for the reviews and the comments. We love them.

[B]

All right, talk soon, Aubry. Bye.

[A]

Awesome. Thanks. Bye.

[B]

Thanks for listening. To all ears. English. Would you like to know your English? 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.