
Learn the phrase like a hawk and more like it
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Michelle Kaplan
This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2562. We're watching your English like a hawk.
Podcast Announcer
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 hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, coming to you.
Lindsay McMahon
From Colorado and New York City, usa.
Podcast Announcer
And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com subscribe what are the things that you watch closely in life? Your young children, your dog, maybe even job opportunities in your field today? Find out how to say that you pay close attention to something or someone in English.
Narrator/Host
Picture this. You're part of the conversation. Someone jumps in with a fast comment. Everyone reacts, but you're left behind, still processing the words. It's not that you don't understand English. It's that real conversations don't slow, slow down for you. Slang, speed, tone, it all stacks up fast. The good news, these are trainable skills. If you know your English level and what to do to move up, start by taking our free two minute fluency quiz to find out exactly what your level is. Now go to allearsenglish.com fluencyscore that's allearsenglish.com Flutency S C O R E Foreign.
Lindsay McMahon
Hello, Michelle. How's it going today? Great to see you on the microphone.
Michelle Kaplan
You too, Lindsay. I'm happy to be recording with you again. Yeah. But, yeah, everything is good over here, guys. Lindsay and I were both away and now we are coming back to the mic refreshed and ready for all that's to come this year.
Lindsay McMahon
Exactly. It's going to be a great year in 2026. So, Michelle, what are we getting into on the podcast today for our listeners?
Michelle Kaplan
Okay, so I have a question. Do you ever have to watch Kiefer like a hawk?
Lindsay McMahon
Sometimes I do because he does this thing where, you know when you take your dog for a walk, certain people's lawns have pesticides applied and he likes the taste of the pesticides.
Michelle Kaplan
Oh, delicious.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, really nice. So he'll, like, if I don't watch him really closely, he'll lick the grass and then I'll. He'll like, shake. It's really bad. I'm like, are you getting brain damage? Like, what is happening? So it's really bad. And then I'm like, oh, my gosh, is he gonna die? Like, what's happening? And then he's fine. After that. But I have to watch him like a hawk when he's got his nose down. So he's not eating pesticides.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. Well, that's good. Yeah, yeah, that's definitely important. So I, Yeah. What about, how is Kiefer with kids? Like, if a, if a kid is to come up to him, are you like, are you confident? Like how do you.
Lindsay McMahon
Usually good. Usually good because he has his cousins, my in laws kids, but he, you know, sometimes he thinks a kid is a dog so he'll like start to play and try to play with and, and I'll have to pull him back and I have to be careful there. Right? Yeah, yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
I feel like that's a little bit stressful because it's.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
And parents probably get nervous sometimes with dogs around. But today we are going to talk about this fun and very useful expression that I just used, used with you. I said, do you ever have to watch kefir like a hawk? Now what, what does that mean?
Lindsay McMahon
I know, good question. Because I'm not a bird, right. I'm not.
Michelle Kaplan
You're not a bird.
Lindsay McMahon
But I have to act like a hawk in some cases. I mean, what do hawks, what is their behavior, Michelle, in the wild?
Michelle Kaplan
I mean. Well, they're, they're kind of, Aren't they kind of aggressive?
Lindsay McMahon
I guess maybe they're aggressive. Maybe they just like hunt down their prey. I don't know. I'm not a bird expert. Right. We might have a bird expert in the audience, but based on the idiom, I would that hawks really look at it like they track things very closely because that's what we're talking about doing here. Right, Michelle is tracking something keeping a very close watch. Right.
Michelle Kaplan
I don't know if they're aggressive, but what I'm looking at here, just in my hawk research is that they have very good eyesight.
Lindsay McMahon
Good eyesight, yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
Okay. Here from web Stanford Edu hawks can distinguish their prey at something like two or three times the distance that a human being can detect. The same. So they have awesome eyes.
Lindsay McMahon
Yep. Good eyes. So having good eyes, laser focused eyes, looking at something very closely, especially in that case they're prey. Right. But in our case, it's usually something we're trying to take care of more than anything.
Michelle Kaplan
Right, right, exactly.
Lindsay McMahon
So, I mean, you have kids, Michelle, so I'm sure that you have something to say here.
Michelle Kaplan
Constantly. I mean. Yeah, I'm constantly having to watch them, like especially the little one.
Lindsay McMahon
Oh my gosh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
And when, you know, when kids, especially when they're at that age, like two to one and a half to three where they're moving around, but they don't know. They don't know danger yet.
Lindsay McMahon
Oh, scary, scary.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, that's. That's.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah. Because they could put something in their mouth. They could put their finger somewhere, like in an outlet. You got to be really careful, right? Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
You got a baby proof.
Lindsay McMahon
Oh, my gosh. Let's give some sample sentences to our listeners so they get the gist a bit more, shall we?
Michelle Kaplan
Okay, here we go. I have to watch my kids like a hawk when they are around candy. And. Yeah, that's my kids. That my kids would just sit and eat candy all day if they would.
Lindsay McMahon
If I could.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
Who wouldn't?
Michelle Kaplan
Right? Y.
Lindsay McMahon
Here's another one. When babies are learning to walk, you have to watch them like a hawk, probably because they fall down a lot. Right. And then they could get hurt, I suppose.
Michelle Kaplan
Yes, yes. And then. Especially if you have stuff. Stairs in your house. Oh, gosh.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
Or here we go. Here's one more. I noticed she was watching me like a hawk, and I didn't know why. Then she came over and told me that I was her first grade student all those years ago.
Lindsay McMahon
Oh, do you ever have that experience, Michelle, where you can feel that someone is watching you? You know, like you just have that feeling.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. That somebody might know you.
Lindsay McMahon
So we.
Michelle Kaplan
So we were at a. This is funny. We were just on a cruise and Dan has, I think, told you blue hair right now. Oh, yeah, that's right.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
So. So people on the cruise, like teenagers, kept on. He like kind of staring at him.
Lindsay McMahon
Interesting.
Michelle Kaplan
And then twice, once somebody came and said that, like they know. Knew him from some basketball thing. And then this other kid walked by and was like, I'm a big fan. And he was. Yeah. And we found who it is. And it's this guy with blue hair who does basketball tricks.
Lindsay McMahon
That's so funny. Oh, my God.
Michelle Kaplan
They're like, big fan. Big fan.
Lindsay McMahon
And. And Dan just probably just said, oh, thanks.
Podcast Announcer
Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
He was like, thanks. Like. And then he just, like, wanted to embrace it. He was just like, kind of looking around like, yeah, this is me.
Lindsay McMahon
That's so funny. I love that.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
They were watching him like a hawk, I'm sure, right?
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
I mean, you can't help it. When you see someone you think is a celebrity, you can't help but see stare. Right. Of course you're gonna stare.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. Hilarious. So, guys, we're gonna talk more about this in just A second. But remember to hit the follow button wherever you're listening. To all ears English. So you never miss anything from us. Let the episodes come to you. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure you hit subscribe. Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
And, Michelle, is it just people that we can watch like a hawk, or are there things that we can watch like a hawk or items?
Michelle Kaplan
There are things.
Podcast Announcer
Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
You. You can watch a person like a hawk. You can watch a thing like a hawk. So here's an example of people might watch like a hawk. Okay. You have to watch the ticket prices like a hawk every day and pounce when you get a good price.
Lindsay McMahon
Ah. That could be like a kind of an auction. Is how you would have to behave in an auction. An online auction, or just as ticket prices change. Right. Airline tickets, maybe.
Michelle Kaplan
Yep. Airline tickets. I was thinking like sports tickets, something like that. Where they're constantly changing.
Lindsay McMahon
Yes.
Michelle Kaplan
And yeah. Especially, oh, my gosh, with airline tickets these days. You really want to get the best deal possible.
Lindsay McMahon
I know for sure.
Podcast Announcer
Or stocks.
Lindsay McMahon
Right. Some people will play the stock market and try to buy low, sell high. I'm watching this stock like a hawk. I want to get in at the right time. I don't bother with that. I just put my money in the stock market and let it sit for years.
Michelle Kaplan
I don't really pay too much attention either. But, Lindsay, is there anything that you watch like a hawk? I mean, maybe kefir with the pesticides. Any other things you can think of in your life?
Lindsay McMahon
Right now, keer is my biggest responsibility.
Michelle Kaplan
Lucky, right?
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, pretty much. It's just Kefir just to. Yeah. Make sure. Sure he stays safe and that's it. But yeah. This is a great expression, Michelle. I really like it. It's good.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, Definitely. Very useful. Yeah. I mean, definitely. When I was planning on buying my tickets to go to Florida this winter, I was watching the prices like a hawk. Or sometimes. Definitely. I remember when I was trying to see pink. You know, you're always trying to decide, oh, do I want to buy this? Do I want to buy this? Maybe the. Because you don't know. Sometimes closer to the event, ticket prices go down, but sometimes they could go up.
Lindsay McMahon
No, that's true. Yeah, that's true. I remember I went to see Adele in Vegas a few years ago, and I kind of watched those prices like a hawk for just a couple days because I wasn't sure what would happen. Right. Yeah. And you don't want to buy at the highest point. Like, you know how they say if you buy airline Tickets on Saturdays. You're paying more. I don't know if that's a myth or not.
Michelle Kaplan
Who knows? Jeez.
Lindsay McMahon
But we'll take a quick break and then we'll be back to talk about other ways to say this. Okay.
Podcast Announcer
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Lindsay McMahon
All right, Michelle. So we, we don't want to always just say hawk. Hawk. Hawk.
Podcast Announcer
Right.
Lindsay McMahon
It's good, but there's other ways to say it. So you might say keep a close eye on something or someone.
Podcast Announcer
Right.
Lindsay McMahon
This is a little bit more straightforward. For example, I'm going to keep a close eye on these price to see if they come down in the next few days. Okay.
Michelle Kaplan
Or please keep a close eye on her. She tends to eat chews and hopefully that.
Lindsay McMahon
Hopefully that talk. Not a child.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
And then keep tabs on someone or something. If we make it a point to keep tabs on the account, we can avoid these types of issues in the future.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. Or it's important to always keep tabs on the time when you. On the time you spend on each task. Yeah. So yeah, I mean these are, these are all about watching things closely, usually for a specific reason. But it's very important for everyday life, for business. I mean, we always have to have those times where we have to Be more alert, where we have to pay close attention to something and not kind of just let things, you know, just go by in the background.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, and it's good. I mean, it's a connection. Skills. This is another one of those episodes that's giving our listeners the tools to show who they are and what they care about. Is it the concert tickets? Is it your child? Is it your dog? Like, what are the things you watch like a hawk or keep cabs tabs on? That means those are the things that you care about in life, right? For the most part, yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, it's true. So you can tell, you know a lot of things about somebody by what they're. What they're watching, what's important to them. Of course. Exactly. So let's do a role play here.
Lindsay McMahon
All right. So here Michelle, we are, friends at the dog park. All right, here we go.
Michelle Kaplan
How's Rufus doing? He's such a cutie.
Lindsay McMahon
Oh, he's good, thanks. But I've had to watch him like a hawk recently. He started chewing the furniture.
Michelle Kaplan
Oh, no. Lucky has done that too. I have to keep a close eye on her. Wherever, whenever. Any food is left on the table.
Lindsay McMahon
Same. How's work?
Michelle Kaplan
Good, good, thanks. I'm keeping tabs on other opportunities, but nothing has come up yet.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, this is a very typical conversation, Michelle, where we went from talking about our dogs and their habits to work and maybe we'll go to family next or travel. Right. This is how native speakers communicate, right?
Michelle Kaplan
Yep, exactly. So you said about your dog Rufus. These are very typical dog names.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah. Actually, my dog keeper has a friend named Rufus. There's a neighborhood dog named Rufus. Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
So I asked how Rufus is. You said, I've had to watch him like a hawk recently. He started chewing the furniture. So you. You can't. Basically, you can. If you leave the room, you might come back and the couch will have a hole in it, you know?
Lindsay McMahon
Yep, exactly. So I've had to watch him like a hawk.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
When you first adopt a new dog or if a dog moves to a new stage of life, he might become a little. Like when dogs turn, I think it's like one or one and a half. They become really like adolescence, like, tricky to deal with, tricky to handle. I move out of puppy stage into trouble, like, troublemaking stage sometimes. And then I. You said I have to keep a close eye on her when. Whenever, any food is left on the table.
Michelle Kaplan
Right. And then you said, how's work? And I said, good, good, thanks. I'm keeping tabs on Other opportunities, but nothing has come up yet. So keeping tabs sounds a little less intense to me than.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
Watching like a hawk. Right. I feel like it's pulling back a little, like keeping tabs. It's not necessarily like so intense. It makes me think more. Oh, you're a little more casual. Yep.
Lindsay McMahon
I totally agree with you. There's a degree of intensity here. Yeah. You know, you wouldn't say, you're not saying that you're watching LinkedIn like a hawk for other opportunities. Right. You're just saying.
Michelle Kaplan
Right.
Lindsay McMahon
You know, you're checking in a few times a week, you know, something like that. But it's not with the same intensity as watching like a hawk.
Michelle Kaplan
Right. Exactly. Exactly. So, yeah. And Lindsay, I want to let our listeners know about another great episode that an interview that we had a guest on, episode 2546. It was why repetition is key with Hadar Shemesh. Yes.
Lindsay McMahon
And Aubry did this interview. So, guys, check it out. Such a great guest. We've had Hadar on the show a couple of times in the past few years. She's got some great techniques when it comes to pronunciation. So go over and check out that episode. Michelle, any final takeaways?
Michelle Kaplan
I think you mentioned, I really like what you said about how you can tell a lot about somebody by what they're keeping a close eye on. Right?
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. And what's important to them and what they're feeling in the moment. Are they stressed about watching their kids? Are they? Right. So the, these expressions are very, very common, useful for everyday life, and can really help you connect with someone.
Lindsay McMahon
You got it. There you go. Another connection episode, Michelle. All right, good stuff, guys. If you love our our style, our style is all about connection. We show you how to connect using English to ultimately have a happier life. That is why we're here. That's why we're learning English. Right. That's what we're going for. Hit the follow button if you love that approach. All right, so Michelle, we'll see you next time back on the show.
Podcast Announcer
All right?
Michelle Kaplan
All right. Bye, Lindsay. Bye, guys.
Lindsay McMahon
Take care. Bye. Thanks for listening. To all ears English.
Podcast Announcer
Would you like to know your English level? Take our 2 minute quiz, go to allearsenglish.com fluencyscore and if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.
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Hosts: Lindsay McMahon & Michelle Kaplan
Date: February 9, 2026
This lively episode focuses on the everyday English expression “watch like a hawk.” Lindsay and Michelle break down the idiom, exploring its meaning, uses, and alternative phrases that convey the idea of monitoring something or someone very closely. They share enjoyable personal anecdotes, practical sample sentences, cultural insights, and clarify levels of intensity in similar vocabulary. This episode is tailored to help ESL learners confidently use these expressions for natural and meaningful connections in English conversation.
Definition:
To pay extremely close attention to someone or something, usually for protection, safety, or personal interest.
Origin Discussion:
“What I’m looking at here, just in my hawk research, is that they have very good eyesight…Hawks can distinguish their prey at something like two or three times the distance that a human being can detect the same.”
“Having good eyes, laser-focused eyes, looking at something very closely…”
Watching Kiefer the Dog
"If I don't watch him really closely, he'll lick the grass...and then he’ll like, shake. It’s really bad. I’m like, are you getting brain damage? Like, what is happening?"
Kids and Parental Vigilance
“Constantly. I mean...especially the little one. And when...they don't know danger yet.”
“They could put something in their mouth. They could put their finger somewhere, like in an outlet. You got to be really careful, right?” [05:42]
“Twice, once somebody...said that, like they knew him from some basketball thing. And then this other kid walked by and was like, 'I'm a big fan.'...And Dan just probably said, 'Oh, thanks.' He just wanted to embrace it, just like, 'Yeah, this is me.'” – Michelle
Keep a (Very) Close Eye On
[12:03–12:28]
Keep Tabs On
[12:28–12:53]
“If we make it a point to keep tabs on the account, we can avoid these types of issues in the future.” – Lindsay
“I'm keeping tabs on other opportunities, but nothing has come up yet.” – Michelle [14:03]
Michelle explains intensity [15:28]:
“Keeping tabs sounds a little less intense to me than watching like a hawk. It's pulling back a little, like keeping tabs...a little more casual.”
[13:39–14:07]
Michelle: “How’s Rufus doing? He’s such a cutie.”
Lindsay: “Oh, he’s good, thanks. But I’ve had to watch him like a hawk recently. He started chewing the furniture.”
Michelle: “Oh, no. Lucky has done that, too. I have to keep a close eye on her whenever any food is left on the table.”
Lindsay: “Same. How’s work?”
Michelle: “Good, thanks. I’m keeping tabs on other opportunities, but nothing has come up yet.”
Lindsay on conversational flow [14:07–14:20]:
“This is a very typical conversation, Michelle, where we went from talking about our dogs and their habits to work and maybe we'll go to family next or travel. This is how native speakers communicate, right?”
“It’s a connection skill. This is another one of those episodes that’s giving our listeners the tools to show who they are and what they care about. Is it the concert tickets? Is it your child? Is it your dog?”
“You can tell, you know, a lot of things about somebody by what they’re…what they’re watching, what’s important to them.”
Connection, Not Perfection!
As always, Lindsay and Michelle champion using English as a tool for connection, reminding listeners that fluency is about relating and engaging—not obsessing over mistakes.
For more on pronunciation and repetition, check out the recommended episode 2546 with guest Hadar Shemesh.