AEE 2575: 5 English Idioms That Hit Hard

Summary

All Ears English Podcast: Episode 2575

"5 English Idioms That Hit Hard"

Release Date: March 3, 2026
Hosts: Lindsay McMahon & Aubrey Carter
Theme: Enrich your English by learning five powerful idioms and phrases that convey strong effects, mostly negative, in natural American English conversations.

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Episode Overview

Lindsay and Aubrey explore five dynamic English idioms for describing significant impacts—especially negative ones—in everyday life. Aimed at intermediate to advanced ESL learners, this episode encourages listeners to move beyond the overused word "effect" and provides practical, native-like alternatives. The hosts share playful personal anecdotes, contextual examples, and offer role play to cement understanding. They stress the importance of connection, not perfection, in learning English.

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Key Idioms & Phrases Discussed

1. Do a Number On (Someone/Something)

Definition: To have a strong, usually negative, effect on someone or something.
Examples & Conversation:

• “Swimming really does a number on my hair.” (03:22)
• “Late nights really did a number on my focus.” (04:57)
• “The cold winter did a number on my car battery.” (05:28)
• “Living in Arizona...does a number on your skin.” (05:44)

Quotes:

• Lindsay: “When you're a kid, you don't care that it's doing a number on your hair. You're just like, ‘I want to swim!’” (04:04)

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2. Take a Toll On

Definition: To have a significant, often accumulating, negative effect over time.
Examples & Conversation:

• “The constant stress took a toll on her health.” (06:13)
• “Years of night shifts took a toll on his sleep patterns.” (06:59)

Memorable Moment:

• Aubrey shares: “I ended up having a panic attack and I didn’t even realize how stressed I had been until that happened.” (06:36)

Role Play Example:

• “Constant stress will take a toll on anyone after a while.” (13:22)

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3. Hit Hard (and Slang Usage: "That Hits")

Definition: To be deeply or strongly affected by something, often emotionally; “that hits” as slang meaning something is impressive or resonates.
Examples & Conversation:

• “That news hit him hard.” (07:30)
• “The sudden pay cut hit her hard.” (08:04)
• “Oh, that really hits.” (Slang usage, 08:16)

Quotes:

• Aubrey: “This means...news that had a great effect on your emotional state, you’d say ‘it hit me hard.’” (07:51)
• Lindsay, on slang: “Maybe this is like a new and emerging slang that we can get on board with.” (08:30)

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4. Mess With

Definition: To negatively affect, disturb, or interfere with someone or something.
Examples & Conversation:

• “Jet lag really messes with my sleep.” (08:53)
• “Too much caffeine messes with my stomach or my sleep.” (10:28)

Anecdote:

• Lindsay: “Trips that don’t seem like they should be that hard, like going to Western Europe, are really hard for me now...I’ve fallen asleep in museums.” (09:36–10:04)

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5. Wear (Someone) Down

Definition: To gradually weaken or exhaust someone emotionally or physically.
Examples & Conversation:

• “The long commute is wearing me down.” (10:39)
• “By Friday afternoon I’m pretty worn down.” (11:18)

Clarification:

• Aubrey: “Usually not sudden...more over time; you get worn down by something.” (11:01)
• Lindsay: “It doesn’t have to be a terrible thing...even by Friday afternoon I’m pretty worn down.” (11:18)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Overusing "Tired":
  Lindsay: “Don’t always say, ‘I’m tired...’ It is almost a standard response for people. Do you notice that?” (14:12)
  Aubrey: “And also...don’t tell someone they look tired.” (14:40)

• On Commenting on Appearance:
  Lindsay: “Maybe we could do another episode just on saying, ‘you look...’. Avoid.” (15:06)

• Cultural Note:
  Aubrey: “I say to my kids, don’t comment on people’s appearances.” (15:15)

• Learning Tip:
  Lindsay: “Imagine if we just said ‘affecting’ four times here. The late nights are affecting me. Constant stress will affect anyone. So boring. These are way more interesting phrases.” (16:40)

• On Connection, Not Negativity:
  Aubrey: “Don’t be the person who’s always saying ‘I’m tired,’... people turn around and walk the other way.” (17:17)
  Lindsay: “Try to find something that energizes you and maybe talk about that.” (17:32)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:34] Cold plunges and “does a number on” introduction
• [04:57] Detailed breakdown: “do a number on” usage examples
• [06:13] “Take a toll on” and discussions around stress
• [07:30] Introduction and examples of “hit hard”
• [08:53] “Mess with” and experiences with jet lag and caffeine
• [10:39] “Wear down” and discussion of gradual effects
• [13:05] Role Play Demonstrating All Idioms in Conversation
• [14:12] Tips: Avoiding generic responses; what not to say
• [16:40] Why use idioms instead of “affect”
• [17:17] Social advice: Don't be a downer

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Episode Tone & Style

Friendly, energetic, empathetic, and slightly humorous. Lindsay and Aubrey use lots of personal stories and banter, making the discussion both practical and engaging for learners aiming to pick up real American English.

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Recap: The Five Idioms

• Do a number on (someone/something)
• Take a toll on
• (To) hit hard / That hits
• Mess with
• Wear (someone) down

Each offers a nuanced way to describe impact and effect—especially negative—enriching daily English conversation.

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Tip for ESL Listeners: Practice these idioms in your own life—think about situations where you can use them to sound more like a native speaker! And remember, learning to connect is more important than being perfect.

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Hosts’ Sign-Off:
Aubrey: “Good connection topic for today, Lindsay, and thanks for being on the mic. I’ll see you later in the week.” (17:42)

Lindsay: “Absolutely. Really good stuff... See you next time!” (17:42)

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Transcript

[A]

This is an All Ears English podcast episode 25755 English idioms that Hit Hard 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. To get real time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the Allears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward/app.

[B]

Do you ever want to use a word other than the word effect to articulate the results of something today? Get 5 Ways to do it with Natural English.

[C]

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[A]

Hey there Aubrey. How's everything?

[B]

I'm great, Lindsay. How are you?

[A]

Have you ever done a cold plunge?

[B]

Yes, I started doing a cold plunge in our pool so it's not like ice cold. I know a lot of people do like ice baths, but it's cold. I bet it's 50, 55 degrees right now, maybe even a little bit colder. So I'll go in and I was reading about all the health benefits and it does. I'm like so revived after and like wide awake.

[A]

Interesting, interesting. I've tried kind of creating a version of that in the shower. Like the last one minute, turn it cold. But then I was like this is not comfortable and I'm not sure. Like I guess I've heard about the health benefits but I'm not 100.

[B]

You don't believe enough for the discomfort.

[A]

Yeah, I think I just like my hot showers. Yes.

[B]

Funny. Yeah, well, I was asking you that. It's that was inspired by a student posted in our community. The phrase swimming really does a number on my hair. They were talking about the chlorine and swimming. If you don't wear a swim cap, it really hurts your hair. And I've been doing these cold plunges and I'm like, I maybe should wear a swim cap cuz I. I notice it damaging my hair. But I was so impressed by this vocabulary, this student saying that it really does a number on their hair. And so today we're talking about that phrase and a few related phrases.

[A]

Yes. I remember as a kid swimming every day. By the end of the summer I had green hair because of the chlorine.

[B]

Right, Right. It's dyeing your hair green and it's like straw. It feels all dry and crispy. Yeah.

[A]

But when you're a kid, you don't care that it's doing a number on your hair. You're just like, I want to swim. Right.

[B]

It's worth it.

[A]

Love it. So before we get into today's episode, I want to say a huge thank you to those who reviewed us in Spotify. That is another great place to leave us a comment or review. So. So thank you to Truta, thank you to Claudia Brook, thank you to Dago Cordero Louise now. And those were our reviewers. Guys, these reviews are incredible. Aubry, they're fantastic.

[B]

I know, I love to read them. You can post questions there as well. And we often get great questions in Spotify and YouTube. So keep sending your questions. And thank you for the reviews and the comments. We love them. We read them all.

[A]

Yeah. Wherever you listen, whether it's Apple podcast or anything and the Android app or Apple, the iPhone app. There's so many places to consume Allers English now. But leave us a rating and review. We'll do our best to announce your name on the show. Okay, good.

[B]

Absolutely. So let's dive into this fun vocab. First, that one to do a number on someone or something, which, yeah, just means to have a big effect in some way. So for example, the late nights really did a number on my focus. Right. So you're staying up late, not sleeping as well and it's affecting your focus. You could say, oh, that did a number on my focus in a negative way. Right. Usually would you say not a positive effect.

[A]

These are negative effects.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Or that cold winter did a number on my car battery.

[B]

So maybe now your car battery is dead or dying because of the cold winters instead of just saying it really affected my battery. This is so much more fun. It Did a number on my battery.

[A]

Do you feel like living in Arizona? The mountain west does a number on your skin.

[B]

Aubrey, I thought you were going to ask about my battery. The heat kills batteries here. We have to replace batteries so often because of the heat in Arizona. But yes, the dry air does a number on my skin. I have to lotion constantly and I still have dry skin.

[A]

I know. I've been living here for like four years and I feel like my skin's aged 10 years compared to being on the east coast, honestly.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

But yeah, we get a lot of sunshine, so that helps. Right.

[B]

Trade offs.

[A]

Trade offs. And then another way to say the same thing would be take a toll on. So you could say the constant stress took a toll on her health.

[B]

Sometimes we can.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Just meaning a great effect. Right? Is that. What were you saying?

[A]

I was going to say sometimes we can have an underlying low level of stress and it is taking a toll on our health, but maybe we don't realize it. Right, Aubrey?

[B]

Absolutely. This happened to me once. I ended up having a panic attack and I didn't even realize how stressed I had been until that happened. And I was so surprised, I didn't understand. So for someone who doesn't experience that a lot, you might not even realize this stress is building until suddenly you're having these physical effects.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. Until it's all, you know, too far along. So, yeah, interesting.

[B]

Or another example. Years of night shifts took a toll on his sleep patterns. So, yeah, this could happen. Then you get a day shift, but you can't sleep. Sleep at night. That would be tricky.

[A]

Yep. Huge thank you to any of our nurses or doctors or other crucial employees who do work those night shifts. I mean, I couldn't do it, but I know.

[B]

Or someone. Factory workers, security guards. I have a neighbor that does a graveyard shift as a security guard. I'm like, there's so many jobs where people have to work those night shifts in order to. For our society to function.

[A]

It's true. It's true. And then another way to say it is hit hard. So that news hit him hard, right? You have to put something in between a pronoun. It hit me hard. It hit him hard. Right. So me. This means what, Aubry, what happened?

[B]

We kind of just say, you know, that news hit hard.

[A]

Yeah, I guess you're right.

[B]

And really it's implied that you. You mean hit me hard, right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

But yeah, it's. This means it had some kind of great effect. This could be the news. A death of a loved One or, you know, something very serious news that had a great effect on, like, your emotional state, you would be say, it hit me hard.

[A]

Right. Or if your company does pay cuts, for example, the sudden pay cut hit her hard. Or you could get more slangy and you could say, oh, that really hits. Or that hit in the past tense.

[B]

Yes. This is like, newer slang. I feel like maybe it's been around a while, but I'm hearing it a lot now.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

That it's to say, like, that's really good. Maybe a song or like something you eat. So, like, they'll be like, oh, that hits. And it means that's really good.

[A]

Okay. So maybe this is like a new and emerging slang that we can get on board with.

[B]

Then is that one. And I feel like it's getting more common. I was hearing my kids, my teenagers use it more, but now I'll hear it on podcasts and.

[A]

Oh, but now it's going to become uncool. Already past the maybe.

[B]

Or maybe it'll get adopted. We'll see.

[A]

Well, it cross the chasm, right?

[B]

Right, Exactly.

[A]

All right, what's number four?

[B]

So this is mess with again means, you know, have some kind of big effect. You could say, like, jet lag really messes with my sleep. And really what you're saying is it has a big effect on it, a negative effect, like you pointed out. You see, it messes with it.

[A]

Do you feel like jet lag has gotten worse for you throughout life, Aubrey, as you've gotten a little bit older? Do you feel like it's harder than it used to be in your teens and twenties?

[B]

It has been a while since I have taken, like, a transatlantic flight, to be honest. So I will find out the next time I'm able to, like, travel very far. Right. We've got four kids. If we go, we, like, drive four hours to Rocky Point. And when it's like, we flew to Cancun, but I haven't done, like, a red eye. I haven't really had jet lag since I was younger, so I don't know.

[A]

What about you? I can say yes. Yes. It's gotten a lot harder, especially just trips that don't seem like they should be that hard, like going to Western Europe. Those are really hard for me now. Because you are just messed up for the first two days. Then you finally sync up, and then you get home and you're kind of messing up up for three or four days. And it used to be just like, I'm a little tired, but whatever. But now it's like no, I'm falling asleep in museums. This has happened to me the last two times I've gone to Western Europe. I've fallen asleep in museums.

[B]

Oh wow.

[A]

Sitting on a bench and zonking out with my head back. And people start laughing because like you shouldn't sleep in a museum.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Like you should be looking at the art.

[B]

That's a really funny. I, I mean I, I, I'll need to do a trip to find out but I have a feeling it would be the same. But maybe my sleep is already so messed up now. Maybe I need to get jet lag to correct it.

[A]

That could then it would be fixed.

[B]

Maybe.

[A]

There you go.

[B]

Or here's another example. Too much caffeine messes with my stomach or my sleep. If I drink caffeine after like 2pm I will be up all night. It really affects me a lot.

[A]

Yeah, for sure. Or some people even vomit if they have caffeine without eating. Some that happens. Some people have a really I've seen that. Just today I saw that happen to someone. So that can absolutely happen too. Good. And then wear someone down is our last one for the day. So the long commute is wearing me down. Aubrey, is this more of a gradual thing or is this like a sudden?

[B]

Yeah, usually not sudden. Right. So also like a big effect. But this is usually an effect over time. You get worn down by something. So maybe like all the back and forth emails wore me down by the end of the day. So it doesn't have to be over years. Right. This could be throughout the course of a day.

[A]

Yeah. And it doesn't have to be a terrible thing. It could just mean even by Friday afternoon I'm pretty worn down. Right.

[B]

I'm ready to get off my laptop.

[A]

Right. Yeah. Put that away message up and move on with life with your weekend.

[B]

Exactly. But good point that that one does is more over time whereas all of the rest of these could be sort of immediate. Something did a number took a toll on me, right?

[A]

Yep, exactly. So we have a lot of choices here. Good.

[D]

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[A]

Okay, Aubrey, what are we doing in today's role play?

[B]

All right, you and I are friends here, and I just yawned, so you go ahead and start us out.

[A]

All right, here we go. You're yawning and it's only 3pm oh, yeah.

[B]

These late nights are doing a number on me. My focus is completely gone.

[A]

Yeah, I can imagine. Constant stress will take a toll on anyone after a while.

[B]

For real. And then I got an email about budget cuts that hit hard.

[E]

Right.

[A]

Plus, you've been traveling a lot, right?

[B]

Yes. And the jet lag from my last trip is still messing with my sleep. I wake up at 2am every night.

[A]

That'll wear you down fast if it keeps. If it keeps up.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. This is how you know it's not me because I haven't had jet lag in several years.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. So really good stuff here. Very realistic conversation, I think.

[B]

Absolutely. Yes. Right. We used all of these. I started by saying, these late nights are doing a number on me. So I'm being kind of vague here. Right. But it's more interesting to use a phrase like this instead of, these late nights are keeping me from sleeping. Right. It's just fun to be like, they're doing a number on me.

[A]

Yeah. Don't always say, I'm tired. How are you? I'm tired. Right. A lot of college kids don't answer. Don't say that. I feel like in our culture, that is almost a, like, standard response for people. Do you notice that? Just like out in the world, if you're at a party or something. That is a very standard response.

[D]

How are you?

[A]

I'm tired. Right.

[B]

Yes. It's true. And it's like, the worst because then what do you say from there?

[A]

It's horrible.

[B]

And also, another related bit of advice, don't tell someone they look tired.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I actually used AI to give me A jumping off point with this role play. And it started with, you look tired. I was like, no.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

Not using that. Don't say.

[A]

Don't say it to a woman. Yeah. Because maybe that person's been sleeping great. And. But you just don't know the difference in how they look. And that could.

[B]

Yeah, just they might be like, I'm just not wearing makeup. Thanks for the compliment.

[A]

I think in general, maybe we could do another episode and our listeners should hit follow to not miss it. Just on saying, you look anything, you look x avoid. Right.

[B]

I say to my kids, don't comment on people's appearances.

[A]

And that's tiredness. Like, it's also kind of a trap. Saying, oh, you look like you lost weight. That could be a trap. We'll. We'll do another episode. What do you think, Aubry, on that?

[B]

Yes. I love that. That's a great idea. All of the good advice.

[A]

All right, then you. I said, I can imagine constant stress will take a toll on anyone after a while. Yeah.

[B]

And this is interesting. This is a great way to use this. These phrases as well, sort of in general. Instead of saying like, this took a toll on me. It took a toll on you to just that solidarity. Being like, oh, I can imagine stress will take a toll on anyone. Stress will do a number on anyone after a while.

[A]

Anyone after a while. Right. And then you talked about budget cuts at your work, and that hit hard.

[D]

Right.

[A]

So here you didn't say, that hit me hard. You kept it a little bit more distant because it's implied.

[B]

Right. You know, I'm me. I'm sharing about some budget cub at my job. So because that's already implied, it's already understood that, you know, I'm talking about me. I can just say that hit hard.

[A]

Love it.

[B]

If I'm talking about other friends, then I would need to say that hit him hard or her hard. I would need to make it clear who I'm referring to.

[A]

You need to be more specific. Right?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

100% agree. And then you said. Yep. And the jet lag for my last trip is still messing with my sleep. Yes.

[B]

Yeah, of course. You can just say is still affecting my sleep. But imagine if we just said affecting four times here. The late nights are affecting me. Constant stress will affect anyone. So boring. These are way more interesting phrases.

[A]

This is kind of what we're learning. Like, these are good alternatives for the word effect. Right. This is what these are really good. And then finally, that'll wear you down fast if it keeps up. Yeah. And again, this is another one of those episodes that could lead to great conversation about the things that give you energy. You know, we talk about introverts, extroverts, what gives you energy, what wears you down. It's not the same for everyone, right, Aubry?

[B]

Exactly. And I love what you said, Lindsay. Don't be the person who's always saying I'm tired, who's always talking about everything that's wearing them down. Yes, it's good to share this sometimes, but you don't want to be the one that people turn around and walk the other way because they know you're going to talk about how tired you are.

[A]

It's such a downer. Right? Try to find something that energizes you and, and maybe talk about that or decide how much you're going to share, depending on who's asking the question. Right?

[B]

For sure.

[A]

Absolutely. Really good stuff. Good connection topic for today, Aubry, and thanks for being on the mic. I'll see you later in the week.

[B]

Awesome. See you next time. All right, bye.

[A]

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.

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