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Michelle Kaplan
This is an All Ears English podcast. Episode 26 14. Don't turn your back on the weather as a great connection topic.
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 from Colorado and New York City, usa. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com subscribe what is the difference between cloudy and overcast or humid and muggy? Today we go next level on the weather topic and explore why this topic still gets you deeper into connection in English.
Michelle Kaplan
Many English learners focus on grammar. They want their sentences to be correct. But fluency isn't just about correctness. It's about sounding natural, choosing the right phrase, responding quickly without translating every thought in your head. That's why someone can know a lot of grammar rules and still feel uncomfortable in conversations. Real fluency comes from understanding patterns, tone and natural expressions. Our free 2 minute fluency quiz helps you discover your level and what skills will move you forward. Go to allearsenglish.comfluencyscore I that's allearsenglish.com F L U E N C Y S C O R E.
Lindsay McMahon
Hey, Michelle, how are you today? How's it going?
Michelle Kaplan
I'm good. How are you, Lindsay?
Lindsay McMahon
Good. Michelle, what's the weather like where you are today on the East Coast? Is it cold, cloudy, overcast, sunny? What's it like?
Michelle Kaplan
It's cold and I would say it's overcast today. Okay. It's not. Not beautiful outside.
Lindsay McMahon
Beautiful.
Michelle Kaplan
The worst, but certainly not inspiring. What about you?
Lindsay McMahon
Well, it is sunny today. It's sunny a lot in Colorado. Yesterday it sort of rained like a tiny droplet. And then I asked my parts like, did it rain yesterday? And just, I don't know. It doesn't really rain out here. And we do. We get a lot of sunshine, a lot of blue sky. They call it the Colorado blue, where it's just this pure blue a lot of the days.
Michelle Kaplan
Oh.
Lindsay McMahon
But it means we have high rates of skin cancer out here.
Michelle Kaplan
Oh, that's not good. Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
But I do like it. I like it. It's nice. Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. Well, Lindsay, talking about the weather is actually. I mean, we've talked about the weather a lot on this show. It's an important skill for connection. And it is always this joke that this is like boring small talk.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
But sometimes we need to have that skill. And people do talk about the weather. I mean, they really, really do. So it's a great way to ease your way into a conversation, especially in English. And the weather is relatable. I mean, we. Here, where I live, it. We had terrible storms and we had. It was. It's been freezing. So I mean, what better. I mean, everybody experiences it. So, yeah, it's a great connection topic.
Lindsay McMahon
Everybody experiences and everybody hears about it, especially in different parts of the country and world. I mean, we hear when there are like earthquake. Well, I guess earthquakes isn't technically weather, but like we hear when there are big storms in certain places in Europe, flooding maybe. And I know that there were big storms on the East Coast. Like, I. That was just in the New York Times today. Right. So I would bring that up to you if I hadn't seen you in a while. You know, how are those big storms?
Michelle Kaplan
Right? Y. It is.
Lindsay McMahon
I know it seems mundane. It seems kind of basic. And we. We talk a lot about more interesting things on this show, but we still talk about it as human being. Definitely.
Michelle Kaplan
It would. If it would. We would be doing a disservice if we didn't teach you guys about this, even though it seems mundane. Right. So today we're going to talk about different ways to describe the weather, which we definitely have touched on about this on this show before. But we're gonna. Somebody asked us a great listener question that we're gonna answer. So someone. When somebody asks you how's the weather, you don't always have to say the same exact thing. You can be more precise. You can be more interesting. So, guys, make sure that you hit the follow button wherever you're listening to Allers English. So you never miss anything from us.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, guys, hit that follow button right now and make sure that Allers English drops into your listening queue five days a week. So, yeah, we want to make you sound more interesting when you do talk about the weather. So we're going to pull from a listener question today. Michelle, shall I go ahead and read the question?
Michelle Kaplan
Please do.
Lindsay McMahon
All right, so the question comes from YouTube. And don't forget, guys, we have an entire YouTube channel. Go and hit subscribe over there. This is from Ardalan Bookart 24. Can you talk about the differences between cloudy weather and overcast? Now, this is a good question, Michelle, because it's quite nuanced.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, these terms are really similar. And yeah, with both. I mean, they're definitely clouds.
Lindsay McMahon
That's the one thing we can count on is clouds.
Michelle Kaplan
Clouds. So let's start with cloudy weather. So when it's cloudy, there are mostly clouds, but there are some breaks. So you might see patches of sky here and there throughout the day. And so you do. There, there. It's not just all clouds. Right, right, right.
Lindsay McMahon
The cloud. But the breaks, they, the clouds do move, of course. Right. And so you see them break up maybe for a moment. You do have clear skies and then it's cloudy again, right? Yeah. But then overcast is a little bit different, Right. It's a bit of a deeper, deeper coverage of clouds, don't you think?
Michelle Kaplan
Right, yeah, yeah. So I would think of like a gray cover or a blanket. So basically there's more gray and more clouds. I mean. Yeah, today I'm looking outside right now and I, and I said I think it's overcast because it's just, it's just blah. Right? It's not. I don't see any break in the blah. Like there's, it looks like one big cloud. It's. It doesn't, you know, so that's, that's what I. Yeah, I would say that that's pretty much the difference. But I don't think that in typical conversations, if, if I said, oh, it's so cloudy outside today, to my neighbor, I don'. She would say, what are you talking about? It's overcast. Right?
Lindsay McMahon
No way. No way. This is really getting into the nuances so that our listeners can speak more precisely. But no one's going to correct you here, guys. We're just giving you a variety of options.
Michelle Kaplan
Okay? Exactly. So let's show how this might sound.
Lindsay McMahon
What cities in the US Usually have cloudy weather? Weather, Michelle?
Michelle Kaplan
Oh, Portland or Seattle often have cloudy weather. Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
I have to say. Well, I would say in terms of overcast, I mean, we're going to talk about this in a minute. A global city. But I was in Michigan a couple of summers ago and I went out for breakfast with a friend and I came out of that breakfast. I have never seen such a heavy overcast sky. It was another, another kind of overcast. Michelle.
Michelle Kaplan
Wait, where was this?
Lindsay McMahon
This is Michigan.
Michelle Kaplan
Oh, Michigan.
Lindsay McMahon
Michigan. It was so like. Oh, blah. Yeah, that's the word. It really can kind of get you down sometimes. Yeah. It was just such a heavy, thick blanket of pure gray everywhere. It was incredible. Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
And here's another little role play. Where is the weather often overcast?
Lindsay McMahon
London. Lots of gray skies.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. Famous for that.
Lindsay McMahon
Well, London's famous. But the times I've been in London, it's been beautiful, so I don't know. Yeah, well, you studied there. I mean.
Michelle Kaplan
I did, yeah. There's a lot of rain, but there's a. You know, there's also a lot of beautiful weather, so.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah. Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
So. But now we're going to go into some words that could describe the opposite, and we're going to. Because there are a lot of words that are nuanced like this with the weather. So we want to go over some similar ones. So you know the difference. So this first one, so it's sunny and bright.
Lindsay McMahon
Okay. So sunny means the sun is out and you can see it. Right. But bright means there's a lot of light even if you can't see the sun. It's like, I need my sunglasses. When it's bright, there could be the sun, but it could just be like, maybe you just came in from an afternoon movie. You ever go to a daytime movie? Oh. And then you walk out, it's like, oh, it's so bright. Oh, my gosh, my eyes. Oh.
Michelle Kaplan
Or what about when you get your eyes dilated?
Lindsay McMahon
Oh, yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
Like you got to wear the sunglasses. Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
I mean, usually they go hand in hand. It's a bright, sunny day. Bright sunny day.
Michelle Kaplan
But.
Lindsay McMahon
But they do mean slightly different things.
Michelle Kaplan
Very slightly. Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
Mm. How's the weather in Hawaii?
Michelle Kaplan
It's bright and sunny today. Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah. And that's similar to the. The west here where Aubrey lives and where I live in Colorado. I would get a lot of this bright and sunny. And often when you fly, you'll hear the captain will come on the radio as you're just landing and let you know what the weather is in. In that place. And that's why I love flying into LA every time. Bright sunny day, mid-70s.
Michelle Kaplan
Right.
Lindsay McMahon
No matter.
Michelle Kaplan
Well, actually, the Hawaii example is funny because I have. My friends actually just went to Hawaii and everybody's asking them, oh, my gosh, how was it? You know, all jealous. Oh, you went to Hawaii? They say it rained most of the time and.
Podcast Announcer
Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
And they said, you know, they feel weird, you know, because people ask them how they it. It was, and they don't want to say, oh, it wasn't. You know, they don't want to complain, but they. It just wasn't what you hope for, you know, be with the weather.
Lindsay McMahon
That's so sad. I'm so sorry for them.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
I mean, that happened to us in Norway, but I would expect that in Norway, you know, in September, not in Hawaii, you know.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, exactly. So. But what's interesting is Sometimes it can be cloudy or overcast, but still bright.
Lindsay McMahon
Right.
Michelle Kaplan
So there are cloudy days where you need sunglasses.
Lindsay McMahon
100. 100. That can happen. So I love that today we really are getting into some interesting nuances of these words, right? It's actually not that simple. You can always go a level deeper with ENG guys, right?
Michelle Kaplan
That's right. Yeah.
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Lindsay McMahon
All right, so more weather words that are kind of similar to each other. So gloomy and gray. Gloomy and gray. So what about these, Michelle?
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, well, both of these describe dark and dull weather. So gloomy is kind of that focus on the feeling sad and moody, whereas gray is focusing on the literal color of the sky. Right. So it could be gray and gloomy. So again, sunny and bright, gray and gloomy. They off and go hand in hand. So, yeah, if. If it's gray outside, you're probably getting a little bit of that gloomy feel.
Lindsay McMahon
And. And by the way, sometimes we teach you guys on this show chunks that matter, what word comes first, but in this case, I would say it doesn't matter. You could say, how's the weather? Oh, it's gloomy. And gray outside is gray and gloomy. Right. There's no wrong way to. And you don't have to say them
Michelle Kaplan
together, of course, but no, you don't have to. You don't have to. So how's the weather there?
Lindsay McMahon
It's really gray and kind of gloomy makes me want to stay inside.
Michelle Kaplan
Do you get affected by the weather like that? Do you feel like when it's those just not so great days, do you just want to cuddle up?
Lindsay McMahon
I think we all do, to be honest. I think I, I know people that live in the Pacific Northwest, like Portland or Washington. I know someone who lives here that grew up in Washington State and she said she feels guilty when she doesn't like that it's sunny all the time in Colorado because she feels like she should be outside doing something. But I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, so she's used to more rain. But 100. It affects your mood.
Michelle Kaplan
Yes, yes, it's true. Oh my gosh. I have days like that too. When it's a beautiful day, you just feel like, yeah, even sometimes it not might not match up with your, your mood, your feeling of what you want to do that day. You might want to have an indoor day with, you know, oh, there's bad weather, so I have to be inside. But the weather is beautiful. And now what do you do?
Lindsay McMahon
Or over here in the west, the difference is. So I grew up on the east coast and on the east coast, if you have, if it's raining, it's a rainy day, it's not really going to clear up most of the time, right. But here it's, we never have a rainy day. We have like a rainy hour, especially in the summer where it'll rain. So the problem is your mood gets flipped and you get all confused. So I'll wake up, it's sunny and beautiful. Okay, I'm going to go to the park today and I'll play Frisbee and then it rains, like, okay, I'm going to go in and read a book and cozy up with a cup of tea. At three o' clock, it's sunny again and I have to go back outside. And it really kind of messes with your mentality a little bit. It's kind of funny.
Michelle Kaplan
Are you just constantly looking at the hour by hour or do you just let it happen?
Lindsay McMahon
I just let it happen. But it's so different from the East Coast. Wouldn't you say that on the east coast if it's like you wake up, it's raining, it's going to be a rainy day. Like it's usually not going to clear
Michelle Kaplan
up most, for the most part there might be one shift, you know, but I mean, I think also in Florida they have like a lot of those sun showers, right, where it's, it's sunny but it's Raining. And it happens for eight minutes, and then it's over, you know, and you're all ready to run inside, and then it's like, oh, okay. I guess we're good.
Lindsay McMahon
So it kind of. This speaks to how humans are truly affected by the environment. Like, we really are. The temperature, the amount of light in the sky, the blue. We really are affected by it. So this is why we talk about it so much.
Michelle Kaplan
Right, Definitely. So then there's also muggy and humid. So both describe weather that's heavy and wet. So humid is more of a technical term, but still very common. Right. It's that. That hot and wet as well.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah. This is. This is in your wheelhouse. From the East Coast. On the East. Yeah. But I miss it because it's good for your skin, you know, it's good for your skin. You got a lot of moisture in the air. It's good.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. Yeah. But then my hair, it's just. Yeah. Good for the skin, bad for the hair. Or maybe it's good for the hair, but it doesn't look good. But. But what about muggy?
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, muggy is a little bit more. My mom used to use this word a lot. It means humid, but it's just like a little more.
Michelle Kaplan
I don't.
Lindsay McMahon
I guess you could hear a weatherman or weather woman say this, but it's a little less technical.
Michelle Kaplan
Right.
Lindsay McMahon
It's more casual, and it kind of describes how it feels on your body. You might say, God, it's so muggy out here. I have to go inside, you know?
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, yeah. So, yeah. Lindsay, why does it feel so uncomfortable outside?
Lindsay McMahon
Because it's so hot and humid. It just feels super muggy today. Yeah. Very common. Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. All right. And we're gonna do one more. That's close. So cool and chilly. We may have talked about this once before, but these are really good. So both of these describe temperatures that are a little cold but not freezing.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, this is good. So cool again, is slightly cold but comfortable. Right. And chili is colder and just a little bit uncomfortable. You probably need a jacket, but it's not intolerable. It's not freezing. You're not going to need to go inside. You're gonna just need to bundle up a tiny bit more. Right?
Michelle Kaplan
That's right. That's right.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah. So do I need a jacket today?
Michelle Kaplan
Probably. It's cool in the sun, but quite chilly once the sun goes down. Oh, yeah. That's always.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
I don't know.
Lindsay McMahon
On the east coast, you guys don't like. That's What I kind of miss about the east coast lifestyle is that you do have humidity in the air, so at night it stays warm, whereas here it gets cold at night. Like you can't go out in July and shorts at night.
Michelle Kaplan
Oh, really?
Lindsay McMahon
Generally not. Sometimes like the deepest, deepest, middle of the summer maybe, but most nights you need something. You need. You can't go out on a tank top. You need an extra top because.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, yeah, I would, I would. I mean, like there are definitely. There's actually my mother in law always says that her favorite time of year is when it's hot enough where at night you don't need to wear any.
Lindsay McMahon
I love that too.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, yeah. And it is nice, but it also means during the day it's so. It's so hot if it's gonna be that hot at night. Yeah. What's happening in the day? So I don't, I mean, yeah, it's a trade off.
Lindsay McMahon
It's a trade off. Look at how much conversation we're getting just out of the weather, the nuances in the weather and also comparing regions. You know, if you've lived in different regions of your country or the world, you've got a lot to talk about here, guys. All right, so here, Michelle, in our role play, we are two friends on opposite sides of the world. We're having a call to chat and start we, of course, we start off by talking about the weather.
Michelle Kaplan
Of course.
Lindsay McMahon
Even if we're two good friends, we might do that, right?
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, definitely.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah. So hey, how's the weather there today? I heard it's been crazy.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah, it's summer, but it's been super gray and gloomy.
Podcast Announcer
Oh, that's terrible.
Lindsay McMahon
It's usually sunny this time of year. But is it chilly?
Michelle Kaplan
No, thankfully. Just a bit cool at night. How's the weather there?
Lindsay McMahon
Super hot and muggy.
Michelle Kaplan
I'm not sure what's worse, honestly. I'd take cloudy weather over humidity any day.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, so we got a lot of our chunks in here. In our conversation, you asked me how the weather was and I said it's summer, but it's been super gray and gloomy. And again, you could say gloomy and gray, right?
Michelle Kaplan
Yes, exactly.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
And then you said, that's terrible. It's usually sunn this time of the, this time of year. But is it chilly?
Lindsay McMahon
Right? And then you said just a bit cool at night. How's the weather there? You said. And I said super hot and muggy. Again, that means humid. That might be a new word for our listeners because I feel like, that word's not muggy.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah.
Podcast Announcer
Not common.
Lindsay McMahon
I don't know. It's just not out there in the world. Never hear it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
And then I said, honestly, I'd take cloudy weather over humidity any day.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah, well, some people really hate the humidity.
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah.
Lindsay McMahon
It just depends on. On what you like, what you're used to. Michelle, what's another awesome episode our listeners could keep going to listen to?
Michelle Kaplan
All right, guys, head on over to 2564. That was human or person, what's the difference? So that's also similar words. So we're doing a lot of that over here on Ollie's English because this is so really important, these nuances and learning more than one way to say something.
Lindsay McMahon
And I think the connection skill here has been very clear throughout the episode. The weather. The topic of the weather is not dead, guys. It is alive and well. Right. Even though we love to go into things that we say are more interesting, you're always going to end up in these conversations about the weather, even with people you know well or don't know well. But today we've given you some nuances, some interesting chunks that you probably haven't heard before, right?
Michelle Kaplan
Yeah. And this is. It's so true. I mean, it brought us to a lot of other things. I mean, I ended up sharing something my mother in law says and I ended up, you know, we were talking about my friends in Hawaii, how it rained the whole time. It does bring. It's. We can all. We all experience the weather. So it is a good connection topic.
Lindsay McMahon
It's a connection topic and it's a jumping off point. I mentioned Norway. I mentioned my move from the east coast to the west. There is so much more that we could do to learn about each other if we didn't know each other well, based on all the things that came out of this conversation. Right, Michelle?
Michelle Kaplan
So, yeah, it's true. It was fun. Like, I found that we were having a lot of natural conversations.
Lindsay McMahon
Yeah.
Michelle Kaplan
Good conversation. So definitely, you know, don't. Don't poo poo the weather as a small talk topic.
Lindsay McMahon
Exactly. Don't turn your back on the weather. And maybe if anyone has a more specific question based on today's episode, do let us know@supportallorsenglish.com or write it in your review of the show.
Michelle Kaplan
All right, all right. All right.
Lindsay McMahon
Excellent. Michelle, we'll see you very soon. You have a good day. All right. All right.
Michelle Kaplan
Bye, Lindsay.
Lindsay McMahon
Bye.
Podcast Announcer
Thanks for listening.
Lindsay McMahon
To all ears.
Podcast Announcer
English. Would you like to know your English level take our two 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.
Lindsay McMahon
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Released: May 11, 2026 | Hosts: Lindsay McMahon & Michelle Kaplan
In this episode, Lindsay and Michelle explore why the weather is not just "boring small talk," but instead a great topic for connection, especially for English learners. By delving into subtle vocabulary distinctions—like "cloudy" vs. "overcast," and "humid" vs. "muggy"—they highlight the natural, nuanced ways native speakers discuss the weather, and how these topics can grow into engaging conversations. The hosts provide practical examples and roleplays, consider regional differences, and underscore the weather’s universality as a jumping-off point for deeper discussions.
1. Cloudy vs. Overcast
2. Sunny vs. Bright
3. Gloomy vs. Gray
4. Muggy vs. Humid
5. Cool vs. Chilly
On Weather as a Conversation Opener:
On Nuances and Deeper Knowledge:
On How Weather Affects Mood and Activities:
On Making Your English Sound Natural:
| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|----------------------------------------------------------| | 02:11 | Hosts greet each other; intro to weather talk | | 03:07 | Why weather is an important connection skill | | 05:16 | Listener question: Cloudy vs. Overcast | | 06:25 | Definitions and nuances: Cloudy vs. Overcast | | 08:30 | Sunny vs. Bright—clarifying the difference | | 10:27 | Real-life consequences: Having bad weather in Hawaii | | 12:21 | Gloomy vs. Gray—inferring mood and color | | 13:22 | Discussing personal mood’s link to weather | | 14:12 | East Coast vs. West Coast regional weather behavior | | 15:36 | Humid vs. Muggy—technical vs. casual distinctions | | 17:02 | Cool vs. Chilly—how cold is it really? | | 18:41 | Roleplay: Friends opening a call talking about weather | | 20:22 | Recap: Weather is an ongoing, valuable connection topic |
[18:47]
Don’t "turn your back" on the weather as a connection topic! Whether you’re learning to be more nuanced or just looking for a safe way to start a conversation, talking about weather—when done naturally—can build connection and open doors to richer discussions in English.
For questions, topic suggestions, or feedback, email support@allearsenglish.com or leave a review on your podcast app.