this is an all ears English podcast episode 2006 weight versus a weight in English
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when can you interchange a weight and weight in English conversations rarely
but find out exactly when it does work to use the word await in today's episode
[Music] hey Michelle what's up hey Lindsay are you waiting for anything to get delivered to
your house any packages oh my gosh I'm always waiting for something we order a
lot from Amazon so yeah I would say I'm waiting for a few household items what about you yeah I
uh I you know it's funny I actually don't think I'm waiting specifically for anything now
um which is weird because we also order a lot of things from Amazon uh but I don't know I guess
it's just one of those one of those dry moments it's amazing it's amazing how Amazon has changed
shopping completely you know what I mean isn't that crazy where you used to have to go out and
buy stuff at the store all the time now you just press a button and it gets delivered my son knows
he'll say where did you get this did you order this on Amazon he told he told his babysitter
because we like got we got a lot of his clothes even you know on Amazon and he'll say oh I have
jeans from Amazon that's so cute oh yeah so it shows how Amazon is really no now they've
they've uh they're in they're embedded in our children yeah you know it's like we can never go
back from here Michelle can never go back yeah I remember when somebody was telling me about
time and and people would say oh you have to get Prime you have to get Prime and I was still paying
you know three dollars or whatever for delivery I remember thinking this is you know years ago
before I got in and I and I remember thinking why do I need that oh I don't need that and now
it's like I can't live without I know I feel like it used to be all the cool kids had prime it was
like the cool kids had prime and I was like oh that's not me I don't order stuff that much but
now we all we've tipped over into the dark side Michelle that's right that's right so Lindsay I
asked you if you were waiting for anything to get delivered to your house I I didn't
say are you are you awaiting right right yeah if I had said awaiting would that have sounded
weird yeah it would have been weird to me just because we're so casual in our conversations
um and it would feel a little bit more like literature or poetry like you're reciting
poetry Michelle right on the microphone yes well um today we have a listener question
this is from an Instagram follower I'm sorry I don't have this person's name but this person
the question basically is just what's the difference between a weight and weight yeah
it's a great question and we love our Instagram followers over there guys if you're not following
aller's English on Instagram you should be all right we update multiple times a week you get
to see us on video quizzes fun stuff over there that's right that's right so Lindsay you mentioned
a weight you know you said reciting poetry so am I is it okay is it safe to assume that you
don't really use a weight I think I think it is Michelle yeah that's safe to say I'm a pretty
casual person and uh I I have a hard time thinking of a situation where I would use a weight you know
yeah I I don't think I use it I feel like it sounds very formal but but we want to answer the
question so let's let's go into the difference so guys we are using uh grammarist.com to help us out
um so just so you know we're we're using that site a little bit um so guys but before we get
into it uh we have another episode about wait and wait on yeah so that's episode 1871 of
the all yours English podcast it's called let's practice real English with native speakers wait
for or wait on so another one with weight great one too also interesting if you're curious what
the difference is go listen to that episode and then come back here or listen to it after yeah
yes yes yes yes so all right so what is weight okay wait is just stop stopping something or not
doing something until something else happens right um because we think that something will happen at
a future Point okay so here's some examples wait look both both ways before you cross the street
oh this makes me think of I don't know if this is in Denver or somewhere else maybe it's Boston oh
wait where the thing yells at you yeah yeah yes yes we have that too the thing it's an automatic
like a robo thing right he's like wait is that way yes oh it sounds the same way it goes awful
it sounds like you're being scolded guys we're talking about when you when you press the button
to cross the street in Boston New York there's just a very scolding voice that comes on the
microphone the loudspeaker and says oh wait and then it counts down wait yes yes that's so funny
um or okay so wait look both ways before you cross up street right so it's saying stop like
don't do something until something is achieved right yeah um or I'm waiting for a package is it
here yet so this is more about you know thinking something like you're expecting something you're
something will happen it in the future in in some time yeah um yeah so that's weight um what about
oh wait okay yeah I think that weight is going to be used in 95 percent of the situations right I
would say 99 99 so if you learn English and with the 80 20 principle you are all set all you need
is weight but if you want to know the nuances of English we'll go into a little bit how a weight
is different right so a weight means to wait or to be waiting but the key difference is that a
weight needs an object well weight does not right tell us more about that Michelle what
do we mean by that okay so well weight can uh have an object but it doesn't need one
so well let me just it'll be better if I do an example she's awaiting her prince charming right
um but with waiting if you just say wait you would have to say she's waiting for her prince
charming okay okay but you could also just say she's still waiting right and there's no object
there is what you're saying right so also so basically yeah you can you have to be awaiting
something okay but I mean I mean really what this comes down to is awaiting it sounds more like a
fairy tale like Lindsay said and grammarist even mentioned this idea that it's it's old-fashioned
um exactly I would I mean honestly I don't know if I should make such a statement but
I would almost go as far as to say just don't even use it I don't know kind of yeah I mean
we're teaching you guys Modern English when I think of the word await we talk about fairy
tales poems I think of Romeo and Juliet and the scene in Verona where she's standing out
on the balcony awaiting you know awaiting Romeo uh it's just Antiquated and irrelevant
yeah yeah exactly exactly Lindsay that word antiquating that could be a good Antiquated yeah
yeah what Antiquated sorry what does that mean old it just means irrelevant and old uh it just
I think it's a combination of those two things irrelevant and old yes exactly so yeah it's good
to learn this it's good to learn the difference and it's a great question but I really think
weight covers all you need while still sounding modern yeah that's the secret today right throw
this one out yeah I would just do that I mean and guys in the follow-up episode we can always talk
about other ways to say wait lots of things with this all right is there let's go in a bit more
into weight right just wait because we like that one better we like that one 99 of the time for our
listeners what is another way to use weight well as a noun right a delay so you could say something
like there's always a weight at that restaurant so you should make a reservation I like this I like
this use of weight I feel like maybe this might be new for some of our listeners it sounds native and
natural and we use this all the time all the time oh man over the weekend I was up in New Hampshire
visiting my niece and my brother and there's this place that they like to go to called tuckerman's
Tuckaway Tavern and they're it's famous because the chef was on some cooking show Once on TV
he's kind of famous and there's always like a two-hour wait it's crazy and everyone has to be
there to check in so it's like you can't have one person go down and then come back two hours later
everyone has to sit in the lobby so we always just go to the bar and hang out for two hours
oh wow yeah but anyways there's always so some restaurants are notorious for having a massive
weight and the the only phrase to use there to sound native and natural is have a weight
there's a weight yeah right there's no there's a weight you can't say you can't really say there's
a delay you know like that's not the same thing at a restaurant no oh wait yeah when you say there's
a weight it's really Associated that that's what you use that's just what it is at a restaurant
it is so in English sometimes we have these very specific situations we need one word and this is
the one for that situation yeah right exactly so that's just another way to use it guys so
you know and that can be applied to daily life pretty easily pretty easily so so try and use
it in that way as well um so should we do a role play okay so you and I here Michelle we are at a
bus stop just hanging out at the bus stop here we go just hanging out are you waiting for the
104.2 yes I've been waiting for an hour I feel like I'm awaiting a horse and carriage by now
I hate waiting for the bus yes oh man now there's a way at the restaurant I'm going to well I guess
it all works out then oh sorry oh some days are like that you know it's like uh standing in line
for my rental car I think I shared this on uh when Aubry and I recorded but I in La last week I was I
rented with a rental car company and I I literally waited for two hours for my rental car at LAX
Michelle it was awesome yeah on a Sunday afternoon it was nuts yeah that's so frustrating yeah can
you believe that whereas the other company I look back everyone's getting through the line
quick and I'm there so let's go through our role play shall we all right let's do it so um you said
are you waiting for the 104.2 SO waiting for yes something to happen you know and then uh you said
yeah I've been waiting for an hour yeah you've been stopped right basically waiting for an hour
um and then here's when you used a waiting so let's talk about this you said I feel like I'm
awaiting a horse and carriage so what do you think about this you kind of used it in a in
a humorous way yeah I've kind of broken into art and humor here in literature a little bit I'm I
feel like I'm awaiting a horse and carriage I don't have to say that I could say I feel
like I'm waiting for a horse and carriage but yeah I guess you're kind of you're going back
to Old Times you're saying this feels like the 19 like the 1850s right a little bit
before cars before buses uh so you're trying to create a scene in the person's mind is why you're
using that but it would be rare that you would do that but you totally could it adds color right you
could do it I wanted to give an example of how it could happen and I think this is wonderful yeah I
like this um but it probably won't happen um and then and then yeah I said I hate waiting for the
bus so again yeah right and then we talked about how to use it at a restaurant for a weight right
oh man now there's a weight at the restaurant I'm going to so maybe I got a text message from my
friend who's already there right right yeah yeah there's a weight that's a great these are great
examples guys you got to learn things in context you know this is how we learn yeah this is how we
learn Lindsay what's the takeaway for today this is a great question guys again 80 20 principle
let's focus on what gets us 80 of the results 20 of the work get us 80 of the results so if
you live by that idea don't worry another second about oh weight but if you want to add a little
art to your language you could try throwing this in occasionally but 99 of the time go with weight
all right I totally agree yeah um I'm glad we talked about this and
um this was this was a fun one a fun question to to go into here so all right guys thanks
for listening and have a great day see you later next time Lindsay I know and guys don't forget
check out our Instagram Channel this question came in through Instagram and Instagram is a
really good place to ask us a solid question so go on over there go to Instagram and search for
all ears English all right Michelle all right you take care I'll talk to you soon bye bye [Music]
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