this is an all ears English podcast episode 1852 stomach tummy belly
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in this episode we talk about a very human thing having a stomach we all get
physically sick at times and we all have things that we viscerally react to find
out how to use this vocabulary in deep and lighter ways today
awesome Michelle how's everything going for you everything is going well everything's going well
I'm excited to be on the show today and today we're talking about this expression that Lindsay
um in an episode a while back uh you used the expression hard to stomach and we were saying
that that is definitely a good one to use on the show lots we can talk about with that very common
um so we're going to talk about it today yeah this is a good one I think there are
a lot of expressions in the English language about the stomach sort of I
I don't know something viscerally affecting us right that's the key
um and that's what this does in a way in a way even though it's metaphorical it's still about
like the body interacting with something an idea or a concept yeah right so I mean Lindsay I mean
what is yeah I mean you were touching on it a little bit but what does it mean basically it
means stomach hard to stomach it means guys that something is hard to accept or it's hard
to do something because it isn't appealing in some way maybe it's very off-putting maybe it's
not clean maybe it just like it induces a sense of disgust or you reject it for whatever reason
right right right right exactly so it can be like a very obvious thing like cleaning the toilet is
hard to stomach I mean like it can be more like you know it's actually kind of disgusting yeah
no one likes to clean the toilet no or it could be a little less obvious right something like
conversations with my sister about money are hard to stomach now that's not about physical
disgust but that's about maybe you're gonna have some disagreements and you have different values
towards money and that's hard right right right exactly so it's just uncomfortable hard to take
it's like that feeling of you know that uneasy feeling exactly and what would be another one
Michelle a good example especially today yeah well it could be uh political debates can be hard
to stomach in today's climate yeah and that's so true oh my gosh certain news channels are hard to
stomach what does that mean when I say in today's climate though because um do I mean like a lot of
times we think about climate as kind of like the weather climate change no so here you're
not talking about the weather you're talking about the political climate right it's like the weather
of something like not the actual not the actual weather but like how things are generally like
it's like the temperature yeah the temperature yeah oh I could do another thing could do another
episode like this this would be a great idea guys we're always getting new ideas so hit follow on
the podcast you don't miss them but yeah I mean you could also say today's economic climate right
inflation is out of check in today's economic climate so there's a lot of ways we can put new
Concepts in front of old words like climate that's really cool I love that right right right right
right yeah it's that's kind of a useful word I mean Lindsay so what is what's something else
that you think is hard to stomach well just to get real here I mean homelessness in Denver is pretty
bad and I was actually surprised I was having this conversation with someone last weekend who went
to college here in the Arts and she came back to visit last weekend and hadn't really been back and
hadn't really seen Denver honestly homelessness has gotten really bad in Denver there's a lot
of camps a lot of streets in which there's just like tents set up for a whole block wow
um and it's really hard it's it's hard to imagine like you know all the like what got someone to the
street and how to really more than anything how to fix the problem you know with compassion but also
in a realistic way it's it's a tough problem that I find really hard to stomach in so many ways wow
that's I mean that's a really good example um yeah okay I don't know if I can top that one it's tough
It's Time also for our connected Communicator course our listeners know our fluency course
that Jessica and I actually went to the streets of Portland and Portland has a huge homelessness
problem the West Coast almost more so than the middle of the country or the East Coast Portland
La San Francisco we went to the streets of Portland and talked to some people on the street
some homeless people and they're actually in the course articulating how they got there what's
going on what happened their stories right so this is a major issue guys by the way that you want to
be able to discuss with native speakers okay that's right that's right absolutely so that's
an important one um but yeah very good uh use of that expression um I mean let's let's talk about
some other like you you were saying there's a lot of things to do with a stomach and it's true yeah
um some of them are you know pretty similar I mean this is it's a very it's like a similar idea but
just used in different ways right so one of them is stomach or can't stomach right yep it's just
like hard to stomach I mean like I mean wait what did I write here in research also oh yeah
I don't know what part ignore that part but um yeah like you could say like I can't stomach his
cooking I mean yeah it's another way of saying his cooking is terrible yeah but in a way so I
gave the example of homelessness and that is the more the deeper way to use this right but that's
not the only way to use this so you could talk about big issues big issues that really rattle
you that make you like they hurt your heart like homelessness like gun issues like mass shootings
right though that I can't stomach that is too much for me it's it's too sad right but there's
also this other piece where it's about the more physical things the more literal things but in
this case I think you're using it in both ways kind of like you're saying I can't eat his cooking
because it's disgusting and I hate the idea of him cooking because he's not a good cook it's like
you're using it in a metaphorical and a physical way right right true so it could be for either one
you guys you just gotta listen to the context yeah but what's that what's the next one Lindsay okay
to have a strong stomach would you say you have a strong stomach or do you you get sick easily
well it yeah it also actually depends on if you're talking like literally interesting I I
actually do think I have a strong stomach in like the literal way I mean knock on wood knock on wood
um but in the more metaphorical way uh maybe not as much like you know I
don't really like blood like could could you ever work in a hospital
excuse me excuse you I'm choking no it's okay I'm just choking at my own saliva that's fine
um so if you like uh could I work it I don't I I don't think that that would be like the right
place for me I mean like because like for our example is like if you want to be a surgeon you
need a strong stomach right like no question you can't I mean I know like you know people even in
med school or you know like dissecting dead bodies and things like that like I couldn't I couldn't
I couldn't even I couldn't get through I probably couldn't get to the school and then I couldn't get
through the school because yeah yeah even TV shows there are a lot of hospital dramas I have to turn
away when I see the surgery you know they're going in there you can see the heart beating inside the
stomach all over the place they're pulling out you know the colon or the liver or something I
can't handle that I can't handle it it's too much I can't stomach that no I I can't I can't either
it's you you I don't know there are certain people that are like built for that stuff yeah it's weird
thank goodness we need those people imagine if we didn't have them yeah we do need those people
we do not need those people so I I just see I can't I can't stomach it I don't have a strong
stomach for that stuff so guys you can see like there's a lot of things you know I can't stomach
um or to be hard to stomach or have a strong stomach so those are I mean do what about weak
stomach do people say that I feel like I have a weak stomach no they do they do say that they yep
I have a weak stomach I think that means well that also means both that means you like you will be
sensitive to foods and also that you can't handle the bigger the more disturbing things in life like
if you probably are specifically seeing someone get injured like if you see on TV someone breaks
a bone and the bones like coming out of the oh all the other day last night I was watching that
movie 159 hours about the guy James Franco plays the role of the kid from Colorado who goes to
Canyonlands and he gets yeah trapped under a boulder in a canyon and has to cut off his arm
oh my God it's so intense I saw that movie and I didn't watch the end like I think I couldn't and
he also had like a very dull knife I just couldn't stomach the part where he had to actually like saw
into his arm it was oh it was too much that's hard to stomach that is hard to stop that's hard
um but Lindsay one thing really fast what's the difference between a tummy and a stomach and a
belly a good question I like this this is about some of this is about like young English versus
mature English and some of this is just about slang so tummy is what kids call the stomach
or a parent talking to a kid right generally oh do you have a tummy ache yeah you really
wouldn't say that to an adult maybe to your partner if you're kind of being cute yeah yeah
generally not so much it's sort of baby talk I think which can be annoying uh yes I agree
um and then stomach is just is well is the physical thing and then belly Michelle it's I
don't know I guess I think of belly as like tummy I'm not really sure if there's I think adults use
belly a little bit more also you might say oh I have a little bit of a belly now right oh yeah
if you're feeling like you've gained weight or something like that that's true yes so you would
you could say oh I have a stomach but I think the stomach all also hints a bit more at the
physical like the the like the body part you know right like the like the innards yeah the
energy the actual body part where the food sits as opposed to belly I think it's the whole thing
and like the skin even the skin like the love handles on the side in a way right yeah yeah
I do more episodes on body parts and that kind of thing that's funny that's funny but
it is interesting because like recently we like well or maybe a few weeks ago we did something
about uh boo-boos and yeah we were talking about getting injured and uh stuff like that and it is
interesting how they're like the kid words for things and then they're it is interesting yeah
and we need to know the difference guys we don't want to go throwing out kids words and talking to
like your colleagues or something it's very weird right that would be very strange yeah I also think
that but uh tummy and belly well I mean yeah I'm more kid sounding but also like belly rubs for
a dog right like I feel like we use like belly for dogs or something right yeah you don't say
you don't say like Lindsay I'm gonna give my dog a stomach rub no no it's belly and it's not even
tummy for dogs right that's the interesting part right Tommy's just for kids uh bellies for dogs
stomach is the physical like actual body part that you're you know the doctor would operate
on if you had a problem so right right exactly and you would use it in more of a medical sense
like like you would say oh like I'm giving a dog a belly rub but if that dog had to go to the vet
and you know they had something with their stomach then you would you wouldn't say oh his belly you
would probably say the stomach yeah exactly like I was in that situation yesterday I had to take
Kiefer to the vet because he's been acting he's been had a little blood coming out and oh no not
so good and you know we have to figure out what's going on what did he eat right sometimes dogs will
eat something and so then the vet would have to feel his stomach right and see try to see maybe
go in and maybe do an x-ray and see what's in there right well I hope he's okay they
good we're on a little bit of and I think he'll be okay I'm not too
worried yeah oh so for another day I like how you said where on antibiotics but yeah
that would be a great episode ideas coming out of our ears oh my gosh ideas out of the ears okay
um should we we're we're not gonna use like every single stomach thing in this
role play but uh let's get let's give it a little shot so we have some more examples
so here all right we are going to an amusement park all right let's go on the roller coasters
oh sorry Lindsay I don't have the stomach for that I get it but you don't want to do
any rides that's kind of hard for me to stomach you don't have a strong stomach
if you want if you want to hang out with me or sorry you need to have a strong stomach if you
need if you want to hang out with me yeah but my niece says her tummy hurts oh sorry oh that's an
excuse yeah that's definitely an excuse you're trying to get out of it blaming it on the kid
you do have to be careful like right when you when before you plan a day at Disneyland or
Disney World or something make sure that you have the same attitude towards rides right
all right so you said Michelle sorry Lindsay I don't have the stomach for that so literally
a roller coaster can make you some people throw up so you're saying physically you you know your
stomach is not strong you might throw up right so you can say I don't have you can I could have said
I ca I I I can't stomach roller coasters but I hear I changed it up a little bit here and then I
said that's kind of hard for me to stomach and now this is in the more metaphorical way right this is
more like you're like unsettled by that or you're like a little bit annoyed like I can't yeah like
we're not gonna be able to do anything today like exactly I can't I can't accept the idea of doing
nothing only going on the easy rides and then I said you need to have a strong stomach if you
want to hang out with me yes and then I blame it on my needs and I said my nieces her tummy hurts
oh man I like this episode Michelle because we all can relate everyone in the show you know has
a physical body we have issues with our stomach sometimes metaphorically there are things we see
in the world that we just can't handle right that we reject and that are too heartbreaking for us
and physically we've all been sick you know so I like this guys don't try away from this
vocabulary this is Being Human absolutely this is really useful stuff um it can be used to talk you
know about your taste or about you know like or it just physically not feeling up for something
and so we went we went into all of it today but yeah try these try these out today they're very
relatable expressions and music tell me belly it's stomach stomach tummy and belly that's good stuff
today Michelle thanks for hanging out and I'll see you on the next episode all right bye Lindsay bye
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