this is an all ears English podcast episode 2011. what
a blowout the most versatile word in the English language
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forward slash app [Music] there's a word in English that means four completely different
things your textbook never taught you this want to know what it is listen in today
hello Michelle how's it going hey Lindsay you know something you have great hair oh
thank you I appreciate that compliment have you ever had a blowout at a salon blow out
no because blowouts don't really if I understand what a blow it is it doesn't really work for curly
hair I don't think so do you ever have your hair straight have you ever done it straight
no oh yeah I accidentally had it straight for half my life when I was brushing my hair when I
shouldn't have been brushing my hair you're not when you have curly hair you shouldn't brush it
you should comb it in the shower but not brush it I was like you know because my mom would always
say brush your hair yeah right until I take a brush and curl out all the beautiful curls just
straighten them so you know it's funny that you say that because yeah my kids well my son
has curly hair and you know and my and my niece I remember when she was a baby she had really
curly hair and my dad would always be like oh they're you know the hair needs to be brushed
and I'm like no it doesn't like so um curls should get combed but definitely not brushed
right right right well we're learning new things every day here onset about your hair but yeah
um I so so um yeah today we are going to talk about this word blowout though
um so I was actually uh going to have blowout be uh one of many different words on the topic uh but
um it's very versatile uh so I figured we're just gonna focus on this word you know sometimes
we realize you can just keep keep one word in and do a whole episode so we're gonna do that
today so but Lindsay what do we want to remind our listeners to do guys hit follow right here
on all ears English where you are listening you don't want to miss a single episode we publish
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you can check out that's a lot of episodes okay Lindsay so we got a lot to get through here uh we
could even do a whole well follow up on this so let's see how it goes but the word blowout okay
so what's the first thing you think of when you hear this word be honest like which what what
there's a lot of different meanings to be honest the first thing I think about if I'm around a mom
I think about when a kid just totally destroys their diaper yeah well that's I was gonna say
the same thing that's the first thing that I think of too I've dealt with many a blowout in my day
um so yeah that's when uh you need a whole outfit change maybe even yourself
um yes exactly so that's funny that's the first thing I think about as well yeah but uh there's
tons of other meanings so um so a blowout to like let's talk about we'll get back to that other
one I think um that's like it can um it can mean somebody won by a lot so that's one one use of the
word right if it wasn't close so for example like the game was a total blowout they didn't stand a
chance have you heard it like this Lindsay yeah a blowout yeah you could say that I guess I hear
that a little bit less often but it depends on who you're around right yeah yeah um the game was a
total blowout they didn't stand a chance okay what are some other definitions Michelle that you would
say this is the first one is the competition they just kill the competition right yes and now we're
getting back to the hair one so I asked you if uh if you've had a blowout but we didn't really
talk about what that means um so a blowout with hair it's usually with a hair dryer and usually
um like a big round brush and you know someone makes it really nice with a lot of volume
um and they're usually kind of expensive um so um wait do you blow dry your hair Lindsay no
uh not really I kind of just let it air dry most of the time so do you put product in it or I put
something interesting nowadays yes nowadays I put some product in it sometimes yeah yeah yeah yeah
yeah so um so anyway but this can mean you know you go to a salon or you do it at home um and you
just do it with a special brush and then it has a lot of volume like I had it done I've had it
done for weddings I had it done for my engagement photos Okay um and and now that like after you get
a haircut a lot of times they'll ask if you want to you know to have it blown out that's okay um
yeah and yeah so like that's them that they'll dry it um for you and do kind of a a little blow out a
blowout but it's become very popular for people to get this done like there's there's specific
salons just for getting your hair you know for getting a blowout interesting I did and for men
this is really like a salon vocabulary you know if you have long hair right you're gonna mostly
use this in in that way okay exactly exactly and then now we get to the baby uh ones oh
we already talked about that um but you could say something like I'm sure I've said this many
times sorry I gotta call you back the baby just had a blow out yeah I know that one's hilarious
right yeah it is all right what's another one okay this is the last one we're gonna
do versatile this word is I know right original yeah that's what I was originally gonna just do
like a whole different kind of episode and I'm like no this word is like so strange because it
means everything from poop to parties like yeah poop to parties I love it that might be our title
oh my gosh yes it's so good I guys this might be the most versatile word in the English language
so the next one this is our fourth and and the thing about this is that these definitions are
completely different it's not like they're related like a phrasal verb they're completely opposite so
this next one is a huge party right so for example she's worked so hard planning this
party it's gonna be a blowout yes Lindsay do you like to throw blowout parties or do you like to
attend them wow yeah I do sure that's fun you know once in a while absolutely I like to throw parties
I like to throw dinner parties these days which I wouldn't call a blowout but it's more my speed you
know yeah oh that's a good bonus for today when you say something is my speed yeah that is good
my vibe it's my it's what I like to do it's in line with my personality so that's to say my speed
um so yeah the um guys we also want to direct you speaking of parties uh
we have aller's English episode 1334 was how to organize a birthday party in American culture so
that's a good one to listen to Lindsay which one I mean would you use like we went over a
bunch of different definitions of this word like so you think of the poop thing first but like how
do you think you most frequently use these I mean would you use it for a party oh my gosh
I yeah I think for the party one would probably be the most common one that I would use maybe it
depends on your stage in life like if your mom it's the diaper thing if you're a teenager it's
a blowout if you're an athlete it's it's the other blowout right yeah it's the uh the game
winning the competition so maybe it just depends on what you're exposed to the most that's right
all right Michelle are there some other definitions here I mean we're gonna we're
gonna cut it we're gonna cut it for today but we wanted to choose a couple yes I think we got some
but there we could do a whole blowout uh episode on more things with blowout so but um today we
are going to now just get into some role plays and then we'll give our listeners a second to
see if they can think of which definition this is by the way oh good it's a little game fun little
game all right here we go here we go I don't think you can beat me at basketball oh yeah you'll see
it's it'll be a total blowout all right so for our listeners can you guys think of what this is well
Michelle I think this is probably the competition one this is you got it you got it so you're saying
you're gonna crush me you're gonna crush me at basketball yes exactly all right here's the next
one what's wrong I got a blowout but it got ruined in the rain so what do you guys think it says hmm
I bet our listeners can tell that this is the salon example I've gone to the salon I've spent
200 on a blowout and now it's totally ruined uh in the right yeah yes oh man that would that's
that's no fun no for sure I hate when I like do my hair and then I realize it's gonna be raining
that's awful because my hair just frizzes up like the second I'm in humidity or in rain it's yeah
it's not a pretty picture not a pretty picture okay yeah I know that's tough also depends on
the climate you're living in the yeah the West has very dry air and the East Coast has humidity
so we got lots of things going on with hair here a lot of things lots of things okay all right the
next one please RSVP I'm not sure if I can go but it's gonna be a blowout Michelle seriously
it will be amazing okay all right so this is a big party that's the definition of that one yes
no I would just say Michelle Reserve this for the big parties truly big parties right like for
example why took I don't know why we were just talking about episode 2000 I remember going to
a big blow a party in 1999 for New Year's Eve right big blowout like what's gonna happen we
don't know remember so let's party yep exactly the exactly so I'm gonna blow out a big party a
big party not like a couple friends over drinking wine like that's not not a blowout yeah okay all
right last one let's clean the car oh no another blowout yes so that's in the world of parenting
of our listeners our parents which I know many of them are they're gonna know this experience
yes I certainly do oh yeah so good um Michelle I'm excited about blowout because again guys
there's no way you could find this in a textbook there's no way you're gonna find a textbook that
is going to explain these four different ways of using this word that are opposites
right right it is just so funny this that's why I just wanted to take this episode and devote it to
this word because it was just like what what is this word it's like so so strange how it just has
totally different meanings and oh my gosh it's a fun it's a funny one I love it all right Michelle
this is a great takeaway I mean to think for our listeners guys you know sometimes you can infer
the meaning of certain words but this is a good example where you can try but there's also another
meaning that like I said means the opposite so you just need to open your mind to vocabulary
it's possible that you know four different a word like this could have four different meanings and
open your mind to that that is moving to that next level of English Connection yes absolutely
I'm glad you said that Lindsay well said and I will see you on the next episode and let's
guys help across your fingers that I don't have to deal with any blowouts no blobs that's what
I'm hoping for for you Michelle thank you thank you thank you you have a good day bye [Music]
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