Vanessa: Hi. I'm Vanessa
from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. Do you know these very American things? Let's talk about it.
Do you know this song? Most Americans immediately recognize this tune, even though
my poor singing. You're immediately able to recognize this song because it is a
common feature of American culture. So today I would like to help you learn 10 common things.
Some of them are expressions. Some of them are activities. Some of them are cultural elements
that all Americans know and you should too. Now of course, the US is an incredibly diverse
place with a lot of people who have various backgrounds. So this might not apply to everyone.
I can't speak for all people living in the United States. But these are generally known things in
the US that it's kind of fun to be able to know as well. So let's get started with the first one.
And to help you remember everything that you learned in this very American lesson,
you can download the free PDF worksheet that I've made for today's lesson. It includes all
of these expressions, cultural elements, and ideas that I've talked about in this lesson.
Plus, you'll see Vanessa's Challenge Question so that you can answer it and
use what you've learned. You can download that PDF with the link in the description.
All right. Let's get started with our first very American thing that almost all Americans know what
it is. If I asked you, "What are you doing for the fourth," would you know what I mean?
You might look at your calendar and say, "November 4th? December 4th?" No. When someone asks you,
"What are you doing for the fourth," they always mean July 4th. And that's because
July 4th is the American Independence Day. And we usually just shorten this to the fourth.
"What are you doing for the fourth? I'm going to the lake for the fourth.
I'm not really doing anything for the fourth, but maybe I'll try to find some fireworks."
We often shorten Independence Day or July 4th to just the fourth. And now you know that too.
If I said to you, "Whoa, I just found a Benjamin on the street. I can't believe it."
Huh? Would you think that I found a guy named Benjamin on the street and I just feel so excited?
Maybe he's my long lost friend. Nope. If I said I found a Benjamin on the street, that means a $100
bill. And that's because Benjamin Franklin is the guy who's on the $100 bill. So if you say,
"Oh man, I really just need to earn some Benjamins this weekend. I need to pay my rent. I'm falling
behind." That means you need to make several hundred dollars. It's just slang for a hundred
dollars. So I hope for you, you find a Benjamin on the street someday. That would be amazing.
If my husband Dan said, "Did you eat the last piece of cake?" I might say,
"I plead the fifth." What is happening here? Am I telling him that I'm guilty? Or am I telling
him I'm not guilty? I didn't do it. Well, this expression I plead the fifth has to do
with the fifth amendment to the constitution. And that means that I don't need to tell you
because maybe it will hurt me in a court of law later. This is a very legal type of statement.
But we often use this in daily conversation to say yes, but I don't want to tell you.
So when my husband asks me, "Did you eat the last piece of cake," and I say, "I plead the fifth,"
he knows, yes, Vanessa ate it, but she doesn't want to tell me.
So you can use this very American expression when you want to tell someone
yes, but maybe you feel embarrassed to tell them yes directly. You can just say, "Ah,
I plead the fifth." Great expression. In 2004, I was a senior. Does this mean I was old
in 2004? What if I told you also that in 2008, I was also a senior. Huh? If you're in America,
you can probably guess that this means I was in high school in 2004 and I was in college in 2008.
A senior means you are in your last year of high school or your last year of college. So in the US,
we often have terms for first, second, third, and fourth year in high school and in college. So if
you are in ninth grade, you are a freshman. If you are in 10th grade, you're a sophomore. Notice that
the O in the middle of this word is silent, sophomore. If you're in 11th grade, you are
a junior. We could say, "I'm in my junior year. I'm a junior." And if you're in two 12th grade, so
the final grade of high school, you are a senior. And this type of system also applies to college.
You are a freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior in college, especially when you go to
a four year college, these type of terms apply. So it's quite common that when you are a senior,
you think you are much better than freshman. "Oh, I was never so small. They're so much like just
little children, those freshmen. We are seniors." I think this is pretty common in high school
that you see the people who are younger than you as so much younger. "I wasn't like that
when I was a freshman." But really, you were. So this type of system is quite
common in the US. And now you know about it too. When you arrive in the US, you will probably need
to fill out a visa form. And at the bottom of the visa, you need to sign your John Hancock.
Is your name John Hancock? Well, if it is, you definitely need to do that.
But this term, sign your John Hancock just means your signature. There's a little bit of American
history behind this because John Hancock was a guy who signed his name big and large
on the Declaration of Independence. So it was kind of a bold statement where these colonists
in the United States or in the Americas told England, "We want to have independence." And
it's a pretty big statement. Maybe there's some treason involved. So it's kind of scary to say,
"I'm someone who supports this." But John Hancock signed his name
really large on that document. So it was bold and courageous. It was a big move. So because of this,
his name is synonymous now with a signature. Sign your John Hancock, put your John Hancock here. We
don't always use this instead of signature, but you will definitely hear this. And it's steeped
in American history and now you can use it too. Now we have two fun American idioms. One is if I
said to you, "You shouldn't buy a new car. If you buy a used car, you get more bang for your buck."
This expression, bang for your buck, kind of includes two American concepts. One is buck,
which is slang for dollars. And the other one, bang, doesn't necessarily relate to guns, but
I know guns are kind of culturally linked to the US. So we get this idea that you can get a great
value for your money if you buy a used car. So you might say, "Yeah, you should get a used car.
It's more bang for your buck. Don't get a new car. It's better to get a used car." This is a
great expression, more bang for your buck. When I was growing up, before we left for
school almost every morning, it was pretty common for my sister and I to fight over
who said, "Shotgun," first. Why were we trying to beat each other to say shotgun? What's that
mean? Does that mean we want to carry a shotgun? Does that mean we were going hunting or shooting?
No. Instead, shotgun is the passenger seat. And for some reason, this is the most desirable seat
in the car when you're not the driver. So kids, I guess, not too young, but high schoolers or
older kids always want to call shotgun. And we use that expression, "I call shotgun,"
or just saying shotgun. And that means that's my seat. I claim it. And this is really common,
especially with siblings, even with friends, too, that before you get in the car, if you're
not the driver, you'd say, "I call shotgun." Well, maybe now you can call shotgun too.
Have you ever eaten the most tasty bonfire treat in the entire world? This is something I look
forward to every time we have a bonfire. It is s'mores. S'mores. This is something I didn't
realize was very American until I was talking to some international friends. And they said,
"What? We just toast marshmallows. What do you put with them?" So let me explain to you
a delicacy, something amazing that has a special place in my heart.
First, you have a graham cracker. This is a special type of cookie, even though it's called
cracker, it's quite sweet. And then we have a piece of chocolate. So we often buy some Hershey's
chocolate, break off a piece, put it on the graham cracker. And when you're having a bonfire, you set
that close to the fire, not too close, but close enough that the chocolate gets a little soft. And
then you take a stick and two marshmallows, you could do one, but two is better, and you toast
them over the fire, very carefully to make sure that they don't explode into flames. Some people
like that. Personally, I like them to be perfectly toasted and it is an art form. Let me tell you.
So you toast them. And then when they're toasted, you put them on the chocolate and you take another
piece of a graham cracker and you slide the marshmallows off and there you have the perfect
s'more. Toasty, warm, melty, gooey. So perfect. So the next time that you are at a bonfire,
maybe you can introduce this idea to your friends, or if you're at a bonfire in the US,
you will definitely see people eating s'mores. Please try it for my sake. I hope you'll love it.
All right. Now it's time for the song you have been waiting for. It is ...
Do you know this song? This song is Take Me Out to the Ball Game. And I included this here because
there's a funny little story I wanted to share with you. One of my friends, you might follow his
YouTube channel. His name's Jack. He has a YouTube channel called To Fluency and he's from the UK,
but he's married to an American. And he told me that one time they were playing a game with some
Americans. And the game was that you had to hum a song and your partner had to guess what it was.
So his wife drew a card and it said, hum Take Me Out to the Ball Game. And she's like,
"All right, this is a good song. It's easy. He'll understand it immediately." So she started to hum.
And he just looked at her like, "What? I've never heard that in my life." So obviously that was not
a good moment in their game for them, maybe a little funny, but because of this, I realized,
"Oh, maybe this song isn't quite so well known internationally, but it is a staple of American
culture because baseball is extremely common. And this song is sung before every baseball game.
So if you've ever been to any kind of big baseball game in the US, you've definitely heard this song.
And if you memorize the lyrics, you'll be able to sing along and cheer with everyone.
It's a great moment to kind of have that group feeling of excitement before a game. So make
sure you check out Take Me Out to the Ball Game. You can search on YouTube and see some clips of
crowds of people at baseball games, singing this song, quite fun and very American.
Take me out to the ballgame. Take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks.
I don’t care if I ever get back
for it root, root, root for the home team. If they don’t win it’s a shame. For it’s 1,
2, 3 strikes you’re out at the old ball game! Our final very American thing today also has to do
with baseball. What if I said to you, "Your speech was awesome. You knocked it out of the park."
Did you give a speech about baseball? Are you playing baseball? No. This just means
it was amazing. You did even better than expected. You knocked it out of the park.
Here we have the image of someone playing baseball. He's got a baseball bat,
someone's pitching him the ball and he hits it. He doesn't just hit it into the outfield. That's
where someone can catch it. He hits it beyond the field, out of the park. And this means it's a home
run. No one can catch it. And it's great for his team. Everyone can get to home base and they might
get a lot of points. So here knocking it out of the park is a great thing in baseball and in life.
So if you do something really awesome, better than expected, you can use this expression. "Oh man,
I can't believe it. But I talked to someone in English the other, and I think I knocked
it out of the park. I explained myself exactly the way I wanted. I did it. And they understood me."
Congratulations, you knocked it out of the park. Well, congratulations. Now you are in the loop
to all of these American secrets, all of these things that most Americans know. And
now you do too. If you are American and you're watching this, let me know in the comments,
did you know all these things? I think they're pretty common in American culture, but let me
know in the comments. And I would love to see what you have to say. Don't forget to download
the free PDF worksheet so that you can learn all of these American concepts. Print it out,
put it under your pillow, sleep on it, dream about it. I hope it will help you to expand your English
knowledge and be more confident as you speak. And now I have a question for you. Have you
ever celebrated the fourth? If you live in the US, maybe you've joined a
4th of July celebration, but I want to know. Have you ever celebrated the fourth?
Let me know. And I will see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye.
The next step is to download the free PDF worksheet for this lesson.
With this free PDF, you will master today's lesson and never forget what you have learned.
You can be a confident English speaker. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel
for a free English lesson every Friday. Bye.