hello Michelle what's shaking hey Lindsay yeah not too much how are you I'm doing great I'm
doing great I'm excited to be recording with you what are we talking about today I saw our notes
a little bit what's going on well today we're going to talk about a fun expression maybe it's
a proverb maybe it's a little bit of both um it is desperate times call for desperate measures oh my
gosh I wonder where this is gonna go today yeah I definitely I wonder what direction we're going to
take this episode in we'll find out right we will find out we will find out um yeah so would you say
that people use this yeah I would say so for sure during desperate times right and that could mean
like on the macro level economies or scenarios like Wars even or in the micro level just in
your own situation even making fun of yourself in a sarcastic way so we're going to get into
all this stuff today Michelle before we talk about it though um I want to make sure our listeners go
over and get their fluency score because we are all working for that 99 fluency level but we're
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a couple of minutes and you'll get your score 50 65 or 80 fluency so Michelle coming back to
desperate times call for desperate measures what the heck is this one all about well it's kind of
funny because like you said it can be kind of in a more serious situation or it can be a little less
serious maybe you're making fun of yourself it can be formal informal it's very Dynamic
um but but what does it mean I mean yeah what does that mean yeah it's really it's really this
is going to be interesting because this this is multifaceted this phrase right I think it means
when you're in a tough situation you have to take Extreme Action you have to do something extreme
to solve the extreme problem right you have to desperate times right like a difficult time call
for that basically to need right required written measure yeah require Desperate Measures to so
like to do something that big right to try and fix something make something better exactly so that is
the general idea so now you guys can start to see how this could apply to different situations let's
start with the big stuff Michelle um obviously we've just had this Global Health crisis right not
to bring it up all the time but it but it I mean it's true like I mean that's what like thinking
of all the things people did to try and stay safe right thing things that were uh I mean Desperate
Measures basically right we were in a you know it was a crisis and doing something to try and fix
it but there you couldn't just really do little things to fix it it was a big deal so yeah and
and just to zoom in on that one situation you could use this in a lot of scenarios within that
situation even people that went and stocked up on toilet paper yeah I mean I didn't do it right
um but I know people that did and you know desperate they probably in their mind were
saying desperate times call for desperate measures even though there actually was no no shortage
there was no like right now we're about to have a shortage on avocados um I just read about
that Mexico yeah yeah yeah yeah that is a true shortage like they're not exporting them anymore
um but there was not a shortage of toilet paper I think people thought they were in desperate
times for toilet paper but it was just more of a projection of the entire situation that's
interesting so that could work too right Michelle yeah absolutely so many different
compartments of that because you could use this expression yeah um also maybe something like
uh the housing market right somebody might end up in this current market paying like
so much more money than they anticipated and they might say well desperate times yeah that's
you that's me yeah would you say like maybe in your head you could have been like well desperate
times and or or sometimes people might just say desperate times and that's one of those situations
where sometimes we talk about people know it so well that you can just say the beginning and cut
off the end yeah and that's probably how a lot of natives would because they're too lazy honestly to
finish it right so we've done a few other phrases that would that would I mean It's Tricky with the
housing situation right now because yeah housing prices are through the roof and they honestly
don't make a ton of sense but then you look at the interest rates and as of you know the first
quarter q1 2022 the interest rates were so low so it's like okay what happens if we wait then we're
paying still sky high prices and then interest rates on top of that being higher so that's a
tricky scenario right it's a very weird housing market right now yeah very weird also like uh
the by buying a car oh my gosh absolutely have you bought a car in this in this crazy I haven't
but I need to and like I would like to hold off but apparently this could be a long time I know
so it's just one of those things where you're like ah like I I yeah it's really interesting
to see all the effects of the of the this Health crisis that we've had just to see all the Ripple
effects and what is still not solved you know all right that's a great word Lindsay what's a
ripple effect ripple effect yeah I imagine like a river you know with something drops in and then it
causes Ripples and it affects everything even on the exterior right right right right right exactly
um so let's look at less yeah less dire personal ones okay so I'm thinking about training a baby to
sleep okay so I I don't know if you've ever heard of this like cry it out method no tell us about
that you're you're the one with the authority on this in this area oh gosh I don't know so
um so it's like kind of a big um like uh I'm trying to look I'm not
controversy no people are like torn you know like really one side or the other
um it's basically like when a baby is having a sleep regression when they get to a certain age
there's one of the methods to help them sleep is to let them just cry and it's called the cry
it out method and there's I I believe there's like science behind it and things like that but
um and and it's one of those things where like I think a lot of parents say they're not gonna do
um but then they might say they're so exhausted and they might say desperate times cause call
for desperate measures and it's like they have to do they have to do something extreme and I'm
trying to think if I did this with my son I I didn't really like do this but but Dan was like
you know maybe we might have to and um I learned some other tricks I'm not saying that he didn't
ever cry but but um and and I I was fortunate I didn't have to do like the complete crying out
method just okay somewhere in between a little bit a little bit here and there but so yeah if
you if you're so sleep deprived somebody might say all right let's just do it desperate times
call for desperate measure yeah and I've heard it's it can be really difficult you know when you
have a new baby you'll both parents are sleep deprived it can be really intense so this is
a good example of where this phrase makes sense on the micro level like in your home with your
family and friends totally makes sense right right right right exactly and then and then another one
I mean this could be personal as well so let's think um if someone has to move for a job like
they are having trouble finding a job in their area Lindsay I know you said you watched this
do you remember the what what was it this is us the show oh yeah yeah sure sure do you see how
like one of the characters he had to move away for his job no I I missed that one I feel like I've
got like season five and season two and episode one of season three are you gonna watch it on
order I don't know what you're doing I'm totally out of board it's all it's a big mess it's not
like one of those shows it's not like a Seinfeld where you guys I'm doing it all wrong Michelle I'm
doing it all wrong okay so someone somebody which character moved out of Tennessee I know that okay
yeah and he's always in La for a few days a few days a week he has to do it also Chandler had
to do that on friends you know so people might have to make big adjustments in their jobs and
their Lifestyles uh even with having a family they may have to move they may have to go out of town
for a few weeks or something you know and they might say well desperate times call for desperate
measures right because they need work yeah I love that and that so that's about life situations and
then I want to add one more example that's kind of along the line terms of self like making
self-deprecation right making fun of oneself so Michelle you know I'm a terrible cook I'm not a
cook but let's just imagine that I was gonna have a date I invited the person over I was going to
cook for them and they come over and there's flour all over the kitchen everything's flying
around the place is a total disaster and I I get to the moment where I realize this is not going
to work out and so I say desperate times right call for desperate measures we're gonna order
pizza something like that right so that would be an example of where you're poking fun at yourself
you've right maybe you're a little in over your head right right right right right and everything
is very overwhelming and extreme yeah and then you just get pizza and there's nothing wrong
with pizzas just fine it's just fine so that's fine that's a fun example yeah yeah exactly so
guys there are you can use this more casually to make fun of yourself to make fun of a situation
um Lindsay can you think of an example in your life maybe we're desperate times called for
desperate measures oh my God that's such a good question there's so many of them Michelle and I'd
love to share them but now I can't think of them on the spot um I'll I'll have to come back to you
on that okay yeah but that's an example of what I could imagine myself in the kitchen would happen
yeah exactly guys so if you want you can look more into the origins of this expression I read that it
may have something to do it it might originate from a Greek expression I'm not really sure I
looked around a little bit if you're curious to look this up get into it but we wanted to really
give you like how it's used today how we how we use it in conversation so yeah um I think it's
actually very versatile and we're gonna show you you know some more role play so you can see an
actual conversation absolutely I mean again guys we can't be sure about the history of any phrase
right we you know we can tell you how we use it now and obviously there are certain phrases that
we avoid now because we know that they're they don't have a they have kind of an ugly past right
but with this particular one we really don't know and it's not well known so this one we we do we'll
say that we use this as native speakers for sure for sure yeah we use this is NATO speakers yes
definitely all right so here we go uh here we're co-workers all right let's do it here we go oh my
gosh I think we'll be here until 2 A.M finishing this report uh I know this is awful but desperate
times call for desperate measures all right just having us to work late even something like that
right like that's you can say that sometimes when you try to do that though you hit a wall where you
just can't think anymore at 2AM and yeah you don't get anything done at least I don't but I think you
Michelle you said that you're kind of a night owl like you work better at night yeah but to
actually like make myself do something that late like sometimes I think oh if I can't sleep maybe
I should actually just get up and do some work but yeah I can't do that every once in a while every
once in a while you will find me and I'm about to go to sleep or I can't sleep and I'm planning
and all these English episodes wow it does happen because sometimes I'll hear something and then I'm
like okay I'm just gonna do this like you know how come I'm gonna need it so guys I like that I like
that yeah sometimes but mostly uh the work quality is garbage for me too between like midnight and
you know 5 a.m or something so okay um all right the next one is here we're friends and I'm in a
difficult situation okay I can't believe I got gum in my hair yeah I honestly think you just
have to cut that whole chunk out no I know but desperate times call for desperate measures so
this is kind of a body thing yeah if something's in your hair or yeah imagine getting something
stuck somewhere you have to I mean I guess the example that's coming to my head right now is
the guy the movie I watched a few weeks ago about the guy who had to cut off his arm because he was
stuck in the cage yes yeah that's an example for sure not funny he was he was in a cave for
I think what like if four days or something and just stuck under a rock like he was lodged inside
between the Rock and the cave and he eventually was either gonna die or he had to cut off his arm
um so he cut off his arm cutting gum out no yeah yeah all right so
like desperate times call for eign
right and I think that this also kind of tries to toughen people like and I realize like oh not
everything's Pleasant like all right desperate times we gotta do it um and I I suppose that
could be annoying and if you're really like upset about something and somebody's just
like well desperate times yeah because it's a little bit dismissing right if they don't like
you have to cut off your hair I mean that's if I had to cut off my hair that would be devastating
um you know and so if someone didn't identify with that or couldn't empathize I wouldn't like
that you know yeah right right right um so let's just talk about one more way that we
can say that that's a little bit more informal okay um and this expression is you gotta do what
you gotta do well this one is so native we've got so many weird spellings and shortenings of
words meaning what yeah you do you got and guys get the transcripts get the app for this one go
to allersenglish.com app because you'll be able to see the transcripts right on your phone you
gotta do meaning gotta have to yeah what you gotta do so it's basically like well it's kind of like
saying like tough kind of it's like yeah you know so it's it's like it can be a little bit jarring
I guess if you hear that and you're complaining about something and somebody says something like
that so you know don't say it if somebody's really really really upset about something
yeah I mean whenever I think about this phrase desperate times I think about like the original
Pioneers you know that you know moved West in the late 1800s and mid-1800s and like how
hard it must have been for them living on the plains the winds the disease there was
it's just like oh my God what a different life yeah yeah for sure absolutely very different
um so Lindsay let's show how this might be used and you can use this about yourself okay you know
or you can use this about other people like if I'm making fun of myself all right you got to do what
you got to do Michelle you know I might talk to myself in that way but here we go okay um I really
don't want to have three layovers to get to this wedding oh I know it's terrible ugh but you gotta
do what you gotta do or red eyes taking a red eye you gotta do what you gotta do right that's
a good example exactly this is great so guys we've shown you some really relevant ways to
talk about resorting to something when you're in a tough situation right Michelle what's our takeaway
because these are useful they can be used about current events that are more Broad in the world um
they can use be used about personal events they're it's formal informal you know desperate times call
for desperate measures you can use it to make fun of yourself it's a very very very Dynamic
um and so it's a good one so definitely try it out 100 I agree Michelle well this has been
fun and I'll talk to you on the next episode have a good one all right YouTube bye guys bye