AEE 2642: Is This Episode Unhinged? Find Out Today

This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2642. Is this episode unhinged? Find out today. Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times.

Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American hosts, Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, and Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz, coming to you from Arizona and New York City, USA.

And to get your transcript delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com forward slash subscribe. Have you ever witnessed unhinged behavior? Today, learn phrases to describe chaotic events or individuals and learn when you should avoid calling someone this adjective.

Hello, Michelle. How are you? Hi, Aubrey. I'm doing well. Aubrey, have you ever experienced any completely unhinged behavior? Yes. This week, I had an experience at volleyball where someone definitely demonstrated unhinged behavior.

And to make a long story short... Someone went for the ball when I went for the ball and then kept running at me. So I stopped because I don't want anyone to run into me.

I collided with someone recently, same situation where I called the ball and they still ran at it and we collided and I was injured. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah.

People can get like that also like with kids sports, right? Like the parents can become a little bit unhinged. I have a story about that too, but maybe another time. I may have shared it.

It was about my daughter playing soccer. That happens a ton. Like people get really passionate. They're defending their kids or they really want them to win if they're overly competitive.

People can get unhinged. Yeah. So, I mean, unhinged, it could be someone posting online nonstop about chaotic drama or someone going on a rant in a group chat or maybe a boss messaging at all hours of the night. You might hear someone describe that as unhinged.

So, Aubrey, today's question comes from YouTube, from Saddam Mohamed, U1G. And this listener is going to ask about the word unhinged. Um, unhinged. So, uh, could you read the question?

Absolutely. Saddam says, I noticed that this word wildly collocates with other words like to run wild. Oh, the word wildly collocates with other words, words like to run wild, which means to behave without control. Like kids were running wild in the yard.

To drive someone wild, which means to excite someone in a more romantic context. Her good looking outfit tonight drove me wild. To go wild, which means to become enthusiastic. I went wild and my team scored an early goal.

Can you reflect on the word unhinged? I hear it a lot in many contexts. Thanks guys for this helpful English trending word. I love this question that Saddam heard this other episode with this vocabulary about something being wild and

And he's comparing. He's like, how does that relate to unhinged? And they are related, but different. So I'm excited to dive into this today. Yes, exactly.

So yeah, Sadam, thank you for listening and for the great question. So yeah, unhinged is kind of a popular word right now. Like it's kind of a little bit trendy, I think. It's great for connection.

Yeah. It's very expressive. And when you understand it in conversation, it's instantly relatable. So today we're going to explain exactly what it means, how to use it appropriately.

And guys, make sure you hit the follow button wherever you're listening to the All Ears English podcast so you never miss anything from us. Yes, and you probably have noticed that you're hearing Michelle and I a little more often, which is so fun for us. We are loving it. Lindsay is still on the podcast.

You'll still hear her voice and she'll be back more even soon. But yeah, we're having a fun time recording while she's taking a little bit of time off.

Exactly. Yes. So, yeah, we're going to talk about unhinged today. So literally speaking, I mean, if you think of like a door, it's on the hinges, right?

That's what the piece of metal that makes it swing open and closed. They connect it to the wall. So if a door is off its hinges, it's not connected to the wall anymore. Yeah.

But we have these cabinets that are constantly becoming unhinged. They just the hinges are not very high quality, I think. And if you open it often, it just like unhinged and you have to fix the little hinge. And ours is like becomes like crooked.

Yes, same. And the wood could almost break. They're probably the same ones. It could be. Yeah, it's very. And it's sort of hard to pop the hinge back in so that it's not like about to break off.

Yeah, exactly. So that's more literally, but we don't really use it. Not often. Even then I would be like, the cabinet's broken. It's unhinged. We don't really say that.

Right, exactly. So normally when you hear unhinged, you're thinking about this, you know, more popular meaning, this less literal meaning. So what is unhinged? Yeah.

Yeah. So mentally or emotionally unstable, chaotic, unpredictable, over the top. We use it to exaggerate a lot, right? We're taking like, for example, this guy at volleyball, I was really annoyed with his behavior.

Some people might not consider it unhinged, but it was pretty extreme. So I would use that would be like, he was totally unhinged in his reaction, right? So we often describe people using this for example he's been completely unhinged since the breakup yeah so he just might be maybe he's staying at home in his pajamas all the time like super upset maybe he's calling his ex-girlfriend 10 times a day you know stalking maybe stalking right be like he's unhinged it could be something extreme like that right

It could be really serious if someone is unhinged. Yes. So, you know, sometimes we do use it in kind of a, it's kind of like the word crazy, honestly. And I think we've talked about that on the show before is, is it okay to use that?

Because sometimes it's, you know, it's slightly on PC to say something is unhinged. But again, you hear it a lot. In a very similar way to crazy. It's also slightly un-PC to say someone is crazy.

Exactly. So yeah, like we'll use it a lot in slang like that's crazy. This is crazy. But to actually say she is crazy or he is crazy feels much worse, right?

To accuse someone and the same to say he's unhinged. She's unhinged feels very extreme and also maybe unfair, maybe not appropriate depending on the context.

Exactly. So but yeah, we're gonna, you know, we're here to teach you how you will hear it, right? So you might want to be a little bit careful, like you don't necessarily want to describe someone as unhinged.

You know, this might be a good one to listen for a lot more than and then to use, especially at the beginning. So but yeah, it could be behavior as well. So she was acting super unhinged when her car broke down.

Or social media content, you might say your latest post was unhinged. It was hilarious. And yeah, we use it this way as slang to say maybe it was unexpected or shocking or crazy, you know, the same way we'd be like, that was crazy. Let's say that was unhinged.

Right. So the tone here is like something that is shocking or surprising. Right. It might be more extreme, but it might be that example about the social media post.

It might be in an entertaining kind of way. Oh, like it was just so extreme that you could put that on line. And so it was unhinged. And that was hilarious.

So it's interesting that it could also have that tone to it as well. Exactly. Or with a lot of things that happen. I think of Taylor Frankie Paul, if you guys have any inside info about the whole situation with Bachelor and Secret Lives and Mormon Wives.

A lot of I saw this word used to describe her behavior, her ex's behavior. The show that put her in these situations, there's a lot going on there, but a lot of that could be described as unhinged. People's behavior as well as decisions being made by companies that are supporting that behavior. So anyway, yeah, we see this a lot in the news, in social media, and to either exaggerate or not to describe something as unexpected and often negative.

Yeah. Right. Often negative. Yeah. I mean, it usually sounds pretty critical. So you might hear like his rant was unhinged. He really needs to chill out.

But it can be playful, as we said. I can't believe you said that to him. You're unhinged, right? In a teasing kind of way. Exactly. So it really depends on the tone.

It can be positive. It could be about, you know, admiring someone's boldness or chaos. This is maybe a little less often. I might say this to people because I like people who are really interesting and kind of chaotic and surprise me.

So I like my friends to be a little unhinged. Honestly, I think it's more fun. Yeah. Right. So you could say that comedian was incredible, completely unhinged.

So again, could sound insulting. This is a warning, guys, if used in the wrong context or tone. So you have to know your audience and the context and, you know, just be really careful with using this word.

Maybe, again, listen to it. It's similar to when we were teaching about roasting. The person you can roast, you could playfully call unhinged. If you can't roast them, I wouldn't call them unhinged.

It takes a certain relationship, a certain closeness to be able to have that teasing, playful relationship. Exactly. All right. So we're going to talk more about this when we get back.

Okay, Aubrey. So the listener mentioned collocations with the word wild also, like run wild. And are there any collocations with unhinged, would you say? Well, we definitely use unhinged with intensifying words, and that makes it sound even more dramatic.

So we might say she's completely unhinged lately, or his last few stories are totally unhinged. Mm-hmm. Yeah, exactly. Or words that they could slightly soften the expression.

So, like, kind of or a bit. So, for example, they've been kind of unhinged throughout their move. That couple on the bus was fighting nonstop. It was all a bit unhinged or...

You could use a little or slightly. So honestly, their teacher seems a little unhinged or his boss is so intense, he seems slightly unhinged. Exactly. These are all great.

We use these often in daily conversations. And there are also some similar expressions we want to share. So for example, we'll say someone like to fly off the hinges, meaning to lose your temper or suddenly react maybe with intense anger or And it's more about anger than just chaotic behavior, right?

So, for example, don't mention the budget cuts. He'll fly off the hinges again, meaning he's going to get really mad and upset and maybe yell at someone.

Or she flew off the hinges when someone cut her off in traffic. And you might also hear fly off the handle, right? I think I hear that one a little bit more. Yes, both.

Yeah, or to go off the rails. So that's to lose control or start acting in a chaotic, unpredictable way. So this can be negative. It can, again, have like a little humorous edge, but it really depends.

So he went off the rails after losing his job. It was hard to watch. That's bad. Not humorous. Exactly. Or when the company changed owners, things started to go off the rails.

This is also bad, right? Things were going badly. Changes were made. Everyone's having a hard time adjusting. Things went off the rails. And this is related to this phrase we use in English, derailed.

Things got derailed. Same meaning for it to go off the rails. And it means the same literally when a train derails or goes off the rails. It means the same thing.

It leaves the track and wrecks. And we use this metaphorically as well to talk about things ending or being ruined. Yes, exactly. So should we do a role play?

Yeah, let's do it. Michelle and I are friends here. We follow an influencer on TikTok. Speaking of Taylor Frankie Paul, this is not necessarily about her general influencer.

We are discussing this influencers recent posts. Okay, here we go. Did you see her latest TikTok? Yes, it was totally unhinged. I know. She posted like 10 videos in a row.

And she was ranting the whole time. Her ex really made her fly off the hinges. Yeah, she's completely gone off the rails after the breakup. True, but people seem to be loving it.

Well, it's definitely entertaining, but a bit unhinged, 100%. Oh, this is so interesting, especially, you know, we're recording a bit in advance. So this will come out a little bit after this is all happening with Taylor Franke Paul. But it's really in the zeitgeist right now in the news, like,

How much is it a problem for people to be entertained by the misery and drama and terrible things that are happening in people's lives and they're still being filmed? They're on these reality TV shows.

And so this is a big deal right now where it's in the discourse. Like, should this be happening? Should these TV shows be supporting that? something probably needs to change.

And also to look at ourselves. If we're entertained by that type of media, what does that say about us? And should we be supporting it because they're continuing to do it because they're making money for doing it? And the shows are making money because there is an audience for it.

So There's just a lot to be said. I'm not above enjoying, you know, I really love love is blind, but and traitors. I love traitors, but I recognize that this is not a good positive look for our society.

If aliens come and watch reality TV, they're going to be like, nope, and go back to their place. Yeah, that's so funny. Yeah. So let's go through the role play.

So I said, did you see her latest TikTok? And you said, yes, it was totally unhinged. Yeah. So something about it was more chaotic than normal, I would say, or more chaotic than the average post you would see, right?

So I'm describing it as unhinged, because I felt like something was bonkers, crazy, like out of the ordinary in some way. Yep, yep, yep. And then you said her ex really made her fly off the hinges. So like lose her temper, go a little wild, whatever it was.

And that happens, right? Someone's experiencing extreme emotions. And we see the evidence of it sometimes, right? So we fly off the hinges, that means exhibiting some kind of extreme behavior, anger, usually some kind of emotion that we're lashing out.

Yes. And then what did I say? I said she's completely gone off the rails. So this is the same as derailed. This idiom, that means they have left sanity, sort of, right?

There's like, we're not understanding the behavior anymore when we say someone's gone off the rails. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And then this was interesting. I said, well, it's definitely entertaining.

And then I said as a question, but a bit unhinged, 100%. So that's an interesting way that we used it there. So... All right, Aubrey, we were mentioning our other episode about if you can roast someone.

So guys, check out, yeah, just last episode, well, two episodes ago, that was 2640. Let's roast the All Ears English team. So let's check that one. If you missed it, you guys have got to scroll up and check that out.

We shared a roast of the team, Michelle, me, Lindsay, a separate roast for each of us. And they're so I think they're so funny. I'm really curious what you guys think about them. So if you missed it, scroll up and definitely check out that episode.

Yes, exactly. All right. Any takeaways today before we head off the mic, Aubrey? Yeah, this is really interesting. This type of vocabulary can be offensive, can be too much.

It really depends on the relationship. Just like we said, a person you can roast. you can use this playfully, teasingly to talk to them about your relationship. Otherwise, you might use it for people you don't know, people you see in social media exhibiting unhinged behavior, right?

That's different because you're not saying it to their face. So this is the kind of thing you want to be careful when saying it to someone. But if you see some crazy behavior, this is a great vocabulary to describe it.

Yes, exactly. All right. Well, thank you again to our listener for that great question. And guys, we will see you in the next episode. Awesome. See you next time.

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