AEE 2644: Pop Into Phrasal Verbs with Aubrey and Michelle

This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2644. Pop into phrasal verbs with Aubrey and Michelle. 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 transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com forward slash subscribe. Do you have friends that are on a pop in basis? Do you ever pop by someone's house, but then stay longer than you expected? Today, you'll learn five fun phrasal verbs with the word pop that are perfect for describing quick actions.

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Go to allearsenglish.com slash fluency score. That's allearsenglish.com slash F-L-U-E-N-C-Y-S-C-O-R-E. Hey, Michelle. How are you? Hey, Aubrey. I'm doing well.

Aubrey, do you have any friends that just pop in to visit you without calling? Yes. And I actually really love it. I love when a friend that I really like starts popping in.

And actually, I know this is a hot take. Not everyone would like this. including my partner, maybe. But I love when we get on a walk-in basis, when they just walk in without even knocking.

I actually really love that, especially if they know I'm expecting them. Like I just texted like, yes, come on over. Then they're just going to walk in. Maybe

they wouldn't, they would probably knock if I wasn't expecting them. But if I am, they just walk in. And something just happened recently when a friend that I didn't know quite as well walked in. And I was like, I love that you just walked in.

I love that we're on walk-in basis. And she was like, Oh, your husband was in the front yard and he told me to go in. That's so funny. It was really funny.

So I'm like, well, either way, I'm glad you felt comfortable walking in. Okay. Yeah, exactly. I mean, yeah, when you talk about like popping in like that, it reminds me of Seinfeld.

I think there was an episode, maybe I remember that or something. And that you know, they that's the whole thing on Seinfeld is that they just pop into Jerry's apartment all the time. And also friends. I mean, it's kind of like, in college, you know, people just pop popping into your room and just so

It's so fun to be at that level where people could just pop in, pop over. We're going to talk about all of this. I love that. I want that in my life. And I want to be able to pop in on other people.

But there's a lot here because I don't want my parents popping in on me. My parents know this. I'm like, don't pop in. Let me know if I want to be prepared.

I need to not be working because then I feel bad if I'm like, oh, I can't talk to you. I'm recording podcasts, right? I need to know. Yeah. yeah so and so aubrey this was inspired by we recently recorded a quiz um and we were we realized that pop is such a useful word and we wanted to devote an episode to it and so guys yeah we do these really awesome quizzes and i've been lucky enough to record them a lot recently with aubrey yes if you guys don't know how to

access these you have to subscribe to apple podcasts and if you have an apple podcast subscription you get those quizzes one for every episode all of the numbered episodes of allers english so monday tuesday wednesday thursday's episodes we have a quiz that's released right after and they're so fun right michelle fun questions about what we taught about the hosts and it's such a good check for understanding so if you're not it is really worth it's very cheap it's a few bucks to subscribe for these quizzes and check it out. Yeah. So where can they go to get the app?

Yeah. So go to Apple Podcasts, hit subscribe. You can do a free trial to check it out for a few days and then just cancel if you don't like it. We are very confident that once you listen to these quizzes and see what they like, that you are not going to cancel, but we're not offended if you do.

But yeah, check them out. Yeah, or you can also go to allearsenglish.com slash app app to learn more. So, awesome. So, pop, let's get into it. Pop, as we noticed, often has some feeling of happening quickly or being very short-lived.

So, today we're going to go over some of these really useful ways to use the word pop. So, all right, let's get started. So, here we have... You could say pop in or pop into or pop by.

So what does that even mean? Yeah, it means to come in quickly. Could be unscheduled or unplanned. If you say like, I'm just going to pop into the office really quick.

I do this sometimes when my husband and I share an office and I will often leave my microphone in there. And if he's on a call, then I'll text him and say, can I pop into the office and grab my mic? So what I mean is I'm going to come in really quickly and grab my mic. I'm not going to talk.

I'm not going to bug you. I know you're on a call. And then he'll unlock the door or maybe he'll set my mic outside if he doesn't want me to pop in. So yeah, I use that a lot.

Yeah. So that's a great example. Or also you might hear something like, I'm going to pop in to say hi to my friend at her restaurant before I head over. I'll see you soon.

So, you know, I'm not making a long stop. I'm not going to stay and have lunch with my friend. I'm just popping in to say hi. Yeah. Or because we said pop by.

And this is a little bit of a different meaning because I wouldn't tell my husband, I'm going to pop by to get the mic because we're already in the same structure building. I would say pop in, pop into the office. Pop by indicates that you are in a different building. I would tell a neighbor, hey, can I pop by?

Yeah. And borrow an egg, borrow an avocado. That means I'm coming from my house to their house. I'm going to stop by or pop by. Right. Exactly. Now let's do pop over.

So to pop over is to go somewhere, probably a place that is close. But like you said, Aubrey, I wouldn't say I'm going to pop over to a room in my house. Exactly. No.

And it's also in a casual sort of way. So, for example, if you can pop over to the store on the corner, they said they could lend us some plates and utensils. Yeah, this is more of a similar meaning to pop by, right? Pop by.

I'm going to pop by my neighbor's house. I'm going to pop over to my neighbor's house. And that's interesting, too. We say pop by, pop over to. And you could also say, maybe pop over here when you're telling someone, come by.

Pop over here whenever you're ready. We're excited to see you. Exactly. And then there's to pop something in. Okay, so this is a little bit different.

So this is often used to put something physically in. So I think of a Pop-Tart. Right. Or, uh, yeah. So you pop something in the toaster or in the oven or even in the microwave.

So I would say it's mostly used in those ways. So for example, can you pop the potatoes in the oven? I'll finish the rest of the meal when I get home. This makes me think of the movie Unfrosted.

Did you see Unfrosted? No. Okay. I think it's on Netflix. I'd have to double check. Everybody out there, I highly recommend it. It's a comedy that's loosely based on the true story of the creation of Pop-Tarts.

And Seinfeld stars in it. And Melissa McCarthy and Jim Gaffigan. I've heard about this. It's amazing. I love all of them. Your kids probably would love it too.

Well, no, maybe not. I can't remember. My kids loved it, but they're like 10, 11 years younger, but it is so funny. It's very clever. It's like pop tart wars because two companies tried to beat each other to coming out with pop tarts and like what they initially called them.

And it's just such a great comedy. I highly recommend it. Love it. Okay. I'll have to check it out. Or you might say, I popped a bagel in the toaster for myself.

What do you want? Right? Totally. I say this a lot. I'm going to pop something into the oven. Or can you pop that into the oven for me if I'm like in the shower?

Right, right. Exactly. You're just giving it. You're delegating. Anyone can pop it in. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. All right, guys. After the break, we're going to talk about a couple more.

Here we go. Start your gratis proof period on shopify.com. Okay. So Aubrey, we've talked about pop in. What about pop out? Yeah. So this is to leave somewhere quickly, usually for a short period of time.

So for example, I'm going to pop out for lunch in a few minutes, but I'll be back in half an hour, right? You wouldn't, when you're leaving work, you wouldn't say I'm going to pop out and go home. It means I'm leaving and I'll be back soon. right right exactly that's an important distinction yeah so and then uh what's another one pop open like they popped open the bottle of champagne after she said yes this yeah so sometimes it is that because the champagne cork pops but we also will say this for like a box of candy i'm gonna pop open this candy and eat it really quick anything that we're opening quickly we could say yeah pop that open yeah

Pop, pop, pop. I'll be in the movie theater. I'll be like, pop that open. I want some. Yeah. So you can see some of these are a little bit more interchangeable.

Like I wouldn't get so worried about, oh my God, do I say pop in or pop or pop by or, you know, I, but, but some of these are very different, right? Pop something in, pop out, pop open, right? These are different. But in general, these are for something quick or that doesn't take a lot of effort, right?

This pop, right? Um, and it's because that's how we use this verb, right? When something pops, it's quickly popcorn pops, you know, a bubble pops, a balloon pops. And it's something that's like a quick burst.

And that's how we use these as phrasal verbs too. Right. Exactly. And the thing is sometimes we don't always know how long something will take. So it could be misleading.

So for example, like she said, she was going to pop by, but she was here for two hours. Right. That's about my mom. Yeah. No offense, mom. I love you.

And I do the same thing. I'll go, I'm going to pop by my kid's room. Except I would say pop in if I'm already home. And then we chat for two hours. I'm like, just kidding.

That wasn't so much of a pop in. Yes, exactly. Exactly. And then we have just I wanted to teach a couple other expressions with the word pop. So the first one is pop the question.

What is this, Aubrey? Yes, to ask someone to marry you is what this means. He popped the question or she popped the question. And yeah, that means you have asked someone to marry you.

Mm-hmm. So for example, when is he going to pop the question? It's been three years. So that's a common thing somebody might say if they're in a relationship for a while.

And this is interesting. I'm curious. In American culture, this is becoming a little bit more in the discourse of like, why does it always have to be the man? And of course, that's not always the case for homosexual couples, but for heterosexual couples traditionally...

traditionally the man has proposed and I've heard on podcasts and sort of in the, just in the culture that women are starting to say, maybe I'll propose. Maybe I don't need to wait. He'll say no. Exactly.

So it's interesting. I'm curious what that's like. elsewhere in the world. Are you also seeing that? It's a slow change. Most people would definitely still prefer.

I think most women would still prefer that their fiance pops the question, but it is changing a little. I wouldn't be that shocked to find out that a friend of mine popped the question to her boyfriend. No, no, not at all. And then to pop.

Right. So this is generally when a woman is pregnant and her belly pops out. She starts to show. Right. So, you know, there's always this moment when you're like, oh, I haven't seen you in a couple of weeks.

And then you're like, whoa, now I can really tell. Right. yes i love that so you might say oh my goodness you've popped and it's not we often will say like don't comment on appearance but if you have a good relationship you are right don't say this to a stranger don't say this to your boss right but if you are good friends or family a sister then this is how we would say that if we see them and their belly isn't as big and then all of a sudden it's popped it's bigger then you could say this oh you popped

exactly exactly so all right now before we head out guys we're going to do a role play we're not going to use all because it would sound a little ridiculous you pop pop pop pop it sound like a bag of popcorn exploding exactly exactly so here um we are friends and i'm calling you on the phone okay here we go

Guess what? John popped the question. Oh my goodness. Congratulations. Can I pop by to give you a hug? Please. Okay. I just need to pop into the store real quick, but I'll be by soon.

And don't be surprised when you see me. I've definitely popped. I can't wait to see. This is not me announcing I'm pregnant, guys. Just FYI. You're not going to hear that from me.

But this is amazing. And it's funny because when I read that last... Actually, I'll share it when we go through it. When I read that last one, I thought it was going to be something else. So I'll share that.

Let's go through this. Okay. All right. So I said, guess what? John popped the question. So he proposed... Mm hmm. And then I said, can I pop by to give you a hug?

So that means I'm just going to stop in quickly. I want to give her a hug and then I'll go. I wouldn't stay long. Mm hmm. But like we said, I might tell her I'm going to pop by for a hug and we open a bottle of wine.

Exactly. You never pop open a bottle of wine. And then you said, I just need to pop into the store real quick, but I'll be by soon. This gives me the impression that I'm in the parking lot of the store.

I'm already there, and now I'm going to pop into the store because I'm already here. Because otherwise, I would probably say I'm going to pop by the store if I weren't already there. Or drop by the store, pop over to the store, meaning I've got to go there and go in. But if I'm already in the parking lot, parked, I've got to pop into the store.

Yep. And then you said, don't be surprised when you see me. I've definitely popped. So this is implying that... That I'm pregnant and I wasn't showing as much before, but now I am.

I've popped. And now I have to share what I thought this was going to be, that last line. I thought I was going to be saying, I just need to pop into some jeans and then I'll go. Because I say this a lot when I'm home and I'm either still in pajamas or I'm in very casual clothes that I wouldn't wear outside.

I would say to a friend... Let me pop into some jeans or like, let me pop into some clothes. Right. Or you could say like, let me pop on a sweatshirt or let me pop.

Right. Yeah. Pop on. Yeah. I often say, okay, I just got to pop into some jeans. Hang on. Yeah. So, yeah, guys, you can see how common these are. These are just really good and useful and good for talking about a short amount of time or just something that doesn't take a lot of effort, right?

Pop something into the oven, something like that. Guys, the word roast. we talked about the word roast recently. That's also, it makes me think of the oven.

But this is a different kind of roast. Listen to All Ears English episode 2640. We had so much fun. This was Let's Roast the All Ears English team. So definitely listen to that one.

Guys, if you missed that episode, you missed out. This is a really funny roast. If you're not familiar with a roast, it is where you poke fun at someone, but it's very lighthearted. It's funny.

It's playful. I think all of you are going to really love that episode. So if you missed it, scroll up 2640 so you can hear a roast of Lindsay, a roast of me, and a roast of Michelle.

They are so funny. You don't want to miss them. And takeaway for today, I would say, is just how useful and common this is. You know, think about... about moments in your life when you might use pop right what are you doing it probably every day you pop in somewhere you pop into your jeans and then you pop by someone's house and right into the store yeah so I would almost like try and make a list of the ones that we've talked about and think okay what have I done today where I could use pop um and see if you could use it a conversation so let us know how it goes um Aubrey this has been so much fun and I'll talk to you next time awesome thanks Michelle see you next time bye guys all right bye

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