AEE 2662: When You Know, You Know! How to Express Your Intuition in English

This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2662. When you know, you know how to express your intuition in English. 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, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl. coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com forward slash subscribe.

How did you know that your life partner was the one for you? Today, we talk about the role that intuition has on our lives and how to articulate this in a conversation in English.

Hey there, Michelle. How's everything today? Everything's good. Lindsay, question. How did you know your partner was the one for you? Well, that's a good question, Michelle.

I guess when you know, you know. There were just certain moments, you know, that happened, especially early on. Traveling together. where we saw situations in the same way or we reacted.

Traveling is a good way to know. What about you? How did you know your husband was the right one for you? Yeah, I knew he, I don't know. I just always kept on having so much fun with him.

He's a very fun person. So yeah, when you know, you know. When you know, you know. When you know, you know. What do you think about that expression, Lindsay?

It's a good one. It's a little bit of a cliche, but sometimes cliches are fun. There's nothing wrong with them because we use them, especially around sentimental things. Sentimental things like finding your life partner.

Yes, it's definitely a big one. I hear this a lot in the movies and on TV shows, but also in real life when you know you know. It's also kind of fun to say. It kind of makes me think of...

Like 90s romance movies like Sleepless in Seattle a little bit. Yeah, yeah. That vibe of romantic and, you know, like, is it meant to be this very optimistic 90s romance film thing that was happening? Yeah.

Yeah, I know. I know exactly what you mean. Yeah. So we're going to talk more about this. But first, Lindsay, do we want to say thank you to someone? Of course.

We want to say thank you to all our listeners, but especially those of you who have taken the time to go and leave us a rating and a review. And today's name, today's listener is Mingwei Ren. Thank you for the five-star review. This listener reviewed us in, I believe, Apple Podcasts.

Thank you so much for the review. Guys, go over and leave us a review. Tell us what you think of the show. Wherever you listen, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, let us know what you think of the show.

All right? Love it. Thank you so much, everyone. Thank you, Ming Wei. So, Lindsay, so what does that mean even to say when you know you know? I mean, what do you know?

What are we talking about? We're not even saying anything. Yeah. I think what we're trying to say here is like when we know it's right, you know, it's right.

Like it's a gut feeling. It's like our intuition that something is a fit. Something is a match. Something feels right. Yeah, but actually thinking about it, you could also use it in something that feels wrong.

I mean, when you know, you know. But I think typically it has more of this optimistic, hopeful feeling. I agree. Not always. So you could use it in other ways.

But yeah, it is about that intuition. I think that that is the key word, that gut feeling. But what do we use it about? What are we talking about? All the good things in life.

I mean, the big thing, kind of the big things in life, like choosing a pet. Oh, my God. I love this. I love this. When you chose your beagle, did you – when you were a kid, you had a beagle, right, Michelle?

Yes. Did you adopt him from the shelter or like how did he end up at home? Did your parents bring him home? how did he yeah so what what happened was my uh of course my mom didn't want the dog and then of course it ended up being her dog that's how it goes um but we my dad was looking everywhere and he was we were looking for rescue dogs and one day he told me he that he thought he found one i guess he had been in touch with this woman and um

Yeah, we were interested in beagles or dachshunds or different, those types of breeds. And so he said that there was a dog. And so he told me and we were so excited. But I will say, so the first time he came and the first time I saw him, I was...

like oh my god he's so cute yeah then we were playing with him in the front yard yeah and he was crazy yeah and i started getting nervous i guess he had the zoomies you know yeah yeah small dogs yeah and i just i i hadn't really experienced that before and i was like ah but um yeah of course he was he was our dog i mean what about for you with keifer was it a you when you know you know i Actually, it was not.

The original Kiefer, we found a dog in Boston when we couldn't adopt yet named Kiefer. That's his namesake. That dog was Kiefer, Kiefer One. And that's how we named our current dog Kiefer.

But that dog, we knew we wanted him. But this dog, he was just a puppy. He was eight weeks old. And we had, you know, kind of pre-signed up for him, right?

Like you sign up, indicate your interest, and then you go. And he was kind of the one that was all the red flags were coming up. Like he was... he wasn't coming over to us he looked afraid he was in the corner he was a little antisocial yeah but the woman just kind of was like well do you want him or not we're like i guess so so we just took him and then he just grew he grew on us you know like you know how they imprint on you on the ride home and then they just like you just spend time and you learn to love them you love them over it didn't take long trust me he

was the most adorable puppy and now he's pretty outgoing he's a great dog he's a great dog so i mean these are the moments when we use this intuition because intuition matters for the big decisions in life michelle right yeah so i mean for finding a partner choosing a pet um your job if you interview for something and it just feels right or also i mean a big one is finding a house yes You know, you just, and again, sometimes you don't always have this feeling and that doesn't mean that it's necessarily not right. It's just when we, when you know, you know, there are, you know, I'm sure everyone has those moments in life where you can remember, oh, you just, you just knew, you just had a feeling, you know?

Yes, exactly. Exactly. And that's kind of a cool magic in life where, thank goodness we have some kind of intuition, intuition kind of guiding us at times, right?

It would be so hard if everything were just logical. Um, right. We need a little heart, right. To come out and guide us. Yeah. So, I mean, it's often used just when something is an important choice in your life and you know, you can, you can decide based on your heart and not just with logic.

So yeah, picking a pet is certainly one. Wait, so the other dog that you liked, that dog was named Kiefer. So that's why you named Kiefer. Yeah, exactly.

It was way too early for us to adopt a dog. We couldn't have a dog in our apartment in Boston. So, you know, we had to move on, but we always thought about that, that Kiefer.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's show how this would be used in conversations. Do you want to do the first one? I looked for a house for six months and finally I found one.

It was perfect. Hey, when you know, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Or here's a little role play. How did you decide on your puppy? Oh, when I saw him, it was a no brainer.

When you know, you know. Oh, that's so nice. I love that. It makes me want to get another dog. I know. Oh my gosh. I definitely, I mean, I shouldn't right now, but I keep on looking at pictures and rescue sites and...

Really not a good time for me. That's a lot. That's a lot. Yeah. No, maybe in a year or two, though. Not too long. Not too far from now. Or what made you decide to go to UCLA?

I toured so many schools, but it was an easy choice. When you know, you know. That's kind of how I felt about my college too. That's another good one, choosing a college.

I visited my college, which was in Virginia. So it was way further south than where I grew up. It was a beautiful April day and the weather was incredible, impeccable. The campus was gorgeous.

All these kinds of superficial things drove me to believe it was the best choice. I don't know if it was the right choice in hindsight, but it was college. I love my college experience. It's okay.

But I did have that feeling like when you know, you know, this is the place for me. you know yeah yeah well that's interesting because weather has such an impact huge on when you know if you're going to look at a house if you're going to let's see if you like a town if you're it's it's and you it's so hard to keep it in mind because yeah you go tour around an area on a rainy day it's going to feel so much different when if you go somewhere else and it's sunny and gorgeous and people are outside walking around it's just yeah yeah weather weather can definitely play tricks on you It's so true. The world just looks so different through the gray lens versus the bright, sunny, blue sky lens.

It's just incredible. Any trip when you travel is the same thing, right? Anytime you're taking a trip somewhere, it's just... When we went to Norway last fall, it was so gray.

It was so gray. And I think our experience would have been completely different If it was just blue skies all the time, you know, I don't know. All right.

So Michelle, can this ever be something negative we mentioned earlier? Yeah. Again, we mentioned that it can be, but we both have this feeling of it's generally positive. Yeah, I think so.

But if it is negative, it's just kind of this feeling that something's off, that gut feeling. So for example, I went on a blind date last night, but he wasn't for me. When you know, you know. Yeah.

I mean, that makes sense. That's acceptable. No one would be like, you're using that wrong. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Or we canceled our flight. It's just too hard to fly with the kids right now.

When you know, you know. So here you just, it's like you have an intuition that things will just be too much. It's just, it's your gut feeling. It's just too much.

Yeah. Or the house looked great on the outside, but we could tell right away it was not in good shape on the inside. When you know, you know. Yeah. And you know, you're more like you're in these ways, I think you're more so just playing with the expression.

You're using it in a way that yeah, maybe it's generally sounds more hopeful and optimistic, but you're just kind of changing it. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure. For sure.

So in terms of experiences that we've had, I feel like I've had this feeling when I knew that I needed to go abroad after college, personally. Like I knew that I had grown up in a small town in the US, like very small, and I'd been a little bit sheltered and I needed to see the world. I had to be in a big city.

So I decided to go to Tokyo, right? And I just knew when you know, you know. That you need to get out. You need to see the world. There's this real intuition inside me that said, I'm going to live abroad.

I'm going to live in some place that couldn't be more different than the US, which is Japan. Right? Yeah. I mean, would you say that you often have this intuition guiding you in your decisions or...

Is it more rare for you? Are you more, Oh, what do I do? I think as I get older, the analytical mind really wants to come in and override the gut feeling more.

But I also feel like I also value the gut feeling more and more too, as I, as I get older, like with more experience of having made certain decisions and they went sideways or they were good.

Now it's a balance. I think I have both actually. What about you, Michelle? Yeah. Yeah. I also, I, sometimes it's just kind of, I mean, Lindsay, we just recently did an episode about why not, you know, sometimes you do have this more of this openness.

It could also just be, you know, whatever's going on in your life that it makes you feel more comfortable with taking those risks or just saying, yeah, I can, I just know. Yes. Yes. But sometimes there's low stakes is what you're saying.

Right. Yes, totally. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. So I think it's just all, you know, what's your perspective currently in that moment? What's been going on in your life?

Are you kind of afraid to make a decision? Are you more open? You know, there's a lot that could be guiding us that we don't even realize. Yeah. Or other other people that are going to be affected by what I'm going to decide.

Like when I decided I had to go to Japan when I was 24. Well, yeah, I mean, there's no one else would have any repercussion. Like there are no repercussions for anyone else. Right.

If it didn't go well, it's just me. Right. Right. Whereas if you have like a family of four or five and you decide you want to move abroad, that's a much bigger, it might be less easy to just say, well, when you know, you know, we're going.

Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Right. So let's show some expressions that are kind of similar. So this one is to talk about also this feeling. So I just knew, right.

I withdrew my application right after the interview. I just knew it wasn't the place for me. Yeah. Or something told me. Yeah. I like this one. Something tells me or something told me.

I could tell he was the one when he met my parents. Something told me we were meant to be together. Oh, that's nice. Yeah. Yeah. What else? Yeah. And the something is, you know, your intuition, your conscience, your whatever it is.

Yeah. Or I could feel it in my bones. Okay. This is where you can feel something very deep down. I knew we would be best friends. I could feel it in my bones.

I was actually just talking to my friend about this. I have a weird thing where I can tell... I've had three moments in my life where I can tell I'm going to be really good friends with someone by the sound of their voice. Oh, that's interesting.

That's cool. Yeah. There's something in their voice. And I was just telling my friend that the other night because she's a newer friend. We've been friends now, I guess, for a year already.

And we were just reflecting on our friendship. And I said, I knew that I was going to like you right away because of the sound of your voice. Well, that's really interesting. Yeah.

What did she say? Yeah, no, she thought it was cool. And then I told her about the other experiences in my life where I've heard – sometimes it's that I hear someone's voice first. Like they are coming in the door and I hear them talking and I'm like, oh, I like that person.

Yeah. I think there is something about voices that you can sort of have an intuition into their character, their personality, right? That's fascinating, Michelle. Yeah.

Yeah, it is interesting. I think biology gave us this intuition, right? We have this built in probably from the days of running from the tigers that we had an intuition a tiger was coming for us or something. I don't think there's anything magical about this.

This is very basic and human. Yeah. right right exactly um but to express this is just really good for connection i think because it's a universal feeling that people can relate oh yeah i've also had that feeling before it's good to share about yourself to tell stories there's there's so much oh yeah this is like a gold mine for connection just what we're doing now is really interesting because we can learn about a lot about each other's lives about the key moments the key decisions we made and how we made them oh yeah right

Yeah, it really can share your story. So let's do a role play. In this role play, I got a new car and I am showing you. Okay. This is gorgeous. Oh, thank you.

I love it. So how did you choose it? Oh, I wasn't actually planning on buying a car that day, but when I saw it, something told me this was the one. Well, when you know, you know.

Yeah, exactly. I saw a few other cars a month ago, but I just knew they weren't right for me. Sounds like you could feel it in your bones. Exactly. Yeah.

And this could be used for buying a car, too. It's a little bit less. I mean, we've been talking about like the big things of, you know, moving or like adopting a dog or having another child or something. Right.

But this could work, too, for something slightly more superficial. Right. Like buying a car. Right. Well, and I think that it kind of was used in a fun way, you know, like sort of joking.

Yeah. Yeah, you said, I think you were the one who kind of moved it into, so I said, I wasn't planning on buying a car that day, but when I saw it, something told me this was the one. And then you said, when you know, you know. And I think you said that because I said that this was the one.

This was the one. Like romanticizing this car, like it's a partner. Oh, so that's really interesting what's going on here. The undertones of this conversation is, yeah, it's basically a superficial topic.

You chose this car. Okay. It's a car. It's metal, right? But then you triggered a bit more of a like dreaminess to it when you said this was the one. And usually that's used to talk about your partner, right?

Yes. So interesting. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, you kind of took it on to do that. Oh, well, when you know, you know, almost to make it like it was a romantic decision.

Yes. Interesting. So again, you said something told me this was the one. And then I said, when you know, you know, so I'm kind of teasing you a little bit, right?

I'm teasing you. Yeah. Yes, exactly. And then I said, exactly. And I'm kind of laughing at that because it's kind of a joke the way you used it. And I said, I saw a few other cars a month ago, but I just knew they weren't right for me.

Yeah, we're continuing the same theme, right? Making it heavier than it might be. Sounds like you could feel it in your bones, right? Yeah, so I had this intuition.

I mean, people are very... like some people are very serious about their cars some people name their cars yeah sure right so they do you know they do some people just talk about their cars in a way like they're a person oh yeah no and we and we've done and i'm really glad we went into cars so much this year i think maybe it was it last winter we did a whole series on uh cars in american culture Yeah, it might seem weird, right? What Michelle just said.

But it is really a big part of our culture. It goes back to Henry Ford. I mean, just go through the history of highways built in America, post World War Two, right? It's huge.

I mean, really important to know that. And so yeah, some Americans definitely treat their cars like like their baby. Exactly. Yeah, it's crazy. All right, guys, go to 2627.

Do you play it safe when it comes to your English? That's another great episode to go to right now if you love our vibe. All right. Love it. All right, Lindsay, any other takeaways for today?

I think we've got it all right here, Michelle. We all have this intuition. It's fun to get in touch with it and then to articulate it and then to speak in different levels of maybe someone's not talking about something that to you seems like it would be this intuitive thing, but you can make it that way. You can tease someone a little bit.

There's a lot we can do here. All right. Yeah. Oh, super fun. All right, Lindsay. Well, time to jump off the mic. I'll talk to you later. Okay. Bye, Michelle.

Have a good day. All right. Bye. Thanks for listening to All Ears English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com forward slash fluency score.

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