AEE 2704: Are You Giving Fluency?

This is an All Ears English Podcast, Episode 2704. Are you giving fluency? 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, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS whiz, and Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer. coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA. And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish.com forward slash subscribe.

In today's episode, you'll get up to date on the most common slang to share how something appears to you. Learn to use the phrases it's giving and it's serving in English in 2026.

Sometimes English learners think their problem is vocabulary, but often the issue is something deeper. It's hesitation. You pause to translate. You pause to check grammar.

You pause to search for the perfect word. Those small pauses add up and interrupt the natural flow of conversation. You can respond with ease without constantly analyzing every sentence. Our free two-minute fluency quiz will show you your current level and what skills you need to improve.

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, Lindsay. How are you today? Hey, I'm doing great, Aubrey.

I'm doing great. How are you? Excellent. Quick question for you. Yes. What do you think of smart glasses, the kind you wear that can record everything or translate languages for you?

Honestly, it's giving creepy for me. I agree. Yeah. I don't like it. I don't want to know. Anytime someone's wearing glasses, I don't want to be wondering if they're recording me.

Oh, No, that is creepy. I mean, now we know if someone takes out a phone, they might be recording. I can kind of dodge the phone or something. But when it's glasses, you can't dodge everyone's glasses.

There's no way to know. I know. I agree. It's giving creepy. And you guys might have noticed Lindsay used this fun, new, trendy slang phrase, it's giving, which is super common right now.

And we're excited to dive into it. We're answering a listener question today about this phrase. Yes. I'm going to go ahead and read the listener question to get us started off.

This course comes from YouTube. Guys, don't forget, we have an entire YouTube channel where if you prefer to consume this podcast by video, you can do that. So Aubrey, what should they search for when they go over to YouTube?

Yes, All Ears English on YouTube. You'll see our signature yellow pop up and most of our episodes are on video over there. So definitely go check them out. Exactly.

So this is from Saddam Mohamed U1G. This was an amazing episode. I really enjoyed it. Using this phrase can't help but is so natural and creates a great sense of your clinginess to people you hold dear.

So he's commenting on a previous episode here. Exactly. So let's see. Uh, where, where's the question for today? So I'll share the rest. He said, we can also say, I can't stop myself from loving something.

And then he said, can you please reflect on it's giving naturally to refer that something serves a vibe. Thanks a bunch, Lindsay, Aubrey, Michelle for your great topics. And I love that he actually used two slang terms, both of which we're going to cover today. It's giving and it's serving that something serves a vibe.

So this is going to be really fun. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you to this listener for listening to our show. We love that you're enjoying these episodes.

And yeah, we love covering new slang, new slang. This one's been around a little while now though, right? Aubrey, it's been around a couple of years. It's been around a little while, but it's still pretty modern.

It's great for connection, right? We use it to talk about the vibe something gives off, but it's really playful, right? It's a great way to share our opinion, but in a natural way. So I hear it a lot.

I do use it quite a bit as well. It really has become adopted in English, at least in the States. It's really common. I hear it a lot for sure. Guys, go ahead and hit the follow button wherever you listen.

Again, if you're on YouTube, hit subscribe. If you're on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc., hit follow. So we come up in your queue five days a week. All right.

Yes. Awesome. So let's first dive into it's giving on its own, right? It's when something is giving off a noticeable vibe or aesthetic or energy. So you might just say like, that outfit is giving today.

And there's so much implied there. It means you think it's giving a good vibe. It's a great look. It fits someone really well. Yes. Love that. All right.

And so that's one way we can use it just by itself. Right. And just that is giving. That's all you have to say. And it just means I love it. It's a great vibe.

There's so many good things. So much is unsaid when we just say that is giving. But it's positive. We know it's positive when we don't put any noun or anything after that or any feeling after that.

But we could also put a noun or a feeling. We could say it's giving plus a noun or a feeling. What does that look like, Aubrey? Let's do a role play. Yeah.

All right. So this cake we made is so delicious. I know. It's giving gourmet. Oh, okay. So it's another way of saying like, it is gourmet. It's super gourmet.

We'll use this. Be like, it's giving gourmet. I guess it comes from, it's giving me the vibe of, or giving me the feeling of, the feeling that it's gourmet. We're just removing all those extra words.

All those extra words. Yeah. Or another little role play. This cafe is so cute, isn't it? Totally. It's giving cozy Sunday morning. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what you mean is it's giving the vibe of a cozy Sunday morning.

All you need is that it's giving. Love it. And then you could do it's giving plus a cultural reference. I wonder what this looks like. What do you think of this outfit?

I'm into it. It's giving early 2000s pop star. Yeah. Yeah, it's true. You're just removing the vibe of early 2000s pop star, but it does make it more playful.

Yeah. Or instead of saying like you look like an early 2000s pop star, it's just more fun. It's more fun. It's fun to be on trend sometimes. Right. Or I might say this restaurant is cool.

Yeah, I like it. It's giving old school diner. Love old school diners. Yeah, it's just a fun way to compare it to something else, right? Or you might say it's giving and then give more information like a full vibe interpretation, right?

Yeah, so this bar feels so fancy, but also beachy. isn't it? It's giving Aperol spritz on a European promenade. This is a fun thing to do where you actually end up using more words because you're like, I'm going to give this other example, other experience with a lot of details that might have the same vibe.

It's giving and then you make it even longer. It's fun to do that. Oh, fun. And this allows us to be creative, right? Creativity is a big part of connection.

So here's your creativity opportunity, right? Exactly. Yeah. And it doesn't always have to have that it's right. It can be also about a person. You might say, he's giving Elvis Presley meets Mick Jagger.

Or if someone has big Elvis Presley glasses, you might just be like, he's giving Elvis Presley with those glasses. Yeah. Or you could say she's giving main character energy, right? So the star of a play, for example, or a movie.

um my kids say this when if we're watching a show and someone is clearly a main character and they're like there's no chance they're gonna die they'll say he's giving plot armor or she's giving plot armor they'll say that meaning like okay this is the main character they're gonna survive they can't be killed yeah yeah right unless it's game of thrones or house of the dragon or something like that where anyone could die at any time there is no plot armor i'll just off them Interesting. Or you could say, I don't think I want to hang out with them. They're giving mean girls.

Oh, that's not good. Hey, it's just another way to say like, they're not kind. They are mean girls. They're giving mean girls. Interesting. Have you ever listened to native speakers and thought, I understand the words, but I still feel slightly lost.

That's because real English conversations include more than vocabulary. There's speed. There's connected speech. There are cultural references and casual phrases.

Your brain has to process all of this in real time. If conversations sometimes feel overwhelming, it may simply mean you're ready for the next level of training. Find out your exact level with our quick, free fluency quiz. Go to allearsenglish.com slash fluency score.

That's allearsenglish.com slash F-L-U-E-N-C-Y-S-C-O-R-E. All right, Aubrey. So what do we think are some similar phrases? We've been dropping them a few times as we've been explaining these.

What are we really saying here? Yeah. And our listener mentioned serve or serving, right? So we'll say serving and then blank something, which is the same, the vibe or an image someone gives off.

That's very noticeable. This is pretty common. We see it a lot in social media. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yes. It can be positive. It can be dramatic. It can be a little bit playful, right?

And it's about being obvious or intentional. We'll often hear the chunk they're serving looks. So for example, he is serving looks in that outfit means they intentionally are wanting to turn heads. Maybe something is very colorful or different or unique to say someone is serving looks.

Or you could say he was serving face in that photo shoot, meaning he was using impressive facial expressions that we want to comment on. So something about his face. This reminds me of Zoolander, right? When he does like blue steel or whatever these, you'd say he's serving face, like intentionally making extreme facial expressions for a reaction.

Interesting. What else, Aubrey? What else could we say? You might say she was serving old Hollywood glam. So this might mean someone has like a dress or an outfit that is that vibe.

And you'd be like, she's serving. And then fill out the details. Yeah. Or you might just drop everything else. Just like with giving, she's serving. Right?

Yeah. If you just say she is serving, that just means she looks really good. You're complimenting the outfit, the whole vibe. Nice. All right. So what else might we say, Aubrey, if we want to just not always say giving and serving?

Right. We also will say someone's in their blank era. This is a phrase where someone's embodying a certain mood. This is also playful, kind of dramatic.

You might say he's been posting gym selfies every day. Yeah. He's in his fitness era. Yeah. Exactly. Right. So we're saying like, that's his vibe. That's what he's into right now.

It's a good way of saying that. Or she just moved to the city and is going on so many dates already. I guess she's in her single girl era. Yeah. So just talking about kind of phases that people are in.

Exactly. Yeah. And then a much more common one that's been around forever is just to say, it reminds me of, and then you're comparing it to something else, right? So this is a more literal way to say what something reminds you of.

Right. So you might say this cafe feels so cozy and quiet. Yes. It reminds me of my grandma's kitchen. Or this song feels really nostalgic. I know. It reminds me of high school road trips.

Yeah. And just to add a bonus, what I often say is just, it makes me think of something. Right. It makes me think of my grandma's kitchen. It makes me think of high school road trips.

Right. Exactly. So it's fun to have these new trendy slang terms ready in your pocket, but you could overuse them, right? Especially where some of these are more used on social media in comments, like they're a little less common to be added to conversations.

You could drop them in every now and then, but then these are what we'll use more often. What you said, Lindsay, this makes me think of this. This reminds me of this. Those are just very common in everyday conversation.

Yeah. So be selective about your use of slang and mix it in. Use classic phrases, use new ones, use evergreen ones, mix it in so people don't predict what you're going to say. That's the key.

Exactly. Yes. All right. Let's do a role play here. You and I are friends. We're talking about someone that we saw at a party last night. I'll start us out.

Okay. Did you see Emma at the party last night? She was serving looks. Yeah. She was so stylish. It was giving red carpet vibes. Yeah. I know. The dress was glamorous in a very 90s way.

Completely. Her whole vibe right now, it reminds me of old school celebrities or models. I totally see that. She's definitely in her main character era.

100%. And it's working for her. Yeah, this is interesting. One thing to note here, we've talked a lot on the podcast about how we shouldn't always comment on appearance.

And it's interesting how these phrases are more about a vibe. Even when we say she's serving looks, we're not talking about her face or her appearance. You're not complimenting something that someone can't change about their appearance. It says more about what they're wearing, about their overall vibe.

What they've chosen to wear, how they've styled their hair, that kind of thing. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So here I started with, did you see Emma? She was serving looks.

I'm talking more about what she was wearing and her overall vibe. Yeah. That makes sense. And then I said, yeah, she was so stylish. It was giving red carpet vibes.

Okay. This is so fun to take something else to compare it to. And in this case, yeah, red carpet. We're just at a party, but someone wore something really fun.

So like I could see her on the red carpet. Exactly. It makes you think of the red carpet. Perfect. And then, let's see, you said, I know that dress was glamorous in a very 90s way.

And I said completely. Her whole vibe right now, it reminds me of old school celebrities or models. Yeah. Yeah. So it makes me think of or it reminds me of.

Those are always really easy to throw in and use. And then I said, she's definitely in her main character era. Yeah. So you can, you know, the construction here is, you know, she's in or he's in, then blank describe what they're doing, and then era.

Nice. Love it. Yeah. I love this as a way to, I don't know, it is fun to build parallels in life, right? The way this person looks reminds you of the red carpet, right?

The way this person looks reminds you of drinking Aperol spritz in Europe in the summer. I mean, it's so fun. It can show how worldly you are in a way, right? Without being condescending.

It can show what you've experienced, maybe, as long as you know the other person is going to understand what you're saying. That's the key. Right. Yeah.

Especially if you have something in common to build on. Maybe you've taken a trip with them or you've had an experience with them and you could do that. It's serving or it's giving and then share details about something you experienced together to like reminisce about this fun memory. That's great.

So it can become a little bit of an inside phrase or an inside joke that really builds the connection. With that, just be careful who else is around because obviously, yeah. You don't want to leave them out. Yeah, yeah.

That can be kind of hard sometimes. For sure. Aubrey, well, guys, first of all, go over to 2702, have the last laugh with these English idioms. That would be a great episode to check out next.

Aubrey, where shall we leave our listeners? Yeah, this is such a fun way to connect, right? We do want to comment, especially positively like this, on people we know who are taking risks, maybe wearing something unique, giving off a fun vibe, right? And these are great phrases to be able to do that, to connect with friends.

All right. Good stuff. Good stuff. Aubrey, I'll see you back here on the show very soon. You have a good rest of your day. All right. You too. See you next time.

All right. Bye. 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.

And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time.