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CONVERSATIONAL VOCABULARY

HOW TO LIVE TO BE A HUNDRED

Hi everyone. Aaron here. I‟m now going to talk about the conversation that Dan and I had about longevity and Blue Zones and how to live to be a hundred. We‟re going to take a look at some of the language used, some of the phrases, some of the words, some of the things that Dan and I say when we communicate to each other, and I hope you learn something from it.

1. pulled it out of his butt

The first is „pulled it out of his butt‟. Sorry to start with such a vulgar one. Thanks a lot, Dan. But this is something that Dan says when we‟re talking about this guy named Jim Rome who says, and he quotes, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” And Dan says, “Yeah, I think it‟s completely unscientific and something he just pulled out of his butt.” „To pull something out of his butt‟ or „to pull it out of your ass‟ are two kind of crude or vulgar, very, very casual ways of describing numbers or statistics that you give that are not based on any fact.

You‟re just making them up. If you want to be polite, you should not use that kind of language.

Instead, you should say something like, “Yeah, it‟s completely unscientific and it‟s something that he pulled out of thin air. He pulled it out of thin air. He pulled it out of nowhere. He made it up on the spot. He came up with those numbers on the spot.” So those are some alternative, more polite ways of saying the same thing.

Dan speaks to me this way because we‟re such close friends and we feel very comfortable talking in more colloquial ways with one another. So you should be aware of the difference. So that‟s „pulled it out of his butt‟.

1. what was I going to say…

The next one is „what was I going to say?‟ Actually, I started talking about how I like to relax by going to the public bath, the sento. And Dan says, “Yes, I love the public baths, too. I love the onsens. It‟s very relaxing.” And then he pauses for a moment and he says, “What was I going to say? A sense of belonging and… Yeah, you were asking me do I downshift,” and then he goes back to talking about what he was before.

When you forget what you‟re going to say or if you wanted to say something and you can‟t remember what it was, don‟t be silent. This is a phrase you can use to fill the silence with some kind of sound, some kind of utterance. And what we usually say is, “What was I going to say?” Or, “Hmm… What was I saying? I forgot what I was talking about. What was I talking about? I can‟t remember. I lost my train of thought.” There‟s a good phrase. “I lost my train of thought. What was I saying? What was I going to say? Oh gosh, I forgot what I was talking about. I lost my train of thought. I can‟t remember. It‟s on the tip of my tongue.” And this is something, it‟s just, you can feel it, you remember it but you can‟t articulate it. You can‟t say it. You say „it‟s on the tip of my tongue‟.

You‟ll hear people say that when they‟re trying to remember how to, like the word for something or something or what they wanted to say. They lost their train of thought and then suddenly what they want to say is on the tip of their tongue. So those are some useful phrases that you can use when you forget what you are going to say.

1. How amazing is that?

The next one, „how amazing is that?‟ Dan‟s talking to me and he‟s saying how busy Deep English keeps him but yet we get satisfaction because we‟re really able to reach out to people all over the world and share our thoughts and ideas and our lessons. And he says, “How amazing is that?” And this is just another way of saying, “That‟s amazing, isn‟t it?” or, “Isn‟t that amazing?” or, “That is really amazing!”

So you can present your opinion, which Dan is doing here. Dan thinks it‟s amazing. He can present it in the form of a question. It‟s one of these rhetorical questions. It‟s kind of a question that he doesn‟t actually expect me to answer it. He‟s just communicating to me his opinion that the fact that so many people can listen to our lessons is amazing, especially because of this day and age of the internet, how we can so easily and quickly put out our content to other people. So isn‟t that amazing? Or, how amazing is that?

Maybe some other examples of using this phrase would be, I have a neighbor and my neighbor is really helpful. She picks up our mail when we‟re out of town and he always says hello to us. And when she travels abroad, she comes back and she gives us little souvenirs. And how friendly is that? How helpful is that? So I‟m just saying that she‟s friendly; she‟s helpful.

You can do it in a negative way. You could say wing suit base jumping, where these guys they wear these wings and they jump off of mountains and they fly through the air at a really fast speed. And if they make one mistake, they die. How dangerous is that? So that‟s another way to use it.

1. what it comes down to

All right. Let‟s move on. This is something that I say when Dan is talking about all of the nonphysical ways or the non-physical attributes, the non-physical things that Blue Zone residents do that are in common. And this is of course the outlook on life and the right attitude and the sense of belonging that these people have. He‟s trying to analyze it in terms of psychology and then he pauses and I say, “Well, really, all of that takes the stress away. That‟s what it really comes down to.” So „what it comes down to‟. That phrase I want you to focus on, „what it comes down to‟.

It‟s complicated. It‟s complicated, the psychological factors and we could talk about them for hours.

But really, what it comes down to is having the right outlook and having a sense of belonging takes the stress away in times of difficulty. That‟s the bottom line. That‟s what it comes down to. That‟s what it boils down to. So it‟s basically taking a discussion that gets complicated and focusing it on the most central, the most important core of what‟s actually happening.

Let me give you another example. Let‟s say the school that I work for, I‟m a teacher and I work at a school, and over the past couple of years, the school has been making teachers work more hours for less money. They‟ve stopped having staff parties. There‟s a limit now on the number of copies that you can make for your classes. Really, all of those things frustrate teachers but really, what it comes down to is cutting costs. The number of students is dwindling and the school needs to cut costs. That‟s what it boils down to. It‟s not about other things. It‟s about that.

Another example might be marriage. A marriage is, for many people, a very, very difficult thing to stay in and it can be difficult at times. There are communication problems. There are financial pressures. There are all kinds of emotional issues you have to confront on an individual level and on the level of a relationship. And it‟s really difficult, but really, when it comes to a successful marriage, yeah, there are many factors. But what it comes down to ultimately is trust and commitment. If you have those two things, you can solve any of the other problems.

So that‟s what it comes down to. That‟s what it boils down to. This is a way of drawing the listener‟s attention to the most central, the most core, the most important issue in something that is complicated. „What it comes down to‟.

1. I’ll never forget…

All right. Next, „I‟ll never forget‟. This is a really useful and easy phrase to use when you want to tell a story that is worth remembering, that is something interesting. It‟s basically like telling the listener, “Hey, I‟m getting ready to tell you something interesting.” This is what I say when I‟m talking about portion size and diet, and I‟m going to tell the story about when I first came to Japan, I always used to order two lunch sets and the waitress thought I was crazy. And the reason of course is because I was used to eating larger portion sizes, and the portion sizes in Japan were much smaller. So „I‟ll never forget‟. I introduced my little story by saying, “I‟ll never forget when I first came to Japan.” And then a little bit later I say, “And I‟ll never forget I went to this one place for lunch.” This is a way to introduce a story worth listening to, an interesting story, something that‟s going to be memorable.

I might talk about… I‟ve eaten many delicious dinners in my life but I‟ll never forget this one dinner I had in Guatemala. It was amazing. And I can tell the story of that. Or I might say, “Yeah, when I was a kid I used to go fishing with my father on a boat and we had many good times. But I‟ll never forget this one boat trip we took where suddenly, the waves got very high and we thought we were going to die. Let me tell you that story.

So that is „I‟ll never forget‟. Use that when you want to introduce a very short story or it could be a long story. But it doesn‟t matter the length of the story. What matters is you‟re drawing attention to the fact that this is going to be interesting. Listen to it, please.

1. obscene

Back to portion sizes. I say a little bit later that when I went back to the States for a visit, it was obscene. The portion sizes were obscene. Just absolutely obscene. What I mean by that is they were shocking. They shocked me. It was shockingly large, the portion sizes.

This word „obscene‟, I want to draw your attention to the fact that I guess historically or traditionally, this word is used to describe either something that is very sexual in kind of a dirty pornographic type way or an indecent type way. Or it‟s used to describe some action or some person or some state of affairs that is against moral principles, in a very negative way.

You might say, “Killing elephants just for their ivory tusks is obscene. It‟s terrible. It‟s sick. It‟s sickening. It‟s repugnant. That‟s the worst thing you could possibly do to such a wonderful, beautiful animal.” Or we might say, “Some people profit off of other people‟s misfortune and other people‟s suffering. And that‟s obscene. That‟s like a terrible thing you can do. It‟s an obscene thing. It‟s offensive in a very shocking way.”

But recently, I guess in the last, maybe 10 years or 15 years, I‟ve noticed that this word „obscene‟ has started to be used in a different way to describe, and this is the way I used it in the conversation, I‟m describing the portion sizes as being obscene. That doesn‟t mean that the portion sizes are sexual or there‟s something terrible, morally terrible about them. But I‟m using that word to describe it and it really puts emphasis on the shocking aspect of it. Be aware that this word obscene now is starting to be used in a broader context, not only for things like sexuality or moral principles, things like that.

Let me give you another example. There‟s another guy I know who lives in town and he makes a good salary. He‟s got a lot of money. But the amount of money that he spends on cars, he has a car collection, it‟s obscene. It‟s absolutely obscene. It‟s unnecessary. It‟s shocking, the amount of money he spends on his car collection when he could be spending it on something else like his children, for example. So that‟s something that you might describe as obscene.

Some people might describe the American military expenditure each year as obscene. The American military or the American government spends a huge amount of money on the military, and I mean proportionately huge. It may be at the expense of education of our youth, and at the expense of many domestic needs that need to be met like healthcare. There are millions upon millions of Americans who cannot afford to even go to the hospital.

So some people describe that as obscene. They‟re spending all these money on weaponry and going to war when people are dying in their own country. So that might be something obscene if you are of that opinion. Of course people argue in different ways, and that‟s the beauty of debate.

1. looking green

Okay, let‟s move on. This is something I say when Dan tells me that he went to this local Irish pub and he ate too much and he felt like he had eaten two thanksgiving dinners. And I said, “Yeah, you were looking green.” And the reason I want to draw your attention to this phrase is that we often use color to describe many, many different things. Just taking a look at this word „green‟ in this context, to be green, to look green or to feel green, means to be sick. So if someone looks green, it means they look sick. If someone feels green, they‟re feeling green, that means they‟re sick. They‟re feeling nauseous like they‟re going to throw up or vomit. And you can turn green. You suddenly turned green. You suddenly got sick. So that‟s one meaning of „green‟.

There are many other meanings of „green‟ and it depends on the context and sometime you have to use your imagination to think about what the meaning might be. One other example is maybe we are at, I don‟t know, a school and we see some people in the corner, some children in the corner of the room and they‟re looking kind of nervous. And I say, “Hey, who are those kids over there?” And the teacher says, “Oh, those are the new kids in class. They just moved here from another school.

They‟re totally green.” And in this case it means they‟re totally new. They‟re just completely new.

They‟re green. They‟re fresh and green like the grass coming up on a spring day. It‟s fresh. It‟s green. So someone „green‟ is someone new.

Also, in this day and age, environmental awareness is very important. It‟s an important issue in many societies and in the international debates on global warming and things. So „to be green‟ means environmentally friendly. It might be a „green car‟. So this is a „green car‟. It‟s an environmentally friendly car. So we might call it a „green car‟.

Or it could describe someone‟s political orientation. There‟s a political party in some countries called the „green party‟ and they tend to be kind of left wing politics, a little bit socialist and they are very interested of course in environmental issues and in saving the environment. They think that‟s really important. And they‟re „green‟. So we might say, “Yeah, he‟s green,” or, “He‟s a green.” That‟s a political orientation.

„To see green‟, here‟s another use of the adjective green. „To see green‟. “Oh I‟m seeing green. I‟m seeing green.” This one person became famous overnight for something he did and after that, he suddenly started seeing green. And that means he‟s thinking about money, and it‟s because American money is green and that‟s where that comes from.

We could go on. There are lots of different meanings of colors. We could do a list of all the different colors and all the different meanings. There‟s so many meanings related to color.

1. Kentucky

All right. I‟m talking too long. I need to move on. „Kentucky‟. I mentioned a little bit later, my dad‟s from Kentucky and that‟s a big horse racing. And then Dan cuts me off and we never got back to that topic. Basically, „Kentucky‟ is a state, one of the 50 states in the USA. It‟s near the Mississippi River. It‟s actually on the Ohio River. It‟s kind of in the middle of the US just east of the Mississippi River. Kentucky is famous for blue grass. In fact, it‟s nicknamed „The Blue Grass State‟. The reason for this is the grass there that grows there, there‟s a certain specifies that when it bugs, it has a bluish tint to it so it looks blue. That‟s why they call it „The Blue Grass State‟. In fact, blue grass music originates in Kentucky. That‟s kind of, it‟s a sub-genre of country music, using the fiddle which is a violin, and the Banjo which is a quintessential American instrument, looks like a guitar, sounds a little bit different.

It‟s also famous for horse racing. There are many, many horses in Kentucky. And you can see famous horse racing there. It‟s also famous for Bourbon, like Jim Beam bourbon. And there are lots of wild turkeys in Kentucky. It‟s also famous for college basketball and fried chicken. Ever heard of Kentucky Fried Chicken? You probably have.

1. On a __ kick

A couple more here. Dan asked me about my movement, my activity. And he says, “Yeah, you‟re on a little fitness kick, right?” To be „on a kick‟, it‟s basically an idiomatic expression that means to be focused on some kind of habit or having some kind of enthusiastic attitude toward an activity.

Usually, and I mean like 95% of the time, you hear people say „on a health kick‟. This is usually how this phrase is used. He‟s on a health kick. We‟re on a health kick. They‟re on a health kick. It just basically means we‟re trying to stay healthy. We‟re doing things to maintain our health.

You could say something like what Dan says, “You‟re on fitness kick.” So you can put any sort of activity before the word „kick‟ and people will understand you. But you got to be careful with that.

You‟re safe using „health‟ or „fitness‟. You could say that because you‟re studying Deep English lessons every day, you‟re on a „Deep English kick‟ or you‟re on an „English fluency kick‟. That could be said. It‟s not a common way to use the idiomatic expression but it could be said. Or maybe you‟re trying to save money; you‟re on a „money-saving kick‟. Or maybe you‟re doing lots of swimming these days; you‟re on a „swimming kick‟. That‟s what it means. But again, I would stick with „health kick‟ or „fitness kick‟. Those are the most common ways to use this phrase.

1. cheesy

All right, last one. This is „cheesy‟. Dan is saying that he has recently been doing some kind of gratitude activity where he thinks about and reflects upon his life. He thinks about what he‟s grateful for and that brings him a sense of peace and happiness. And before he introduces it, he says, “Yeah, it‟s kind of cheesy, but I do gratitude journals without the journal part,” which means he basically does gratitude reflective exercises in his mind.

When you describe something „cheesy‟, of course this comes from the word „cheese‟ and we all know what cheese is. It‟s made from milk of either a cow or a goat, or something like that. When we describe something „cheesy‟, we don‟t mean that it actually has cheese. It means that generally that it is of low quality or it‟s kind of tacky. It‟s in poor taste. It‟s sentimental in kind of a negative or notso-nice kind of way.

Let me give you a few examples. Let‟s say you went to a movie and the movie was a comedy. But the comedy was just really cheesy. It wasn‟t your… You didn‟t think it was that funny. Some of the jokes were really stupid. Some of the jokes were kind of childish. You didn‟t really laugh that much.

It‟s kind of cheesy. It was kind of a cheesy movie. It was okay, but it was cheesy.

Maybe you know a person who always wears like a cheesy suit. So the suit is not really of very good quality, especially the aesthetics. The materials, the colors, the way the design of the suit, it‟s just not really nice. It‟s sort of low quality. It‟s trying to look nice but it‟s not. You can tell it‟s cheesy. We sometimes talk about cheesy décor, the decoration of a restaurant or a department store or someone‟s house. It‟s kind of cheesy. It‟s a negative word. It‟s not positive. It‟s not positive to be cheesy.

People can be cheesy. They can say cheesy things or they can be cheesy themselves. Their personality can be cheesy. In fact, you might hear this expressed as „cheeseball‟. He‟s a cheeseball.

She‟s a cheeseball. And that‟s a person who‟s cheesy. Their personality is cheesy.

Then right after that, I say, “Oh, you mean like when you set aside five minutes and you reflect on how grateful you are to me for all the wonderful things that I do for you?” Interestingly, that‟s kind of a cheesy thing to say. I‟m making a joke, of course, to Dan. And of course, because Dan and I know each other so well, he knows immediately that I‟m joking. He knows that I don‟t actually believe what I‟m saying and he doesn‟t believe it either. But we say that because we‟re having fun talking with each other and we like to tease each other and kid each other. I‟m just joking. Some people might think that was a cheesy joke. So don‟t be cheesy. Or be cheesy and have fun with it, okay?

All right. I hope this has been helpful. Please, as always, put these words and phrases to use in your conversations. Enjoy!