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2551 - Embrace Both Meanings of this Useful English Word

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2551 - Embrace Both Meanings of this Useful English Word

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Субтитры (125)

0:00Hey Lindsay, how are you? Awesome. Michelle, how's  everything going for you? Everything is good over  
0:06here. Lindsay, have you embraced widelegg pants  yet? I have not, Michelle. I can't get there.  
0:12I just can't get there. I don't think they're  flattering on me. Um, and nope. I'm still into the  
0:18straight leg. Not skinny so much, but straight leg  all the way. Yeah. Nice. Nice. Yeah. It's funny.  
0:25My mom actually she she was on a vacation and she  saw everybody was wearing widelegg pants and then  
0:31she told me I think I need to I think I need to do  it like so now she wears a lot of widelegg pants  
0:36and very cool, very hip, very trendy. Um I haven't  w I I do have some widelegg pants but I'm not  
0:44sometimes I feel really good about them and then  sometimes I feel I don't know about this. Um yeah,  
0:50usually I'm really late to trends. Like I'll  usually I didn't adopt skinny jeans until like  
0:54the last 3 years of skinny jeans. So, and now you  can't get out. You can't get out. Yeah. Yeah. What  
1:01are we getting into today? Yeah. Today we're going  to talk about this word embrace because this came  
1:07up in an episode I did with Aubrey uh a little bit  ago. It was episode 2537 was cozy up with these  
1:14holiday phrasal verbs. So guys, head on over to  that after this if you're interested in listening.  
1:19Um, so we were talking about the word it well  it actually came up in a totally random way  
1:25um because um Aubrey was saying she doesn't like  those blow up decorations and yeah and then she  
1:35said oh she should probably embrace them and I  kind of made a joke because I'm like that sounds  
1:41like oh you're saying oh I should go up and hug  them and because if we she meant embrace as like  
1:48oh I should embrace them. I should accept them.  I should enjoy them. Yes. Um but and something  
1:55about it made me think that she was saying, "Oh,  I should go up to them and I should hug them."  
1:59Um Yeah, that's true. Because there are a couple  different meanings of embrace, right? Yeah. So,  
2:04we decided this would be a really good episode  um topic for the future. So, we're going to go  
2:09uh and talk about that today. I love it. I love  it. But before we get into it, Michelle, I want  
2:14to remind our listeners, guys, if you want to make  2026 your year for vocabulary, the number one way  
2:21to consume Allers's English is actually inside  our app, our iOS or Android app. And why is that,  
2:27Michelle? Yeah. Oh my gosh. Well, there are so  many great things about this app. One of the  
2:32things that I really love is that you can watch  the transcripts like in real live time. Yes. Um,  
2:38and also you get a personalized vocabulary power  list. So, you can get definitions to words, be  
2:44able to save those words. Um, there's just really  a lot of benefits to having this app. Absolutely.  
2:51And the other cool thing about the app is that  there are no outside ads from other companies.  
2:55It's all it's just just our voices on that on that  app. So, guys, if you want a better way to listen  
3:01to the show, go over to allersenglish.com/app.  Try the 7-day free premium trial. You can listen  
3:07for free all the time, forever. But if you do want  that power list, those transcripts, you can do a  
3:137-day free trial. So go to allersenglish.com/app.  All right. Awesome. Okay, let's break it down,  
3:19Michelle, then. So, what are the meanings of  embrace? Okay, so yeah, so one would be to hug  
3:25or to somehow you put your arms around something  more literal. Um, because and that's what the joke  
3:33was I was making was because it sounded like she  should run up to these decorations and hug them,  
3:37but that's not what she meant. But it's actually  a pretty funny thought, right? It is. It is. I'm  
3:42just I'm envisioning Aubrey doing that right now.  Um, so, but it's a more formal way to say hug,  
3:48right? Embrace. Um, yeah, it is. You might hear  it in like a fancy romance novel or something or  
3:55read it. For example, the two lovers embraced  in the film after they had a fight. Yeah. Um,  
4:03or the siblings embraced after after their  argument, but only because their dad made them.  
4:09Yeah. I mean, really, we nine times out of 10, you  would just say hug. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,  
4:15embrace is more like I feel I feel like embrace  is like a dramatic hug. Yeah. Like a very dramatic  
4:21hug. Like, so you would all like I think Yeah.  This one about the two lovers embracing, right?  
4:27That Yeah. Yeah. You might hear it in songs, too.  Instead of the word hug in a song, hug is kind of  
4:34unceremonious, right? Um, embrace is more likely  to be used in songs and poetry and when we're  
4:41we're elevating an experience. Exactly. Exactly.  So, I mean, yeah, other ways to say embrace would  
4:48it could be hug like we said or cuddle is also  kind of an embrace. Like an embrace doesn't have  
4:53to be about like, oh, I'm giving you a hug, right?  An embrace it's like this allencompassing like I'm  
4:59embracing you. Maybe I'm snuggling with you. Maybe  I'm whatever. Um, I'm holding you. So yeah, hug,  
5:06cuddle, hold, other words you would hear. Yeah.  Yeah. Love that. Um, so that's the first meaning  
5:12of embrace. But then what else, Michelle? We're  totally changing the meaning here. Yes. Yeah.  
5:17This is really interesting. So embrace can also  mean to take something on, right? Like a new idea,  
5:23a change. Um, this is the example, Lindsay, when  I asked you about the wideledd pants. Are you have  
5:30you embraced them? Have you like adopted them into  your life? Are you starting to wear them? Do you  
5:37like them? Are you enthusiastic about them? Right.  Yeah. Yeah. So, for example, a a sample sentence  
5:42could be, I wouldn't say I've quite embraced the  idea of wearing sneakers with a dress, but I'm  
5:47coming around to it because that's kind of trendy,  too, right? So, sneakers with everything. And also  
5:53like a lot of times you'll see even at weddings  now like men will wear like sneakers really cool  
5:59sneakers with suits or tuxes. Yeah. Yep. You  see that sometimes at conferences, weddings,  
6:07formal events. Yes. Or even I see that even like  in Congress sometimes I see Well, I mean there  
6:13are some Congress people that wear sweatshirts  which I'm against by the way. I'm very against  
6:17that. Like wear a suit. You're representing  the American people. Like put on a suit. Uh,  
6:21but sometimes you see congress people in a suit  and then they have nice sneakers on, right? So,  
6:28I'm less against that, but I'm really against the  hoodie thing. I'm just I'm not feeling it. I'm not  
6:32feeling it. I understand that. I understand that.  Um, or here's another uh example. It took a while  
6:39for my family to embrace not using our devices  at dinner, but now things are so much better and  
6:44we connect more. Yes. Nice. Okay. Love it. Good  examples. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, Michelle. So, there  
6:51could be other ways to say embrace this idea of  taking on something, right? Yeah. Yeah. For that,  
6:59so for that usage, we were just talking about  to take something on the idea of the widelegg  
7:03pants. So, I would say um accept or adopt or even  endorse. It's like, yes, I give this my thumbs up,  
7:11right? Sure. Yeah, that could work. I like  that. So, how where do we take this then?  
7:16Yeah. So I mean there's also like this idea of  having a similar um definition to the second  
7:24one right so to accept something in you know an  excited way. So I try to embrace all the little  
7:33moments in my life not just the big exciting  one. So this is kind of a third definition  
7:37here. Um I'm I'm excited about something. I'm  enthusiastic about something. I take it in. Right.  
7:46in being present during like we want to fully  be present for something. Yeah. Yes. Exactly.  
7:52Uh or what's another example you could say I'm  going to embrace my bad eyesight and get super  
7:57cool and fashionable glasses. So this idea  of maybe there's some kind of disability or  
8:02like you just have less less keen eyesight or  hearing or something and you're going to like  
8:08you're going to accept that but then use it  as kind of an advantage kind of. Yeah. you're  
8:14like enthusiastically accepting something,  right? Okay. Like maybe I have, you know,  
8:19my eyesight isn't great, but now I get to go get  cool glasses, right? Um Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. So  
8:26that would be kind of this idea of like welcoming  something or going for something or it could also  
8:34also accept in a way. Yeah. Love it. So embrace is  a powerful word, but we have to know again like we  
8:40said in the other episode, connotation. We have  to know exactly what the use is here, right? So,  
8:46let's take a look at a role play and we'll see  what we can learn here. So, here Michelle, we are  
8:50shopping together. Are we shopping at the mall or  are we just shopping like in a downtown space? Um,  
8:56uh, let's put us at let's put us in a downtown  space. Okay, I like that better. All right,  
9:04here we go. Here we go. Okay, so my boss is trying  to get all us all to embrace this new system, but  
9:10it's so hard. M change is definitely tough, but  you might as well accept it because it's not going  
9:16to change. That's true. Oh. Oh, no. I have a few  grays. Look. Oh, I have some, too. We just have to  
9:25embrace it. I'll accept it, but I won't welcome  it. Uh, that's an interesting topic, right? So,  
9:32there's, you know, like two camps when it comes  to hair going gray, especially for women. Some  
9:36people will grow out their gray is the expression  that we use. grow out your gray. They'll just let  
9:42their hair go and then other people will dye their  hair right away when the gray starts to take over.  
9:48Right. And it's always Yeah. It's a probably a  hotly debated issued issue. Yeah. And a personal  
9:54decision. It says a lot about identity. There's  a lot there, Michelle. There's a lot there. There  
9:59definitely is. That'd be a good whole topic for  another day. Really would. Yeah. Cultural stuff  
10:05here today. Definitely. Yeah. Yep. So, let's go  through the words, Michelle. What did we say? So,  
10:10I said, "My boss is trying to get us all to  embrace this new system, but it's so hard." So,  
10:16we don't mean hug or hold. Um, we mean, you  know, to like adopt it, to accept it, adopt,  
10:23accept, to learn, to be willing to use it, right?  Um, and then I said, "Yeah, change is tough,  
10:30but you might as well accept it because so  now I'm using a synonym for that, accept it,  
10:35because it's just not going to change." meaning  you have it's not going to go anywhere. It's  
10:40not going to go away this new system. Yeah. Maybe  there's like some kind of technology or something,  
10:45right? Yeah. It's like don't fight it. It's  it's almost like then it's if you don't accept  
10:50something sometimes then you're you build up a  lot of feelings about it and it's just not worth  
10:55it because it can make things worse actually and  harder for you. Um totally. Okay. And then I said,  
11:00"Oh no, I have a few grays. Look, cuz we're  shopping, so we passed a mirror. And you said,  
11:06"Oh, I have some, too." We just have to embrace  it, right? So, yeah, we just have to accept it,  
11:13right? We just have to accept it, but like also  maybe like be okay with it in a make it positive.  
11:19Make it a positive thing. Um, then you said,  "I'll accept it, but I won't welcome it." So,  
11:26I'll accept it, but I'm not going to be happy  about it, basically. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No,  
11:30for sure. That's a great common conversation  between friends in their 30 maybe late 30s 40s,  
11:35right? Um yeah, for sure. Yeah. Also, whether  like gray hair or even plastic surgery because  
11:42everybody just decides like how they're going to  age. Are they going to just let it happen or are  
11:47they going to do everything they can to try and  prevent it? Oh, for sure. And and this is where  
11:52you get into regional differences, cultural  differences within the US. And I've noticed  
11:57big differences between kind of um where I grew up  in New England um the stances towards like plastic  
12:04surgery and like changing the face and the hair  versus maybe in the west in California. People I  
12:10know in Los Angeles. There's a big cultural gap  between the east coast and the west coast. It's  
12:16very broad to say that but so pay attention to the  nuances there. It's fascinating. Yeah, for sure.  
12:22Yeah. Really interesting, Lindsay. Well, this was  this was really fun. Um I'm glad we talked about  
12:27this today. And guys, um we'll see you on the next  episode. All right, Michelle. Talk soon. Bye bye.