don't knock it till you try it how to  get people to experiment in English

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app [Music] do you like to try new things if  you have someone in your life who refuses to  

try something new what can you say to them in  English learn one key vocabulary phrase today

[Music] hey Lindsay how are you hey Michelle I'm  doing great with shaking on your end oh nothing  

nothing nothing have you tried anything new  lately like a new food or a new experience any  

anything different yes you know what I tried the  other night which I regretted actually because my  

mouth was on fire was buffalo sauce wait you never  tried it I really had never tried buffalo sauce  

really because I was always confused what it meant  like you might is this buffalo wings buffalo sauce  

I think we've talked about this before actually  on the show but I really had never tried buffalo  

sauce but the problem is I ate it in a bowl so  I took a bowl of white rice like sushi rice and  

then I added this weird mixture of um celery and  jalapenos that I had gotten from Whole Foods and  

then I put buffalo sauce on that and I think I ate  at the same time a potent jalapeno along with the  

buffalo sauce it sounds like a crazy time lens  my mouth was on fire Michelle I was gonna say I  

was like I cannot breathe it was so yeah stay away  from Buffalo sauce well wait but do you think it  

was just because you added the jalapeno like you  think it was just too much or like do you like  

like will you try it again if it was that's the  problem I don't know if it was the buffalo sauce  

or the jalapeno or both but it was really my mouth  was on fire it was crazy well I like buffalo sauce  

but um that's pretty funny so I mean are you would  you say you really open to trying new things like  

like there are some people who like will not try  a certain type of food or you know you know yeah  

um yeah I would say you know for me I like trying  new things but sometimes like for example a couple  

weekends ago we were in Santa Barbara with some  family California and you know Santa Barbara's a  

town with a lot of good wine right it's famous for  wine and they we went to two different wineries  

or kind of not wineries or just shops in town  it's not like we're going out to the vineyard  

they wanted to do tastings but sometimes like  flights like a little little tiny bit of this  

that that but for me it's not super satisfying I  just want to choose a wine and have a glass I want  

to fully enjoy it and just relax I don't want  to try all these different kinds of wine right  

um but by the time I've had a tasting I can't have  any more wine it's like I want the experience of  

sometimes trying something new I could waste an  opportunity to enjoy the thing if I don't like  

it you know right right right right interesting  interesting yeah yeah yeah I mean like for me I  

hate olives I'm sure I've said that I know that  was so crazy I can't even believe that well  

uh so if there's like an olive spread you know  like it isn't something that has right exactly  

like I I probably wouldn't try it but I could  actually be missing out on something good right  

like you could be yeah right like or I mean I  think that we also like as as people in general  

I think there's a tendency to think that you might  not like something not like movie not like a like  

like I think okay like I don't particularly love  running but I've also you know I've run I've I've  

you know a little bit in my life you know but  like if I actually like tried and was motivated  

with your running shoes went out there right like  and and I met I was training you know like you  

you never know what you could get into like or my  son with food I mean it's a it's a crazy game out  

there my constant battle is it a constant battle  trying to get him to try new things yeah it used  

to not he used to be like a great eater and now  uh huh he became interesting like yeah he's in  

like kind of a pickier stage but he's not too  bad um but yeah like so anyway but let's get to  

this expression because okay uh there's a there's  an expression that someone can use to encourage  

um you know someone else to try something new and  stop like just kind of like it's basically trying  

to tell someone to be open-minded right yes yes so  let's see what is that expression okay guys write  

this one down this is going to be a great takeaway  for today don't knock it till you try it I love  

this let's break this down for our listeners  you know what is it what does it mean exactly  

okay so it means don't say something bad or think  something bad about something because you don't  

know if it will actually be good so it's basically  like you don't even know if you like something you  

know like you haven't opened yourself up to the  chance that you might like you might actually  

like something a little bit different yeah and  the expression to knock something what exactly  

does that mean on its own Michelle I think knock  would just be like more like being critical in  

some way right right or right and do we use that  in any other like times any other situations I  

don't really like I don't think we like you know  you might just really right yeah I don't think I  

would say like oh she was knocking the you know  like I wouldn't say like oh she was knocking the  

restaurant I don't know I guess I I think I  actually would maybe you would yeah I think I  

would say that right oh you know well you know  maybe don't knock that restaurant I would use  

it more in the negative form so right I just want  to make sure our listeners are clear Michelle the  

difference between knock like criticize and knock  like knock right knock on the door right exactly  

okay so that's different meanings right I mean but  Lindsay so do you say don't knock it till you try  

it I do I do I like that absolutely I could to  try to get someone to try something new like I  

think there are still people out there who don't  want to try sushi they're afraid to try sushi I  

feel like as a as a world culture we have started  to eat sushi I feel like in the 80s no one really  

ate sushi in American culture you know I think  people didn't really know what it was they're  

afraid of it so this might have been a good one  to use back in the 80s don't knock it till you  

try it raw fish it's actually great right don't  be afraid yeah right right right exactly exactly  

but do you think if somebody says this to you do  you could you could you find it irritating or a  

little annoying I don't know it depends I guess um  no I think it wouldn't bother me I think it's good  

to have people in your life that always remind  you that you should try something new get out of  

your comfort zone that's kind of you know my dad  used to do that for me he would encourage I would  

always go I share the story about the McDonald's  Happy Meal but also when I was a kid I always at  

restaurants not McDonald's but just restaurants  I would always order a hamburger and he would  

challenge me every time I say order something  other than a hamburger you know don't always order  

the same thing so it's good to have these people  in our lives I think it's okay as long as you're  

not being like calling someone out or embarrassing  them in any way what do you think Michelle  

um yeah yeah I think that's true like if you're  on yeah exactly as long as you're not like calling  

them out and you know away and yeah if your  intention is good like we've talked about that  

you know if you have like a sincere kind of like  fun intention I think that's fine but if you're  

just like I don't know sometimes you know people  don't want to be bothered all the time like if  

you use it like every single time with somebody  who's like you know that they only like you know  

that they're kind of picky and they're eating  or something and you're like constantly you  

know it just can be like bugging them right or uh  sometimes people have very serious allergies right  

um and you may not know that so that may be  the reason they're not gonna try that thing  

like I know two people and actually at my wedding  this past summer we could not serve fish for this  

reason we had two good friends who are deadly  allergic to fish like if they're anywhere around  

fish if they get the tiniest bit on their fork or  even if they kind of like smell it they can their  

throats can close that it's bad it's bad bad  bad so you know that could be a reason someone  

might not be trying Sushi it's not that they're  closed-minded it means that they have some kind of  

allergy or stomach issue or something that could  be dangerous right right that's true so that's a  

very good point like you don't know why you know  yeah you have to be careful of that yeah for sure  

yeah so so Michelle this concept of till let's  just let our listeners know about that too what  

do we need to know there right right we didn't say  don't knock it until you try it right we just say  

tell like which is short for until right so why  do you think we don't say until I think we like  

to take the easy way out when it comes to English  you know what I mean we like to just say what's  

easy to say and we don't shorten till just in this  phrase right Michelle there are other times we  

would shorten until and say till right right right  right yeah right exactly exactly a tons of times  

um right we were out till midnight you know  having drinks and and dancing right out till  

midnight all the time we would use it not just in  specific phrases exactly exactly till is very very  

common mm-hmm okay Michelle so where do we go from  here should we show our listeners a couple of role  

plays let's do it all right here we go so oh wow  look at that delicious olive spread ew Lindsay I  

hate olives that spread must be gross hey don't  knock it till you try it oh Michelle I can't  

believe you hate olives you'll never get it I'm  gonna play that role now how when did you first  

realize that you hate hated olives when you were  a kid yeah I think so and I mean I can't have an  

olive touch anything that I was gonna like you  know it just like has such a strong taste like  

if it was like on a pizza or like in a salad  and I just like gave it no but but olive oil  

I like olive oil like have you tried all kinds  of all is it all like if you go to Whole Foods  

they always have those bars the Mediterranean bar  yeah yeah yeah like is it all the olives or just  

certain ones I haven't sampled all the olives  yeah exactly right maybe I mean maybe there  

would be one Olive out of the bunch maybe I would  like I mean that's true because I like pickles so  

I feel like oh okay yeah like it's not like I  don't like that kind of like a strong taste but  

I don't know you might be able to find it kind  of all of you like you know like there's a very  

different taste between the um what are they  called the the black ones the brown black ones  

and like the more meaty green ones I think they're  very different in taste so give it a try give it  

a try yeah well you never there maybe there's  an olive out for me something there might be

for your role play all right here we go Lindsay  you're doing hot yoga again yeah you should come  

with me I can't I think it would be too hard uh  come on don't knock it till you try it so guys  

you're just seeing a lot of examples of where this  would fit in right where this would make sense  

exactly all right and let's do one more okay okay  uh I'm going skydiving with my cat what it's the  

latest craze I did it once before and it was so  much fun that's wild I would never do that don't  

knock it till you try it I hope that's not a thing  oh my God yeah just the other day Dan asked me if  

I would ever go skydiving and I was like no with  a cat any any Sky time would you say no would you

um I'm on the fence about that I think I would  have a hard time stepping like taking that step  

yeah off the off the helicopter or the plane or  whatever you go I think I think I would struggle  

I'd probably waste my money yeah I'd come down  yeah bye exactly um so yeah but guys also I  

wanted to highlight something we like we usually  say it like this don't knock it till you try it  

right yeah yeah it's all about the intonation  guys make sure you use that intonation don't  

knock it till you try it all right very clear  clearly challenging the person a little bit and  

it's kind of a positive feeling to it right right  right right exactly I don't unlock till you try it  

should we go over a few more do we have time or I  think I think let's save those for another episode

stay tuned all right yeah stay tuned guys so  what's the takeaway for today well first of  

all guys go ahead and hit follow on aller's  English right now so you don't miss these  

next episodes where we're gonna follow up and  if you have a question about today's episode  

send your question to Lindsay at allersenglish.com  we got a lot of good student questions that we're  

going to be answering in the next couple of  episodes Michelle where should we leave our  

listeners though about today's topic okay well  yeah I mean don't knock it till you try it that's  

a really commonly used expression it's a way to  try and get someone to get out of their comfort  

zone Lindsay which is what you mention yes and  two you know just like because I think that it  

can be easy when you're in that moment to just  feel like no I'm not doing that and when someone  

says don't knock it till you try it it kind of  like snaps you out of that for a second yeah  

exactly yeah exactly so Michelle what you have  to do now is go to Whole Foods immediately and  

take a sample of every Olive at the olive bar  and tell us tell us on the next episode if you