Bonus Ep 45 - Brand Slogans: Exploring Their Cultural Impact | Ft. Harry
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Transcript of Premium Bonus 045 - Transcript
Charlie:
Hello and welcome to another episode of the British English podcast. Today we are going to be focusing on the pop culture around brands and their slogan. And I have with me my very good friend Harry on the other side of the computer slash microphone. How are you doing, Harry?
Harry:
Yeah, good, thank you. Yeah. Different computer.
Charlie:
Different computer, we should add.
Harry:
Add. Yeah. We're not sat across one computer. We're not huddled around one microphone either. We got one.
Charlie:
Yeah, we've got one each.
Harry:
Got one each.
Charlie:
Not sharing. Yeah. Sharing is caring.
Harry:
But that's fine if people do. Yeah, it is caring.
Charlie:
Is that a brand slogan? Sharing is caring.
Harry:
Sharing is caring? Someone must have used that. It would be mental if no one has used that.
Charlie:
Who coined the phrase 'Sharing is caring'? I'll come to that in a bit. But yeah, we're going to catch up for a little bit, but we will be focusing on slogans that have hopefully made it into the everyday conversation because on this podcast we're focusing on more than just the language but also the culture. And this is a perfect blend of the two because we're sharing a pop culture that has then created for some phrases that we use in everyday kind of references, don't we?
Harry:
Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? Yeah.
Charlie:
You shared one with me that gave us the idea of this. Can you share that with us now?
Harry:
Is that the one about does exactly what it says on the tin?
Charlie:
No, it's not. But that's a good one. It's the one that you would go to the pharmacy for and it's a thing that you'd have on your skin, probably your foot.
Harry:
Ah, yeah. Bazooka that verruca.
Charlie:
That verruca. What's a bazooka?
Harry:
A bazooka? That's like, what is it? RPG kind of thing. Is that a rocket launcher?
Charlie:
A rocket launcher!
Harry:
A rocket launcher! Yeah. Bazooka. Yeah. If you want to kill lots of people with one shot, two birds with one stone or one giant missile, then use a bazooka. There will be military experts sitting there thinking, you moron, you've absolutely butchered that definition. But yes.
Charlie:
Well, still though.
Harry:
It launches one... What does RPG stand for because that that's probably the clue, right?
Charlie:
Rocket propelled grenade!
Harry:
Rocket propelled grenade. There you go. So it propels, it throws massive grenades quite far. Yeah. Into wherever you want it to. No one's ever spoken about bazookas with such a, you know, a happy, cheery tone of voice.
Charlie:
Yeah. Well, you've kind of stepped on a cultural thing there because I'd say, correct me if I'm wrong, but we quite like an advert or a slogan that has a bit of cheekiness to it. It's playing with the word. Yeah.
Harry:
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So a verruca, I can imagine you'd give a very good definition of a verruca as you're sat there in front of ChatGPT.
Charlie:
I am going with the NHS right now. Oh.
Harry:
Oh you going with the NHS? Wow. You're bypassing the Cambridge English Learners Dictionary and you're going straight for the NHS? Clinical. We're going clinical.
Charlie:
Clinical baby! It's a national health service, so I feel like I should be using it, given that I'm in the UK now.
Harry:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
And it's disgusting. Well, I shouldn't say that because we all have them maybe from time to time throughout life, especially as kids. I think it's a bit more common. Did you ever have one?
Harry:
No one has ever had a verruca as an adult. Surely not.
Charlie:
No they have, they have. We're upsetting those that have one right now. Yeah, it's a small lump. Well, you need to bazooka that verruca. It's a small lump on the skin that most people have at some point in their life, it says. They usually go away on their own, but take months or even years. Yeah, it looks a bit like a fungus, I'd say.
Harry:
Would you like to hear the Cambridge dictionary's definition of it? Yes. It's slightly briefer and it doesn't talk about how frequent they may be in your life.
Charlie:
Right.
Harry:
It leaves that bit to the NHS because quite frankly, Cambridge isn't qualified to give these statements. A verruca: a small, hard, infectious growth on the skin, usually on the bottom of the foot.
Charlie:
Okay, I quite like that one. It's quite graphic.
Harry:
I like it. I like it. Yeah. So if you do have a verruca guys and you find yourself in the UK and you think, I want to get rid of this small, hard, infectious growth on my skin, usually on the bottom of the foot, then you want to get yourself down your local pharmacy and get Bazuka, which has a different spelling to the RPG, the weapon. It's b-a-z-u-k-a, whereas the bazooka an RPG if you want to buy one of them it's b-a-z-o-o-k-a. So bazuka that verruca and so it's basically saying get rid of that verruca! Throw a grenade at it basically, obliterate it.
Charlie:
Yeah exactly. But I'm now imagining them getting a little bit confused and going into a different store, coming out with an actual bazooka and finding Veronica, maybe shooting Veronica in the face. A Veronica. Not just the one.
Harry:
Well, I was just imagining them launching a grenade at their own foot.
Charlie:
Okay. Oh, yeah.
Harry:
A series of English learners just losing their feet as a result of listening to this episode.
Charlie:
Amputees? Yes. Yeah.
Harry:
Yeah, well, they did the job themselves.
Charlie:
Yeah, well, they wouldn't have the wart any longer or verruca.
Harry:
No, that's true. That is one benefit of blowing your own foot off.
Charlie:
But we skipped past the catch up. Harry, how are you?
Harry:
I'm good, thank you. Very well. Yeah.
Charlie:
What's been going on?
Harry:
I had a tennis filled weekend. Really, I basically just watched tennis, and in proper Wimbledon style, I got a punnet of Sainsburys Taste the Difference strawberries.
Charlie:
There you go. There's another slogan.
Harry:
Taste the difference.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Harry:
Well it's. That's the name of the range isn't it? It's not quite their slogan, but it's, well it's almost like a slogan.
Charlie:
It's a sub slogan.
Harry:
It's a sub slogan. Sure. So Taste the Difference is like the posh range of, of Sainsbury's own products, isn't it? You can get the basic Sainsbury's basics or if you want to go a bit more up-market, then you get yourself some Taste the Difference strawberries. And yeah, I didn't, I didn't regret it.
Charlie:
Could you taste the difference?
Harry:
I could actually. They were good. They were really good. We got that and some prosecco and watched the women's final on the Saturday. Me and my friend Rob, who is actually my sister's ex-boyfriend, weirdly still hang around with him. Why not?
Charlie:
Are you the Unflushable or is he?
Harry:
Neither of us will be flushed, but if one of us had to be the floater, then probably him. No, no. I love him. I love him. So, you know you can't ditch people even if my sister did dump him.
Charlie:
Oh God.
Harry:
No. It was mutual. It was mutual actually.
Charlie:
We can remove that part. Potentially. Maybe if you want.
Harry:
No, that's alright. You can. I like the unflushable. It's good language and floater as well. But yes, so we did that. We watched the women's final. Really good. I felt sorry for the Tunisian woman who was in the final because she didn't really put up the fight that she would have wanted. Like she didn't play as well as she had been in the build up to it. Yeah. So that was sad to see. And she was a bit teary during her speech. You know, it's sad.
Charlie:
Does the runner up get talk time on the mic?
Harry:
Yeah, they have an interview before the winner lifts the cup. They get a plate. They get a runner up plate. Actually, the women I realised, I didn't know before, but women, they don't get a cup. They get a plate too. So they get a big kind of silver plate thing. And the runner up got something similar, I think.
Charlie:
Oh, okay. So the men get a trophy and the women get a plate.
Harry:
I believe so. Yeah, but you'll be glad to hear, you probably already know, They both get paid the same amount.
Charlie:
Oh, I didn't know that. I think that's very new. Isn't that in the last couple of years?
Harry:
I think it's the last couple of years. I felt sorry for the lovely Tunisian lady who came second. But then I looked up how much she was gonna win, and it turns out she was going to get about 1.3 million for coming second.
Charlie:
Wow, gosh!
Harry:
I remember when I was a kid, they were getting about 300,000. And back then that sounded like a ridiculous sum of money. But now you get over a million for coming second. Isn't that amazing?
Charlie:
That is crazy. But to be fair, we're all watching their match, right? So she's provided the entertainment. It's not like the winner was the only one playing.
Harry:
Oh, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. She played a necessary part in the occasion.
Charlie:
It would be a pretty boring final if the runner up wasn't there.
Harry:
Yeah, it would be pretty bad. Yeah. Yeah, it'd be a pretty bad sport, in fact.
Charlie:
They wouldn't sell many tickets, I'd say. You know, fair enough. If you've made it to the final round, get a million!
Harry:
Yeah. The winner got, takes home something like 2.3 million. Hefty sums of money. Very big sums of money.
Charlie:
And again, I mean, I know the Olympics isn't about money, but thinking about how that's every four years. Wimbledon is every year, isn't it? So you could be Djokovic, for example. He could have won a lot of money every year. Rich tennis player.
Harry:
Oh, incredibly rich. But yeah, they have these Grand Slams throughout the year, don't they? And Djokovic is someone who wins Grand Slams all the time. Like they're going out of fashion. He's going to be mega, mega rich, mega rich. And I don't even know if Wimbledon's the highest paying Grand Slam. I don't know. I can see you're getting on Google so guessing Charlie will be announcing that imminently.Yeah. So that was my. Oh but after that, just while you're looking that up, I'll let you know what else I did that day. After the tennis, me and Rob went down to the local brewery where I took you actually: Brew Point. I don't know if you remember that.
Charlie:
Yes, I do. That's where I started to enjoy stouts for the first time.
Harry:
Yes.
Charlie:
And it unofficially cured my tennis elbow in my wrist.
Harry:
Really?
Charlie:
Yeah. I had a tendonitis in my wrist.
Harry:
Right.
Charlie:
And it was from playing tennis. And the physio said it's tennis elbow, but it's in your wrist. I think he was simplifying the injury for a layman like me to understand what was going on. Yeah, I had tendinitis. And then you gave me stout. I had like 3 or 4 pints of this drink throughout the weekend and it went away and somebody said it's probably the iron in the drink.
Harry:
That's amazing.
Charlie:
I mean, this is totally hearsay. Do not take this as a recommendation. But it worked for me on that weekend. And then after a while, I stopped having stouts and it came back again.
Harry:
Wow. I mean iron is so important for your body, isn't it? Like, my dad was, had an iron deficiency and he, and he started taking iron tablets and it's like, yeah, he's been so much better since then. So it wouldn't surprise me if that was, seems to be a very necessary kind of thing that we need.
Charlie:
Yeah, there we go.
Harry:
Wow, that's amazing. I'm so glad that that helped you. You drank your way back to recovery.
Charlie:
Exactly. I just found out that potentially the US Open... I don't believe this! This seems too much. Apparently 60 million USD for the, for the winner. Oh, no. Oh, no. Sorry. This is the total purse. So that would be everyone, right?
Harry:
Yeah. Yeah. Shared among all.
Charlie:
Okay. 2.6 million taken home by the winners.
Harry:
Very similar.
Charlie:
Yeah. That was USD. So you watched the Wimbledon... You watched it so much so that you had it coming out of your ears. You could say. You bloody loved it. Soaked it all up.
Harry:
Yeah. So we watched the Wimbledon women's final on Saturday. They went to this beer festival. That was really fun. There was music there and, you know, loads of different beers to try and stuff. That was kind of a whole, whole day thing. So I just got I got quite drunk, had a little dance. Would have been, Would have been nice to have you there.
Charlie:
With anyone?
Harry:
It's quite funny, actually. I, um. I saw this girl. I'd been there for like two hours, probably. I was a little bit drunk, tipsy. Let's say I was tipsy. I was in a great mood. The sun was shining. I was having some really nice beer. I was in good company. My sister was also there with her friends. No, I was just drinking, like, lager, but nice. Kind of quite nice like...
Charlie:
You weren't high off the iron.
Harry:
I wasn't high off the iron. No, my wrist was killing me, actually. And I saw this girl walk in
Charlie:
Because you were waving at this girl so aggressively.
Harry:
Exactly. I saw this girl walk in and I was like, I recognise her. And then I realised I had seen her on Hinge on the dating app that I'm using, but I'd never matched her because I didn't find her that attractive.
Charlie:
Oh, wow. Um. Wow.
Harry:
So I saw her.
Charlie:
In the flesh. Was she more attractive?
Harry:
You know what she actually was. She was slightly more attractive in person.
Charlie:
Okay.
Harry:
I still would have slightly, you know, said no, but I thought. Interesting. I thought, this is funny. You know, she hasn't liked me either. I haven't liked her. She hasn't liked me. You know, there's no harm done.
Charlie:
How do you know that she hasn't liked you?
Harry:
Because on hinge it tells you. So otherwise it would come, you know? So there was no embarrassment. If I was to speak to her, there'd be no like no grudge or anything. She wouldn't feel hard done by.
Charlie:
It's an equal playing field.
Harry:
Exactly. So I thought, Oh, if she walks past me, I'm gonna say hello. And she did. And then I couldn't get rid of her for the rest of the day. And she was just yeah, we were on the dance floor and she actually had quite an attractive friend who I'd have loved to, to, to speak to. But her friend was so keen on the idea that me and her, you know, should, should...
Charlie:
Oh no
Harry:
It was a bit embarrassing, really. She's like, oh you two are so great together. I was like, No.
Charlie:
What? Within the last
Harry:
I spoke to her, I said, I've seen you on Hinge, I've seen you on Hinge. And we started chatting and then, yeah, I just couldn't get rid of her for the rest of the day.
Charlie:
I'm impressed that you brought it up because then that's like, Yeah, I saw you and I didn't swipe yes, whatever.
Harry:
Yeah I know. And we spoke about that. But I was like, Well, you didn't say yes to me either, so, you know, it's fine. But yeah, I definitely shouldn't have got her number because her friend was like, You two, you should exchange numbers! And I was like, Oh, I had to. I did it out of politeness, but I shouldn't have done that. I gave her the wrong idea. Awful.
Charlie:
Oh, dear me. You're reminding me of a night out that we went on in Sydney. Probably one of the last actually. It was saying goodbye to our friend Lana that came and visited us recently in England. So she's single and she was using the apps and I was with her at the time and she showed us this one guy and he had nothing on but a Speedo and it was like a tiger print. And he had very clearly photoshopped his genitalia to be comically large.
Harry:
Hahaha.
Charlie:
He was totally like in good shape, like full body shot as well. And very, very big afro kind of hair. I was amazed by that photo, so I just thought. Are we allowed to say Afro now?
Harry:
An afro? Yeah.
Charlie:
That's not banned now.
Harry:
Definitely. Yeah. Yeah, an afro is just a haircut or a hairstyle.
Charlie:
Hairstyle yeah. He was Caucasian so. Then on that night out, he was there. Lana was like, Oh, my God, that's the guy that you saw on Tinder. And she had screenshotted that photo. So I said, Get me that screenshot. And I went up to him. And I was quite drunk, so I was quite confident. I said, Is this you? And he looked at it and he was so embarrassed.
Harry:
Oh no. Did you ask him about his comically large groin area?
Charlie:
Yeah, I said, Is that Photoshopped? And then I can't actually remember if he said no or he tried to like play it off. Somehow it kind of made me recoil, thinking, Oh my God, I've just gone up to this guy to say, Is your cock really this big?
Harry:
That's awful. Did he think that you had come across him on a dating app or did you say, Oh, I'm talking on behalf of my friend over there?
Charlie:
That's a good question. Think I pointed out Lana on the other side of the room and she was looking at us. So I think he understood.
Harry:
Was he. He must have been quite flattered that or embarrassed that she'd actually, like, taken the time to screenshot this and send it around like, I'd love to know.
Charlie:
Yeah but it was that ridiculous.
Harry:
That ridiculous. I'd like to see that. Have you got a picture of that? I'd like you to send it to me.
Charlie:
Yeah, I will, I will.
Harry:
Or, do I need. I don't know. Do I need that on my phone? I don't know.
Charlie:
Just to see that as a reference to. To compare with your Tinder.
Harry:
Yeah. To compare with me in general. Yeah. Some of my latest photos. Oh, God.
Charlie:
That's catching up.
Harry:
I wanted to ask you, did you. Did you watch any of the tennis? Sunday was an amazing match. The, the men's final.
Charlie:
Yeah. I've missed absolutely everything. I was I was quite sad that I did this because last year I watched it and I loved it. I was really into it. It's so fun. But this year we had guests coming over or Stacey's parents and then Lana, and they actually went to see Djokovic play in Centre Court.
Harry:
Wow.
Charlie:
Quite an event for them. But yeah, we didn't actually see it.
Harry:
Who did?
Charlie:
Sue and Paul.
Harry:
They saw... So they were there for the women's as well weren't they?
Charlie:
They were there for the Tuesdays.
Harry:
Okay so they didn't see the final but they saw like the semi-finals or something.
Charlie:
Yeah. I think it was quarters probably.
Harry:
Oh amazing. Did they have a good time?
Charlie:
They did. They had a really nice time. Yeah. Yeah. I was very, very happy to hear how successful their day was because they went last year and they were quite upset by a very small thing, but they were queuing for ages for this, for just like a drink stand. Paul was looking at the attendee or the the waiter bar staff. Sure. And she was just flirting with her colleague, not really paying attention to him. And she was breathing into his cup like, ha ha. To try and clean it, supposedly. And she breathed, and this was just after Covid kind of. And then she goes to pour it in. And he's like, Excuse me, do you mind getting a fresh glass? I don't fancy queuing up for an hour and getting that cup for my drink, please.
Harry:
Oh, that is unbelievable. So, yeah, it's so bad. I think I remember you mentioning that to me before. That is, that is horrendous, isn't it? Isn't that disgusting?
Charlie:
It is disgusting.
Harry:
Oh, well, I'm glad they had a nice time.
Charlie:
So. Yeah, yeah, that was, that was that. But let's get back to the main topic. Let's see if I can throw a couple of warm up questions your way.
Harry:
Warm me up. I'll warm my wrist up.
Charlie:
You said this earlier, so let's just check if you know the brand. Which company reassures you that their product does exactly what it says on the tin?
Harry:
Ronseal?
Charlie:
Very good. I think I would have just got that. But it was. It's not an everyday brand, is it?
Harry:
No, it's not. The reason I know that is I looked it up. I think I was teaching that phrase to a student and I had it in my head that it was no more nails. I convinced myself that it was another product. Yeah. Would you have gone for that one as well?
Charlie:
Potentially, yeah. That's a similar brand. I mean, you know, industry.
Harry:
Because, No more nails. That does exactly what it says on the tin, whereas Ronseal? What, it seals Rons? I don't. I don't get it. No more nails. Yeah. Okay. A product that means I don't need nails anymore. Perfect. But it does exactly what it says on the tin. So. Yeah, Ronseal is a product that. Well, it seals, it seals things. Is it like a silicone kind of sealant or something?
Charlie:
It does a lot of outdoor painting kind of substances like wood stain, varnishing. You put it on your fence and that kind of thing. Or your decking.
Harry:
Okay. Yeah. Nice. Ronseal. Does exactly what it says on the tin. It seals, it seals the paint job, it makes it weather resistant, I guess. Does exactly what it says on the tin. This is their slogan. It does exactly what it says on the tin. It's definitely become a phrase that we use, hasn't it? If you want to say that something does exactly what you expect it to, you say it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
Absolutely. I think, yeah, you could use this in lots of situations. I mean, the media has used it. Got one here for example. A film critic might write the action movie is like Ronseal. It does exactly what it says on the tin. I would remove Ronseal from that. I wouldn't, I wouldn't say Ronseal.
Harry:
No, we don't need Ronseal in there.
Charlie:
I'd say Yeah, yeah, action film. It kind of does exactly what it says on the tin, kind of you get what you sign up for, kind of thing. It's an action film.
Harry:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
Or in a tech forum discussing software, a user might say the app does exactly what it says on the tin, apparently.
Duolingo. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
Very good. Yes. Two languages.
Harry:
Not sponsored by Duolingo. Or is it?
Charlie:
In daily speech, the phrase is often used to describe anything that is simple and straightforward. For example, someone might use it to describe a simple cooking recipe. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
Harry:
Okay. I like that. Yeah. Or what about Anasol? It does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
What's Anasol?
Harry:
It's a cream for your anus, for your for your anus. If you have piles or an itchy bum, if you suffer with chronic itchy bum, then you pop pop down your local pharmacy and get Anasol.
Charlie:
Right. And that's something that...
Harry:
Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
Yeah, that's something that the pharmacy staff said to you when they gave it to you.
Harry:
Well it would be a good, I wouldn't flinch or be surprised if they did say that. I'd be like, Yeah, I like that. I'd be like, What's anasol? They'd be like, does exactly what it says on the tin. Now go home, whack that up your bum bum and you'll be fine.
Charlie:
What do you think of this one? A politician might use it to describe a policy that has a clear and straightforward outcome. Similarly, a businessman or businessperson sorry might use it to describe a product or service that delivers exactly what it promises.
Harry:
Yeah, the British English Podcast does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
Thank you! At last. I've been waiting for it. There we go. Hopefully from those various examples you can understand how it comes up in conversation and if you hear that phrase, you won't be completely confused by it. And you might even... What could you? You can't really say anything back to it, can you?
Harry:
Ronseal! I bloody love Ronseal! No, you wouldn't need to. Well, you'd just respond accordingly.
Charlie:
Yeah. Okay. Thank you.
Harry:
Yeah. Thanks. Bye.
Charlie:
So let's move on to another one.
Harry:
I love reading, by the way. Just thinking about that. These abrupt endings to things. It always cracks me up when we're doing the academy classes and the students are so good at coming up with like dialogues. Can be quite challenging. But I'm always amazed by their creativity because they come up with really good dialogues. Then they always end really abruptly. It's like, Bye. It's like they're having a conversation using all this like vocabulary that you've taught them in the episode, and then they just say, Bye. And it's just like, it's a really funny like end to their dialogues. It always cracks me up.
Charlie:
Yeah, well, I think that partly is because they're aware of not hogging all the time, so they want to have succinct dialogues. So if it doesn't, if it doesn't use the language, end it.
Harry:
Yeah. No, they're so good though. So like creative with it. I'm amazed, yeah, it's really good.
Charlie:
Yeah. Cracks me up every time. I'm gonna test you with this one. Okay. I'm gonna remove the phrase and see how you do. If you've had a rough day and someone tells you this phrase, what are you suggesting you should do? A) go for a jog, take a nap, eat a chocolate bar, or start a new job.
Harry:
I'm going to forget those options, but go on.
Charlie:
Oh okay. Those four options. Go for a jog, take a nap, eat a chocolate bar or start a new job. Okay. So if you've had a rough day and someone says this famous quote.
Harry:
Oh, are you going to say the quote?
Charlie:
No. I think it's too easy otherwise. And I've said.
Harry:
If you've had a rough day.
Charlie:
Yeah, you'd say this quote and then you'd.
Harry:
Have a Kit-Kat! Have a break, have a Kit-Kat!
Charlie:
Yes! Have a break, have a Kit-Kat. Yeah, very good.
Harry:
And then in the advert they would snap the Kit-Kat wouldn't they. Because the Kit-Kat comes in fingers. If you're lucky enough to get a four finger Kit-Kat then that's the break. Ah, it's a lovely advert. It's a lovely sound.
Charlie:
It is.
Harry:
Lovely message.
Charlie:
Yeah, it's a great ad because it really makes me want one. Hearing that click or snap. Oh, give me a Kit-Kat now.
Harry:
I love Kit-kats! What's your favourite form of Kit-Kat?
Charlie:
Come again?
Harry:
Chunky? 4finger? 2finger? Or just sad little single finger Kit-kat Multipack.
Charlie:
Right, no I like to have three two fingers all at once.
Harry:
Three two fingers. Wow.
Charlie:
Layered on top of each other.
Harry:
No!
Charlie:
No, I'm joking. I like a 4finger.
Harry:
A four finger. Do you? I knew you did. I've definitely seen you with a four finger in your mouth. So my sister used to eat Kitkats in a very particular way. That was very... Well, she still does. She still eats chocolate in exactly the same way. She'll get it. If it's got a biscuity centre or a wafer inside, she loves a wafer...
Charlie:
Do we need to censor this?
Harry:
No, it's okay. It's not going to get too dirty. What she does is she'll bite off the chocolate. All of the chocolate. She'll go around like a mouse.
Charlie:
Like a little squirrel.
Harry:
Like a squirrel, yeah. Nibbling at it all around it. And then. Well, then. Then she'll just eat the middle bit. But. But isn't that funny? She'll go around and take every little bit of chocolate off individually. Maybe it's not. Maybe that's, maybe there's a lot of people that eat like that.
Charlie:
Yeah, no, I know what you mean. And I remember doing that with quite a few snacks when I was younger. Jaffa Cakes, for example. You'd lick the chocolate off and then you'd have that little layer of orange gel.
Harry:
Yeah, weird.
Charlie:
You could take it off the the bottom base.
Harry:
Kind of scrape it off with your upper teeth, your top teeth.
Charlie:
And clubs as well. I do that with clubs.
Harry:
Yeah. Clubs. What were they, they were kind of had a biscuity bottom didn't they. And then a thick chocolate and cubes kind of cube like?
Charlie:
Not cubes. It's a bar. But they had the word club on the top.
Harry:
Yes.
Charlie:
And you'd rub the foil into it and your foil would be, would have the sort of imprint of club.
Harry:
Oh yeah. Did you ever eat a bit of foil by accident?
Charlie:
No. No I didn't, Harry, did you?
Harry:
Too ravenous. Yes I think I have. Yeah. Yeah. I've definitely made that mistake. Yeah. I can still taste that. That kind of aluminium. Clubs are amazing, aren't they? And the lettering was quite kind of indented into the chocolate. So it was like... That's maybe why I thought it was in cube form because the letters were quite big weren't they?
Charlie:
Yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah quite 3D.
Harry:
The font was quite 3D.
Charlie:
It was. So that came from the Kit Kat one. So take a break. Have a Kit Kat.
Harry:
I love that. That's a really good one.
Charlie:
Have a break?
Harry:
Take a break. Have a Kit Kat because you wouldn't take a Kit Kat, but you could for English learners, you can say, have a break. I'm just going have a break. Yes, but take a break is a good collocation, to take a break. Have a Kit.
Charlie:
Sorry, it's got it here: Have a break. Have a Kit Kat.
Harry:
Oh, okay.
Charlie:
It's interesting. We stand corrected. Have a break. Have a Kit Kat.
Harry:
Well, okay. Yeah, I guess it's probably better if they repeat the have. Have a break. Have a Kit Kat.
Charlie:
Yeah. I just put in take and it came out with have. Yeah. Have a break, have a Kit Kat. Okay we've, we've said it enough but can we put it in our other areas. You might sarcastically mention it if someone's stressed.
Harry:
I think it's something you might say. It's like you use it kind of as a little mini joke, a little quip or something. Like have a break. Have a Kit Kat.
Charlie:
Yeah. You'd say under your breath that second line, wouldn't you? You'd be like, Have a break, Have a Kit Kat.
Harry:
Have a Kit Kat, you c***. Have a break, have a Kit-Kat. But no, it's not. This isn't like... It's a cultural reference. So like it's, it's good to know it and you definitely, people will definitely say this kind of thing, no doubt.
Charlie:
Yeah. And also if you've got a Kit-Kat and you're gifting it to someone, you might say, have a break.
Harry:
Have a Kit-Kat. It's a very clever little phrase because what you're doing is every time someone says Have a break, you're making them think of have a Kit-Kat. I don't know if there are people out there that always have a Kit-Kat when they have a break, But there are few British people out there that don't think of Kit-Kats when they hear the words have a break. It's very clever.
Charlie:
It is very clever. Yeah. And another very clever advert, it's a big one. I think it's probably the biggest one of the conversation. Or there's another one, actually. But I don't know how to lead into it. Let's do this. I'll say this, although this is wrong, but Harry doesn't do stag dos. But if he did, they'd probably be the best stag dos in the world.
Harry:
Brilliant. Carling, Carlsberg.
Charlie:
Carlsberg.
Harry:
Carlsberg. And mate. Very clever. Very clever, that one. I love that one.
Charlie:
Because you really do apply it to everywhere. Like you can put it into any kind of context to suggest that they are probably the best at it.
Harry:
The advert was always that kind of thing. Like you'd see, like, I don't know, the most amazing holiday or something. It'd be nothing to do with beer. And then at the end someone would just crack open a Carling, a Carlsberg, Carlsberg, God, Carling have ruined it for Carlsberg. They sound so
Charlie:
They're getting getting free rent in this, aren't they?
Harry:
Carling don't do teletext holidays but if they did... Carlsberg they don't do holidays but if they did, they'd probably be the best holidays in the world. It's also one of the longest slogans I've ever heard. It's quite a long one, isn't it?
Charlie:
Yeah, it is, isn't it? You just said a funny joke about teletext holidays. Can you explain why you said that? We have come to the end of part one, so feel free to take a break from your listening practice, but if you're happy to keep going, then we're now moving on to part two of this episode. Thanks so much for being a premium or Academy member and enjoy the rest of the show.
Harry:
A teletext holiday. So teletext. God, how do you explain teletext? It used to be, it's like a TV guide, wasn't it? That's kind of what you used it for. But back when TV wasn't digital, it was analogue, we had this thing in England called Teletext and you could put it open and there were TV guides. You could find out what was on telly, on the different channels. You could also, you could do like quizzes and stuff. You could enter competitions. So it was like pre-internet, pre kind of digital age, I guess. It was, it was quite analogue. And one thing that people used to do was find like really heavily discounted holidays, kind of package holidays, and you were normally sent off somewhere and you would stay on a resort or something like they weren't, they weren't amazing holidays. So I'm referencing that. It's a teletext holiday.
Charlie:
Because I often heard of friends doing it and then saying It was such a bargain! I can't believe that I got it. We never did it, but I understood it as people who want to save money do these teletext holidays.
Harry:
Yeah, maybe I'm wrong in having a go at the quality of it. I think it's, it's a bit comparable to Groupon, isn't it? It's that kind of thing. It's like a... This is a discounted thing.
Charlie:
Yeah. A discount. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Nice. Carlsberg. Probably the best beer in the world. I like the word probably because it's quite British in the way that it's modestly saying, yes, we are the best.
Harry:
Yeah, it's very British. Yeah. Carlsberg is definitely an English beer, isn't it? Carlsberg? Oh, no, it's Danish.
Charlie:
That's not the the main thing, is it? I mean, the advert could have been global as well. I don't know. But yeah, we clung onto that slogan probably, and it's now within our, not every day, but every other day.
Harry:
But it's interesting isn't it. When you translate slogans into other languages, sometimes you're lucky and your language is global. Then actually they use the same slogan in other, in other languages, but when they do it into English, they'll normally have to translate it. So it'd be really interesting to know what it was like, what the slogan was in Danish, whether it was, it did have this humble or modest like, probably. Did it have that? Or was it more kind of, kind of arrogant in the way it said it? I don't know.
Charlie:
I'm not painting a good light on the Americans, but if it was to do the advert in America, I would imagine it would be definitely the best beer you'll ever have.
Harry:
Hands down the best beer in the world.
Charlie:
But aside from the word probably. Well, no, including the word probably. It allows us to... debate it. It creates a controversy within beer, and that's naturally a small talk, like a topic that we would talk about once we've got our beers, isn't it? It's like, Oh, what's your tipple? What do you like Carlsberg? Yeah, probably the best beer you'll ever have.
Harry:
Probably not is it?
Charlie:
Yeah. That's what you'd say, isn't it? Like probably not. I'll have my Kronenbourg. Thanks.
Harry:
I mean, Carlsberg is rubbish. No, no, it's not. But it's not like, massively popular now, is it? With, like, all your IPAs and craft beers? You don't hear people talking about Carlsberg. But it's a, it's a football...
Charlie:
Yeah. It's heavily linked with drinking around watching football, I'd say.
Harry:
Definitely. Definitely.
Charlie:
But it's a very popular beer, regardless of how good it is.
Harry:
No, it is. It's true. It's true. And who do what do I know about what's a good, a good beer or not? I don't really know.
Charlie:
Trying to link to the next one, but I can't do it, Harry!
Harry:
What is it? I'll give you a... I'll give you a linking idea. What is it?
Charlie:
What is the idea?
Harry:
No, what's the thing? And I'll tell you how... I'll help you to link it.
Charlie:
Oh okay.
Harry:
If I have any ideas.
Charlie:
I'll say the first clause of it. Maybe she's born with it.
Harry:
Ah, okay. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.
Charlie:
Maybe it's Maybelline. Exactly. Yes. So the makeup brand, Maybelline is ginormous. And yeah, that was, that was quite... It is. It's everywhere, isn't it?
Harry:
I know, it's just the word ginormous. Makes me laugh.
Charlie:
Yeah, it's quite a quick, fun phrase that they said at the end of every advert, isn't it.
Harry:
It is very good. And what they would, they would set it up with. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline. Yes, I remember my friend used to, used to think they said Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's make believe. He used to think it was that, but it was definitely. It's Maybelline. It says it on the bloody shampoo. Says it on the bottle. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
That's good. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's make believe.
Harry:
But that's a good one isn't it. That is a really good... I use, I still use that. Like we were saying about the one, the things we use or the things we joke about. I often come out with that. I don't know why, but I kind of latched on to that, that. I always found it quite funny. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's make believe. I don't know. I found it quite funny, so I definitely still use that day to day.
Charlie:
Yeah, or every day.
Harry:
Every day. Yeah.
Charlie:
He's a broken record, this guy. I also use it like that. But there's no real way that you can morph it around conversation like the previous one with the Carlsberg, can you?
Harry:
No. If you're using it like a pun, you just throw it in when you can or if you, if it's appropriate, if it works.
Charlie:
Oh, yes, of course. So, like if somebody has done something special. Yeah. If a girl has done something special, you could be like, Oh, maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.
Harry:
Yeah. Yeah, she's born with it. And especially if someone else says it like maybe she's born with it. Maybe you could jump in and say, maybe it's Maybelline. But when I was listening to your, I don't know if it's actually been published yet, but you made a joke referencing, maybe you're even going to mention this slogan in a bit. I'll ruin it, if so. But the L'Oreal one, that L'Oreal slogan.
Charlie:
Oh, yeah, I was going to get to that next.
Harry:
You made a little quip about this. You adapted it in the episode you did with Stacey. Have you published that one yet?
Charlie:
I think so. Yes. Yes, I have. Yes.
Harry:
You were talking about the weekly wine and you made a joke about hair products because Stacy was using the good hair products and you'd been banished from it. You said, I can't remember how it was, but you made a joke using the phrase, which you're gonna say.
Charlie:
Yes. And I think the joke was, am I not worth it? Was it, did I say that?
Harry:
Something along those lines. But it was put in a more witty fashion. It was like, yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah, so the phrase is Because you're worth it. Because you're worth it. Because you are worth it.
Harry:
Because. Because you're worth it.
Charlie:
Because you're worth it.
Harry:
Because, yeah, because you're worth it.
Charlie:
L'oreal, another, another similar brand to Maybelline in a way, but I'd say it's more focused on hair products. I don't know. I'm talking out my arse with that.
Harry:
L'oreal. Yeah, they, that's mainly shampoo, isn't it? And stuff. What do Maybelline do?
Charlie:
I thought that was more makeup. Yeah. Yeah, Maybelline is more makeup.
Harry:
Okay. And L'Oreal... Hair colour, skincare, sun protection. They do it all. Makeup, perfume.
Charlie:
They're all cosmetics.
Harry:
It'd be interesting to know, because I know that in Spanish, it's, it's the same. It's You're worth it, I think. Right. I know, I think I know. But I wonder if in any other languages they use, they use a different... They slightly change it.
Charlie:
Yeah I don't know.
Harry:
Because you know in with Nike, Just do it. I know in other countries they just have that. Just do it. So it's really simple in English, but people, it's just become the norm and everyone gets it. Just do it. So they don't bother translating it in other languages.
Charlie:
Oh, okay.
Harry:
Or at least they don't in French. I've only spoken about this with French students and they all seem to be fine with it being in English.
Charlie:
Probably the best beer you'll ever get is quite wordy, isn't it? Yeah. In comparison, yeah.
Harry:
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, yeah. It's got to be short and punchy.
Charlie:
Especially considering it's not an English brand. Is there anything else that we need to say about that? Because you're worth it. So we would say that to treat somebody, wouldn't we? Like if somebody's doubting whether they should buy an expensive product, maybe you should, you know, because you're worth it or you should get it, you're worth it.
Harry:
Or if you've, they've got something nice, yeah, yeah, you're worth it. I use this one all the bloody time. I use it all the time. You're worth it. You're worth it babe. Probably sarcastically, but it's still nice.
Charlie:
Apparently the phrase has been embraced by movements promoting female empowerment and self-confidence. It has been used in speeches, writing and advocacy to emphasise the idea that women should embrace their worth. Amen, sister. Amen.
Harry:
Absolutely. Yeah. You're worth it. I'm worth it.
Charlie:
Get the expensive shampoo and ban your partner if he's male from that said shampoo. We have come to the end of part two now. So again, feel free to pause the episode, to take a break from your listening practice and come back to the last part when you're ready. Alright. So, moving on to part three now. Enjoy.
Harry:
Yeah, exactly. Just as Stacey did. Is it worth it? But yeah, we should probably say, you know, it existed before L'Oreal, but they kind of made this quite a popular thing to say about yourself and about other people because we'd often say it about things, wouldn't we? Like, was it worth it? Was it worth the price? So maybe L'Oreal has encouraged people to say it more about themselves and to take pride in who they are by using this phrase.
Charlie:
I agree with that. Giving you the right to spend on yourself. Again, a clever advert because it's helping you indulge and get the wallet out at the same time or helping you feel good about yourself by spending money.
Harry:
And it allows them to keep their prices fairly high I imagine. You're worth it. Just come on. I know it's a bit much, but come on, just get it for yourself. You're worth it.
Charlie:
Don't worry about rent. You're worth it. For this hair product. You may be on the streets tomorrow, but at least you've got good hair.
Harry:
Exactly.
Charlie:
And remember, you're worth it. Let's talk supermarkets, Harry, can you remember any supermarket phrases?
Harry:
Supermarket phrases? Tesco was... Every little helps. This is a really good one. We use this all the time. Every little helps. It's a phrase for like saving, isn't it? Making savings. Every little helps.
Charlie:
Yeah. Almost the opposite of Because you're worth it. It's like, well, no I need to save here. Thanks Tesco's for saving me some money. Cheers.
Harry:
Yeah, every little helps.
Charlie:
I remember an advert of a supermarket, but I think I might be confused with Asda. Did they slap their back pocket?
Harry:
Yeah, because I was thinking the same. I had that, it was. That's Asda price! And they'd hit their back pocket with, that would have the change that they've saved on the cheap prices of their products.
Charlie:
Yeah. Nowadays it doesn't work so much.
Harry:
That's Asda price. They hit their bottom.
Charlie:
Guys, they'd be hitting their own bum. The staff wouldn't be reaching over and touching or molesting the customers.
Harry:
Don't worry. They didn't condone sexually offending fellow shoppers.
Charlie:
No, no. Nor did Tesco's, but that wasn't their saying so Tesco's was Every little helps. Thanks Tesco's. Cheers.
Harry:
Yeah that's a good one. So I looked up Asda's. Get the Asda price feeling. I didn't even know that was their slogan. They used to just say That's Asda price! Do do!
Charlie:
And it's amazing how simple, yet effective they are. That's so obvious. That's Asda Price. Genius marketing. Well done.
Harry:
Yeah, you got your own name in your slogan. Genius. Does work though.
Charlie:
Three words sometimes works just as well. Just do it, for example. Or I'm loving it. It's not a supermarket but McDonald's.
Harry:
I'm loving it. Yeah, it's brilliant. That's. I'm loving it. What was his name? Justin Timberlake. He did that, didn't he? He sang I'm Loving It. When he was at the height of his fame, popularity, he sang that in the in the slogan. I was just reading about Asda, though. Apparently they've just recently brought back after 43 years, they've brought back the bottom pat. They've brought back the That's Asda price!
Charlie:
Thank the Lord. I'm very happy to hear that.
Harry:
Good news isn't it.
Charlie:
We can slap our arses comfortably in Asda now, again. We've waited 43 years for that.
Harry:
I've been waiting for this day.
Charlie:
So guys, get yourselves down to Asda. Buy something, non luxurious item, I'd say. In this situation. And then slap your arse as you leave the checkout.
Harry:
Exactly. But do make sure you have some some loose change in your pocket. Otherwise it just doesn't work.
Charlie:
Exactly. Yeah. You got to have the loose change and nowadays it would just be probably your debit card or your phone. So you've just got to hit your phone in your arse. That could be uncomfortable.
Harry:
Careful you don't smash your screen.
Charlie:
That would be. Then you would be out of pocket.
Harry:
Wouldn't you? Yeah, you would.
Charlie:
There are some more topics that I wanted to go onto, but we're kind of out of time now. We're quite a long podcast, so we'll probably end it. These last two things. One of them, imagine a drum set. We're going away from slogans now and we're more just adverts here, but it was very significant for us. Imagine a drum set.
Harry:
Ah I think I know already.
Charlie:
A gorilla.
Harry:
Oh, that's such a good advert. I can hear it calling in the air tonight. What was it for though?
Charlie:
Oh, interesting. You don't remember? I remember the colour very clearly. I'll give you the colour and maybe that will, it will jog your memory. Purple. At the end.
Harry:
Ah, it was just a gorilla sitting there in a white kind of studio playing the drums, wasn't it?
Charlie:
It was, yes.
Harry:
But then at the end there was purple, was there?
Charlie:
Yes. I can't remember if it was white background whilst he was drumming, but it was chocolate. Cadbury's.
Harry:
Oh right. Oh Cadbury's. Okay. Right. And the big. Yeah. They've got big purple bars haven't they. Oh I love Cadbury's.
Charlie:
It was white and purple, the background. He was mainly purple, but yeah, a bit of white. Either way. Cadbury's. But that shows.
Harry:
If there was no white, you can say! You know, don't worry.
Charlie:
No, there was a bit of white. I'm not. But it's interesting that you forgot the product, but you remember the ad, so that's probably not that great for them, is it?
Harry:
No. I mean, what was, what was the slogan as well? I know. Or now are we just talking about great adverts.
Charlie:
Great adverts. Yeah. It's not really slogan worthy.
Harry:
Okay, fair enough. It's a great advert. So they've made a memorable advert, but there was nothing about it that screamed Cadbury's. So actually they've not created a very good kind of association there. Whereas Have a break, have a Kit-Kat. The snap, have a break. You know, it works so well.
Charlie:
It does. Another ad I wanted to use was. Oh no, no. This is, I don't know if this is an ad anymore. I suppose they must have done ads. Yes, they did. The Specsavers one. Should have gone to Specsavers.
Harry:
Oh, that's what my Dad said that to me yesterday.
Charlie:
That, that's funny. I was about to say it's a bit outdated now, and we kind of don't use it as much.
Harry:
Oh, it is. It is. Well, I don't know why he said it, but he did. He said it to me. Should have gone to Specsavers.
Charlie:
But maybe. Did he use like a bit of a dry tone?
Harry:
Yeah, I don't. He wasn't mocking my eyesight. I can't remember what it, what it was. He might have even said it about himself. I can't remember. But he used it. So it feels very fresh in my memory. And it's definitely one that people use because it's the adverts were funny. It'd be like someone like making a light-hearted road accident and then they'd be like, Should have gone to Specsavers. But they were funnier than that. But it was.
Charlie:
Yeah, to do my job. So this company that sells glasses to help your sight. And the idea behind it was to get two for the price of one wasn't it? And you would lose your glasses. In the ad, somebody loses their glasses. They carry on with their day because they don't have a second set and then they have a road accident or something like that. And then somebody comes past and says, Should have gone to Specsavers.
Harry:
Exactly that. Yeah. They didn't have the wa wa noise, but they might as well have.
Charlie:
But if they had gone to Specsavers they would have had two pairs and they could have just picked up their second pair and not killed the innocent child.
Harry:
How they made a humorous advert with an infant mortality, I don't know. But they managed it. They pulled it off. Great advert.
Charlie:
There we go. We'll end on a high with deceased children. No, joking.
Harry:
Lovely.
Charlie:
That was a joke. They didn't. No children were harmed in the recording of that advert.
Harry:
Or this episode.
Charlie:
Or this episode. Very good. Yes.
Harry:
Not yet anyway.
Charlie:
Not yet, no. But yeah. Thank you very much, Harry or Hazel Pops, as you've just put in the the nickname of the platform that we're on. Have you been called Hazel Pops in a while?
Harry:
Not to my face, but just on WhatsApp where I call myself that. It's funny because when I like joined my like meditation group chat and the yoga one, like I'm just popping in there as Hazel Pops. Like, it's quite, it's like, who the hell is Hazel Pops?
Charlie:
On Whatsapp your name is Hazel Pops?
Harry:
Yeah. You never noticed?
Charlie:
It's Harry for me.
Harry:
Is it? I think that's just. Oh, right. Yeah. But if you don't have my number, I'll appear as Hazel Pops. Yeah. So you'd have to delete my number and then you'd see it.
Charlie:
So hang on. This nickname is only available for somebody who doesn't have your number.
Harry:
Precisely. Precisely. When I get to the stage where I exchange numbers with someone on a dating app, the first thing they see when they add me on WhatsApp is Hazel Pops.
Charlie:
Lovely stuff. Well, cheers, Hazel Pops. Thank you very much for spending the hour with me and maybe we'll do another one about adverts in a more specific way, because that was slogans. I got excited by adverts at the end of that planning prep. Probably shouldn't have brought it in because it, it changes the whole topic.
Harry:
You've ruined it.
Charlie:
But it's an exciting one. I've ruined it. Yeah. You're welcome, guys. Well done for getting to the end of this one. It was a long one, so. Yes. Bravo to you. And I will see you next week. And Harry, it would be lovely to see you very shortly. Thank you.
Harry:
Sure. It was very fun. Thanks, guys. Have fun.
Charlie:
Bye bye.
Charlie:
There we go. The end of part three, meaning the end of the episode. Well done for getting through the entirety of it. Make sure you use all of the resources available to you in your membership. Thanks once again for supporting the show and I look forward to seeing you next time on the British English Podcast.
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Transcript of Premium Bonus 045 - Transcript
Charlie:
Hello and welcome to another episode of the British English podcast. Today we are going to be focusing on the pop culture around brands and their slogan. And I have with me my very good friend Harry on the other side of the computer slash microphone. How are you doing, Harry?
Harry:
Yeah, good, thank you. Yeah. Different computer.
Charlie:
Different computer, we should add.
Harry:
Add. Yeah. We're not sat across one computer. We're not huddled around one microphone either. We got one.
Charlie:
Yeah, we've got one each.
Harry:
Got one each.
Charlie:
Not sharing. Yeah. Sharing is caring.
Harry:
But that's fine if people do. Yeah, it is caring.
Charlie:
Is that a brand slogan? Sharing is caring.
Harry:
Sharing is caring? Someone must have used that. It would be mental if no one has used that.
Charlie:
Who coined the phrase 'Sharing is caring'? I'll come to that in a bit. But yeah, we're going to catch up for a little bit, but we will be focusing on slogans that have hopefully made it into the everyday conversation because on this podcast we're focusing on more than just the language but also the culture. And this is a perfect blend of the two because we're sharing a pop culture that has then created for some phrases that we use in everyday kind of references, don't we?
Harry:
Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? Yeah.
Charlie:
You shared one with me that gave us the idea of this. Can you share that with us now?
Harry:
Is that the one about does exactly what it says on the tin?
Charlie:
No, it's not. But that's a good one. It's the one that you would go to the pharmacy for and it's a thing that you'd have on your skin, probably your foot.
Harry:
Ah, yeah. Bazooka that verruca.
Charlie:
That verruca. What's a bazooka?
Harry:
A bazooka? That's like, what is it? RPG kind of thing. Is that a rocket launcher?
Charlie:
A rocket launcher!
Harry:
A rocket launcher! Yeah. Bazooka. Yeah. If you want to kill lots of people with one shot, two birds with one stone or one giant missile, then use a bazooka. There will be military experts sitting there thinking, you moron, you've absolutely butchered that definition. But yes.
Charlie:
Well, still though.
Harry:
It launches one... What does RPG stand for because that that's probably the clue, right?
Charlie:
Rocket propelled grenade!
Harry:
Rocket propelled grenade. There you go. So it propels, it throws massive grenades quite far. Yeah. Into wherever you want it to. No one's ever spoken about bazookas with such a, you know, a happy, cheery tone of voice.
Charlie:
Yeah. Well, you've kind of stepped on a cultural thing there because I'd say, correct me if I'm wrong, but we quite like an advert or a slogan that has a bit of cheekiness to it. It's playing with the word. Yeah.
Harry:
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So a verruca, I can imagine you'd give a very good definition of a verruca as you're sat there in front of ChatGPT.
Charlie:
I am going with the NHS right now. Oh.
Harry:
Oh you going with the NHS? Wow. You're bypassing the Cambridge English Learners Dictionary and you're going straight for the NHS? Clinical. We're going clinical.
Charlie:
Clinical baby! It's a national health service, so I feel like I should be using it, given that I'm in the UK now.
Harry:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
And it's disgusting. Well, I shouldn't say that because we all have them maybe from time to time throughout life, especially as kids. I think it's a bit more common. Did you ever have one?
Harry:
No one has ever had a verruca as an adult. Surely not.
Charlie:
No they have, they have. We're upsetting those that have one right now. Yeah, it's a small lump. Well, you need to bazooka that verruca. It's a small lump on the skin that most people have at some point in their life, it says. They usually go away on their own, but take months or even years. Yeah, it looks a bit like a fungus, I'd say.
Harry:
Would you like to hear the Cambridge dictionary's definition of it? Yes. It's slightly briefer and it doesn't talk about how frequent they may be in your life.
Charlie:
Right.
Harry:
It leaves that bit to the NHS because quite frankly, Cambridge isn't qualified to give these statements. A verruca: a small, hard, infectious growth on the skin, usually on the bottom of the foot.
Charlie:
Okay, I quite like that one. It's quite graphic.
Harry:
I like it. I like it. Yeah. So if you do have a verruca guys and you find yourself in the UK and you think, I want to get rid of this small, hard, infectious growth on my skin, usually on the bottom of the foot, then you want to get yourself down your local pharmacy and get Bazuka, which has a different spelling to the RPG, the weapon. It's b-a-z-u-k-a, whereas the bazooka an RPG if you want to buy one of them it's b-a-z-o-o-k-a. So bazuka that verruca and so it's basically saying get rid of that verruca! Throw a grenade at it basically, obliterate it.
Charlie:
Yeah exactly. But I'm now imagining them getting a little bit confused and going into a different store, coming out with an actual bazooka and finding Veronica, maybe shooting Veronica in the face. A Veronica. Not just the one.
Harry:
Well, I was just imagining them launching a grenade at their own foot.
Charlie:
Okay. Oh, yeah.
Harry:
A series of English learners just losing their feet as a result of listening to this episode.
Charlie:
Amputees? Yes. Yeah.
Harry:
Yeah, well, they did the job themselves.
Charlie:
Yeah, well, they wouldn't have the wart any longer or verruca.
Harry:
No, that's true. That is one benefit of blowing your own foot off.
Charlie:
But we skipped past the catch up. Harry, how are you?
Harry:
I'm good, thank you. Very well. Yeah.
Charlie:
What's been going on?
Harry:
I had a tennis filled weekend. Really, I basically just watched tennis, and in proper Wimbledon style, I got a punnet of Sainsburys Taste the Difference strawberries.
Charlie:
There you go. There's another slogan.
Harry:
Taste the difference.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Harry:
Well it's. That's the name of the range isn't it? It's not quite their slogan, but it's, well it's almost like a slogan.
Charlie:
It's a sub slogan.
Harry:
It's a sub slogan. Sure. So Taste the Difference is like the posh range of, of Sainsbury's own products, isn't it? You can get the basic Sainsbury's basics or if you want to go a bit more up-market, then you get yourself some Taste the Difference strawberries. And yeah, I didn't, I didn't regret it.
Charlie:
Could you taste the difference?
Harry:
I could actually. They were good. They were really good. We got that and some prosecco and watched the women's final on the Saturday. Me and my friend Rob, who is actually my sister's ex-boyfriend, weirdly still hang around with him. Why not?
Charlie:
Are you the Unflushable or is he?
Harry:
Neither of us will be flushed, but if one of us had to be the floater, then probably him. No, no. I love him. I love him. So, you know you can't ditch people even if my sister did dump him.
Charlie:
Oh God.
Harry:
No. It was mutual. It was mutual actually.
Charlie:
We can remove that part. Potentially. Maybe if you want.
Harry:
No, that's alright. You can. I like the unflushable. It's good language and floater as well. But yes, so we did that. We watched the women's final. Really good. I felt sorry for the Tunisian woman who was in the final because she didn't really put up the fight that she would have wanted. Like she didn't play as well as she had been in the build up to it. Yeah. So that was sad to see. And she was a bit teary during her speech. You know, it's sad.
Charlie:
Does the runner up get talk time on the mic?
Harry:
Yeah, they have an interview before the winner lifts the cup. They get a plate. They get a runner up plate. Actually, the women I realised, I didn't know before, but women, they don't get a cup. They get a plate too. So they get a big kind of silver plate thing. And the runner up got something similar, I think.
Charlie:
Oh, okay. So the men get a trophy and the women get a plate.
Harry:
I believe so. Yeah, but you'll be glad to hear, you probably already know, They both get paid the same amount.
Charlie:
Oh, I didn't know that. I think that's very new. Isn't that in the last couple of years?
Harry:
I think it's the last couple of years. I felt sorry for the lovely Tunisian lady who came second. But then I looked up how much she was gonna win, and it turns out she was going to get about 1.3 million for coming second.
Charlie:
Wow, gosh!
Harry:
I remember when I was a kid, they were getting about 300,000. And back then that sounded like a ridiculous sum of money. But now you get over a million for coming second. Isn't that amazing?
Charlie:
That is crazy. But to be fair, we're all watching their match, right? So she's provided the entertainment. It's not like the winner was the only one playing.
Harry:
Oh, definitely. Yeah. Yeah. She played a necessary part in the occasion.
Charlie:
It would be a pretty boring final if the runner up wasn't there.
Harry:
Yeah, it would be pretty bad. Yeah. Yeah, it'd be a pretty bad sport, in fact.
Charlie:
They wouldn't sell many tickets, I'd say. You know, fair enough. If you've made it to the final round, get a million!
Harry:
Yeah. The winner got, takes home something like 2.3 million. Hefty sums of money. Very big sums of money.
Charlie:
And again, I mean, I know the Olympics isn't about money, but thinking about how that's every four years. Wimbledon is every year, isn't it? So you could be Djokovic, for example. He could have won a lot of money every year. Rich tennis player.
Harry:
Oh, incredibly rich. But yeah, they have these Grand Slams throughout the year, don't they? And Djokovic is someone who wins Grand Slams all the time. Like they're going out of fashion. He's going to be mega, mega rich, mega rich. And I don't even know if Wimbledon's the highest paying Grand Slam. I don't know. I can see you're getting on Google so guessing Charlie will be announcing that imminently.Yeah. So that was my. Oh but after that, just while you're looking that up, I'll let you know what else I did that day. After the tennis, me and Rob went down to the local brewery where I took you actually: Brew Point. I don't know if you remember that.
Charlie:
Yes, I do. That's where I started to enjoy stouts for the first time.
Harry:
Yes.
Charlie:
And it unofficially cured my tennis elbow in my wrist.
Harry:
Really?
Charlie:
Yeah. I had a tendonitis in my wrist.
Harry:
Right.
Charlie:
And it was from playing tennis. And the physio said it's tennis elbow, but it's in your wrist. I think he was simplifying the injury for a layman like me to understand what was going on. Yeah, I had tendinitis. And then you gave me stout. I had like 3 or 4 pints of this drink throughout the weekend and it went away and somebody said it's probably the iron in the drink.
Harry:
That's amazing.
Charlie:
I mean, this is totally hearsay. Do not take this as a recommendation. But it worked for me on that weekend. And then after a while, I stopped having stouts and it came back again.
Harry:
Wow. I mean iron is so important for your body, isn't it? Like, my dad was, had an iron deficiency and he, and he started taking iron tablets and it's like, yeah, he's been so much better since then. So it wouldn't surprise me if that was, seems to be a very necessary kind of thing that we need.
Charlie:
Yeah, there we go.
Harry:
Wow, that's amazing. I'm so glad that that helped you. You drank your way back to recovery.
Charlie:
Exactly. I just found out that potentially the US Open... I don't believe this! This seems too much. Apparently 60 million USD for the, for the winner. Oh, no. Oh, no. Sorry. This is the total purse. So that would be everyone, right?
Harry:
Yeah. Yeah. Shared among all.
Charlie:
Okay. 2.6 million taken home by the winners.
Harry:
Very similar.
Charlie:
Yeah. That was USD. So you watched the Wimbledon... You watched it so much so that you had it coming out of your ears. You could say. You bloody loved it. Soaked it all up.
Harry:
Yeah. So we watched the Wimbledon women's final on Saturday. They went to this beer festival. That was really fun. There was music there and, you know, loads of different beers to try and stuff. That was kind of a whole, whole day thing. So I just got I got quite drunk, had a little dance. Would have been, Would have been nice to have you there.
Charlie:
With anyone?
Harry:
It's quite funny, actually. I, um. I saw this girl. I'd been there for like two hours, probably. I was a little bit drunk, tipsy. Let's say I was tipsy. I was in a great mood. The sun was shining. I was having some really nice beer. I was in good company. My sister was also there with her friends. No, I was just drinking, like, lager, but nice. Kind of quite nice like...
Charlie:
You weren't high off the iron.
Harry:
I wasn't high off the iron. No, my wrist was killing me, actually. And I saw this girl walk in
Charlie:
Because you were waving at this girl so aggressively.
Harry:
Exactly. I saw this girl walk in and I was like, I recognise her. And then I realised I had seen her on Hinge on the dating app that I'm using, but I'd never matched her because I didn't find her that attractive.
Charlie:
Oh, wow. Um. Wow.
Harry:
So I saw her.
Charlie:
In the flesh. Was she more attractive?
Harry:
You know what she actually was. She was slightly more attractive in person.
Charlie:
Okay.
Harry:
I still would have slightly, you know, said no, but I thought. Interesting. I thought, this is funny. You know, she hasn't liked me either. I haven't liked her. She hasn't liked me. You know, there's no harm done.
Charlie:
How do you know that she hasn't liked you?
Harry:
Because on hinge it tells you. So otherwise it would come, you know? So there was no embarrassment. If I was to speak to her, there'd be no like no grudge or anything. She wouldn't feel hard done by.
Charlie:
It's an equal playing field.
Harry:
Exactly. So I thought, Oh, if she walks past me, I'm gonna say hello. And she did. And then I couldn't get rid of her for the rest of the day. And she was just yeah, we were on the dance floor and she actually had quite an attractive friend who I'd have loved to, to, to speak to. But her friend was so keen on the idea that me and her, you know, should, should...
Charlie:
Oh no
Harry:
It was a bit embarrassing, really. She's like, oh you two are so great together. I was like, No.
Charlie:
What? Within the last
Harry:
I spoke to her, I said, I've seen you on Hinge, I've seen you on Hinge. And we started chatting and then, yeah, I just couldn't get rid of her for the rest of the day.
Charlie:
I'm impressed that you brought it up because then that's like, Yeah, I saw you and I didn't swipe yes, whatever.
Harry:
Yeah I know. And we spoke about that. But I was like, Well, you didn't say yes to me either, so, you know, it's fine. But yeah, I definitely shouldn't have got her number because her friend was like, You two, you should exchange numbers! And I was like, Oh, I had to. I did it out of politeness, but I shouldn't have done that. I gave her the wrong idea. Awful.
Charlie:
Oh, dear me. You're reminding me of a night out that we went on in Sydney. Probably one of the last actually. It was saying goodbye to our friend Lana that came and visited us recently in England. So she's single and she was using the apps and I was with her at the time and she showed us this one guy and he had nothing on but a Speedo and it was like a tiger print. And he had very clearly photoshopped his genitalia to be comically large.
Harry:
Hahaha.
Charlie:
He was totally like in good shape, like full body shot as well. And very, very big afro kind of hair. I was amazed by that photo, so I just thought. Are we allowed to say Afro now?
Harry:
An afro? Yeah.
Charlie:
That's not banned now.
Harry:
Definitely. Yeah. Yeah, an afro is just a haircut or a hairstyle.
Charlie:
Hairstyle yeah. He was Caucasian so. Then on that night out, he was there. Lana was like, Oh, my God, that's the guy that you saw on Tinder. And she had screenshotted that photo. So I said, Get me that screenshot. And I went up to him. And I was quite drunk, so I was quite confident. I said, Is this you? And he looked at it and he was so embarrassed.
Harry:
Oh no. Did you ask him about his comically large groin area?
Charlie:
Yeah, I said, Is that Photoshopped? And then I can't actually remember if he said no or he tried to like play it off. Somehow it kind of made me recoil, thinking, Oh my God, I've just gone up to this guy to say, Is your cock really this big?
Harry:
That's awful. Did he think that you had come across him on a dating app or did you say, Oh, I'm talking on behalf of my friend over there?
Charlie:
That's a good question. Think I pointed out Lana on the other side of the room and she was looking at us. So I think he understood.
Harry:
Was he. He must have been quite flattered that or embarrassed that she'd actually, like, taken the time to screenshot this and send it around like, I'd love to know.
Charlie:
Yeah but it was that ridiculous.
Harry:
That ridiculous. I'd like to see that. Have you got a picture of that? I'd like you to send it to me.
Charlie:
Yeah, I will, I will.
Harry:
Or, do I need. I don't know. Do I need that on my phone? I don't know.
Charlie:
Just to see that as a reference to. To compare with your Tinder.
Harry:
Yeah. To compare with me in general. Yeah. Some of my latest photos. Oh, God.
Charlie:
That's catching up.
Harry:
I wanted to ask you, did you. Did you watch any of the tennis? Sunday was an amazing match. The, the men's final.
Charlie:
Yeah. I've missed absolutely everything. I was I was quite sad that I did this because last year I watched it and I loved it. I was really into it. It's so fun. But this year we had guests coming over or Stacey's parents and then Lana, and they actually went to see Djokovic play in Centre Court.
Harry:
Wow.
Charlie:
Quite an event for them. But yeah, we didn't actually see it.
Harry:
Who did?
Charlie:
Sue and Paul.
Harry:
They saw... So they were there for the women's as well weren't they?
Charlie:
They were there for the Tuesdays.
Harry:
Okay so they didn't see the final but they saw like the semi-finals or something.
Charlie:
Yeah. I think it was quarters probably.
Harry:
Oh amazing. Did they have a good time?
Charlie:
They did. They had a really nice time. Yeah. Yeah. I was very, very happy to hear how successful their day was because they went last year and they were quite upset by a very small thing, but they were queuing for ages for this, for just like a drink stand. Paul was looking at the attendee or the the waiter bar staff. Sure. And she was just flirting with her colleague, not really paying attention to him. And she was breathing into his cup like, ha ha. To try and clean it, supposedly. And she breathed, and this was just after Covid kind of. And then she goes to pour it in. And he's like, Excuse me, do you mind getting a fresh glass? I don't fancy queuing up for an hour and getting that cup for my drink, please.
Harry:
Oh, that is unbelievable. So, yeah, it's so bad. I think I remember you mentioning that to me before. That is, that is horrendous, isn't it? Isn't that disgusting?
Charlie:
It is disgusting.
Harry:
Oh, well, I'm glad they had a nice time.
Charlie:
So. Yeah, yeah, that was, that was that. But let's get back to the main topic. Let's see if I can throw a couple of warm up questions your way.
Harry:
Warm me up. I'll warm my wrist up.
Charlie:
You said this earlier, so let's just check if you know the brand. Which company reassures you that their product does exactly what it says on the tin?
Harry:
Ronseal?
Charlie:
Very good. I think I would have just got that. But it was. It's not an everyday brand, is it?
Harry:
No, it's not. The reason I know that is I looked it up. I think I was teaching that phrase to a student and I had it in my head that it was no more nails. I convinced myself that it was another product. Yeah. Would you have gone for that one as well?
Charlie:
Potentially, yeah. That's a similar brand. I mean, you know, industry.
Harry:
Because, No more nails. That does exactly what it says on the tin, whereas Ronseal? What, it seals Rons? I don't. I don't get it. No more nails. Yeah. Okay. A product that means I don't need nails anymore. Perfect. But it does exactly what it says on the tin. So. Yeah, Ronseal is a product that. Well, it seals, it seals things. Is it like a silicone kind of sealant or something?
Charlie:
It does a lot of outdoor painting kind of substances like wood stain, varnishing. You put it on your fence and that kind of thing. Or your decking.
Harry:
Okay. Yeah. Nice. Ronseal. Does exactly what it says on the tin. It seals, it seals the paint job, it makes it weather resistant, I guess. Does exactly what it says on the tin. This is their slogan. It does exactly what it says on the tin. It's definitely become a phrase that we use, hasn't it? If you want to say that something does exactly what you expect it to, you say it does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
Absolutely. I think, yeah, you could use this in lots of situations. I mean, the media has used it. Got one here for example. A film critic might write the action movie is like Ronseal. It does exactly what it says on the tin. I would remove Ronseal from that. I wouldn't, I wouldn't say Ronseal.
Harry:
No, we don't need Ronseal in there.
Charlie:
I'd say Yeah, yeah, action film. It kind of does exactly what it says on the tin, kind of you get what you sign up for, kind of thing. It's an action film.
Harry:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Charlie:
Or in a tech forum discussing software, a user might say the app does exactly what it says on the tin, apparently.
Duolingo. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
Very good. Yes. Two languages.
Harry:
Not sponsored by Duolingo. Or is it?
Charlie:
In daily speech, the phrase is often used to describe anything that is simple and straightforward. For example, someone might use it to describe a simple cooking recipe. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
Harry:
Okay. I like that. Yeah. Or what about Anasol? It does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
What's Anasol?
Harry:
It's a cream for your anus, for your for your anus. If you have piles or an itchy bum, if you suffer with chronic itchy bum, then you pop pop down your local pharmacy and get Anasol.
Charlie:
Right. And that's something that...
Harry:
Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
Yeah, that's something that the pharmacy staff said to you when they gave it to you.
Harry:
Well it would be a good, I wouldn't flinch or be surprised if they did say that. I'd be like, Yeah, I like that. I'd be like, What's anasol? They'd be like, does exactly what it says on the tin. Now go home, whack that up your bum bum and you'll be fine.
Charlie:
What do you think of this one? A politician might use it to describe a policy that has a clear and straightforward outcome. Similarly, a businessman or businessperson sorry might use it to describe a product or service that delivers exactly what it promises.
Harry:
Yeah, the British English Podcast does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
Thank you! At last. I've been waiting for it. There we go. Hopefully from those various examples you can understand how it comes up in conversation and if you hear that phrase, you won't be completely confused by it. And you might even... What could you? You can't really say anything back to it, can you?
Harry:
Ronseal! I bloody love Ronseal! No, you wouldn't need to. Well, you'd just respond accordingly.
Charlie:
Yeah. Okay. Thank you.
Harry:
Yeah. Thanks. Bye.
Charlie:
So let's move on to another one.
Harry:
I love reading, by the way. Just thinking about that. These abrupt endings to things. It always cracks me up when we're doing the academy classes and the students are so good at coming up with like dialogues. Can be quite challenging. But I'm always amazed by their creativity because they come up with really good dialogues. Then they always end really abruptly. It's like, Bye. It's like they're having a conversation using all this like vocabulary that you've taught them in the episode, and then they just say, Bye. And it's just like, it's a really funny like end to their dialogues. It always cracks me up.
Charlie:
Yeah, well, I think that partly is because they're aware of not hogging all the time, so they want to have succinct dialogues. So if it doesn't, if it doesn't use the language, end it.
Harry:
Yeah. No, they're so good though. So like creative with it. I'm amazed, yeah, it's really good.
Charlie:
Yeah. Cracks me up every time. I'm gonna test you with this one. Okay. I'm gonna remove the phrase and see how you do. If you've had a rough day and someone tells you this phrase, what are you suggesting you should do? A) go for a jog, take a nap, eat a chocolate bar, or start a new job.
Harry:
I'm going to forget those options, but go on.
Charlie:
Oh okay. Those four options. Go for a jog, take a nap, eat a chocolate bar or start a new job. Okay. So if you've had a rough day and someone says this famous quote.
Harry:
Oh, are you going to say the quote?
Charlie:
No. I think it's too easy otherwise. And I've said.
Harry:
If you've had a rough day.
Charlie:
Yeah, you'd say this quote and then you'd.
Harry:
Have a Kit-Kat! Have a break, have a Kit-Kat!
Charlie:
Yes! Have a break, have a Kit-Kat. Yeah, very good.
Harry:
And then in the advert they would snap the Kit-Kat wouldn't they. Because the Kit-Kat comes in fingers. If you're lucky enough to get a four finger Kit-Kat then that's the break. Ah, it's a lovely advert. It's a lovely sound.
Charlie:
It is.
Harry:
Lovely message.
Charlie:
Yeah, it's a great ad because it really makes me want one. Hearing that click or snap. Oh, give me a Kit-Kat now.
Harry:
I love Kit-kats! What's your favourite form of Kit-Kat?
Charlie:
Come again?
Harry:
Chunky? 4finger? 2finger? Or just sad little single finger Kit-kat Multipack.
Charlie:
Right, no I like to have three two fingers all at once.
Harry:
Three two fingers. Wow.
Charlie:
Layered on top of each other.
Harry:
No!
Charlie:
No, I'm joking. I like a 4finger.
Harry:
A four finger. Do you? I knew you did. I've definitely seen you with a four finger in your mouth. So my sister used to eat Kitkats in a very particular way. That was very... Well, she still does. She still eats chocolate in exactly the same way. She'll get it. If it's got a biscuity centre or a wafer inside, she loves a wafer...
Charlie:
Do we need to censor this?
Harry:
No, it's okay. It's not going to get too dirty. What she does is she'll bite off the chocolate. All of the chocolate. She'll go around like a mouse.
Charlie:
Like a little squirrel.
Harry:
Like a squirrel, yeah. Nibbling at it all around it. And then. Well, then. Then she'll just eat the middle bit. But. But isn't that funny? She'll go around and take every little bit of chocolate off individually. Maybe it's not. Maybe that's, maybe there's a lot of people that eat like that.
Charlie:
Yeah, no, I know what you mean. And I remember doing that with quite a few snacks when I was younger. Jaffa Cakes, for example. You'd lick the chocolate off and then you'd have that little layer of orange gel.
Harry:
Yeah, weird.
Charlie:
You could take it off the the bottom base.
Harry:
Kind of scrape it off with your upper teeth, your top teeth.
Charlie:
And clubs as well. I do that with clubs.
Harry:
Yeah. Clubs. What were they, they were kind of had a biscuity bottom didn't they. And then a thick chocolate and cubes kind of cube like?
Charlie:
Not cubes. It's a bar. But they had the word club on the top.
Harry:
Yes.
Charlie:
And you'd rub the foil into it and your foil would be, would have the sort of imprint of club.
Harry:
Oh yeah. Did you ever eat a bit of foil by accident?
Charlie:
No. No I didn't, Harry, did you?
Harry:
Too ravenous. Yes I think I have. Yeah. Yeah. I've definitely made that mistake. Yeah. I can still taste that. That kind of aluminium. Clubs are amazing, aren't they? And the lettering was quite kind of indented into the chocolate. So it was like... That's maybe why I thought it was in cube form because the letters were quite big weren't they?
Charlie:
Yeah, I know what you mean. Yeah quite 3D.
Harry:
The font was quite 3D.
Charlie:
It was. So that came from the Kit Kat one. So take a break. Have a Kit Kat.
Harry:
I love that. That's a really good one.
Charlie:
Have a break?
Harry:
Take a break. Have a Kit Kat because you wouldn't take a Kit Kat, but you could for English learners, you can say, have a break. I'm just going have a break. Yes, but take a break is a good collocation, to take a break. Have a Kit.
Charlie:
Sorry, it's got it here: Have a break. Have a Kit Kat.
Harry:
Oh, okay.
Charlie:
It's interesting. We stand corrected. Have a break. Have a Kit Kat.
Harry:
Well, okay. Yeah, I guess it's probably better if they repeat the have. Have a break. Have a Kit Kat.
Charlie:
Yeah. I just put in take and it came out with have. Yeah. Have a break, have a Kit Kat. Okay we've, we've said it enough but can we put it in our other areas. You might sarcastically mention it if someone's stressed.
Harry:
I think it's something you might say. It's like you use it kind of as a little mini joke, a little quip or something. Like have a break. Have a Kit Kat.
Charlie:
Yeah. You'd say under your breath that second line, wouldn't you? You'd be like, Have a break, Have a Kit Kat.
Harry:
Have a Kit Kat, you c***. Have a break, have a Kit-Kat. But no, it's not. This isn't like... It's a cultural reference. So like it's, it's good to know it and you definitely, people will definitely say this kind of thing, no doubt.
Charlie:
Yeah. And also if you've got a Kit-Kat and you're gifting it to someone, you might say, have a break.
Harry:
Have a Kit-Kat. It's a very clever little phrase because what you're doing is every time someone says Have a break, you're making them think of have a Kit-Kat. I don't know if there are people out there that always have a Kit-Kat when they have a break, But there are few British people out there that don't think of Kit-Kats when they hear the words have a break. It's very clever.
Charlie:
It is very clever. Yeah. And another very clever advert, it's a big one. I think it's probably the biggest one of the conversation. Or there's another one, actually. But I don't know how to lead into it. Let's do this. I'll say this, although this is wrong, but Harry doesn't do stag dos. But if he did, they'd probably be the best stag dos in the world.
Harry:
Brilliant. Carling, Carlsberg.
Charlie:
Carlsberg.
Harry:
Carlsberg. And mate. Very clever. Very clever, that one. I love that one.
Charlie:
Because you really do apply it to everywhere. Like you can put it into any kind of context to suggest that they are probably the best at it.
Harry:
The advert was always that kind of thing. Like you'd see, like, I don't know, the most amazing holiday or something. It'd be nothing to do with beer. And then at the end someone would just crack open a Carling, a Carlsberg, Carlsberg, God, Carling have ruined it for Carlsberg. They sound so
Charlie:
They're getting getting free rent in this, aren't they?
Harry:
Carling don't do teletext holidays but if they did... Carlsberg they don't do holidays but if they did, they'd probably be the best holidays in the world. It's also one of the longest slogans I've ever heard. It's quite a long one, isn't it?
Charlie:
Yeah, it is, isn't it? You just said a funny joke about teletext holidays. Can you explain why you said that? We have come to the end of part one, so feel free to take a break from your listening practice, but if you're happy to keep going, then we're now moving on to part two of this episode. Thanks so much for being a premium or Academy member and enjoy the rest of the show.
Harry:
A teletext holiday. So teletext. God, how do you explain teletext? It used to be, it's like a TV guide, wasn't it? That's kind of what you used it for. But back when TV wasn't digital, it was analogue, we had this thing in England called Teletext and you could put it open and there were TV guides. You could find out what was on telly, on the different channels. You could also, you could do like quizzes and stuff. You could enter competitions. So it was like pre-internet, pre kind of digital age, I guess. It was, it was quite analogue. And one thing that people used to do was find like really heavily discounted holidays, kind of package holidays, and you were normally sent off somewhere and you would stay on a resort or something like they weren't, they weren't amazing holidays. So I'm referencing that. It's a teletext holiday.
Charlie:
Because I often heard of friends doing it and then saying It was such a bargain! I can't believe that I got it. We never did it, but I understood it as people who want to save money do these teletext holidays.
Harry:
Yeah, maybe I'm wrong in having a go at the quality of it. I think it's, it's a bit comparable to Groupon, isn't it? It's that kind of thing. It's like a... This is a discounted thing.
Charlie:
Yeah. A discount. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Nice. Carlsberg. Probably the best beer in the world. I like the word probably because it's quite British in the way that it's modestly saying, yes, we are the best.
Harry:
Yeah, it's very British. Yeah. Carlsberg is definitely an English beer, isn't it? Carlsberg? Oh, no, it's Danish.
Charlie:
That's not the the main thing, is it? I mean, the advert could have been global as well. I don't know. But yeah, we clung onto that slogan probably, and it's now within our, not every day, but every other day.
Harry:
But it's interesting isn't it. When you translate slogans into other languages, sometimes you're lucky and your language is global. Then actually they use the same slogan in other, in other languages, but when they do it into English, they'll normally have to translate it. So it'd be really interesting to know what it was like, what the slogan was in Danish, whether it was, it did have this humble or modest like, probably. Did it have that? Or was it more kind of, kind of arrogant in the way it said it? I don't know.
Charlie:
I'm not painting a good light on the Americans, but if it was to do the advert in America, I would imagine it would be definitely the best beer you'll ever have.
Harry:
Hands down the best beer in the world.
Charlie:
But aside from the word probably. Well, no, including the word probably. It allows us to... debate it. It creates a controversy within beer, and that's naturally a small talk, like a topic that we would talk about once we've got our beers, isn't it? It's like, Oh, what's your tipple? What do you like Carlsberg? Yeah, probably the best beer you'll ever have.
Harry:
Probably not is it?
Charlie:
Yeah. That's what you'd say, isn't it? Like probably not. I'll have my Kronenbourg. Thanks.
Harry:
I mean, Carlsberg is rubbish. No, no, it's not. But it's not like, massively popular now, is it? With, like, all your IPAs and craft beers? You don't hear people talking about Carlsberg. But it's a, it's a football...
Charlie:
Yeah. It's heavily linked with drinking around watching football, I'd say.
Harry:
Definitely. Definitely.
Charlie:
But it's a very popular beer, regardless of how good it is.
Harry:
No, it is. It's true. It's true. And who do what do I know about what's a good, a good beer or not? I don't really know.
Charlie:
Trying to link to the next one, but I can't do it, Harry!
Harry:
What is it? I'll give you a... I'll give you a linking idea. What is it?
Charlie:
What is the idea?
Harry:
No, what's the thing? And I'll tell you how... I'll help you to link it.
Charlie:
Oh okay.
Harry:
If I have any ideas.
Charlie:
I'll say the first clause of it. Maybe she's born with it.
Harry:
Ah, okay. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.
Charlie:
Maybe it's Maybelline. Exactly. Yes. So the makeup brand, Maybelline is ginormous. And yeah, that was, that was quite... It is. It's everywhere, isn't it?
Harry:
I know, it's just the word ginormous. Makes me laugh.
Charlie:
Yeah, it's quite a quick, fun phrase that they said at the end of every advert, isn't it.
Harry:
It is very good. And what they would, they would set it up with. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline. Yes, I remember my friend used to, used to think they said Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's make believe. He used to think it was that, but it was definitely. It's Maybelline. It says it on the bloody shampoo. Says it on the bottle. Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Charlie:
That's good. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's make believe.
Harry:
But that's a good one isn't it. That is a really good... I use, I still use that. Like we were saying about the one, the things we use or the things we joke about. I often come out with that. I don't know why, but I kind of latched on to that, that. I always found it quite funny. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's make believe. I don't know. I found it quite funny, so I definitely still use that day to day.
Charlie:
Yeah, or every day.
Harry:
Every day. Yeah.
Charlie:
He's a broken record, this guy. I also use it like that. But there's no real way that you can morph it around conversation like the previous one with the Carlsberg, can you?
Harry:
No. If you're using it like a pun, you just throw it in when you can or if you, if it's appropriate, if it works.
Charlie:
Oh, yes, of course. So, like if somebody has done something special. Yeah. If a girl has done something special, you could be like, Oh, maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.
Harry:
Yeah. Yeah, she's born with it. And especially if someone else says it like maybe she's born with it. Maybe you could jump in and say, maybe it's Maybelline. But when I was listening to your, I don't know if it's actually been published yet, but you made a joke referencing, maybe you're even going to mention this slogan in a bit. I'll ruin it, if so. But the L'Oreal one, that L'Oreal slogan.
Charlie:
Oh, yeah, I was going to get to that next.
Harry:
You made a little quip about this. You adapted it in the episode you did with Stacey. Have you published that one yet?
Charlie:
I think so. Yes. Yes, I have. Yes.
Harry:
You were talking about the weekly wine and you made a joke about hair products because Stacy was using the good hair products and you'd been banished from it. You said, I can't remember how it was, but you made a joke using the phrase, which you're gonna say.
Charlie:
Yes. And I think the joke was, am I not worth it? Was it, did I say that?
Harry:
Something along those lines. But it was put in a more witty fashion. It was like, yeah.
Charlie:
Yeah, so the phrase is Because you're worth it. Because you're worth it. Because you are worth it.
Harry:
Because. Because you're worth it.
Charlie:
Because you're worth it.
Harry:
Because, yeah, because you're worth it.
Charlie:
L'oreal, another, another similar brand to Maybelline in a way, but I'd say it's more focused on hair products. I don't know. I'm talking out my arse with that.
Harry:
L'oreal. Yeah, they, that's mainly shampoo, isn't it? And stuff. What do Maybelline do?
Charlie:
I thought that was more makeup. Yeah. Yeah, Maybelline is more makeup.
Harry:
Okay. And L'Oreal... Hair colour, skincare, sun protection. They do it all. Makeup, perfume.
Charlie:
They're all cosmetics.
Harry:
It'd be interesting to know, because I know that in Spanish, it's, it's the same. It's You're worth it, I think. Right. I know, I think I know. But I wonder if in any other languages they use, they use a different... They slightly change it.
Charlie:
Yeah I don't know.
Harry:
Because you know in with Nike, Just do it. I know in other countries they just have that. Just do it. So it's really simple in English, but people, it's just become the norm and everyone gets it. Just do it. So they don't bother translating it in other languages.
Charlie:
Oh, okay.
Harry:
Or at least they don't in French. I've only spoken about this with French students and they all seem to be fine with it being in English.
Charlie:
Probably the best beer you'll ever get is quite wordy, isn't it? Yeah. In comparison, yeah.
Harry:
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, yeah. It's got to be short and punchy.
Charlie:
Especially considering it's not an English brand. Is there anything else that we need to say about that? Because you're worth it. So we would say that to treat somebody, wouldn't we? Like if somebody's doubting whether they should buy an expensive product, maybe you should, you know, because you're worth it or you should get it, you're worth it.
Harry:
Or if you've, they've got something nice, yeah, yeah, you're worth it. I use this one all the bloody time. I use it all the time. You're worth it. You're worth it babe. Probably sarcastically, but it's still nice.
Charlie:
Apparently the phrase has been embraced by movements promoting female empowerment and self-confidence. It has been used in speeches, writing and advocacy to emphasise the idea that women should embrace their worth. Amen, sister. Amen.
Harry:
Absolutely. Yeah. You're worth it. I'm worth it.
Charlie:
Get the expensive shampoo and ban your partner if he's male from that said shampoo. We have come to the end of part two now. So again, feel free to pause the episode, to take a break from your listening practice and come back to the last part when you're ready. Alright. So, moving on to part three now. Enjoy.
Harry:
Yeah, exactly. Just as Stacey did. Is it worth it? But yeah, we should probably say, you know, it existed before L'Oreal, but they kind of made this quite a popular thing to say about yourself and about other people because we'd often say it about things, wouldn't we? Like, was it worth it? Was it worth the price? So maybe L'Oreal has encouraged people to say it more about themselves and to take pride in who they are by using this phrase.
Charlie:
I agree with that. Giving you the right to spend on yourself. Again, a clever advert because it's helping you indulge and get the wallet out at the same time or helping you feel good about yourself by spending money.
Harry:
And it allows them to keep their prices fairly high I imagine. You're worth it. Just come on. I know it's a bit much, but come on, just get it for yourself. You're worth it.
Charlie:
Don't worry about rent. You're worth it. For this hair product. You may be on the streets tomorrow, but at least you've got good hair.
Harry:
Exactly.
Charlie:
And remember, you're worth it. Let's talk supermarkets, Harry, can you remember any supermarket phrases?
Harry:
Supermarket phrases? Tesco was... Every little helps. This is a really good one. We use this all the time. Every little helps. It's a phrase for like saving, isn't it? Making savings. Every little helps.
Charlie:
Yeah. Almost the opposite of Because you're worth it. It's like, well, no I need to save here. Thanks Tesco's for saving me some money. Cheers.
Harry:
Yeah, every little helps.
Charlie:
I remember an advert of a supermarket, but I think I might be confused with Asda. Did they slap their back pocket?
Harry:
Yeah, because I was thinking the same. I had that, it was. That's Asda price! And they'd hit their back pocket with, that would have the change that they've saved on the cheap prices of their products.
Charlie:
Yeah. Nowadays it doesn't work so much.
Harry:
That's Asda price. They hit their bottom.
Charlie:
Guys, they'd be hitting their own bum. The staff wouldn't be reaching over and touching or molesting the customers.
Harry:
Don't worry. They didn't condone sexually offending fellow shoppers.
Charlie:
No, no. Nor did Tesco's, but that wasn't their saying so Tesco's was Every little helps. Thanks Tesco's. Cheers.
Harry:
Yeah that's a good one. So I looked up Asda's. Get the Asda price feeling. I didn't even know that was their slogan. They used to just say That's Asda price! Do do!
Charlie:
And it's amazing how simple, yet effective they are. That's so obvious. That's Asda Price. Genius marketing. Well done.
Harry:
Yeah, you got your own name in your slogan. Genius. Does work though.
Charlie:
Three words sometimes works just as well. Just do it, for example. Or I'm loving it. It's not a supermarket but McDonald's.
Harry:
I'm loving it. Yeah, it's brilliant. That's. I'm loving it. What was his name? Justin Timberlake. He did that, didn't he? He sang I'm Loving It. When he was at the height of his fame, popularity, he sang that in the in the slogan. I was just reading about Asda, though. Apparently they've just recently brought back after 43 years, they've brought back the bottom pat. They've brought back the That's Asda price!
Charlie:
Thank the Lord. I'm very happy to hear that.
Harry:
Good news isn't it.
Charlie:
We can slap our arses comfortably in Asda now, again. We've waited 43 years for that.
Harry:
I've been waiting for this day.
Charlie:
So guys, get yourselves down to Asda. Buy something, non luxurious item, I'd say. In this situation. And then slap your arse as you leave the checkout.
Harry:
Exactly. But do make sure you have some some loose change in your pocket. Otherwise it just doesn't work.
Charlie:
Exactly. Yeah. You got to have the loose change and nowadays it would just be probably your debit card or your phone. So you've just got to hit your phone in your arse. That could be uncomfortable.
Harry:
Careful you don't smash your screen.
Charlie:
That would be. Then you would be out of pocket.
Harry:
Wouldn't you? Yeah, you would.
Charlie:
There are some more topics that I wanted to go onto, but we're kind of out of time now. We're quite a long podcast, so we'll probably end it. These last two things. One of them, imagine a drum set. We're going away from slogans now and we're more just adverts here, but it was very significant for us. Imagine a drum set.
Harry:
Ah I think I know already.
Charlie:
A gorilla.
Harry:
Oh, that's such a good advert. I can hear it calling in the air tonight. What was it for though?
Charlie:
Oh, interesting. You don't remember? I remember the colour very clearly. I'll give you the colour and maybe that will, it will jog your memory. Purple. At the end.
Harry:
Ah, it was just a gorilla sitting there in a white kind of studio playing the drums, wasn't it?
Charlie:
It was, yes.
Harry:
But then at the end there was purple, was there?
Charlie:
Yes. I can't remember if it was white background whilst he was drumming, but it was chocolate. Cadbury's.
Harry:
Oh right. Oh Cadbury's. Okay. Right. And the big. Yeah. They've got big purple bars haven't they. Oh I love Cadbury's.
Charlie:
It was white and purple, the background. He was mainly purple, but yeah, a bit of white. Either way. Cadbury's. But that shows.
Harry:
If there was no white, you can say! You know, don't worry.
Charlie:
No, there was a bit of white. I'm not. But it's interesting that you forgot the product, but you remember the ad, so that's probably not that great for them, is it?
Harry:
No. I mean, what was, what was the slogan as well? I know. Or now are we just talking about great adverts.
Charlie:
Great adverts. Yeah. It's not really slogan worthy.
Harry:
Okay, fair enough. It's a great advert. So they've made a memorable advert, but there was nothing about it that screamed Cadbury's. So actually they've not created a very good kind of association there. Whereas Have a break, have a Kit-Kat. The snap, have a break. You know, it works so well.
Charlie:
It does. Another ad I wanted to use was. Oh no, no. This is, I don't know if this is an ad anymore. I suppose they must have done ads. Yes, they did. The Specsavers one. Should have gone to Specsavers.
Harry:
Oh, that's what my Dad said that to me yesterday.
Charlie:
That, that's funny. I was about to say it's a bit outdated now, and we kind of don't use it as much.
Harry:
Oh, it is. It is. Well, I don't know why he said it, but he did. He said it to me. Should have gone to Specsavers.
Charlie:
But maybe. Did he use like a bit of a dry tone?
Harry:
Yeah, I don't. He wasn't mocking my eyesight. I can't remember what it, what it was. He might have even said it about himself. I can't remember. But he used it. So it feels very fresh in my memory. And it's definitely one that people use because it's the adverts were funny. It'd be like someone like making a light-hearted road accident and then they'd be like, Should have gone to Specsavers. But they were funnier than that. But it was.
Charlie:
Yeah, to do my job. So this company that sells glasses to help your sight. And the idea behind it was to get two for the price of one wasn't it? And you would lose your glasses. In the ad, somebody loses their glasses. They carry on with their day because they don't have a second set and then they have a road accident or something like that. And then somebody comes past and says, Should have gone to Specsavers.
Harry:
Exactly that. Yeah. They didn't have the wa wa noise, but they might as well have.
Charlie:
But if they had gone to Specsavers they would have had two pairs and they could have just picked up their second pair and not killed the innocent child.
Harry:
How they made a humorous advert with an infant mortality, I don't know. But they managed it. They pulled it off. Great advert.
Charlie:
There we go. We'll end on a high with deceased children. No, joking.
Harry:
Lovely.
Charlie:
That was a joke. They didn't. No children were harmed in the recording of that advert.
Harry:
Or this episode.
Charlie:
Or this episode. Very good. Yes.
Harry:
Not yet anyway.
Charlie:
Not yet, no. But yeah. Thank you very much, Harry or Hazel Pops, as you've just put in the the nickname of the platform that we're on. Have you been called Hazel Pops in a while?
Harry:
Not to my face, but just on WhatsApp where I call myself that. It's funny because when I like joined my like meditation group chat and the yoga one, like I'm just popping in there as Hazel Pops. Like, it's quite, it's like, who the hell is Hazel Pops?
Charlie:
On Whatsapp your name is Hazel Pops?
Harry:
Yeah. You never noticed?
Charlie:
It's Harry for me.
Harry:
Is it? I think that's just. Oh, right. Yeah. But if you don't have my number, I'll appear as Hazel Pops. Yeah. So you'd have to delete my number and then you'd see it.
Charlie:
So hang on. This nickname is only available for somebody who doesn't have your number.
Harry:
Precisely. Precisely. When I get to the stage where I exchange numbers with someone on a dating app, the first thing they see when they add me on WhatsApp is Hazel Pops.
Charlie:
Lovely stuff. Well, cheers, Hazel Pops. Thank you very much for spending the hour with me and maybe we'll do another one about adverts in a more specific way, because that was slogans. I got excited by adverts at the end of that planning prep. Probably shouldn't have brought it in because it, it changes the whole topic.
Harry:
You've ruined it.
Charlie:
But it's an exciting one. I've ruined it. Yeah. You're welcome, guys. Well done for getting to the end of this one. It was a long one, so. Yes. Bravo to you. And I will see you next week. And Harry, it would be lovely to see you very shortly. Thank you.
Harry:
Sure. It was very fun. Thanks, guys. Have fun.
Charlie:
Bye bye.
Charlie:
There we go. The end of part three, meaning the end of the episode. Well done for getting through the entirety of it. Make sure you use all of the resources available to you in your membership. Thanks once again for supporting the show and I look forward to seeing you next time on the British English Podcast.