This is an all ears English podcast episode 23 33 vocabulary that is worth the trouble.
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What have you done lately that was worth it? Today, learn how to start a deep connection and vibrant conversation on this topic. Plus, get the key difference between four related phrases. Hello, Aubrey. How are you today? Hey, Lindsay, I'm great. I have a question for you. OK, I'm ready. What is the last thing you spent a lot of time on that felt really worth it?
Oh, definitely every time I take the time and it takes a lot of time to fly to the East Coast. It's a four hour plane ride and the time that it takes to go to the airport, get ready for the airport, the whole thing. But to go see my family always feels worth it. So I'm going again this weekend to see them in Boston to celebrate my mom's birthday and it's always worth it, Aubrey.
That's such a great example, right? The time and inconvenience of travel, especially when you have to take a flight. But when you're going to see family friends, definitely worth it. Definitely worth it, for sure. And I like this question because this can lead to some really nice connection around understanding someone's values, right? Exactly, right? What they spend time on and why and what they feel is really worth it. You could get closer with someone very quickly just by asking this question.
100%. So this is what we're going to get into today. I am excited. But first, hit the follow button. If you want to find all there's English in your queue, five days a week, we publish. That is the way to become more confident and focus on what matters, which is connection. Yeah. Absolutely. Right. That is what we focus on connection, not perfection. We want you to be able to connect with others in English. So definitely hit follow here if you also believe in learning like this.
Nice. All right. So we have a question today about worth versus worthy. Shall I go ahead and read Natalia's question? Yes. Let's do it. Okay. And is Natalia a student in our courses? It looks like she is because she posted this in our community and it led to this really great conversation. Lots of other students.
Posting comments and I posted right away and answer and was like this and someone even said this would be a great episode. There you go. All right. Don't forget guys when you're in our courses, you get access to our special exclusive community where you can have conversations like this. Aubrey's in there. We're in there and students are in there responding to each other. Yes. It's amazing.
Here's Natalia's question. Hi guys, I'm wondering if you ever get confused with when to use worth and when to use worthy. This always confused me. Like yesterday, when I listened to this episode of Aller's English and Lindsay mentioned this phrase, some people are worth melting for.
I was not sure if it was worth or worthy in that phrase as I couldn't tell the difference just by listening. And the most important thing is that I don't know exactly when to use each one. So I'd like to post this question here and wish to have some answers. Thank you very much and have a nice day.
Such a good question. And this are, they are very similar the way they sound. So I can totally see you listening, not sure which is said or why one or the other would be said. So I'm excited to dive into this today. And I also want to share one of the comments, Antonio commented and he was like, oh, this is an excellent discussion. Maybe worthy of an episode on the Allers English podcast. And then he said, this community really is of inestimable worth.
Wow. Such amazing vocabulary. I had shared sort of examples of all of them, so he used both worthy and worth, and then the adjective inestimable, which means you can, like, beyond estimation, just extremely big. Yeah. Amazing.
Absolutely amazing. I have to admit, that's a word I don't even use. I mean, do you use that on a daily basis? It's very high level. It's a mouthful. It reminds me of that recent episode you and Michelle did with, you know, indisputably and inevitably like all of these words that are quite a mouthful, but very impressive and very high level. So I do hear it. I use it every now and then, but I was impressed when I saw Antonio use this amazing vocabulary.
I love it. I love to see this super high level vocas. C1, C2, probably C2 vocabulary, really, coming from our students. So let's break it down. Today we're going to break it down between three or four extensions of this word, right, Aubrey? Exactly. And as an FYI, the episode that was being referred to here by Natalia, where Lindsay mentioned this, if you missed it, we definitely want you to hear it. So stay to the end. We're going to share which episode that was and the context. What does that mean worth melting for?
Not a super common phrase in English, so we'll share that at the end, be sure to stay. And yeah, let's dive first into just worth. Yeah, worth. Okay, so this is really talking about the value of something.
Right. Exactly. So what is your time worth? Yeah, you might ask somebody, uh-huh. Or this painting is worth millions, right? Talking about the value, what actually would be paid for it is it's worth. Or this car was worth every penny. This is when we've purchased something and we feel it's been a really good value. We've gotten a lot of, for some reason, it was a good purchase.
Exactly. This is a chunk we use worth every penny. That means it was definitely worth the price that we paid. You could say this about anything. You could be eating a cookie and say this was worth every penny. Yeah. And it's so interesting to say it for something that's expensive, right? It's just so interesting to watch that. Sometimes value is so subjective, the value of something. We had this experience when we were selling my Ants Rock collection, like people, some people said, oh, that's worth so much. And that's not worth anything. No, I see that everywhere.
the same rock you're talking about, right? Exactly. Exactly. Value is in the eye of the beholder, right? To some people, something is valued much higher than others. Art is the same. Some people will or can pay millions and others. Right. I'll just look at that. Yeah.
There are certain products that obviously a car has a price tag on it. You know the general range, but when it comes to things like art, things like nature, like, I don't know, minerals and gems. Lots of things. Very subjective, very subjective. Exactly. Collections often, someone will spend so much for something rare that it has no worth to someone else. Very interesting.
Exactly. What else Aubrey? What else do we need to know? So this worth something that has a value, you know, what is it worth? Is different from the next three meanings we're going to talk about. Worthy. And then also the chunk worth it. That like the question I asked you at the top, what's worth it? And then worth blank for like worth dying for. We'll give you a few other options. These are all about how deserving something or someone is. So let's dive into some examples of these.
Okay, so for worthy, right? So everyone is worthy of love, meaning they deserve it, right? Everyone deserves love. And we use this this way to be sort of poetic and, you know, the way we speak, right? You know, everyone is worthy of affection. Everyone is worthy of care, of thoughtfulness, of kindness, right? We're talking about humans in general, being deserving of certain rights and certain, you know, compassion for sure, for sure. And what's another example sentence?
sample could say, you know, there are many charities worthy of donations. And you're saying they're deserving of donations because the cause they are fighting for is worthy. Yeah. So that's worthy. And we may be here that a little bit less than worth it or worth, but it's good to have that as an option, right? In the right context, it's great to be able to say that.
I think. Absolutely. We often instead say worth it, which has the same meaning to say it's deserving in some way, right? Like your, the time and inconvenience of the travel was worth it because the people you were visiting are deserving of your time and love to see them and you are deserving of spending time with your family.
Exactly. So I would encourage our listeners to think, you know, the same question we asked at the top of the show, what have you spent time on that was worth it lately? And if you're not finding anything, maybe to rethink, you know, how we're spending our time. That's an interesting challenge. It's a really good point, right? Like, well, I binged a couple of TV shows, but was it worth it?
Yeah, maybe reorganize our priorities totally. Right. Right. Exactly. Or here's another sample sentence. I spent a lot on this piano, but it was worth it. Okay. Yeah. So anytime, and this can be about time or money, whatever it is that you're giving to something, if it's worth it to you, right? That means it's deserving of the time or expense. Yes.
Okay, Aubrey, so there's a fourth that we want to make sure our listeners know. What is that? Yeah, and this, so this is worth dying for or, you know, there are a lot of options here worth living for, worth sacrificing for, worth waiting in line for, you can add anything in there, right? Yeah. And this is likely what causes most of the confusion between worth and worthy.
because someone being, you know, worth dying for is idiomatic. And it means that someone or something is worthy of praise or affection or love. So they are very closely intertwined.
Yes, I love that. So a couple of examples that we should go through. Yeah. So, you know, this chocolate is worth dying for. So I'm saying I'm enjoying a really good piece of chocolate. And that's very idiomatic, right? Probably not literally worth dying for, but we say this to exaggerate just to say it's delicious.
Yeah. And as a bonus here, sometimes I'll hear people say, it's to die for. Same means, right? We just don't use the worth there. So it is to die for. Please order the chocolate cake. It is to die for. Die for. Yes. That's even more common, I would say, for sure. And then we also use this more literally to say like, I'd never go base jumping. It's not worth dying for. And then you're actually saying like, I think I could die. So I'm not going to do that. It's not worth it. It's not risk.
a little hyperbolic in a way, but could be very dangerous. I mean,
There are some extreme sports that are not without risk. So you might say this a little more literally. Yes, we need to be careful for sure. Look at what's in the water right before we jump. Yeah. Exactly. Let's do a role play and use all of these, you know, versions of worth. And this role play you and I are Black Friday shopping. Are you a big Black Friday shop for Lindsay? I'm really not. No, I did not go shopping on Friday. I went to a party and just relaxed, took my dog to the dog park. What about you, Aubrey?
No, I never go in person anymore. I don't want to deal with the crowds, but I do look for Black Friday deals online, you know, and I found some great sales online. I'm more of an online Black Friday shopper and Cyber Monday. Well, yeah, most people are. Most people are these days. Yeah, we've just had Thanksgiving. So that's why we're saying that. So give our listeners a little context here. All right, Aubrey, let's get into this role play. All right, I'll start us.
I had to get here two hours early. I hope it's worth it. Oh, I think this sale is definitely going to be worth waiting in line for. The TVs are still $500. I don't think any TV is worth that. Agreed. Oh, look, the Salvation Army is collecting donations for rehabilitation programs. Definitely a worthy cause.
Nice. So we use them all here. I started with, I hope it's worth it. This is number three to say, I hope it's worth the time. I hope it's worth waking up early. We use this trunk to say, oh, I hope it's worth it.
Yeah, and very common too, right? As we said, hear this a lot. And then I said, oh, I think this sale is definitely going to be worth waiting in line for, or if you got up early, worth waking up for, right? Yes, worth waking up early for. This is that chunk. You know, we don't always say worth dying for, but we often will add whatever we actually did. Oh, it's definitely worth waking up early for.
Yeah, I kind of a morbid thing, but it reminds me a little bit of, do you remember in 2000, like, I think it was nine or 10. There was a trampling at Walmart at the Black Friday sales. I think that's when things tipped in to online being the majority. I feel like that's when everyone kind of is like, okay, this is too crazy. Black Friday, physical Black Friday is too, too intense. It lined up really well with, yeah.
Technology being available to put it more online because they realize these crowds and people waiting in line for hours is not the best idea. Not good. Not good. Oh my gosh. All right. So worth waiting in line for and then what Aubrey and then I was talking about the price of the like the sale price of these TVs. And I was like, I don't think any TV is worth that. So I'm saying it doesn't have that value for me. I don't know if I would spend even the sale price.
And then I mentioned, oh, the Salvation Army is collecting donations. Definitely a worthy cause. So to me, and this is where it really relates closely to the other words, it's worth it to go ahead and donate the money. It's a worthy cause as an adjective.
Exactly. Whatever their cause is, yeah, exactly. It's a deserving of donations. It is a deserving of our praise, maybe, then would say, like you said, worth it or worthy. Yes. And now I know, now I remember where that quote came from, Aubrey. It was from Frozen, the quote we mentioned earlier in the episode. Exactly.
Yes, exactly. Natalia heard you mention in 2311, how to quote famous animated movies in English. There's this quote from Frozen. Some people are worth melting for. And this is a play on words because we do say worth dying for, worth all of these things, but we wouldn't say worth melting for because we're not frozen. Right. But she's talking about a snowman that melted for someone. And so with this play on words, this person was worth melting for.
Yeah, but I also think the word melting can be used when you're kind of falling in love with someone. Oh, wow, you're melting. Your feelings are kind of just coming out, right? So it's kind of a double play on words as well. That's true. Yes, it could be. Is that way, right? Oh, that just made me melt means like I was touched. It was really thoughtful, maybe.
Love it. All right, Aubrey, what is our takeaway for today? Yeah, this is such a great connection skill to ask people what they think is worth spending time or money on. So definitely use these phrases to ask people what is worth it to them. What a great way to connect in English.
Yeah, I think that's the key takeaway. Our assignment for you all today is to go and start that conversation about this one key question. What is something you did that felt worth it? We can learn so much about the person. We can question how we're living our own lives if we want to make any big adjustments or just small adjustments. Sometimes life is about the tiny little choices we make.
Right? Very true. Absolutely. And this definitely shows care. You're not going to ask this about someone if you don't care to learn about them, care to know about them. So I would feel if someone asked me this question, I would feel like, okay, they actually care to really get to know me. Yeah, you got it. All right, good stuff. Hit the follow button, everyone. And we'll see you in the next episode. Awesome. See you next time. Thanks. I'll break. Take care. Bye.
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