AEE 2417: Are Your Feet Cold? How to Talk About Nerves in English
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This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2417. Are your feet cold? How to talk about nerves in English.

Welcome to the All Ears English podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection. With your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, coming to you from Colorado.

and New York City, USA. To get real-time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English app for iOS and Android. Start your seven-day free trial at allearsenglish.com forward slash app.

One amazing way to connect is to share details of big moments in life when you got nervous before the event. Things like your wedding, moving abroad, or taking a new job. Today, find out how to articulate this universal feeling in English.

Are you still translating from your native language into English in your head? Are you always getting confused between the different grammar tenses? Let's figure out what you need to work on. Find your current English level with our five-minute quiz at allearsenglish.com slash fluency score.

- Hey there, Michelle. How are you today? - I'm good, Lindsay. I have a question for you. - Okay, all right. - I'm ready. - Do you wear socks to sleep? - Oh no, unless I'm camping and it's freezing, I do not like to wear socks in my bed. What about you? Are you a socks to bed person? - I am. - Really? - And they have to be the fuzzy, like they have to be comfy, fuzzy socks. I think, and it doesn't matter,

how hot it is. I think I like to sleep very encased in things. I like socks. I like an eye mask. I like a heavy blanket. Do you like sleeping bags, being in a sleeping bag?

I haven't been in a sleeping bag in a long time. I don't know the last time I was in a sleeping bag, but I'm okay with a sleeping bag. Yeah. But so, yeah, I do like that feeling. So I think that's part of the reason I wear socks to sleep. But I know that probably most people don't. No, I'm more, I like to be kind of more loose. I like, I don't like to have my, I don't like to be constrained or constricted. Yeah.

I hate being in a sleeping bag and I like to have my feet kind of out on top of the blanket. So my feet don't get cold, but it sounds like maybe your feet get cold when you sleep.

My feet do get cold when I sleep. And guys, I just want to let you know that we are going to find out more about you guys through a Spotify poll that we'll do at the end of the episode. So guys, we like to interact with you on Spotify. So at the end of the episode, we will share the poll question. And yeah, then we'll get to hear from you and interact with you. All right. So if you're not listening on Spotify, you might want to consider that so that you can participate in these polls.

All right. So cold, cold, cold feet is something I mentioned. I asked you if your feet get cold, right? So you need to wrap them up. And this is what we're talking about today. A very useful idiom for our listeners. But are we talking, is this related to sleeping at all, Michelle? No, not related. And we're, and we're not even, we're talking about this more metaphorically. So I do, I do get cold feet. Actually, literally my feet get cold.

but we're not talking about that today. What does it mean to get cold feet? Well, this means to get nervous about something or to second guess a choice before you have to do the thing or make the decision. This is used a lot of times at weddings, right? What do you talk about the bride or the groom getting cold feet, having second thoughts or

on the day of or the, or the day before there's so many weddings, so many movies, Michelle rom-coms based on this idea. Well, there's runaway bride, the classic. Yes, exactly. Yeah. So that, that's,

to me when i hear to get cold feet i think most people just immediately think of uh running yeah yeah runaway there's just any wedding but yeah um so for example he doesn't know if he wants to go through with the wedding but i know he just has cold feet yes or oh no i'm getting cold feet this is this is the right guy for me right

Yeah, these are, I think we often do, we do think about weddings for sure. And Michelle, before we go any further in the episode, I do want to remind our listeners to hit the follow button right here on the podcast. Guys, hit follow on the podcast to make sure you get every episode of All Ears English. All right? Yes. Good. All right. So, but if we're not using it for weddings, I mean, do we use it in other contexts?

Yeah, we can. It's really about any big change that you're going to be making or any big step you're taking. The first thing that comes to mind for me, Michelle, is maybe going to college. We've talked a lot on this show about the transition from high school into college for 18, if you're 18, maybe usually 18, 19, leaving home. Did you get cold feet before you moved into your freshman dorm?

Yeah, I mean, I got cold feet before during the whole thing. It was a rough transition for me. I think I've talked about it. But yeah, how about you? Were you, I mean, because you were going farther from home. So how did you feel? I went really far from home. I was 500 miles from home. So it's not like I could just drive home in an hour or two, right? Right.

And so, yeah, I did. I also had a hard time transitioning. I had a hard time saying goodbye to my parents. I mean, you know, you're just 18, 19 years old and you've never really lived away from home at that time. And so, yeah, I'll admit freshman year, first semester was pretty rough.

It was hard, but I had tennis. I was busy with tennis all the time. So that helped. It kept me distracted. Yeah. The key was to, to stay busy. I remember I would always wake up in the morning and I would get to have like a racing heart because I realized like I wasn't in my bed. And so I would call my mom and,

And I remember she would say, just get out and take a walk. Once you start getting out and moving, then you start to feel better. That's good advice from your mom. It's a profound life change. So it's really cold feet happens during these life transitions, a new job, a new class. Maybe you've chosen to learn something new or in college, you're taking a harder class and you're worried about it. A promotion, right? That first day in your new position or

or getting together with a new friend, maybe. What would this look like, Michelle? Maybe you met someone and... You met, maybe you met someone, you seemed to get along with them, but this is the first time you're going to be getting coffee together and you're not sure if the conversation is going to flow or you're just a little nervous. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,

For our listeners, they know this. As an adult, it's not easy always to make new friends, right? We're busy. We have families. We have work. We have life. And so when you take that risk of making a new friend and meeting them for coffee, yeah, you might get a little nervous even if you're 40 years old, right? Totally normal. Oh, for sure.

Yeah. I mean, Lindsay, are there any recent times that you can think of getting cold feet? Yeah. Well, I mean, even last night, I feel like every time I go back to my tango class, I get cold feet because I always think, oh, what if I mess up the steps today and I feel silly and I second guess myself sometimes. I get a little nervous for my tango class, to be honest. And you're

And your feet by the end, I hope they're warm from all the dance. They go warm. I had a great time last night. So there you go. Yeah. For me, I would say moving, you know, I had a big move this year. Yes. And I was definitely getting cold feet right beforehand. Yeah.

And I wasn't sure, you know, what was, you know, how I was going to feel about it. So I was getting cold feet for sure. That makes total sense. Again, life transitions. So the example of the tango class is a very mild cold feet. But usually this happens around big life transitions. A move is a good one. Good example, right? Yes.

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Make it an Abercrombie summer. Shop their newest arrivals in-store, online, and in the app. All right, Michelle. Let's see. Are there other ways to say this? We might say something different, right? Yeah, there's some really good ones. So one is to have second thoughts.

it's a great one that's a great one for example i'm having second thoughts about starting school again it is a huge undertaking oh my gosh yes so if you were out in the working world you decided to go back to graduate school you definitely might have second thoughts

That's right. I know that I had second thoughts when I landed in Japan for when I moved there in my 20s to go teach English. You show up at the airport in Narita and you're just exhausted and you're like, "Where am I? What am I even doing? I'm going to move to Japan for a year and a half? What was I thinking?" Right? These are times .

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Or to chicken out. So this one's a little bit different. It's a little more casual and funny. But you could say, I know you're scared, but don't chicken out. We need you on the team. And we could do a whole episode on to chicken out.

so well yeah and and we could also explain the the phrase like a game of chicken you know what i mean right people i think right now things are happening there's a game of chicken going on with the world economy which is crazy

um but yeah okay guys right now uh stay tuned for an episode about chicken no really i know because it is true these are good those are good okay so chicken out good one uh to have doubts a little more serious expression right but it's not exactly even an expression it's just i'm having doubts or i've been having doubts as to whether this is the right move for me professionally right

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I mean, Lindsay, what do you do when you feel like you might be having second thoughts? Do you, do you go with your intuition? Do you just try to ignore your cold feet? Yeah. I think that that second thoughts can be dangerous because usually I think through my decisions.

So I made the decision to move to Japan because I knew it was the right decision for me. I wanted to live abroad. I wanted to get experience working abroad. So I try not to listen to my cold feet. I try to just move forward. Imagine if I had canceled that. I would have lost a huge part of my life.

due to cold feet. So I usually don't listen to my cold feet. I keep moving forward. That's good. That's good. And you know what? I was thinking about this with our listeners. I'm sure that they can identify this feeling of having cold feet with English, right? Being nervous about going up to someone, enrolling in a class, you know, just doing something, taking some risk with their English for sure. Yeah.

i think we should ask a poll question about when people if if this one would be for our listeners who are who are married because i'm curious about if people experience this and your spouse doesn't need to know right you could just go ahead and vote um let's ask this question michelle so this is our poll for today um if you are married right did you get cold feet

before your wedding? Yes or no? So that will be our poll question for today. I feel like that kind of speaks to the depth of this phrase. Okay, that's gonna be fun to see the answer. I am really, I'll say I did not get cold feet. I knew that the person I was marrying was the right person for me. But you know,

Sometimes we do. It happens. And I'm curious what percentage of our listeners did. Yes. I didn't get cold feet either. Okay. All right. Let's do a role play. Here we go. We are friends and you are supposed to go bungee jumping tomorrow. Would you go bungee jumping, Lindsay? I really don't think I would, to be honest. I just don't. I don't need it. I don't need it. Yeah. All right. Here we go. All right. Are you excited? I think so.

- I think I'm getting cold feet. - But you've been wanting to do this for forever. - I know, but I'm having doubts. It's so scary. - When I did it, I was scared. I thought I'd chicken out, but I went for it and I'm glad I did. - Maybe you're right.

It's normal to have second thoughts. You can do it. Oh, you're right. I'm going to just go for it. Nice. Yeah. When I was in Slovenia, I shared, I was up at the top of a mountain where they were doing parasailing and I saw a lady take off and I saw her freak out and almost messed up the jump because she got so scared as they were coming off the cliff. So I was like, I don't need to do this. Nope. Don't need to do it. Nothing like this.

yeah i don't know those things freak me out so um but definitely something like getting cold feet that can for sure happen if you're about to do skydiving bungee jumping get out even getting on a big roller coaster can give somebody cold feet so yes exactly so this is a very typical role play uh sorry typical conversation let's go through what we said here michelle so

Again, I was supposed to go bungee jumping tomorrow and you asked me if I was excited and I said, "I think I'm getting cold feet." Right? Yes. And then I'm kind of saying, "Really? But you've wanted to do this for forever." And you said, "I know, but I'm having doubts." It's so scary. And I think this is kind of a normal thing to get cold feet before you do it, right? If you don't, I think maybe, I don't know, you're just not thinking or something.

who wouldn't get cold feet that would be crazy not to kind of yeah I'm gonna be flying through the air right yeah yeah and then you said when I did it I was scared I thought I'd chicken out but I went for it right so you thought that you would back out you would cancel your your your adventure yep

And then I said, it's normal to have second thoughts. You can do it. Nice. Great episode today. Very important phrase when we talk. I mean, that's the connection skill for today is when you have conversations about the big moments in your life, many of these moments are going to include

a slight second of maybe or maybe many minutes or hours of, oh my gosh, I'm doing the wrong thing. Should I really move forward? Right. So I think this is great to connect with people, to share your stories of your wedding day, of when you went to college, you traveled, you moved abroad.

these are big moments of life right yeah and it's a very human feeling and everybody can relate to it and you know share share how they felt in a time when they were a little bit freaked out to do something it's so true Michelle I love when on the show we find these very universal human feelings and emotions and then we can articulate them in English to build this connection with someone so good yeah

Yeah. Love it. All right, guys, check out episode 2392 for another episode, English vocabulary that will help you speak your mind. Very nice. That's it for today, Michelle. Guys, hit the follow button if you love our style of connection, not perfection, or check us out on YouTube. All right, Michelle, you have a good week. Talk to you soon. All right. All right. Bye, Lindsay. Bye, guys. Bye. Bye.

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