190 - Expression: Where There's Smoke, There's Fire
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Hi, everybody. My name is Shawna, and this is the American English Podcast. My goal here is to teach you the English spoken in the United States. Through common expressions, pronunciation tips, and interesting cultural snippets or stories, I hope to keep this fun, useful, and interesting. Let's do it.

Hi everyone, welcome back. I'm excited for another expression episode. Today we're going to be talking about a common one, where there's smoke, there's fire. We'll of course dive into the meaning of

I'll teach you about the origin. And we have multiple examples today so that you can hear how it's used naturally in conversation. At the very end, there will be a little pronunciation exercise just for reinforcement. In part two of today's lesson, which will be posted next week, we'll explore the Great Smoky Mountains.

Yes, the Great Smokies, the most visited national park in the United States. Now, I'm really, really looking forward to that episode because the Great Smoky Mountains are just a stone's throw away from us. In other words, they're very close. We could just go there on a day trip.

They're just a stone's throw away. And if you're not familiar with the location, the park is located on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Now, the Smokies are misty. They're foggy. They look smoky. And they're mysterious. At the same time, the park is beautiful.

There are many streams, waterfalls, hiking trails, and camping areas. As a visitor, which I've looked into, you can spot wildlife everywhere. The Smokies are home to many black bears, birds, and especially a lot of salamanders, which sort of look like lizards.

The thing is, there's so much more to the Great Smoky Mountains than just the nature. There's a lot of culture there. In next week's episode, I'll include a lot of insights into Appalachian history, folklore, and traditions. Honestly, some of the stories I'm going to share blew my mind. I'm really excited right now if you can't tell, and I can't wait to share them with you.

Don't miss it. Stay tuned for part two. It will be posted shortly. Remember, all of my episodes contain premium content. Premium content is bonus material, the material you can use to dive deeper into the lesson. In season four, each episode includes an annotated transcript where you can see key vocabulary highlighted,

There's a definitions page so that you can reference unclear vocabulary or challenging vocabulary. And there's a quiz to test your listening comprehension. Plus, you'll get the downloadable MP3 and transcript file so you can practice anytime, anywhere. If you're interested, be sure to click on Season 4 in the episode notes.

Without further ado, let's go ahead and begin today's episode. And as usual, we'll start with a joke. Are you ready? How do mountains stay warm in the winter? Do you know? They wear snow caps. What's a snow cap? A snow cap is the layer of snow that sits on top of mountains during winter. Where I live in...

western North Carolina. It's sort of nice because there are a lot of mountains and in wintertime they're snow-capped. They're snow-capped mountains. In that example, you can hear snow-cap as an adjective. Look at the snow-capped mountains. Mountains with snow on the top. Cap has a second meaning.

it can refer to a hat you wear on your head. Usually if we say cap on its own, hey, grab me a cap, we're referring to a baseball cap, which has a bill in the front. So that little overhang, the section that sticks out and creates shade over your face and eyes. In any case, a cap is a hat.

So how do mountains stay warm in winter? By wearing snow caps. So it's like their version of a giant winter hat. Maybe it's a kid's joke, but you gotta love the wordplay in English. We have so many homonyms and homophones, words that look exactly the same but have different meanings.

or words that sound the same and have different meanings, so there's so much potential to make jokes. Obviously, as an English learner, it can be hard to recognize wordplay, so I hope these jokes help clarify some of the words that do have double meanings, like cap in this example.

Let's move on to the expression of the day. Once again, today's expression is where there's smoke, there's fire. We'll go through the individual word definitions first. So where refers to a place, position, or situation. For example, where did you put my keys? I can't find them.

There's is a contraction of there is, meaning something exists. There's a strange smell coming from the kitchen. There's a, right? There is a. There is a strange smell. There's a strange smell coming from the kitchen. Smoke is the visible vapor and gases given off by burning material. And

Just to be clear, it's not the same thing as steam, which is visible vapor you can see from boiling water. Steam comes from water and smoke comes from the burning material. So smoke is typically a little bit grayer, a little bit more black. And let's go to an example. The firefighters saw thick black smoke rising from the warehouse.

Okay, so we had where there's smoke, there's fire, right? So we have there's again. And then last but not least, fire is combustion that produces heat, light, and smoke. We sat around the fire roasting marshmallows and telling ghost stories. So what does where there's smoke, there's fire mean?

It means that if there are signs of a problem or signs that something is happening, there's probably some truth behind it, even if it hasn't been proven yet. In simpler words, if there are rumors or signs, something real is probably going on.

It's kind of like saying, every rumor has a grain of truth, or there's some truth behind every rumor. So what's the origin of this? The idea behind where there's smoke, there's fire goes back to ancient times, long before Google Maps, satellites, and weather apps, people relied on nature for clues.

If you saw smoke rising above the trees, I mean, it's not rocket science, there's probably a fire. According to Oxford English Dictionary, the idiom itself was first recorded in English around the 14th century, and a similar concept existed in Latin even earlier. The Latin phrase, and I'm sorry if I butcher this, Nullafumus sine igne,

means there's no smoke without fire. And it sort of captures that same idea. So over time, this expression became popular as a metaphor for gossip, scandal, and suspicions. If people are talking about something, then there might be some truth behind it.

Before we go through some examples, I have an important question related to this topic. Do you know the difference between rumors and gossip? A rumor is unverified information. Whatever it is, if it's a story or a report, it hasn't been proven true or false.

A while back, there was a rumor that the popular singer Taylor Swift married Travis Kelsey in secret. Was it true? Nope. The rumor wasn't true, right? Because rumors are unproven, they're unverified information. Sometimes they end up being true, sometimes not. Gossip, on the other hand, can be a noun or a verb.

And gossip means to talk about people and their private lives. Gossip tends to be personal. It can be a creator of drama. It can also be juicy. Oh my God, did you hear about Jessica and Jason? I heard they broke up.

That's gossip, right? So gossip may include some rumors, right? Things that have not been proven true or false yet. However, the focus of the term is chatting about other people's lives. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.com.

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Now let's go through some examples to hear how this expression is used in conversation. Example number one. Popular gossip magazines in the U.S. are called tabloids. And the headlines on the front of these are sometimes crazy. Elvis Presley was spotted at a gas station. Oprah Winfrey found her secret twin. I'm not a reader of tabloids, but if you are, cool, go ahead.

Do your thing. I'll admit that occasionally I glance at the headlines while checking out at the grocery store. They're usually near the cash register, so they're sort of in your face. And at times, they all cover the same story. Like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's relationship. The headlines read, What's really happening? Are they breaking up? Do they hate each other?

we have the inside scoop. In other words, we have the insider information. When that happens, when all the rumors allude to the same truth, perhaps a breakup or some sort of dramatic piece of gossip, I think, well, where there's smoke, there's fire. In other words, every rumor has a grain of truth. Maybe their relationship is on the rocks.

In trouble, in other words. In the case of J-Lo and Ben, the rumors were, of course, true. Because they broke up. Where there's smoke, there's fire. Example number two. Imagine there is a politician who doesn't seem trustworthy. You sense that he's a rat. Someone who betrays others and is sneaky. You sense that he's a rat.

Soon enough, that same politician is accused of corruption, and he denies it. After multiple investigations, the investigators discover that funds are missing from all of the government departments. Where did all the tax dollars go? Since he has no answer, the public starts to say things like, where there's smoke, there's fire.

In other words, all signs lead to the individual stealing the money. Perhaps he is responsible for its disappearance. Where there's smoke, there's fire. So if there's a little bit of suspicious evidence, the smoke, then something bad, the fire, is probably really happening.

Naturally, you can probably gather that this expression is used with negative situations, often with drama, scandal, and trouble. And that brings me to our last example. Example number three. At work, you notice that your boss is suddenly taking lots of secret meetings with HR.

HR stands for human resources. It's where people are hired and fired. He's in there all the time. You've also heard that the company's budget was not approved. So there's not enough money in the company and your boss is going to HR a lot. You put two and two together. Maybe he's planning to lay off some employees.

To lay off is a phrasal verb that means to let go of an employee, to fire them. Like you, everyone's thinking the same thing. And around the office, you can hear people whispering about possible layoffs. You don't want to panic, but where there's smoke, there's fire.

Even if no one's saying anything officially, you can feel the tension in the office. It feels like there's some truth behind the rumors. And guess what? A few weeks later, you get laid off. Goes to show where there's smoke, there's fire. ♪

All right, so you heard a few synonyms for where there's smoke, there's fire in those examples. But here are a few alternatives to express the same idea. Some people say when there's smoke, there's fire. It's a slight variation. So instead of where, they say when. Some people say rumors don't start out of nowhere.

which you hear in double negative there. So it means rumors start from somewhere, right? So they don't appear out of thin air. They're founded on something, some information, which I don't know if it's always true. Anyway, there's no fire without a spark.

right? So when you're lighting a fire, maybe if you have a match and a matchbox and you're striking that match, you might see a spark, a little flash of light. And yes, fires usually start with a spark. There's some truth behind every rumor, and every rumor has a grain of truth. All right. So this is a fantastic idiom, in my opinion, to have under your belt.

to have available to you, especially if you want to share your opinion about negative rumors or gossip around you. A lot of times if you're predicting something bad will happen and there's some evidence that something bad will happen, then you can use this, right? Because you can see the smoke. You see the thing that's about to happen. Where there's smoke, there's fire.

Let's go ahead and do the pronunciation exercise. We'll use the phrase, where there's smoke, there's fire. Repeat after me. Where there's, where there's smoke, where there's smoke, there's fire. One more time. Where there's smoke, there's fire. Notice how I connect the words. Where there's smoke, there's fire.

it almost feels like it's all mushed together, right? You see, if you are looking at the sentence like I am, where there's smoke, that two of the S's are next to each other. There's and smoke. But when I read it fast, you don't hear both of those S's. You'll only hear one of them. Where there's smoke...

Where there's smoke, there's fire. So if you are speaking quickly, you don't need to say that S sound twice. You only need to say it once. If you are speaking slowly, saying those words separately, you should hear both S's.

But once again, native speakers usually link, so I encourage you to practice linking when you're reading out loud. It's a great exercise to practice your speaking. I'll, of course, do more lessons on linking in the future.

So what inspired this episode? Well, as you can probably guess, in part two, which is the cultural aspect, we will be covering the Great Smoky Mountains.

So as you know, I like to pair up the idiom in part one with the cultural aspect in part two. It's not only easier for me to recall episode numbers because they go together, but also for you to recall the idiom. I'll try to use it again in next week's episode for that reinforcement. But for this week, there is something else going on and I just thought I'd share. So

As I wrote this episode out and worked on it, I was looking at Lucas and his dad in my backyard. Now, Lucas's parents have been visiting us, and so I've been working from the bedroom. And our view out the back is so green and beautiful right now just because it's spring and everything is coming to life again.

And Lucas decided that he wanted to have a bonding moment with his dad while he's here. So sort of a father-son project. And they decided to build a fire pit. In all honesty, it's not just a project between the two of them. We've all gotten our hands dirty.

But it's really exciting. We haven't had a fire pit in a while since Hurricane Helene, but we really enjoy having open barbecues. And his family has a tradition of doing fish on the barbecue. And so we're going to roast a meal out there. We're going to get a sort of roasting tray and roast fish and veggies.

And then, of course, my girls keep talking about roasting marshmallows for s'mores. Our favorite, favorite outdoor treat. If you don't know what a s'more is, it's like the epicenter of camping in the U.S. Basically, you have a skewer.

You put a big marshmallow on the end and you toast the marshmallow or roast it over the flames until it's golden brown and toasty on the outside. And then you smash it between two graham crackers that also has a piece of chocolate on the inside. It's usually Hershey's, by the way.

Anyway, it's delicious. It's a great combination. Everybody that tries s'mores wants s'more. Get it? Speaking of s'mores and being in nature, be sure to stay tuned until next week's episode, all about the beautiful Smoky Mountains. Until then, try to add some color to your speech by using this idiom, where there's smoke, there's fire.

Once again, if you would like the bonus material for this episode, check out the episode description and click on Season 4. Thanks for listening, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. Bye, guys!

Thanks and hope to see you soon.

Or throwing a bumping shindig.

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In honor of Military Appreciation Month, Verizon thought of a lot of different ways we could show our appreciation, like rolling out the red carpet, giving you your own personal marching band, or throwing a bumping shindig.

At Verizon, we're doing all that in the form of special military offers. That's why this month only, we're giving military and veteran families a $200 Verizon gift card and a phone on us with a select trade-in and a new line on select unlimited plans. Think of it as our way of flying a squadron of jets overhead while launching fireworks. Now that's what we call a celebration because we're proud to serve you. Visit your local Verizon store to learn more.

$200 Verizon gift card requires smartphone purchase $799.99 or more with new line on eligible plan. Gift card sent within eight weeks after receipt of claim. Phone offer requires $799.99 purchase with new smartphone line on unlimited ultimate or postpaid unlimited plus. Minimum plan $80 a month with auto pay plus taxes and fees for 36 months. Less $800 trade-in or promo credit applied over 36 months. 0% APR. Trade-in must be from Apple, Google, or Samsung. Trade-in and additional terms apply.