BE 431: Hot Takes and Unpopular Stances
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This is the Business English Podcast, Episode 431, Hot Takes and Unpopular Stances.

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Hey, Aubrey. How are you? I'm great, Michelle. How are you? I'm good. I'm happy that we're going to get to record on the Business English podcast. Guys, Lindsay is away this week, so she will be coming back. Don't you worry. But for right now, Aubrey and I are going to be taking over. Yes. So fun, right? When the cat's away, the mice will play. I think that's his expression. Yes. When Lindsay's in Europe.

Michelle and Aubrey record together. That's right. So Aubrey, were you a part of the popular kids group in the school? Ooh, I was not at all when I was younger. I was a huge nerd, a bookworm. I loved reading. I didn't have a ton of friends. I was very quiet, but then I was an exchange student in Europe when I was 16. And suddenly I was the popular kid. I was like American and everyone wanted to practice their English with me. And so then when I, I,

I think it gave me a lot of confidence. And when I came back my junior year of high school, I remember it was such a difference. I was like making jokes and chatting with whoever. And I, not that I became, I certainly was never a cheerleader. I was still like on the debate team, but I had a lot more friends. I was more popular. So I had a little bit of a coming of age. The butterfly came out of its cocoon. Yeah.

I love that. I love that. Well, today we are going to answer a question about the word unpopular, actually. So, Aubrey, this question is from Storybits in Russian on YouTube. And the question says, I wanted to ask you about the usage of the word unpopular. I hear it quite often, but the context is rather specific.

unpopular opinion, unpopular decision. Could you please elaborate on this and give me more examples? As always, many thanks for all these amazing episodes and your creative and thoughtful approach. Thank you so much. Yes, thank you. And I really love this question because when we're talking about popular, unpopular, it's not just about who has the most friends. We use this for a lot of interesting chunks like this. I say, this is an unpopular opinion, but a lot

That's a fun one. Yes. Yes, exactly. So yeah, this listener is right. So thank you. We are going to talk about this in the business context today because we are on the business English podcast. So yeah, unpopular is the opposite of popular, not popular. Um,

Popular means a lot of people like something. So unpopular means not a lot of people like something or a lot of people don't like something, right? Exactly. And it's interesting how when it comes to... When you're talking about kids in school, it's like if you don't have a ton of friends, someone might just be quiet and not know a lot of people. But it's different when we're talking about opinions and we're talking about things at work. It's not just that people don't know about it. It's definitely that...

Like a lot of people would disagree with an unpopular opinion. Yes, exactly. A lot of people don't like it. Yes, exactly. So, yeah. I mean, would you say it's used in more specific contexts? Like it seems – I agree with this listener. It does seem like it's in chunks kind of. You don't just use it all the time, but –

I don't know. Yeah, I agree. No, for sure. And I think unpopular opinion is the most common. That's how I hear it the most often. That's how I use it the most often, right? To just share before I share like a hot take is another way to say that it's an unpopular opinion. Not everyone's going to agree. Right. Yep. Yeah.

Exactly. I mean, why would this be useful in business or when could you use it, do you think? This is interesting because, of course, we often share our opinions in business. It might be about the work you're doing in a meeting when people are asking for ideas, asking for opinions about what do you think about this logo? What do you think about going with this client or this product?

and you're going to need to share your opinion. And it's possible that you know you're sharing opinion that everyone else is going to disagree with. That happens. Yeah. And to me, it shows that you're really in tune with what's going on, right? If you know something is unpopular, it's because you know what's popular. Good point. Exactly.

So yeah, let's give some examples. So unpopular opinion. So what I'm about to say might be an unpopular opinion, but it's an important one to consider. Yeah, and it's interesting to think about how much more formal this is to say. Now that we have this trendy phrase, hot take, a lot of people, if they're trying to be more informal, would say that, right? So this is very polished up in a meeting, in a presentation, you definitely might say it this way. If you're just having a conversation with colleagues,

you might say, okay, this is a hot take, but I'm going to say something that people are right. There's these two, they mean the same thing. Hot take is much more informal. Yeah. And it just has become really trendy. And it's funny because I actually have always thought, oh, I should do an episode about that, but I always forget. But I would say that this is that episode, right? Absolutely. Right. Because it's,

Yes, it's more common in everyday conversations. We absolutely use it at work too, because often we're just very informal at work, right? We're speaking with a coworker over lunch before the meeting starts. And I would feel too formal to say, I'm going to share an unpopular opinion. Instead, I'd be like, this is a hot take. I would share this unpopular opinion. Yep. Yep. Yep. Exactly. And yeah, sometimes people would say unpopular decision. So the boss has made a lot of

Unpopular decisions leading to some employees quitting. Uh-oh. Oh, yeah. This is interesting, right? This is a decision that not everybody agreed with. We'd call it an unpopular decision. This happens a lot. Anybody can make an unpopular decision. A lot of politicians make unpopular decisions. Nobody likes what they've chosen. It happens. Just as an example. Yeah, that's right. Oh.

Um, or what about this one? Unpopular stance. What is that? Yeah. Speaking of politicians, right? You might say she took an unpopular stance, but over time people realized she was actually right. So this happens a lot at work when nobody's sure what the right route will be, what the right decision is. You're going to take a stance, meaning you are deciding this is what I'm doing, right? And you're going to defend it.

And then maybe later they'll find out that was the correct stance. Right. It's sort of like and we say this a lot with politics. Politicians have to take a stance on something. And sometimes it's because it's what their constituents think. Sometimes they feel it strongly. Right. And then they just have to back it up even when it's unpopular, when a lot of people disagree. Right.

Yeah. Or that also, that makes me also think of lawyers, right? If you're a criminal lawyer. Yeah. And when they're meeting with their client, they're going to say this like, okay, we're taking the stance of this because they're trying to figure out what is their defense? What is going to be the strongest, the most likely to be successful? That's the stance they take. Yep. Exactly. Exactly. You may get a little excited when you shop at Burlington.

Um,

So, Aubrey, I also wanted to use this opportunity to discuss a famous quote because you're going to hear this, right? The quote is, what is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right. And when I looked into it, it seemed like Einstein said it, but there was some confusion about it. So this happens sometimes with older quotes, right? It might be attributed to a certain person, but then other people doubt that or think it was maybe from something else. So if it hasn't been published, sometimes we're not sure exactly who said it.

It sounds smart. It could have been Einstein. I'll believe that. But this is a famous quote, right, Aubrey? Yes. This is very famous. So what does it mean? Yeah. So it means that the right thing to do won't always be what everyone agrees with, right? I say something similar to my children sometimes when they're asking for something and they'll say, everyone at school is doing it or everyone at school has this. You know, I'll say something similar, you know, well, what is right is not always popular. What is popular is not always right. That's...

I'm sure your kids would love that. Yeah. I also use the phrase, if everyone at school jumped off a cliff, would you? You've probably heard that one too. That's exactly what I was thinking. Kind of means the same thing. Yes. Well, if this person jumped off a bridge, would you? Yep. I was thinking that too. Oh my gosh. It means kind of the same thing. Like, well, the right decision is not always popular. It's not always what everyone's doing. Sometimes you have to choose to do something that is unpopular because you know it's the right choice. Right.

Right. Maybe it's the honest thing. You know that no one's going to be happy with it, but it's the honest thing to do. It's the right thing to do. So any examples you can think of from your life? I can. So when I was a teacher in New York City, I had some dental work that had to be done. I had had a crown from when I was younger and it had cracked and broken. I had to have it like fixed.

So I went in and the person at the front desk was like, "Well, if it's a new crown, your insurance covers it 100%. If we're fixing an old crown, it's going to be very expensive." And I was like, "Unfortunately, it's fixing an old crown." And she looked at me again and was like, "But if it's a new crown..." She just wanted me to say it's a new crown so she could put that down and insurance would cover it. And I took a beat because I didn't have a lot of money.

And I read like, Oh, insurance, it's their fault, whatever. But I was like, I can't ethically do that. It's not true. I don't love that having to pay for this, but the right thing is to be honest and

And I mean, there are always potentially consequences too. If insurance really looked into it, they could probably look at my records and see that this is a replacement crown. Right. But the bottom line was, I'm like, maybe this is an unpopular opinion. She clearly was crazy for doing that. It was like in her face. And she was like, you're kind of making a dumb choice here. I'm like, sorry, this is the right thing to do. No, I respect that. That's I've definitely done things that are similar. Like,

Well, I mean, so I remember in New York at the Columbus Park Holiday Market, I was with a friend and... Oh, no, no, no. I was by myself. And I was just looking around. I was on the way to a friend's birthday party I was going to go afterwards. And...

I was looking at necklaces and I didn't buy anything. And afterwards, I was on the train back and I saw one of the necklaces I was looking was coming out of my pocket. And I had accidentally stolen the necklace. And I turned around and I got on the train the other direction and I went to just bring it back.

You're like, this is the right thing to do. This is the honest thing to do, right? Aubrey? Yes. Hello? I can hear you. We're having a connection issue. Okay, let me pause. I'm going to pause. It's like...

Because that's the right thing to do, right? You know that it's so inconvenient to take the train back. But this is an accident. It's just the right thing to do. Yeah. And people made fun of me for it because then I was late, of course, to the party and people were joking around. Yeah, because they're like, why didn't you just keep it? No one cares. It was probably cheap. Like that wouldn't be necessarily the popular thing to do. A lot of people wouldn't. Yeah.

Yes, I would have weighed heavily on my conscience. That's a good one. So yeah, what is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right. So let's do a role play because that is always the right thing to do. We're not going to use all of these, but we're going to use a lot. All right. And we are in a meeting. We are co-workers in this role play. Okay. So what do you think about the email she sent out?

I know she has some unpopular opinions, but I actually think she's right on this one. I guess so. Her stance may be unpopular, but what is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right. That's so true.

Nice. Love this. These definitely come up at work, right? I can imagine if somebody has said a lot of things that you didn't agree with, right? Just like in this role play, that's probably what I would say, right? I said, I know she has some unpopular opinions, but I actually think she's right on this one. It's a good way to defend, you know, you're agreeing with them, even though sometimes they haven't necessarily been right. You think they are this time. Yep. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

And then you said her stance may be unpopular, but what is right is not always popular. What is popular is not always right. That's a great phrase, right? Yes. It's a long one. It's kind of a wordy one. But it's, it's good to whip it out every once in a while. So guys, um,

I'm glad that we talked about this. This was such a good question. Guys, head on over to episode 426 we did. It was how to divvy up tasks at work without sounding bossy. Yes. And it was such a, it's spelled so weirdly that word divvy with the two Bs, right? But we use it a lot. I say this word a lot. Yeah.

Divvy up, divvy up. All right. Well, takeaway for today is this is unpopular is an extremely popular word to use in business and in and out in and outside of the business world. Um, we gave you some chunks that are very common to use with it. And we also taught you a really useful expression. Um, and Aubrey and I shared some stories where we, um,

made the honest decision because of what a way too heavily on our consciousness. Yeah. But what a great way to connect, right? If you know that you're about to share a hot take, an unpopular opinion, sometimes it could hurt the connection to just dive in and say that if you preface it with this, right, this might be an unpopular opinion, but you're preparing them. You're preparing them for something you're going to say that they might not agree with. And that's probably going to be a better way

conversation about something that might be controversial or you know that you don't both agree. Yeah, yeah. Love it. All right. Well, thank you so much to our listener for this question. And thanks for chatting with me today, Aubrey. Awesome. I'll see you next time. See you. Bye. Bye.

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