Transcript of AE 1284 - Expression: Read the Room

G'day you mob, and welcome to Aussie English. I am your host, Pete. And my objective here is to teach you guys the English spoken Down Under. So whether you want to sound like a fair dinkum Aussie or you just want to understand what the flippin' hell were on about when we're having a yarn, you've come to the right place. So sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy Aussie English. Let's go.

G'day, you mob! How's it going? I'm your host, Pete. And this is the Aussie English Podcast. The number one place for anyone and everyone wanting to learn Australian English. So, guys, it's a pleasure once again to be here giving you an expression episode. I hope you guys have been having an amazing week. I have just gotten back from my daughter's swimming lesson so she has been slowly improving. Well actually pretty quickly improving at the swimming pool. You know, being able to put her head underwater, blow bubbles. And she started, um, sort of doing laps, you know, of the small kids pool, but, um, learning how to kick and float and all that sort of stuff. So, yeah, it's been a lot of fun watching her quickly develop and learn these skills that are vital in Australia if you want to be safe around water.

So before we get into today's episode, guys, as usual, the usual spiel is if you want to improve your English whilst also supporting the podcast, check out the Premium Podcast membership at AussieEnglish.com.au/podcast and you will get access to the transcripts for all of these podcast episodes. The bonus episodes that only members can access.

You'll get the Premium Podcast player that allows you to play the episodes, text and audio simultaneously at the same time so that you can read and listen and, um, yeah, go check it out. It is at AussieEnglish.com.au/podcast. Okay, so let's, uh, give the the sheep a bit of a kick. And let's get into today's question and answer.

So today's question comes from Helloo_mo, who asks, "What do Aussie women say to Greek men? Do they ever say 'mate'?" Now this is a really interesting question and goes to the question of gendered differences in a language. And I imagine this happens in all languages where depending on whether you're male or female, you're going to use different words, phrases, vocab, and you may even pronounce things, um, differently.

So typically women in Australia, Aussie women don't use the word 'mate'. And it's not a hard and fast rule. You know, it's not a rule 100% of the time, but typically it's seen as a masculine way of speaking. If you use words like 'mate', 'pal', 'buddy', you know, that sort of stuff when referring to or talking to other people. So women, I would imagine to avoid sounding a little too masculine, will avoid those words.

However you may encounter- like, any time I went to Queensland and was doing volunteer work up there, you know, far away from the cities, and you would encounter women who'd come from like, you know, tougher, harder backgrounds, you know, working on farms or working on an oil rig or a mine or something like that, because they're surrounded by guys all the time. They're probably a little more used to it, and they're a little they're used to acting a little more masculine. So you may hear them use things like 'mate', 'pal', 'buddy', a little more frequently, but generally there's a difference.

You're not going to hear the same proportion of people, uh, who are female saying it as you would males, and they just stick to the normal ones. So you just don't put 'mate', 'pal' or 'buddy' or whatever on the end of the question, you know? So you won't say, "How are you, mate?" You'll just say, "How are you?", you know, "How's it going, mate?" No, you just say, "How's it going?" "What's up?", "What's up, mate?" You just say "What's up?"

So you can use any of those. You just don't put 'mate' on the end. Yeah. So I think that's that's pretty much it. But don't be afraid to. The other thing that it kind of shows- like, a woman in my experience, women might do this to really show you that they are not interested in you romantically.

So when I was on, like the dating scene, or when I was that age, you know, early 20s, mid 20s, and I was meeting a lot of single women, um, you know, you're dating a lot. You're getting to know people. You're trying to work things out. If I ever heard a woman like, I was chatting to someone somewhere and they referred to me as 'mate', my initial instinct would be Okay, they just want to be friends. They are showing me that they do not see me romantically, um, at all. So that's another thing to be aware of.

But your mileage may vary. It may be different depending on which part of Australia you're in, the background of the woman that you're talking to. So by and large, they don't. But you may encounter a woman every now and then that does. And, you know, just treat it as it is, just, you know, refer to them as 'mate'. All right. So hit the kookaburra and let's get into today's joke.

All right. So today's joke I tried to sort of tie this into the expression. So see if you can see the connection here.

"Why was the math book"- or we'd probably say 'maths' book in Australia. "Why was the maths book sad?" "Why was the maths book sad?" "Because it had too many problems!"

Do you get it? It's not that funny. Okay, so the problem here is the pun, right? The word, the pun is on the word 'problem' or 'problems'. 'Problem' generally is a situation, a question, or an issue that presents difficulty, uncertainty, or a challenge which needs to be resolved or addressed. Um, so, you know, She encountered a problem with her car's engine on her way to work. She had a problem with the engine. Uh, Solving environmental problems is incredibly important right now.

But then the other, other definition here for 'problem' is a mathematics, or maths, problem. And a problem in maths is a question or statement that requires a solution, often involving numerical or abstract reasoning, right? So, For homework, students in maths class might have to do a whole bunch of problems. They may have to solve these problems. Um, He enjoys tackling complex problems in algebra and geometry, right? So, 'problem'.

So, "Why did the maths book feel so sad?" "It had too many problems." [That was good, wasn't it? It was good for a bit of a giggle, anyway.]

All right, so let's get into today's expression. Today's expression is the phrase 'read the room', 'to read the room'.

But before we get into that, let's break down the words in the expression and how to use them. [Youse. Collective noun? All of your friends].

Okay, so 'to read'. 'To read' in this context, 'to read' means to interpret or understand the underlying emotions, attitudes or atmosphere present in a social situation.

So obviously you can read a book, but if you 'read' a situation, you are sort of trying to understand the emotions, the attitudes and the atmosphere in that social situation. You're trying to comprehend it, right?

'The'. 'The' is a definite article used before a noun to specify it as something that is known to the reader or the listener. So, Can you pass me the salt? Not just any salt, but the salt. You know, 'the' salt in front of you. Can you pass me the salt?

And lastly, 'a room'. A 'room' is part of a house, right? You might have a bedroom, a lounge room. It is sort of an area that often has 3 or 4 walls, depending on how the the house is built. And you can do lots of different things depending on this room.

In this expression, though, room refers to the immediate environment or the setting in which people are gathered, right? So it could be literally that you are in a house and you have to read the room, but you could also be outside and the expression would still make sense, right? To read the room.

So the Australian English expression 'read the room', it refers to the ability to perceive and understand the mood, the dynamics, the attitudes of those people around you in a given setting.

Right? And then to act appropriately based on that understanding.

So it's about being sensitive to the social environment and the emotions or reactions of others around you, and to allow allow yourself to adjust, you know, behaviourally or your responses to fit that context, right. 'To read the room'. So, Read the room.

So let's go through three everyday examples of how I would use this expression in Australian English. So imagine that you are at a work conference in Melbourne, right? And during a corporate presentation, a speaker continues to delve into some detailed financial analyses despite noticeable restlessness and disengagement from the audience, right.

So he's ranting on about, um, something really boring, very specific in an area that the audience is clearly not very interested in. You know, maybe people are falling asleep, they're yawning, they're looking around, maybe they're even talking to one another. So a colleague might whisper to that person, "You know, mate, you need to read the room. You're losing, um, the audience's interest." You know, 'read the room'.

So I guess it kind of literally crosses over to that, that sense of there's a room full of people and you need to read it. You need to interpret it and understand that people are getting bored with what what's going on, right. Okay so, understand the situation.

Example number two. So imagine a family gathering in Sydney. Uh, you're at a family dinner discussing weekend plans, and one relative starts bringing up controversial political topics, you know, causing some discomfort among the others that are sitting around the table.

So maybe they're like, you know, how good is Trump? Trump's amazing. We love Trump. And everyone else on the table is like, Oh God, here we go. You know, they're massive Biden supporters. Even though this we're talking about a more American politics in Australia. But we quite often get worked up about American politics even in Australia.

So anyway, another family member might, you know, gently intervene and be like, Okay, let's just keep dinner light tonight. Read the room. Um, you know, we don't have to have a debate every single time we catch up. Let's just keep the heat out of the discussions and, um, you know. Yeah. Keep it light.

Example number three. So imagine a social event that you've gone to in Perth, right in Western Australia. And at this casual social event, someone is loudly telling jokes that might be considered off colour, right? Maybe offensive. Um, you know, maybe there's swearing in them, maybe there's a bit of sexism or racism or ableism in these jokes. And you, if you looked around the room, you can see, uh, there's some people here who are not taking kindly to these jokes. They don't think they're funny, you know, they're off colour, they're a little offensive, and they're sort of upsetting people.

So a friend or, you know, someone may come, come along and and be like, Listen, mate, you know that I think your jokes are really funny. But, um, if you read the room, you can probably tell that everyone else doesn't think that they're very funny at all. So maybe just tone it down a bit or, um. Yeah, maybe. Maybe just keep those really sexist jokes for another, another place, another time, you know, not- now's not the time. At a baby shower, there's a lot of small children. So maybe just keep these racist jokes all to yourself and, um, button it up, you know, keep quiet.

So anyway, that's that's how I would use the expression 'to read the room'. Remember, it's referring to the ability to perceive and understand the mood and attitudes of people around you, whether they're positive or negative. You know, if you 'read the room', you understand or try to understand, um, the way in which people are reacting to you and what you're doing. Okay.

So anyway, guys, as usual, let's get into today's pronunciation exercise. [Would you like a car-donay, Kylie? Kim, it's not car-donay! The correct pronunciation is Chardonnay. Mum, it's French! The H is silent! Back me up here, Kylie!].

So as usual guys, this pronunciation exercise is where I'm going to read out a number of different words and then phrases and sentences. And your goal is to work on your Australian accent. Obviously, if that's something you're trying to do. Otherwise just use the words and phrases I say as a prompt to work on your American accent, British accent, whatever it is that you're working on, whatever you're trying to develop. But ultimately it's to help you improve your spoken English. Okay, so listen and repeat out loud after me.

To. To read. To read the. To read the room. To read the room. To read the room. To read the room. To read the room. I'm trying to read the room. You're trying to read the room? He's trying to read the room. She's trying to read the room. We're trying to read the room. They're trying to read the room. It's trying to read the room.

Great work, guys. Now, I tried to take it up to another level in the phrases at the end there. And you'll notice that instead of saying /I'm/ /trying/ /to/ /read the room/, I really contracted 'trying' and 'to' to just /tryna/. /Tryna/, /tryna/, /I'm tryna read the room/, /I'm tryna to read the room/.

So we do that quite often with different words in English. Quite often though, verbs and articles and prepositions, that sort of thing. We really reduce them and merge them, assimilate them into one another. And you'll notice that these sound changes occur.

And it's important to learn these not just so that you can use them yourself and speak, say, with a more Australian accent or a more natural accent when speaking English.

But most importantly, so you can understand when other people you know, advanced English speakers or native speakers use these contractions.

Because they won't even notice it, right? If I was chatting to someone, I'd be like, Look, I'm just trying to talk to you. I'm just /tryna/ to talk to you. /Tryna/, /tryna/, /tryna/.

And if you hadn't practised that or heard that or listened to that before, you're probably going to be like, Is he saying China? What's tryna? What is he- what's he talking about? It's 'trying to', /tryna/.

Okay. So try and listen again. Try and listen again. Try and listen again. And when I get to those phrases, pay attention and try and say it as I do. /I'm tryna to read the room/. /You're tryna to read the room/. /He's tryna to read the room/.

The last thing I wanted to mention here was, I wonder if you notice the linking between the word 'read', you know, with the hard D at the end there, we just said the word 'read'. And the word 'the', right? 'The'. When we have these together, the D kind of merges into the TH sound at the start of the word 'the'. So see again if you can listen and hear how I'm pronouncing these when I do it quickly. /Reatha/.

So it's like the D is muted /rea(d)/ so the tongue goes into the position, touches the top of the mouth, gets ready to say the D. But instead of saying the D as a /read/er/, we go straight to the TH. /reetha room/, /reetha room/, /reetha room/, /reetha room/.

Takes a lot of practice, but we do this because we don't want to add a sort of schwa vowel sound between them. If you said /reado the room/, um, you know, I'm trying to /reado/ the room. Native speakers would hear that and be like, what is the /oh/ sound representing between 'read' and 'the'. Is there another word that's meant to be there? That's confusing, you know, /redo the room/.

So practice that when we have consonants together at the end of the word and the start of the next word, quite often we merge them together, one will be muted and the other one will be pronounced. /reetha/ /ree tha/ /reetha/ /reetha/ /reetha/ /reetha/ /I'm tryna reetha room/.

So remember guys, if you want to master Australian pronunciation, be sure to check out my Australian Pronunciation course. You can learn all about it at AussieEnglish.com.au/apc100. If you use that link, you will save $100 when you sign up to the course, so go check it out.

Okay, so now it is time to get into our little listening comprehension quiz task at the end here. [That's not a knife. That's a knife.] [Here, there's no cash. All right? Cash? No! Robber? No cash.] [You're terrible, Muriel. Tell him he's dreaming!].

So we're going to listen to a clip that comes from the classic Aussie film Breaker Morant. I had to study this back in the day, in year 12. So yeah, this is a classic. The excerpt reads: "Three Australian lieutenants are court martialed for executing prisoners as a way of deflecting attention from war crimes committed by their superior officers." So it's a good film. You may notice if you watch it. There are a whole bunch of famous Australian actors in it.

The rules of the game. I'm going to play a clip for you two times and your goal is to listen and then write down what you hear being said, right. It's a great way to train your listening comprehension. Remember, you are able to check your answer if you download today's free worksheet, you can get that via the description box on the podcast or on the website. It'll be on the podcast episode page and if you are a Premium Podcast member, you will obviously see the answer inside the transcript itself. Okay, so are you ready to go? Here's the first playthrough.

It is customary during a war to kill as many of the enemy as possible. And was your court at the trial of Visser constituted in any way like this? What rule did you shoot him under? I'll tell you what rule we applied, sir! We applied Rule 303. We caught them and we shot them under Rule 303!

Okay, so how'd you go? Did you get it all? Time for the second playthrough.

It is customary during a war to kill as many of the enemy as possible. And was your court at the trial of Visser constituted in any way like this? What rule did you shoot him under? I'll tell you what rule we applied, sir! We applied Rule 303. We caught them and we shot them under Rule 303!

I should mention here, guys, at the end, Rule 303, just quickly, 303 is a calibre of bullet. And I believe it was a type of gun. So when he was talking about 'applying Rule 303', he was saying he would use a 303 rifle to shoot someone, if that makes sense. Um, so yeah. Anyway, check out the movie. It's quite interesting. And, um, it's a true story. It's based on the true story.

So anyway, thank you again for joining me, guys. I really appreciate it. I hope you've enjoyed this episode. For everything else, all the other courses and memberships, remember to check out AussieEnglish.com.au. I'm your host, Pete. I hope you have a ripper of a weekend and I'll see you next time! Tooroo!