Transcript of AE 1238 - Expression: Take Something At Face Value

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 we're 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.

Hey you guys, welcome to this episode of Aussie English, the number one place for anyone and everyone wanting to learn Australian English. Australian. When they wanted to speak Australian. So I am your host Pete. It's a pleasure to be here again guys. Another week, another expression. I hope you've been living it up, living your best lives, enjoying yourselves at the moment.

It is so much warmer at the moment. In fact, I need to go outside and turn the aircon on. I think because it is- I'm looking for my phone but I can't. Oh, I can't find it. Let's see what the temperature is right now. It is 27 degrees outside. Could you believe it? Could you believe it? So, yeah, it's a bit of a hot one today. My wife absolutely hates the hot weather. She, despite having come from the tropics. So she comes from like two degrees south of the equator, up in the north of Brazil. Despite that, she, I think she would prefer to be living in Antarctica.

To be honest, I think if Kel had it her way, if it was up to her to decide where we lived, we would definitely be further south. So I think there'd be very few locations besides Tasmania that we could go further south in Australia, and still be in Australia. Maybe Macquarie Island. I don't know if that's part of Australia or something else. I think it is. It's an island between us and Antarctica, I believe. So, yeah. It would be a lot colder.

Yeah. So that's where we currently are. I'm enjoying the warm weather. My wife is not enjoying the warm weather. And yeah, I hope you guys looking forward to the beginning of summer. I don't know, have we started yet? Is this summer right now or is that the 1st of December? I always forget, I think it's the 1st of December, right, where that begins.

Anyway, guys, welcome to this episode of Aussie English. Today we're going to be going over the expression "to take something at face value". Have you ever taken something at face value? Do you always take things at face value? I never take things at face value.

So before we get into it, guys, don't forget if you want access to the transcripts for all the episodes on the podcast except the Pete's 2 cents episodes, those are the only ones out of, I think 1200 and something now that we have without transcripts. If you want the transcripts, if you want the premium podcast player so you can read and listen at the same time, all of the bonus episodes, all that jazz, then be sure to sign up for the premium podcast membership. You can get this at AussieEnglish.com.au/podcast

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So let's get into today's Q&A question and answer. Today's question comes from Diana. Or Diana. Or Diana? I guess it would, it would depend on how you want to pronounce it. But I think you're, you're a Spanish speaker, so I'm assuming it's Diana. So the question was "What does the Aussie slang term bludger mean?" Bludger. Have you guys heard this noun before? A bludger? "That guy is a total bludger." "What a bludger." I love how your voice has to get deep too when you want to put on an Aussie accent and pretend to be a bloke. A bit of a bogan, right? A real Aussie battler. Kind of have to deepen your voice a little bit. Or at least that's what most Aussies will do. They'll be like, "Oh yeah, mate, I've got a deeper voice."

So bludger. "Oh, he's a bit of a bludger." A bludger is an idle or lazy person. I guess idle would be like, you're not moving around too much. You're not wanting to get up and and do things. You're idle. I guess it would be like having your car idling along. That won't, it wouldn't be 'along', it would just be idling. That's where the engine is kind of like turning over but not actually doing anything, right. It's not moving the car forward or backwards, it's just idling.

So yeah, a bludger. "My daughter is a massive bludger." She doesn't work hard, she's lazy. She just mopes around the house. She eats all my food. She asks for money. She doesn't want to do anything in return. "What a bludger." "She is an absolute bludger."

And I should mention bludger is spelt B L U D G E R bludger. And we can use this as a verb "to bludge". "Do you guys 'bludge'?" "Are you 'bludging' on a regular basis?" Hmm. So an example might be "I've taken the day off work and I'm just bludging at home on the couch."

I'm being a bit of a couch potato. I'm just chilling out on the sofa, watching some telly, you know, watching some Netflix. "I'm just 'bludging' today." I'm just taking it easy. Just relaxing, you know?

"Does he have a job?" "Nah, he just loves 'bludging' full time. That's all he does." He just bludgers.

So there you go. "To bludge", "to be a bludger". That is a great little- I guess, yeah. Would you say some 'cool words' for you to use in Australian English that you're probably going to hear Down Under? So smack the bird, kick it, slap it. Let's get into today's joke.

So today's joke is "Why is money called dough?" "Why is money called dough?" And this is dough spelt D O U G H. "Why is money called dough?" "Because we all knead it!"

Is this sort of a sight gag? You probably have to see the spelling here, guys. But the spelling of the word 'knead'. So that's the the joke for today. The pun is on the word 'knead' and it relates to 'dough'. So 'knead' here is spelt K N E A D as opposed to N E E D. Right.

So "Why is money called 'dough'?" "Because we all 'knead' it". Oh. So okay, let me go through why it's a funny joke.

So 'dough'. This can be a thick, malleable mixture of flour and liquid used for baking into bread or pastry. Right? You use, you create 'dough'. You put together eggs and water or milk and flour. You know, all the ingredients. You mix it together into a sort of thick paste. And that is 'dough' D O U G H. But we can also use the word 'dough' to be slang for 'money'.

"Oh man, that guy's got a lot of dough. Man, he's loaded." "He's got heaps of money, he's got heaps of 'dough'." So 'dough' can be the mixture that you use to make bread, but it can also be slang for 'money'.

'Need'. Obviously, if you 'need' something, 'need' this is to require something because it's essential. It's very important for you. "I need more money." "I need more time." "I need water." "I need food." "I need something." N E E D.

Whereas K N E A D and I assume with a silent K there at the start. It's probably from Norse, the language, right? The old Viking language. So 'knead' here. To 'knead' dough would be to work that dough with your hands, or maybe a roller, to turn it into the dough or paste. Right? So if you put all of your flour and your water and your eggs and everything into a bowl and then you 'knead' it, it's that you're using your hands to kind of work that dough. To turn it into dough that you can then form into things to cook. Right.

So, "The pastry chef is 'kneading' the dough to make his croissants." Right. Croissants. He's going to put, he's going to put the dough after he's needed it. He's going to put it into the oven to create croissants. So there's the joke. "Why is money called 'dough'?" "Because we all 'knead' it!" Oh, what a killer. What a killer. Okay.

Anyway, let's get into today's expression. "Take something at face value", "to take something at face value." So let's go through the words first.

'To take something'. This is to lay hold of something, right? To grab something, to reach for something and hold it. "The thief 'took her purse'." He 'took it'. He 'took something'. He 'took it from her'. It can also be used, though, as in the sense of this expression, "to accept something". Right? And this may be to do that physically. You know, you hand something to someone and they take it, but that's sort of related to laying hold of something with your hands. But they can also 'accept something'. They can accept a non-physical thing. Right? "I can 'accept what you're saying'." You know, "The argument you're saying? Yeah, I take it, I accept it." "I'm going to take that on board", right? I'm going to accept that thing. So, whether or not he likes it, he's going to have to take it. Right. He's going to have to accept that thing.

'At'. Man, 'at' has a lot of different meanings, as I'm sure you guys know, right? It's a preposition. Usually the most common meaning is to express a location or arrival in a particular place or position. Right? Like "I'm at home", "I'm at the beach", "I'm at work", right. 'At'. So yeah, it expresses that kind of location where you are in space and time.

But it can be also used- in this sense, I think it's being used to express a particular state or condition. Right. So, "He's at ease", right? "His kindness puts me at ease." I am in that particular state or condition. I'm being put in that particular state or condition. Right. Hopefully that makes sense.

But yeah, it's sort of, it's one of those things where the prepositions, you kind of just have to learn them in context and not think too much about the, the specific definitions like this. I think most English speakers wouldn't be able to explain, you know, "In this sentence, when you say 'at', what is the exact definition of the word 'at', in that sense?" They would be like, "Uh, I don't know, dude."

Okay, 'face'. Your 'face', this is the front part of a person's head, right? This is your face, your forehead to the chin, your face. You can also be an animal with a face. You've got your eyes, your nose and your mouth. It's all in your face.

But here we're using 'face' to mean the surface of a thing, right? Especially one that's presented to the view, or has a particular function. So an example might be "the 'face' of a mountain" or "the 'face' of a cliff", right, "a cliff 'face'". A climber might climb up the 'face' of a cliff, the 'face' of a mountain, the front of that thing. Ah, the 'face' of a building! There's another one.

'Value'. 'Value'. The material or monetary worth of something. "This car has a lot of 'value'." And then when we combined 'face value', what's happening here is we're talking about the 'value' printed on, or depicted on, a coin, a banknote, a postage stamp, a ticket. That is its 'face value', that is the 'value' that is on the 'face', the front of that thing. Right. So it's tied in with monetary worth, 'face value'.

So when we use this, 'to take something at face value', when we use it in an expression, it means that you accept something or believe it without thinking about it too much. Without verifying if it's true or not. Right? So you 'take that thing at face value'.

You take that thing the way in which it's been presented to you, right. On its face, the face of that thing. You are taking it at its face value. You are accepting that the way in which it appears, or the way in which something has been described or said to you, is true with with no hidden meanings, with no ulterior motive, with no other aspect to it. Right.

And it is, yeah, originally connected to, when you look into the origin of this expression, it's connected to money and accepting that the value of a coin or a banknote or a stamp is the value that is on the face of that thing, is the value that's on it. Right? It'd be so devastating if you pulled 100 bucks out of the bank, and it turned out that it wasn't worth what the face value of it was. It was worth $2.

So let's get into some examples of how I would use the expression 'to take something at face value' in day to day life. All right.

Example number one. So imagine you're trying to buy a used car. I'm going to have to do that soon. I have to buy a car for the family because my wife is about to get her license. So when we go looking for a used car, we may end up going to a used car lot, right? And have to deal with used car salesmen. And these guys have a reputation for being a little dodgy, right? They tend to hide a lot of the issues with specific cars that they're trying to sell, because all they care about at the end of the day is their bottom line. They just want to make a sale. So they may give you a good vehicle, but they may also sell you an absolute lemon and you just kind of have to deal with it.

So when you're interacting with used car salesmen, you have to try and avoid 'taking things at face value'. You have to kind of assume there's an ulterior motive that they're trying to sell you something, figuratively and literally, right? They're trying to sell you this thing. So don't just blindly trust them. Don't just blindly believe anything and everything they say. Don't take it at face value. Always be skeptical.

Example number two. The dating game is always hard, right? When you're trying to find a girlfriend or a boyfriend and you want to look for something serious for a long term relationship, you know, it feels like yonks ago now. It feels like a long time ago. But when I was dating people, that was always the hard, that that hard stage where you're first dating someone, you've met them a few times, you caught up with them. You seem to be getting on, but you're not sure what's going on in that person's head, right? You don't know.

Are they sort of just after something fun, short term, or are they after something a little more long term? Right. Are they after a serious relationship or just something something casual, or maybe they're not interested at all. And so initially, you can't really 'take what they're saying at face value'. You kind of have to try and read into things. You may have to hold your cards close to your chest and not reveal too much. You may freak them out right? If you suddenly say on the second date, 'I'm in love with you, let's get married'. That's probably likely to send them packing for the hills, right? Send them running away.

So yeah, you have to try and wait until you put your cards on the table, on both sides. You realise that you are both really interested in one another, and only then can you kind of feel comfortable enough to believe whatever the other person says about how they feel, what they want, everything like that. So at that point you can kind of 'take everything at face value', but prior to that, there are hidden agendas. There are things that people are kind of holding close to their chest that they don't want to reveal. They don't want to say too much. They're still not sure. They're still uncertain. So at that point, you can't 'take things at face value'.

Last example. Imagine you're a con man, right? A bit of a dodgy trickster, trying to trick people out of their hard earned dough. Their hard earned money, their hard earned cash. So people work hard for their money, you know. They get jobs, they have podcasts and online courses like I do. And they work hard for the money that they want to, you know, get and use to live their lives. But some people want to get rich quick. And con men use that kind of want of many people to get rich quick in order to separate them from their hard earned money. So quite often con men are looking for gullible victims.

They're looking for people with loads of money who will believe anything the conman says, right? They're looking for people who will 'take anything the con man says at face value'. They'll 'take you at face value'. They want to believe anything that you've said about investing money in this little scheme. And then they put a million bucks in and you run. You know, you're the con man and you run off with all this cash and you're like, 'Oh, thank God they took everything I said at face value'.

So hopefully now, guys, you understand the expression 'to take something at face value'. This is to accept something or to believe something without thinking about it, sort of to take it as it is presented to you as true. Right? Without verifying, without thinking 'Is there an ulterior motive to take something at face value?'.

So as usual, guys, let's go through a little pronunciation exercise and then we'll finish up with a little listening comprehension exercise from a TV show called Barons. Okay, so pronunciation exercise first. Are you ready? Let's go.

To. To take. To take something. To take something at. To take something at face. To take something at face value. To take something at face value. To take something at face value. To take something at face value. To take something at face value. I'll take it at face value. You'll take it at face value. He'll take it at face value. She'll take it at face value. We'll take it at face value. They'll take it at face value. It'll take it at face value.

Great job guys. So something interesting going on there. I wonder if you notice how the word 'at' is being pronounced. So if I say 'to take something ət face value', 'to take something ət face value', it gets reduced, right?

And the T also gets muted because it's followed by a consonant sound. So instead of hearing 'to take something at face value', you're going to hear something more like, ət, /to take something ət face value/, /to take something ət face value/ /ət/ /ət/. So I use the schwa vowel sound, /ə/, and I mute the T. /ə/ /ə/ /ət face/ /ət face/ /ət face/ /to take something ət face value/ /to take something ət face value/.

And then you'll notice in the phrases, 'I'll take it at face value', 'you'll take it at face value'. It's doing the same thing. But what happens to the T in the pronoun 'it'? /I'll take't ət/ or /I'll take't ət/. If I speak really quickly, it's hard to do slowly. /I'll take't ət face value/ /You'll take't ət face value/.

So we use the T flap for that T in 'it'. /'t ət/ /'t ət/ /'t ət/ /'t ət. /'t ət/ Remember the schwa in 'at' and the T at the end of 'at' gets muted. /Take't ət face value/ /He'll take't ət face value/ /'t ət/.

It's interesting, isn't it? It becomes this little /'t ət/ /'t ət/ /'t ət/. /She'll take't ət face value/ and it almost disappears. /She'll take't ət face value/.

So getting used to these things guys, is really going to help your listening comprehension when speaking with other Aussies, and probably other English speakers in general. Because we use this kind of connected speech when speaking naturally. It's a way for us to speed up the way in which we speak, communicate quickly and effectively. Okay?

So yeah, if you want to learn more about pronunciation, go check out my pronunciation course, my Australian pronunciation course, The Australian Pronunciation Course at AussieEnglish.com.au/apc the letters A P C.

Okay, so for the final section here. This clip comes from the Australian TV show called Barons. This came out last year, so it's relatively new. The excerpt is "A group of best friends chase their sun soaked surfing dreams and discover that even in Paradise, there is rivalry, greed and ambition." So it's an interesting TV show that seems to be loosely based on the rivalry that happened between the founders of the company's Rip Curl and Quiksilver. So it's a surfing TV show and it this happened in the 60s and 70s down in Torquay, which is only about 40 minutes from where I live. So I think it's all filmed down there as well.

So if you want to sort of watch a TV show that's about surfing, about the coast, about the 60s and 70s, go check out Barons, B A R O N S. I think it's on iView and you might be able to watch it for free if if it is.

So the exercise here guys, I'm going to play a clip for you two times. Your job is to write down what you hear being said, see if you get it right. The answer will be in today's free downloadable worksheet, which you can get on the website. And at the very bottom of the worksheet, there is space for you to sort of obviously print it out and then write out your answer. And the answer is upside down at the very bottom. Otherwise, if you're a Premium Podcast member, the transcription of what's being said will be in the transcript itself. Okay, so you're ready to go. Here we go.

We got to stop running the business at the back of my van. It's not sustainable. I've sustained you so far, haven't I?

Okay. How'd you go? Did you get it? Time for a second playthrough.

We got to stop running the business at the back of my van. It's not sustainable. I've sustained you so far, haven't I?

All right, that's it for me today. Guys. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I'm Pete, this is Aussie English, and I will see you next time. Tooroo!