Transcript of AE 1142 - Expression: Make a Fool Out of Yourself

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 flipping 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.

G'day, you mob. How's it going? Welcome to this episode of Aussie English, the number one place for anyone and everyone wanting to learn Australian English. Our lingo down under, the language that we Aussies speak. Probably overlaps 95-96% with other variations of English, but nonetheless that last 5% to, I don't know, 4-to-5% -- I said 95-to-96%, right -- of the language is unique and it is awesome to learn.

So, anyway, welcome to this episode, guys. I hope you're going well. I hope you guys are having a ripper of a week. I have been going a little plant crazy, so recently I have developed another interest, and this is indoor houseplants. So, it'd be interesting to hear how many of you guys are interested in indoor houseplants. I got bitten by the bug. Right.

So, "bitten by the bug" means that I have been infected with the interest, with the passion for something, can be anything, right. You can be bitten by the footy bug, you could be bitten by the Aussie English bug, you could be bitten by the science fiction bug.

It means that you suddenly really like that thing. So, I've been bitten by the indoor plant bug and have been going to Bunnings and other nurseries around the place. A "nursery" is a place that you can buy young plants, usually in pots so that you can take them home and plant them obviously in your house or just leave them in the pots.

And you can get all sorts of other things, paraphernalia, objects related to gardens, indoor plants, all that sort of stuff. So, we went to a nursery as well. There's been a few actually that we've gone to, and it's been a lot of fun.

It's been a lot of fun learning about how these plants grow, the conditions they need, how to propagate them, so how to take cuttings or split the bulbs off the plant when you're repotting it so that you can create more plants. Their biology, I think that's kind of helped me nerd out a little bit on plants, too. I was never into botany when I was at university studying zoology, animals, the biology of animals.

But now all of a sudden, you know, a decade later I am. So, anyway, that's my hobby at the moment. That's what I've been into. So, if you guys are avid houseplant, indoor plant collectors, growers, propagators, definitely send me a message on Facebook, send me an email, say g'day, tell me about your plants, what your favourites are, everything like that.

I'm still learning about this stuff. So, yeah, I'd love to chat to you guys if this is your passion, too. Alright, so don't forget, guys, if you would like to get access to the transcripts for these podcast episodes, be sure to join up for the premium podcast. You can join that at AussieEnglish.com.au/podcast.

It's a monthly fee or six-monthly or annual depending on which membership you grab, and it'll give you access to- Well, yeah, what are we up to now? Almost 1,200 podcast episodes, member only episodes, the video lessons that come with some of these episodes as well. You'll be able to read the transcripts, you can use the premium podcast player to read and listen at the same time.

So, this membership is really good if you are just wanting to read and listen to the content from Aussie English so that you can learn new vocab, learn new expressions, you can print out the PDFs, you can read them without the audio if that's what you desire. So, that's what that's all for. Go to AussieEnglish.com.au/podcast and check it out. Let's get into today's Q&A. So, this one comes from Daniel. Thank you so much, Daniel, for the question.

Remember, guys, each Monday on Instagram, I put out a story asking you guys to ask me anything. And occasionally in each of these expression episodes, I pick one of these questions and try and answer it for you guys. So, big shout out to Daniel who asked: "Is it correct to say, 'nobody changes nobody'?" So, "nobody changes nobody". The answer to this is yes and no.

I think that the average English speaker from probably anywhere in the world is going to tell you it's incorrect because you're using a double negative. "Nobody changes nobody". Whereas the most common way that we would use this phrase or the grammar for this phrase would be a negative and then a, well, positive, right, a non-negative. So, you would say "nobody changes anybody" or "-anyone". "Nobody changes nobody" is a double negative.

"Nobody changes anybody" is the first one's a negative and the next one's not. So, we tend to prefer that in English. However, that's standard English and there are many different dialects of English. One dialect where this is common is African American vernacular English.

So, this is the variation or dialect of English that many African Americans use in day-to-day language. And they will use double negatives all the time. So, they'll say things like, "nobody changes nobody". They'll say words like, "I didn't do nothing. He ain't going nowhere. She can't see no one."

So, you'll often hear double negatives in different dialects of English. And you may even hear it in Australian English from time to time, so it can occur. But be aware that in standard English the preference is to not use double negatives. Okay, so hopefully that answers your question, Daniel, good on you guys.

And if you guys hear double negatives from time to time, definitely again, send me a message, leave a comment under this episode and let me know where, when you heard these and the example that you heard. Did you think it was weird? Is it natural? And in your language, do you use them? Because I know that in Portuguese, my wife's native language from Brazil, at least, I assume it's the same in Portugal.

But at least in Brazil they use double negatives all the time, like you could say, "não vi nada". Right. "I didn't see anything", but it would be "I didn't see nothing". Right. And so, in English, it sounds weird. In Portuguese it's fine. So, go figure. Anyway, slap the bird, guys. Let's get into today's joke.

So, today's joke is, "why was the woman afraid for her calendar? Why was the woman afraid for her calendar? Because it's days were numbered." Do you get it? Do you get it?

So, obviously if you have a calendar, say, you know, it's showing you at the moment the 2nd of May, which is the day that I've recorded this episode, you're going to see in that calendar the day, the week, the month, the year, maybe even the decade, depending on how much you sort of zoom out or zoom in.

And all those days and months and everything are numbered so that, you know, obviously what day of the month of the year it is. So, when you have a calendar, the days of the calendar are numbered. But the expression "the days are numbered", for someone's days to be numbered. This is used to say that someone or something will die, fail or end very soon, as if you've only got a handful of days left that you could count these days.

That's how soon you're going to die. Right. Or that's how soon you're going to fail, or how soon something's going to end. Its days are numbered. So, I mean, you know, imagine I'm doing an Academy sale where I've opened the doors for you guys to join my academy. The days are literally numbered. Firstly, there's seven days where it's open for a week, then there's six days, five days, four days you get the picture. Right?

So, "the days are numbered, the days are numbered", the thing will end soon. But you can use this, too, for someone who say is in great danger. You're going to work, and you've done something wrong, and the boss says, you know, "you better fix that or 'your days are numbered'."

So, that could mean that you're going to be fired from work. It may mean that you're going to fail at whatever it is you're doing, or it may mean that he's threatening to kill you. Hopefully not that one. "Your days are numbered". The other thing that was interesting in this joke, "afraid for someone" I wanted to talk about this compared to "afraid of something".

So, I wonder if you guys know the nuance here. You can be "afraid for someone" or you can be "afraid of something" of someone as well. So, "of or for" here, these different, I guess they are dependent prepositions, they are associated with the noun "something or someone" after "afraid". If you're "afraid of something", you're scared of that thing.

If you're "afraid for someone" or you probably could be "afraid for something" as well, you're scared or worried about that thing. Like you think something bad is going to happen to it. So, if I am, say, afraid of my son Noah, I'm scared of him, right. "Oh, my God, I'm 'afraid of him'."

Whereas if he goes outside and I'm "afraid for him", it means that I am worried that he's going to be in danger or be injured. Right. I'm afraid for his safety. "I'm afraid for him". "Afraid of someone" is to be scared of them. You know, if he was holding a knife, I'd probably be afraid of him.

Alright, let's get into today's expression, guys. So, today's expression is "to make a fool out of someone or out of yourself", and it can be contracted down to just "make a fool of yourself or of someone". So, before we get into that, let's break down the different words in this expression. So, the first one here "make", if you "make" something, you create something.

So, he "made" a paper plane out of a piece of paper. He "made" it. He created it. He fabricated it. He- What's another synonym here? Constructed it, built it. He "made" it. "A fool. A fool" is a stupid person. Someone who doesn't know much, right. Yeah. Stupid is probably the best way of saying it, although it's kind of a little less harsh.

If you were to say someone's "a fool", it's like, it's a bit offensive, but if you call someone stupid, it's a bit worse. So, "my friend is a bit of 'a fool'." He's a bit dumb, he's a bit silly, he's a bit stupid. "Don't worry about that guy. He is 'a fool'." He's stupid, he's dumb, he's silly. "Out of something".

So, "make a fool 'out of yourself'". "Out of something". This usually indicates the source or derivation of something, right. So, sort of from. So, if something comes "out of" something else, it was within that thing and then it came from that thing.

It- That was the source. That was the derivation. That was the location it came from. It came "out of" that thing, it was within it and then it came "out of" it. So, "this table is made 'out of' wood." It was derived from wood. It was from wood.

"He made a hat 'out of' some leather." Right. So, he got some leather, the skin from a cow that has been treated and turned into leather. And then he fabricates a hat. "He made the hat 'out of' leather."

And the last one here is the noun "yourself". Right. So, this is used to refer to the person being addressed as the object of a verb or a preposition when they are also the subject of the clause. This is kind of nerdy, right? But you tend to use this after a verb when it's a reflexive verb. You're doing it to "yourself", someone's doing it to themself.

So, "you ask 'yourself' a question." Am I tired? "You know, you could say to 'yourself'." There's another example. "You could say to 'yourself', am I tired?" And if you did, you are asking "yourself" a question. If you got dirty, you might clean "yourself".

So, it's when you do something to "yourself", right? That's when you're going to be using those- The grammatical word for these has left me, but it's effectively a reflexive noun, right. Where it's not a- Is it a pronoun? I should've looked this up ahead of time. Anyway, "to make a fool out of yourself".

I think you guys will probably get the picture now, you'll probably understand this expression if you "make a fool out of yourself", it is that you behave in a foolish or silly way. You embarrass yourself. You cause yourself to look stupid or silly. You "make a fool out of yourself or you make a fool of yourself". And I think you could also use this to mean that you're making a fool of someone else.

So, I could "make a fool out of my friend" if I do something that makes him look stupid, foolish. If I embarrass him, I'm "making a fool out of him". So, you can do it to yourself where you would use that reflexive pronoun that "yourself, myself, themselves", but you could also do it to someone else. And in that case, you would do it to "him, to her, to them, to you".

Right, you "make a fool out of him, he makes a fool out of himself". Alright. So, as usual, guys, let's go through some examples of how I would use the expression "to make a fool out of myself, to make a fool of myself", right, "out of" or just "of".

Alright, so example number one: You and your family go to the beach one day to go for a swim. So, you've got a lovely wife and some teenage kids who are just at the age of getting a little self-conscious, wanting to always seem really cool, and it's starting to sort of distance themselves from their parents. You know, they're a bit too cool for school.

It's sort of like, my parents are so embarrassing. I'm so edgy. I'm so cool, I'm a teenager, I know everything. So, as any good father would you decide you'll try and embarrass your kids in front of their friends by going to the beach and wearing some budgie smugglers. So, "budgie smugglers" is the Aussie slang term for some speedos, right. Some- I guess they're sort of underwear shaped bathers.

And typically on men who aren't competing in swimming, they are kind of embarrassing to wear because they don't leave much to the imagination. You can see the outline of -- whoever's wearing them -- their private parts, their junk, their equipment, so they tend to be a little bit embarrassing.

So, if you chuck the budgie smugglers on one day and you're wearing a towel around them, walking down the beach with your kids, they don't know you've got the budgie smugglers on. Their friends show up and all of a sudden you just whip the towel off.

They might say, "Dad, put the towel on. Cover it up. Jesus, 'you're making a fool of yourself. You're making a fool out of yourself'. Jeez, that's embarrassing. And you might say, you might retort, as the dad you might say, "well, actually, I'm trying to 'make a fool out of you guys'."

Alight, example number two: You go out one night drinking with your mates and you get smashed, right, you get plastered, you get wasted. You drink way too much. You have way too many beers, way too much to drink, and you end up acting like an idiot. So, you start, I don't know, hitting on random people at the bar. Maybe your pants fall down. You can't finish your sentences properly. You're "making a fool out of yourself", right.

You're embarrassing yourself. You're embarrassing your mates who are probably, you know, going to run off and leave you to your own devices, let you do your own thing. Be like, I don't know that guy. Screw that guy, that weirdo. You're "making a fool out of yourself". And if they're really embarrassed, you're "making a fool out of them", too.

Last example: Imagine you're the best man at a wedding one day. So, your mates getting married, and he's asked you to be the best man. This is the man who is sort of in charge of a lot of responsibilities at a wedding, helping out the groom, the main guy who's getting married. So, you got to do all the standard stuff like help organise his day, maybe organise the car that's going to drive people around, you know, the groom and the bride.

You also have to give a speech at the wedding reception in the evening. So, you've tried to make it as funny as possible, but you end up going way too far. Right. Maybe you reveal way too many sordid details about yourself and about the groom when you were younger, and the sort of mischief and naughty things that you used to get up to.

So, because you go too far, you reveal too much, you talk about too many embarrassing things from the past. "You make a fool out of yourself, and you make a fool out of your friend". You behave in a foolish way. You do something embarrassing. "You make a fool of yourself. You make a fool of your friend".

Okay. So, hopefully now, guys, you understand the expression "to make a fool out of yourself or of yourself. Or to make a fool out of someone else or of someone else". So, this is to behave in a very foolish or silly way, embarrassing either yourself or someone else.

So, as usual, guys, let's go through a little pronunciation exercise. This is where you guys can obviously get away from the world, try and hide from anyone out there so that you can speak out loud and work on your pronunciation.

It's a great exercise to do if you are trying to develop your Australian pronunciation, focus on my rhythm, connected speech, everything like that. If you're working on a different accent, that's cool too, just say these words and phrases after me in your own target accent. Okay, so you're ready. Let's go.

"To. To make. To make a. To make a fool. To make a fool out. To make a fool out of. To make a fool out of yourself. To make a fool out of yourself. To make a fool out of yourself. To make a fool out of yourself. To make a fool out of yourself.

I made a fool out of myself. You made a fool out of yourself. He made a fool out of himself. She made a fool out of herself. We made fools out of ourselves. They made fools out of themselves. It made a fool out of itself."

Great job, guys. So, there's some interesting stuff happening here. Firstly, in terms of the grammar and the conjugation of the phrases, you'll notice that when we use the plural nouns like "we and they" you can say "fools" instead of "a fool". Right. "We made fools out of ourselves. They made fools out of themselves."

The other thing, so once we now get into pronunciation, intonation and stress and linking, there's a few linkages that are being made. So, "to make a. To make ka." You'll link the /k/ sound at the end of the word "make" and "a" together. "Make ka fool. Make ka fool out of." We'll link that to "fool".

So, you'll say "fool out̬ of. Fool out̬ of." "Out of", the "T" at the end of "out" becomes a T-flap because there are two vowel sounds either side of it. So, instead of saying "out of" you'll say "out ə, out ə or out̬ of, out̬ of". If you pronounce the /v/ sound in the word "F"- In the word "F"? In the word "of" which ends with an "F", which is what I was thinking of.

It's kind of confusing, isn't it? The word "of", O-F has an "F" at the end, but it's pronounced as a V. What's up with that? If you pronounce that /v/ sound, you can do that. You could say "out o/v/(of) myself, I made a fool out o/v/(of) myself".

But because there's so many consonants there with "/v/ myself", you can just get rid of the /v/ sound and say "out ə" instead of "out o/v/ myself". So, you'll hear "I made a fool out ə myself. Out ə, out ə, out ə myself".

We'll do this when the next word after "out ə" starts with a consonant sound. "Out ə myself, out ə yourself". And then if it starts with a vowel sound, we'll often use the /v/ sound to link to the vowel sounds. So, in the case of "we made fools out of ourselves", we now insert that /v/ sound. "We made fools out o/v/ ourselves." Cool, huh? So, this is some of the interesting linking that happens in Australian English.

The last thing I want to mention here is did you notice H deletion? So, you could say "he made a fool out of himself" and you could say the /v/ sound in the word "of". "He made a fool out o/v/ himself. She made a fool out o/v/ herself."

But quite often when a word starts with H, we remove the H and we just link to the previous consonant sound. Okay. So, instead you'll hear "he made a fool out o-/v/imself. He made a fool out o-/v/imself. /v/imself. She made a fool out of herself. She made a fool out o-/v/erself." Right? So, H deletion is what's happening there.

Remember guys, if you want to learn more about Australian pronunciation, you want to develop your own pronunciation like an Aussie, check out my Australian pronunciation course. It'll take you through how to use the international phonetic alphabet, so you can level up your pronunciation by yourself.

You'll be able to then go through all the different lessons, teaching you all the different sounds in Australian English, the 20 vowel sounds, the 24 or so consonant sounds, and then there are 25 advanced lessons in there covering things like linking the Australian R sound, the dark L.

It's a really good course. Go check it out. It is my most popular course. It's at AussieEnglish.com.au/APC or just type in "Australian pronunciation course Aussie English" and it should come up.

Anyway, the last little section here at the end of this episode, this is where I play for you a little snippet out of a film or TV show, and you can work on your listening comprehension skills. So, today's clip comes from season two of the Aussie Outback Horror TV show "Wolf Creek".

The excerpt reads, "an American Family's Australian vacation takes a tragic turn when sadistic serial killer Mick Taylor targets the tourists. College student Eve is the lone survivor after Taylor attacks the family in the outback. Determined to avenge the deaths of her parents and younger brother, Eve sets out to hunt down their killer."

So, it's a really, really interesting show, if you like, sort of Australian horror films. Obviously, it's not for the faint of heart. So, if you're not into gory, bloody horror films and TV shows, then don't check it out. Anyway, the rules of the game. I'm going to play this clip for you two times, and your goal is to listen and then write down what you hear being said.

It's a great way to train your listening comprehension. And remember, you can always check the answer if you download the free worksheet with today's episode, which you can find on the website for this episode. Or if you have the premium podcast membership, it'll be in the transcript for this episode because as always, for these expression episodes, the entire thing is transcribed. You can read every single word that I am saying.

Okay, so are you ready to go? Here's the first playthrough. "I don't watch them crime shows. Too violent. I like the funny stuff. You know?"

All right. Good work. How did you go? Did you get all of it? Time for the second playthrough.

"I don't watch them crime shows. Too violent. I like the funny stuff. You know?"

Alright, that's it for me today, guys. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Thank you so much for joining me. Don't forget, if you want to read whilst you listen to these episodes, take notes, highlight new words and expressions, and just get more out of them as a whole and level up your English faster. Check out the premium podcast membership at AussieEnglish.com.au/Podcast.

And if I can, if I could be so bold, so brave as to ask you guys, could you please leave a little review for this podcast? So, on whatever podcast application you're using, you know, if it's Stitcher or Apple Podcasts, can you leave a little review just showing support for the podcast as it helps me get in front of more students, more eyes or more ears, I guess in the case of this podcast.

It'll help me a lot, so. Thank you so much, guys, and I will see you next time. Peace!