Transcript of AE 1290 - Expressions: Nip It in the Bud

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? Welcome to this episode of Aussie English, the number one place for anyone and everyone wanting to learn, you guessed it, Australian English. So I am your host, Pete, and it's a pleasure to have you here again. It's another expression episode. And today we're going to be going through the expression 'nip it in the bud', 'nip it in the bud'.

But before that, what have I been up to today? It has been freezing. It has been absolutely freezing. Uh, I think we have this, like, cold air current coming up from Antarctica at the moment here in the south of Australia. And every, every night it's been getting down to like close to zero degrees where, where I live. And yeah, I'm just not used to it. Maybe I'm just a bit weak, but besides that, I took the kids to Day-care and swimming today. And then when I got home, what was I doing? I was playing with the plants. So I've got a lot of plants in the house, and I was kind of propagating some of them, chopping them up, repotting some, planting them, you know, watering them, all those sorts of chores.

So yeah, that's what I've been up to today. Anyway, before we get into the episode, as always, guys, don't forget if you want to support the podcast whilst also levelling up your Australian English, be sure to check out the premium podcast membership. You can check it out at AussieEnglish.com.au/podcast

So you'll find it on the website. When you sign up as a member to the premium podcast for less than a dollar a day, you will get access to over 1200 podcast episodes, including the members only episodes. You'll be able to download the worksheets and the transcripts so you can read the the words that I'm saying and remember. Every single episode includes a transcript, except for the Pete's 2 Cents episodes. There's only a handful of those, and they don't have them.

And you'll also get access to the Premium Podcast player, which allows you to read and listen simultaneously at well, yeah, online at the same time. That's sort of redundant. Simultaneously, at the same time, but that's the most effective way of improving your listening comprehension, reading and listening simultaneously. So yes, once again, check out the premium podcast at AussieEnglish. Com.au/podcast. So let's, uh, make the sheep squeal. I guess he's not a pig. He's a sheep. So he goes 'baa'. And, uh, get into today's Q&A.

So today's question comes from Joao. I'm assuming that you are Portuguese, Joao. Or Brazilian, rather. Um, "What's your favourite Australian beer, Pete?" Hmm. So this is a good one. I'm a big beer fan. I love myself a good beer. There's a few different brands, but I'm not really too picky to be honest, I kind of, you know, I just like beers. Sort of like wine. I'm the same with wine. I just like wine. A red wine in particular, so I'm not really too fazed. But.

So, there's a beer from Geelong that is called Cockies. So, as in cockatoo, right. It's a slang term for cockatoo, cockies. I love this one because I met the owner of the brewery and we, when I was working at the Bellarine Distillery making whisky. Um, we did a few runs there where we were making, I think it's called 'the wash'. So it's the liquid before you've distilled it. We were making that all there using his equipment. So he was a lovely bloke, and it was cool being able to see his beer brewery and use it and, um. Yeah, learn from him.

There's another brand called Bentspoke from Canberra. That's a really good brand. You should be able to find that in most stores. Blackman's. This is another sort of local one. This is from Torquay. They have a restaurant, a sort of burger restaurant and beer. Well, yeah, restaurant for beers. You can get their beer at the restaurant as well in Ocean Grove. Blackman's, they're cool.

And then another cool local one from Queenscliff is called the Queenscliff Brewery. Um, that's really good as well. So yeah, but to be honest, you know, if you're in Australia, check out local breweries. There should be people making beer pretty much everywhere in Australia, so you should be able to find something local that tickles your fancy that you're going to enjoy. Okay, so good question, Joao. And um, yeah, I'd love to know from you guys, what beers do you enjoy from Australia? Send me a message on Instagram and tell me.

All right, so let's, uh, slap the bird and get into today's joke. So today's joke is, "What did the big flower say to the little flower?" "What did the big flower say to the little flower?" "Hey, bud!" Get it? "Hey, bud!"

So, okay, the pun is on the word 'bud'. Obviously a 'bud'. This is a small part of a plant that then develops into a flower or a leaf. So at the moment we've got a tree out the front of our house. It's a deciduous tree. It's one from the northern hemisphere that drops leaves. Native Australian trees don't typically do that, so it's suddenly dropped all of its leaves. And my son the other day was like, When are the leaves gonna grow back, dad? And I said, Well, in spring, and you'll see the small buds appear on the branches and they will turn into the leaves and the flowers. So a 'bud' is that small part of a plant that turns into a leaf or flower.

But 'bud' can also be short for 'buddy', meaning friend, mate. You know, amigo, bud, buddy. But 'buddy' tends to be very American. You can use it in Australia. We will 100% understand what you're saying, what you mean. But I think most frequently we would go for 'mate' instead of 'bud' or 'buddy'. You can kind of- it's funny, you can kind of use it, but a bit sarcastically. Like if someone said to me, Oh yeah, okay, bud. Like partly it's how they're saying it. But also they might say, you know, Good job, buddy. Um, it can be a bit sarcastic. I don't know, maybe it's just me, maybe it's just me and my friends.

Anyway, so that was the joke. "What did the big flower say to the little flower?" "Hey, bud!" [That was good, wasn't it? It was good for a bit of a giggle anyway.] Okay, so let's get into today's expression. Obviously, you can see how this links with the joke 'to nip something in the bud', 'to nip something in the bud'. I wonder if you've heard this before and if you know what it means. And sometimes I reckon Australians sometimes change the 'bud' to 'butt', 'to nip it in the butt'.

I think there's a, there's a phrase for this, where people mis-remember, uh, phrases or idioms or expressions and they substitute in the wrong, the wrong word. I'll have to look that up and talk about it one day, but this might be one of them. I think if I've heard, I think I've heard someone say, you know, Oh, well, you need to 'nip it in the butt', instead of 'nip it in the bud'.

Anyway, so before we get into that, let's go through the different words in the expression 'to nip it in the bud'. [Youse. Collective noun. All of your friends.].

So to 'nip', in this context, 'nip' is a verb meaning to pinch, to squeeze, or to bite sharply. Okay, so you can use this with regards to say, flowers or um, buds that are on trees where you would like pinch the bud to kill it, or break it off, right. But a dog could 'nip' you as well. You might be running down the street and a dog could try and nip at your ankles. Okay,

It. I'm sure you'll know what 'it' is. 'It' is a pronoun, right? 'I can't believe 'it's' already noon'. Um. 'What we need to finish 'it' by tomorrow', you know. 'So let's focus on 'it' and get it done'.

In. This is a preposition that in this case, is used to indicate inclusion or position within something. Okay. 'She dipped her toes 'in' the pool.' 'They live 'in' a small town.'.

The, or the. This is a definite article. So these specific thing a noun usually follows this.

In fact it always follows this, this word, 'the'. 'The' book you asked about is on the table.' The specific book. That book, 'the' book. Um, Can you see 'the' dog running across the field?' Not just any dog, but the dog that's running across the field. 'Can you see 'the' dog?'.

And then lastly, 'bud', I think we've sort of talked about this, right? It is that part of a plant, the growth that will turn into a leaf or flower.

Okay. So, 'to nip it in the bud'. 'To nip something in the bud'. This is to put a quick end to something. You know, figuratively. We would use this to mean to stop something from getting worse or out of control, to halt something immediately. And it ties in with that idea of pinching a bud to, you know, kill it. So, let's keep going. Give you, I'll give you three examples of how I would use this expression in everyday English. Okay.

So, scenario one: Melbourne start up culture. You know, the context is that in a bustling tech start-up located in Melbourne's Docklands, tension began to build over whispers of potential cutbacks due to a downturn in investment, and the uncertainty started to affect the team's collaboration and innovation. So Claire, the HR director, noticed the drop in morale during her walks through the open plan office. And recognising the potential damage of unchecked rumours, she decided to try and 'nip them in the bud'. She got everyone together, she wanted to have a chat with everyone and she wanted to nip the rumours. She wanted to nip the unrest, she wanted to 'nip it all in the bud'. She wanted to stop it from getting worse.

Scenario two. Right, okay. A high school rugby rivalry. So at a high school in Sydney. And misunderstanding over a misinterpreted tackle during a rugby match between two key players, Tom and Ben, started to create divisions within the team. So the coach, who had seen many young athletes let small disputes derail their sportsmanship, decides to intervene early. He organises a video review session where both players, along with the team, could watch the play and discuss it openly, and the review clarified that misunderstanding and reaffirmed the importance of teamwork. So the coach's decision 'nipped it in the bud'. It stopped everything from getting a lot worse. And it, um, you know, mended the relationship of everyone in the team. It 'nipped it in the bud'.

Example number three. So imagine a little suburban concern in Brisbane. Um, in a leafy suburb of Brisbane. A new family moved into a community known for its quiet streets and close knit Neighbourhood Watch. The family's habit of hosting lively barbecues late into the night began to stir discontent among the long time residents, though.

So Judy, a well respected member of the Neighbourhood Watch, decided to address the issue before it escalated into outright complaints or calls to the local council or police. So she goes over to their house. She brings some Anzac bickies as a gesture of goodwill, and she says, You know, can you control your parties a little bit? Bring the noise down, maybe finish them a little earlier because it's affecting the other residents. The other neighbours, you know? And by doing that, she 'nipped the problem in the bud'. She wanted to 'nip it in the bud'. She wanted to stop it from getting a lot worse.

So hopefully now, guys, you understand the expression 'to nip something in the bud', 'to nip it in the bud'. This is to put a quick end to something, to stop something from getting worse or out of control. Okay.

So as usual, let's get into our pronunciation exercise and work on our Australian accent. [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!] Okay, so the goal of this exercise. I'm going to say words and phrases out loud. Find somewhere that's away from other people where you can feel comfortable speaking loudly. You know, speaking out loud and try and impersonate. Mimic. Copy my accent as best you can, okay. You ready to rock? Let's do it.

To. To nip. To nip it. To nip it in. To nip it in the. To nip it in the bud. To nip it in the bud. To nip it in the bud. To nip it in the bud. To nip it in the bud. I need a nip it in the bud. You need a nipped in the bud. He needs to nip it in the bud. She needs to nip it in the bud. We need a nipped in the bud. They need a nip it in the bud. It needs to nip it in the bud.

Good job guys. Let's go through a little bit of the sound changes that are happening there and the linking. So /nip it in the bud/ /to nip it in the bud/. There's a lot of linking going on there. /nip't/, /nip't/, /nip't/, /nip't/, /nip't'n/.

And what do you notice happening to the T in the word 'it'? When we link to the the word 'in', /nip/ /it/, /nip't'n/. The T turns into a T flap because there's a vowel either side of it. /nip't'n/ /nip't'n/. /nip't'n the bud/. /Nip't'n the bud/.

You'll notice the same thing happening with the words 'need to'. So /I/ /need/ /to/ becomes /I needah/. We just use a T flap in place of the D and the T at the end, and start of those two words. /need/ /to/ becomes /needah/.

But you'll notice it's different when we have /needs/ and /to/. So /he needsta/ /she needsta/, /it needsta/. /He needsta nip't'n the bud/. /She needsta nip't'n the bud/. /It needs to nip't'n the bud/.

The last interesting thing that we should cover here. What do you notice happening with the T at the end of the word 'it' when it's at the start of the phrase, 'it needs to nip it in the bud' and it's followed by a consonant and N sound. Have a listen. So is it a hard T, or a muted T? /It needsta nip't'n the bud/. /It needs/, /it needs/, /it needs/, /it needs/.

We're muting the T and going straight into the N sound. So the tongue goes up. We make the T the first half of the T sound by stopping the airflow it, and then we go straight into the N. /It needs/ /it needs/ /it needsta nip'tin the bud/.

The reason we do this is because if we release the T: /itah needs/ /itah needs/. It adds a vowel sound in between the words, and it's going to confuse native speakers, or advanced speakers of English. They're going to be like, What is that vowel sound representing? It sounds like a schwa could be any sort of word, you know. Is it a name of some kind? What's in there? Are you saying? Um. So that's why we do that. We mute consonants like T, D, P, B, G, and K. Okay.

So anyway, don't forget, guys, if you want to master your Australian accent and speak confidently with Australian pronunciation, be sure to check out my Australian Pronunciation course.

You can get access to this for $100 off at Aussie English.com.au/apc100. Inside the course, you will learn how to use the International Phonetic Alphabet to master every single one of the sounds in Australian English. You'll then go through all these sounds, the tutorials teaching you how to pronounce them, then exercises so that you can do these on a regular basis to master the different vowel sounds and consonant sounds.

And then in the final section of the course there are 25 advanced lessons covering things like linking, you know, or the muted T, the muted D, the T flap, the linking R, all those sort of more advanced spoken English aspects of the Australian accent. So again, check it out at AussieEnglish.com.au/apc100. And you will use if you use that URL, which is also in the description, you'll save 100 bucks.

So anyway, let's get into today's listening exercise and we can finish up. [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 today's clip comes from the new Aussie TV show called RFDS, which stands for Royal Flying Doctor Service. So it's it's I think it's out. It came out a few years ago, so it's relatively recent. Anyway, the excerpt is: The workers of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia face many obstacles every day, but with the support of each other, they solve the problems."

So 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. This is an amazing way of levelling up your listening comprehension.

And remember, you can check your answer using today's free worksheet, which you can download via the description or on the website on this episode page, or if you have the premium podcast membership and you can access the transcripts, the answer will obviously be in there. Okay, so you're ready to go? Here's the first playthrough.

But even if I'm just making soup and we're just watching all The Real Housewives together, it'll be worth it. I know you hate surprises. Are you angry? That it's taken 18 months of begging to get you back? Very! I haven't told anyone. Only Graham.

Good job. How'd you go? Did you get all of it? Time for the second playthrough.

But even if I'm just making soup and we're just watching all The Real Housewives together, it'll be worth it. I know you hate surprises. Are you angry? That it's taken 18 months of begging to get you back? Very! I haven't told anyone. Only Graham.

All right, well, that's it from me today, guys. Thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate it. I hope you have a good day. I'm Pete, this is Aussie English and I wish you all the best. Tooroo!