#56- 16 Phrasal Verbs, Slang Words & Idioms for Feuds & Fights

Welcome to episode #55 of TheReal Life English with Gabby- 16 Phrasal Verbs, Slang words and Idioms for Feuds & Fights. In this episode, you’ll learn useful vocabulary to talk about feuds and fights in English. Inspired by recent political events, in this episode, you'll dive deep into learning language that can be used to talk about fights in English. Whether this has happened in your personal life, in your country's politics or somewhere else in your social circle, this topic is an important one to know. 

In this episode, you'll learn idioms, slang, and phrasal verbs like 

• The gloves came off
• At each other’s throats
• Clash with (someone)
• Stir the pot

and more! 

All with real-life examples and simple explanations. By the end of the episode, you’ll feel CONFIDENT to use some of this new vocabulary right away to sound more natural in conversations. Don’t forget to download the study guide so that you can practice what you learned!

 The Study Guide includes:

• All 16 words and definitions
• All new words in real life contexts
• Example sentences 
• Practice activities
• The transcript

Get your Study Guide Right >> HERE <<

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Transcript

[00:00:00] On today's episode of the Real Life English with Gabby podcast, we're talking all about feuds and fights between people who used to be close. This one is inspired by recent political events in the U.S. You'll be learning vocabulary like the gloves are off, to clash with someone, to have beef with someone, to stir the pot, and more.
Let's get to it.

Hey there. Welcome to the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby, your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.
Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.

Hey, hey, hey. Greetings [00:01:00] from New York City. Welcome to episode number 56. If you're listening for the first time, thanks so much for checking out the podcast. If you're one of my regular listeners, I just wanna say thank you for your loyalty. Today's episode is definitely one that is inspired by recent political events in the USA.
 You know, I create a podcast schedule in advance based on topics that students suggest or things happening in the world, or just being inspired by what students need in my classroom. Like if there's a topic that they struggle with, I'll say, you know what? That's a good topic to do a podcast episode about.
 But I kind of changed my plans because of everything that happened at the end of last week, and my students were asking me about it. And I said, you know what? This topic of feuding, fighting, [00:02:00] drama, arguing—it's a really good topic. I did an episode on conflict between friends, but it was slightly different. This is more about public feuds and conflict.

So firstly, what is a feud? A feud is a prolonged or long, bitter quarrel or dispute. It's like a deep fight. A fight could last five minutes. Two people could be fighting for five minutes. A feud is something that happens over a long period of time. When we use the word feud, we think about Romeo and Juliet's families—the Montagues and the Capulets.
I know some of you say Romeo Julieta, Julieta, Julieta. I love hearing how different countries say Romeo and Juliet. But yes, we say Romeo and Juliet, and [00:03:00] what we witness in that Shakespeare play/novel is a feud between two families—something that lasted a very long time. So that's the difference between a feud and a fight.

If you didn't see the news from American politics, Elon Musk, our former fake vice president, has left Trump's inner circle, and there has been a lot of tension. A lot of times, stuff like this happens in politics. People don't get along, people fight, people feud.
 In fact, it happened a lot during Trump's first term as president. However, this one was crazy because it bled onto Twitter and social media, and it was very public. This is a very embarrassing time for Americans. We are just so embarrassed about how we are being [00:04:00] viewed around the world.
 We're embarrassed of our leaders and all of the human rights abuses. It's just a crazy time. And after my episodes that covered current events, a lot of you emailed and said you like learning about current events on the podcast, which is why I figured I would do this one.

I just wanna say that many Americans predicted this public fight. We knew that the Trump-Musk alliance wouldn't last long because, well, as they say, two villains cannot occupy the same space for too long.
 We knew that they would clash and bump heads, as we say, at some point. Apparently, there were many betting pools with people betting money to see how long it took before the two of them parted [00:05:00] ways—separated, we say. I wish I had participated so that I could have made some money.

Anyways, aside from existing in politics, feuds, fights, and falling outs have all been a part of human nature since the beginning of time. And honestly, they'll continue to be a big part of human nature until the end of the world.
 This may have happened in your own personal life, or maybe it didn't happen yet, but this is a very important topic because of how common it is. It may have been inspired by political events, but the vocabulary that you'll learn from these events will definitely apply to your own life. Having a feud or fight with someone close to you is a very difficult thing.
 It's painful, sometimes embarrassing, and [00:06:00] overall not good for your mental health.

Today, you'll be learning new vocabulary that will help you express fights, feuds, long arguments, and how to express this in English. Let me share the 16 phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms that you'll be learning:
 to have a falling out or fall out with someone, call someone out, hit back, go at it, the gloves come off, to be at each other’s throats, to clash with someone, to stir the pot, take shots at someone, to have beef with someone, bad blood, to air dirty laundry, take someone down, to hit below the belt, stir up, [00:07:00] burn bridges.

Before I get to the story, I just wanted to remind you that there is a free study guide waiting for you that has everything you need in order to really practice and learn all of the things that you hear in the episode. It's perfect for those of you who want to go deeper and really learn how to use these naturally
 and confidently. To get the study guide, click the link in the episode description, and then you'll get access to the folder with all of the study guides.

Alright, so let's get to the story. I'm gonna read you a story that has all of the vocabulary from the episode in context. Listen as I speak and try to figure out the meanings through context. After I read the story, we'll review all of the definitions and talk about more [00:08:00] examples. In today's story, I put the vocabulary words in the context of the situation that happened with Donald Trump and Elon Musk, so you'll kind of know more about what happened. Here we go.

Once upon a time, Donald Trump and Elon Musk were on friendly terms. They didn't always agree, but they respected each other. That all changed recently when they had a falling out.
 It started when Musk called Trump out on social media, saying he didn't agree with one of Trump's big political/financial bills. It's called the Big Beautiful Bill. Not long after, Trump hit back, warning Musk to stay in line or face serious consequences. From there, [00:09:00] the two went at it, exchanging insults online and in the media. It was clear the gloves had come off. No more pretending to be polite. They were now at each other's throats.
 Musk clashed with Trump again when he suggested that he might be connected to some very controversial people—one of those people being Jeffrey Epstein. That really stirred the pot. It made everything even more dramatic. Trump didn't stay quiet. He took shots at Musk, saying he was ungrateful and owed everything to government money from contracts.

By now, it was obvious that they had serious beef. There was a lot of bad blood between them. [00:10:00] Musk, who loves to speak freely on social media, started to air some dirty laundry—talking about things the public didn't know. He made Trump look bad. Trump, of course, tried to take Musk down, threatening to cut off government contracts to Tesla and SpaceX.
 Some people said Trump was starting to hit below the belt—using personal attacks and serious threats. Others felt Musk was just trying to stir up drama and get attention. Either way, both of them seemed to burn bridges, making it almost impossible to be friends again.
 No one knows how this feud will end, but for now, Trump and Musk are in a full-blown fight, and the world is watching. The end… for now.

By the way, if you wanna Google this, you can find all the info you need and [00:11:00] screenshots of the tweets, the social media posts. You can witness everything for yourself. It's quite entertaining and crazy.

 Alright, so let's talk about the definitions.

First up, we have the phrasal verb fallout or the expression to have a falling out. So we can use falling out as a noun, or we can use fallout as a verb. This means to have a serious disagreement that damages a relationship. For example, They had a falling out over business decisions and haven't spoken since.

Next up, we have call out, phrasal verb to call someone out. This is to criticize someone publicly for doing something wrong or doing something that they disagree with. The key here with calling [00:12:00] someone out is to do it publicly. One of the main problems with this particular feud between Trump and Musk is because it was public. People knew that they were kind of, you know, clashing, bumping heads, we say, in private, which is why Trump asked him to step down. But then they took it public, and Elon called out the bill. Trump called him out. It's just crazy. For example, She called him out for lying during the interview.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb hit back. This is to respond strongly after being attacked or criticized. So someone calls you out, someone publicly insults you, you hit back, you respond strongly. For example, After the press criticized him, the politician hit back with his own [00:13:00] accusations.

Next up, we have a three-word phrasal verb: to go at it. This is to argue or fight intensely. For example, The two neighbors were going at it again this morning. Elon Musk and Trump are going at it, arguing very intensely.

Next, we have the gloves come off. This is when people stop being polite and start fighting seriously. In old American culture, people would wear gloves—it's like the polite thing to do, especially in the higher economic status. You wore gloves on your hands, especially royalty. But when you wanted to cook, you wanted to get dirty, you wanted to fight—you would take your gloves off so you don't get them dirty. That's where this comes from: [00:14:00] "Oh, the gloves came off." All polite and friendly behavior went out the window. This was starting a serious fight. For example, During the debate, the gloves came off and both candidates started insulting each other.

Next up, we have to be at each other's throats. This is a very popular idiom, which means to constantly argue or fight. Oh my gosh, they're at each other's throats. They're constantly arguing and fighting. For example, They used to be best friends, but now they're always at each other's throats.

Next up, we have to clash with someone. Clash with is a phrasal verb, and it means to strongly disagree or argue with someone. Usually, we use the word clash when people have to work together in some way, but [00:15:00] their opinions and ideas of how to work together, what to do, do not align or agree. And so this is very common to use in business. For example, He clashed with his boss over how to handle the project.

Next up, we have to stir the pot. This is a really interesting idiom. It means to cause drama or tension on purpose. Okay? So I want you to imagine that I wanted my students to argue. So I’ll throw out a little controversial statement. Now, they say to never talk about religion, money, or soccer. So if I wanted to stir the pot in my classroom, I would go in there and say, Guys, the USA is the best country. And then I'd hear them argue, or I'd say, Oh, [00:16:00] Ronaldo's the best, or Messi's the best, or Neymar Jr., and then I would just let them fight. So this is what we call stirring the pot. You purposely want to cause drama or tension. You know that your two friends are arguing about finances, so you want to talk about finances—you want to stir the pot. For example, She loves to stir the pot by spreading rumors at work.

Next, we have to take shots at someone. This is to make insulting or critical remarks about someone. So you criticize them—you’re taking shots. The slang expression would be shots fired. So Elon Musk wrote a tweet and said, If it weren't for me, Donald Trump wouldn't even be president. And everyone was like, Ooh, shots fired, or Ooh, taking shots—kind of like a gunshot. You're shooting someone with criticism. For [00:17:00] example, The comedian kept taking shots at celebrities during the show.

Next up, we have the slang expression to have beef with someone. This is to have personal conflict or problems with someone. This is very, very specifically American English slang. Brits, Aussies, Canadians—they do not use this slang expression. But in American English, it is extremely common. For example, He's had beef with his former teammates ever since he left the team.

Next up, we have bad blood. If you've ever seen the Taylor Swift music video Bad Blood, you can probably guess what this expression means. To have bad blood with someone means to have longstanding anger or dislike between people. So to have bad blood [00:18:00] is usually similar to a feud. It's something that's been happening for a long time, and sometimes people don't even remember the reason why—there's just bad blood there. We can use the same example from Romeo and Juliet. For example, There's still bad blood between the two families after the lawsuit.

Next up, we have to air dirty laundry. This is slang. And to air dirty laundry means to make the dirty laundry public. Okay, so dirty laundry is embarrassing, criminal information—things that are private, people don't want to reveal. To air something is to make it public, usually in the media. So to air dirty laundry is to share private, embarrassing, incriminating information publicly—information that's going [00:19:00] to get you into trouble. For example, He went on TV to air their dirty laundry about the divorce.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb take down, specifically take someone down. This is to ruin someone's reputation, to destroy their power, to get them fired or removed from their position of power. For example, The reporter tried to take the senator down with a scandalous article.

Next up, we have the expression to hit below the belt. This is a very common idiom. In many sports—for example, in boxing—you cannot punch below the belt. If you do, it's not fair. And so to hit below the belt means to say something that is either unfair or something that's cruel, [00:20:00] which means extremely mean—especially during a fight. So you don't say this to defend yourself or prove your point—you say this to hurt someone. For example, if you're fighting with a friend, and you know that her boyfriend cheated on her, you might mention, Oh yeah? That's why your boyfriend cheated on you. Oh my goodness. That was a hit below the belt. It was personal. It was cruel. You knew that it would hurt them. For example, Bringing up her relationship like that was really hitting below the belt.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb to stir up. To stir up is to cause trouble, to make something emotional, to cause conflict. You're stirring up trouble. Similar to stirring the pot, except stirring the pot is usually something controversial. To stir up trouble, to stir up emotion, to stir up conflict [00:21:00] is just to say something that causes drama. For example, His comments stirred up a lot of anger in the community.

And lastly, we have to burn bridges. This is to destroy relationships permanently. So I want you to imagine that you're crossing a bridge, and then you burn the bridge behind you, and you can never cross the bridge again—you destroy it. And so this is what it means symbolically. Let's say you're leaving your company because you have a new job. You leave it in a bad way—you quit, you curse out your boss, and you talk badly about the company. You have burned that bridge. There's never a way to get back in there. And so this is what it means to burn bridges—it's to permanently destroy relationships. For [00:22:00] example, She burned bridges with her former boss when she quit without giving two weeks’ notice.

Well, are you proud of yourself? You just learned 16 phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang words. And now you know how to talk about feuds and fights in English. For homework, I want you to download the study guide, do the practice activities, review what you learned, and then I want you to put this into practice. Pick five to ten words this week and try to use them in your communication skills. You can write an email to someone, you can write it in a journal, you can text, you can have a conversation. Maybe talk about a public feud that happened in your country. That might be an easy thing to do. That might be an easy place to start, because usually [00:23:00] politics is full of situations like this.

Well, that’s a wrap for today’s episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast. Be sure to download today’s study guide so that you can learn how to use this vocabulary confidently. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe for more weekly adventures in English learning. Also, I’d love to hear from you, so please leave me a review.

Thanks so much for tuning in.