#58- 18 Words for Making Decisions

Welcome to episode #58 of the Real Life English with Gabby Podcast! In this fun and practical episode, you'll learn 18 commonly used phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms that you’ll hear in real American conversations about decision making

You’ll learn expressions like:
 👉 jump the gun
👉 a rash decision
👉 at a crossroads
👉 be of two minds
👉 be on the fence
…and more!

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🎧 Want to remember all the words from this episode? Download the FREE Study Guide that contains:

• All vocabulary from the episode
• Definitions + examples
• Full transcript
• Practice activities

👉 Download it >> HERE << .

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Transcript

[00:00:00] On this episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast, we'll be talking about 18 phrasal verbs, slang, words, and idioms. All about decision making. You'll be learning vocabulary like a no-brainer to be on the fence, pull the trigger on a whim 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. Welcome to episode number 58. How are you doing on [00:01:00] your side of the world? Here in the USA, things are still crazy. Like I say, every episode, hopefully someday. Things will die down again and get less crazy, but I don't anticipate that Here in New York City, we've also had a lot going on. We're picking a mayor pretty soon, so.

All these politicians are fighting and trying to get picked to represent their political parties. , and then, you know, the weather here has just been insane. For the whole month of May, we had rain every single weekend all the time, a lot during the week. We complained about it a lot and we begged. To have different weather and so guess what?

We have different weather, but be careful what you wish for. That's a popular idiom that we have, and I'm sure you have it in your languages as well because [00:02:00] now we have no rain. But we have the sun that has decided to park in New York City. the first week of summer here in the USA, , there is an extreme heat wave.

Actually, it's not just New York City. It's like the whole northeastern part of the United States. , as I record this today, the heat index is actually 40 Celsius. Now, that is not normal for New York City in June. Not normal at all.

, this is ridiculously hot for us this early in the summer. Normally we have a heat wave, like the end of July, early August, but now June, this is crazy. For some of you, this is normal, but for us. It's tough, , because New Yorkers walk a lot. We take the buses, subways not everywhere is air conditioned when you're in the subway station [00:03:00] waiting.

, for the train we say it's hot as hell. It's another expression. , let's see how the rest of the summer goes. , the hottest weather I've ever experienced was over 10 years ago when I was in Morocco. I was backpacking through Morocco. Amazing experience, It was beautiful.

There was a heat wave where it hit 50 Celsius. I thought I was gonna die, couldn't even breathe. There was no relief. And we stayed in, places that didn't really have much air conditioner and one of the small towns that we were in. Actually had a water issue. It was just a crazy experience. But yeah, 50 Celsius is the hottest that African sun woo hits different we say in English. , but yeah, that's what's happening here in New York City. 

Today's episode is all [00:04:00] about decision making. Have you ever had a really big decision to make that could totally change your life? Would you know how to describe that in English?

Hopefully you will after today's episode. For some of you, maybe you had an easy time deciding. Some people can make decisions really quickly, , especially if it's something that you've wanted for a long time. For most people though, I think making big decisions takes a while. , whether it's professional, educational, medical, personal, we've all been in the place where we've had to carefully consider a choice.

I know for many of my students here in New York, for example, they made the huge decision to come and study in the United States. For some of them, that means, missing a year of school, university. For others, it meant, quitting [00:05:00] their jobs, leaving their families for a bit, some of them come for a year, some of them come for just a month.

But either way, it's a huge decision to leave your country and go to another one, or even another city, , for a bigger opportunity. And for all of you listening, you made the choice to improve your English, and that is a very life-changing choice. Speaking English, speaking more than one language. Really opens doors for you that will take you to new places.

 I'm so thankful that you've allowed me to play a role in your English learning journey, and hopefully I can work with some of you more in the future at a closer level. 

 All right, so let me tell you the words that you're gonna be learning in today's episode.

A no-brainer. At a crossroads torn between, pull the trigger [00:06:00] to be of two minds. Play things by ear on a whim, stick with back out of flip flop. Go with your gut or a gut feeling. To call the shots a rash decision to jump the gun and to wing it.

Before we get to the story, I just wanna tell you about the free PDF Study guide that comes with today's episode. The best way to improve your English is through repetition and practice, and the study guide helps exactly with that. You get what normally is a 10 to 12 page PDF, that has all the vocabulary words, definitions, and example sentences.

It also has the transcript from the episode, and it has practice activities so that you can practice and [00:07:00] remember everything that you learn so that you can use this vocabulary in your communication skills. To get the study guide, 

Click the link in the episode description and just follow the steps and you'll have instant access.

 All right, so now I'm going to read you a story that has all 18 vocabulary, words and expressions in a real life context. Listen, as I read afterward, we'll review everything together and I'll give you more example sentences.

Here we go.

 Jasmine had been living in Chicago for 10 years. Working as a graphic designer.

She loved her job and she loved living in Chicago. But she wanted something different, so she started applying to jobs all around the country. One day she got a call from a small tech company in Austin, Texas. They offered her a new [00:08:00] job with better pay, more freedom and sunshine all year long.

It sounded great, but it wasn't a no-brainer. She was at a crossroads in her life. She liked her current job, but she felt bored. Part of her wanted a change, but the other part of her was scared to leave everything behind that night, she called her best friend Tasha. I'm really torn between staying here and moving to Austin.

Jasmine said, tasha replied and said. You've been talking about wanting a change for months now you just have to think it over and sleep on it. Jasmine laughed. That's what my mom said too. I'm on the fence. One minute I wanna move. And the next, I want to stay. A few days [00:09:00] later, the company called her again. We need an answer by Friday, the recruiter said, let us know if you're ready to pull the trigger. Now, the pressure was on. She decided to make a list of pros and cons. She tried to be logical, but nothing really helped her with the decision. She was truly of two minds about it, so she decided to play things by ear for the day and see how she felt the next morning.

The funny thing was she had originally applied for this job on a whim. She didn't expected to even get a call back. I can't believe this is real, she told her coworker at lunch. Well, he said, are you gonna stick with it and take the job or back out of the whole thing and stay in Chicago?. I don't know.

Jasmine said, "I've been flip-flopping all [00:10:00] week. If you want my advice..."
 Liam said, "Go with your gut. Let your gut call the shots, not your fear."

Later that night, she opened her laptop and started to write her decision email. She deleted it, then rewrote it, and then deleted it again.
 "Ugh," she said out loud. "What if this is a rash decision? What if I'm jumping the gun?"

The next morning, she walked to her favorite coffee shop to clear her head. On the way, she saw a sign in the window that said, "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

She smiled. She didn't have all the answers, and she knew she'd have to wing it a little, but she was ready.
 She went home, opened her laptop, and finally hit send. She was moving to Austin.

The end.

All right, so let's get to [00:11:00] the definitions.

First up, we see in the story that she says the decision was not a no-brainer.
 A no-brainer is an easy decision. It doesn't require much thought. You don't really have to use your brain—that's where it comes from. We typically use it in a positive way by saying, "Oh, it's a no-brainer. I don't even have to think about it."
 For example:
 Taking the higher-paying job was a no-brainer.

Next up, we see in the story that she's at a crossroads.
 This is a point in your life where a big decision must be made. It's like you're standing in the middle of an intersection and you can go forward, backward, right, or left. You have to decide which way to go, and all four options will take you somewhere different.
 For [00:12:00] example:
 After graduation, I was at a crossroads and didn't know what to do next.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb torn between.
 To be torn between two things is when you feel unable to decide between two options. You are torn. Sometimes we say, "I'm torn." Sometimes we say, "I'm torn between," and then we say the two options.
 For example:
 I'm torn between moving to the city and staying near my family.

Next up, we have another phrasal verb: to think over.
 To think something over is when you consider something very carefully before deciding. You want to take your time; you don't want to rush.
 For example:
 Let me think it over before I give you an answer.

A similar phrasal verb is to sleep on [00:13:00] something.
 Sleep on it—this is to wait until the next day to make a decision. So sometimes we tell people, "Hey, think it over," or, "Hey, sleep on it," and both of them mean that you're going to take some time to consider the decision.
 Sleep on it can be a little bit more specific because it really means that you're going to wait until the next day. So you say, "You know what? Let me sleep on it. I'll get back to you tomorrow."
 You don't always have to make the decision the next day, but it is pretty typical.

Next up is to be on the fence.
 This is to be unsure or undecided about something. Imagine that you're sitting on a fence and you have to decide which side you are going to jump off on.

Now, being on the fence is sometimes seen as a negative thing because we often use this for [00:14:00] politics—like someone might say, "Hey, what are your thoughts on immigration?" And you might say, "Oh, I'm on the fence."
 And so it's kind of like you're not picking a side—you don't want to pick a side. And so sometimes being on the fence is a little bit negative. But when it's just about regular decisions in our lives and not necessarily opinions, it can be seen as neutral—not negative or positive.
 For example:
 I am still on the fence about whether I should go to the wedding.

Next up, we have the idiom pull the trigger.
 This is to make a final decision—especially a big one or a risky one. So there's some definite risk involved in this decision.

The trigger is the part of the gun that fires the bullet, so pulling the [00:15:00] trigger is like, boom, I'm finally gonna do it.
For example:
After months of thinking, she finally pulled the trigger and bought the car.

Next up, we have to be of two minds—m-i-n-d-s, like your brain and thinking.
 This is to have mixed feelings about something or to be undecided, like your brain is thinking two different ways about a topic.
 For example:
 I'm of two minds about quitting my job. I want to leave, but I'm also scared.

Next up, we have to play things by ear.
 This is to decide what to do as the situation happens. So I'm not going to decide now—I'm just going to see what happens.

This is a very common idiom when it comes to making plans and having a social life.
 So let's say it's a [00:16:00] Saturday night, and one group of friends is going to a bar. The other group of friends is going to a concert. And Friday night, they say, "Hey, what are you gonna do tomorrow?"
 And you're like, "You know what? Let me play things by ear. I'll let you know shortly."

Next up, we have on a whim.
 This means suddenly and without planning. So this is when you make a spontaneous decision—like she decided to do something on a whim.

Oftentimes people just decide things in the moment, and that's when we use "on a whim."
 For example:
 He bought a plane ticket to Spain on a whim.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb to stick with something.
 Stick with means to continue with a choice or plan. So you decide to stay with whatever choice you made at first, and you [00:17:00] don't want to change your mind or change your decision.
 For example:
 I almost changed my university major, but I decided to stick with engineering.

Next up, we have the three-word phrasal verb back out of.
 To back out of something is to decide not to do something after you agreed to it or committed to it.
 For example:
 She backed out of the trip at the last minute.

Next up, we have flip-flop.
 Now, I know that the common use of flip-flop is the little sandal, right, that everybody wears in the summer. That's the noun.

As a verb, to flip-flop is when you continue to change your mind about a decision. So one day you [00:18:00] say this, the next day you say that. So you are flip-flopping.
 For example:
 The mayor keeps flip-flopping on the issue of public transportation.

Next up, we have to go with your gut or a gut feeling.
 The word guts has a lot of meanings in English. One meaning is your inside organs, like your small and large intestine, your stomach, and so on.

When you say you have a gut feeling, this is a feeling that comes from inside of you—it's your instincts. When you go with your gut, it's to make a decision based on your instinct, what you feel inside.

We use this a lot. We say, "Don't follow your heart 'cause it's emotional," but we always say, "Go with your gut."
 If you have a gut feeling about something, don't doubt yourself.
 For example:
 I didn't [00:19:00] have proof, but I went with my gut and I was right.

Next up, we have to call the shots. This is to be the one making the decisions. We use this a lot talking about business decisions. For example, at work, my manager calls the shots, not me.
 Next up, we have the expression a rash decision. A rash decision is a choice that's made quickly without thinking it through. This is actually the expression that inspired this episode. Let me talk about something different for one second.
 So currently, I have a group of students going through my Real Life English course, and it's been great. We have a nice group of students this time around. I mean, it's always a nice group, but I'm also developing a new mini course called English Through Media, where I [00:20:00] create lesson plans for popular TV shows, movies, also like short celebrity clips, short clips from TV shows.
 And one of them was about someone making a rash decision. It was from Friends. So I was creating this lesson plan and a rash decision came up as one of the words. And this is the expression that inspired me to do a whole episode on decision making, because this came up a few times in the Friends episode. And yeah, so that's actually an interesting fact — that's where this came from.
When I watch TV shows, movies, a lot of times I will be inspired to do things for students. And so that's where this episode came from. So you can thank Friends, by the way. More information will be coming in July and August about the English Through Media mini course.
Okay, so back to a rash [00:21:00] decision, to be rash — this is when someone does something based on emotion, not really using logic. So a rash decision is a choice that's made without really thinking it through, like you make the choice in the moment. There's a lot of emotions involved, and so it might not be the best decision. For example, quitting his job without a backup plan was definitely a rash decision.

Next up, we have to jump the gun. This is to make a decision or take action too quickly. Here's where this comes from: in many sports like track and field or athletics, as many of you call it, runners can't run until the referee pulls the trigger on the gun. We say it's a start gun.
 To jump the gun is when you go before the gun goes off, so you have a start that's too soon [00:22:00], and many times you're disqualified. So that's where this comes from. To jump the gun is you make a decision too soon, oftentimes without hearing all the facts, and also maybe before you really think it through. For example, we jumped the gun and booked the tickets before confirming the dates.

And lastly, we have a slang expression — to wing it. This is to do something without being prepared. This is a big one. This is very spontaneous. So imagine if your boss, your manager, asks you, "Hey, can you present in 10 minutes about what you're working on?" And you're like, "Sure, okay, I'll just wing it."
 I'm not planning beforehand. I'll just have to go based on my own knowledge and my own experience. For example, I didn’t study for the interview. I [00:23:00] just decided to wing it.

Well, there you have it. You just learned 18 awesome new vocabulary words and phrases that you can start using today.

I'm gonna give you some homework assignments so that you can really start remembering this vocabulary and making it a part of your communication. First step is to go download the study guide, if you have not already. Review the words on there. Make sure things are really in your head. Then what you're gonna do is pick 7 to 10 expressions that you really loved most — maybe the ones that stood out to you — and you're going to use them this week.
 You can either write them down in a journal, you can send an email or a text to a friend, you can have a conversation about them, maybe tell a story about a decision that you had to make and [00:24:00] your process through it. However you decide to do it, just do it. You have to practice and use these words — even if you look in the mirror and record yourself in an audio file telling a story. This is still good. This is a perfect way to practice, so make sure that you do your homework so that you can use all of these this week.

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.