024: The Best Present You've Ever Gotten

Welcome to the Rachel's English Podcast. I'm Rachel, and this podcast is made especially for non-native speakers to help you learn the phrases and idioms that Americans use while speaking natural American English.

And search for this episode. As we're in the holiday season here in the U.S., many people celebrate Christmas. It's become a commercialized... holiday here in the U.S. and even people who don't go to church regularly or don't identify as Christians do often exchange Christmas gifts. So at the end of the year here, we're going to be discussing

gifts. And we're going to be talking about the best gifts we've ever gotten. As we go along, if an interesting vocabulary word or idiom or phrasal verb comes up, we'll stop and discuss it.

to try to make sure that everyone understands how we use these in American English. All right, I'm going to sit down here with my husband, David. Let's get started. David, do you have any gifts from childhood that... are very memorable for you yes i have one time in particular i was maybe eight or nine years old maybe six or seven and there were two things that i really really wanted one was the atari 2600 and that's a game console that was a game console that is one of the originals

Is that something that plugged into your TV or was it a... Right. Okay. Yeah, plugged into the TV. And I didn't think that I was going to get that. And the other one was this, I forget what it was called. It was like a speak and spell maybe.

It had a little keyboard. It was this self-contained electronic toy that taught you about spelling and punctuation that I thought was really cool. Maybe a friend had that. And I didn't really think that I would get either of those. They were both stretch gifts. Stretch gifts. That means something you don't think you're going to get, but you're going to ask for it anyway. Yeah. Maybe reach is better. We would use that like if you're applying to college. You have a reach school and a...

school that you think you might actually get into. And I think you could also say if you set goals for yourself, like you could have an easy goal. a challenge goal and maybe a stretch goal. And a stretch goal would be something you don't think you're actually going to be able to achieve, but you said it just to motivate yourself. Yeah. Like my goal this month, let's say, is to lose two pounds. That's my easy goal.

my challenge goal is six pounds and my stretch goal would be 10 pounds maybe. Yeah, right. Okay, so this was a stretch ask. Both of these things individually were things that I did not think that my parents would... get for me um and so we got to christmas morning and i opened the speak and spell

thing and i just i was freaking out i could not believe that i had gotten it i started playing with it what does freaking out look like just like my jaw dropped to the ground i was just shocked so surprised i could not believe it did you get kind of hyper about it do you think

I think I probably got hyper. Yeah, I got really happy, I'm sure. Very energized. Energized, smiling, laughing. Maybe there was a lot of, oh my God. Yeah, stuff like that. So my Christmas was already... going to be the greatest Christmas ever because I had gotten this thing and then there were a couple more presents under the tree still and I opened it up and the Atari was in there too and I almost

imploded from happiness like i could not believe my eyes what's the difference between implode and explode so explode is something that happens outward right and implode is something that happens inward Like a building would implode when it like falls down upon itself. It would explode when it gets blown into bits and pieces that go everywhere. I guess so. That's a quick physics aside. Okay.

Anyway, that was incredibly memorable because the two things that I really, really wanted, didn't think I would get either. I got both and I was super happy. Yeah, that's pretty amazing when you get your Oh My God gift and then there's an even bigger.

oh my god gift coming yeah yeah that was nuts this that's reminding me of um one year we had all gotten all of our gifts and you know it was like a a good haul. You know, my parents always got us a pretty good amount of gifts. We would, between friends and family, we would probably each be opening like eight gifts each year. So we were pretty excited about what we got. And then...

there was one more gift that got pulled out. I was 10 years old, and it was a family gift that my dad bought, and it was a video camera. Oh, yeah. It was one of those big ones that goes on the shoulder, you know, like those full VHS tapes would go in. And we immediately both became filmmakers, my brother and I. Actually, I was more of an actress. He was more of the director. But we had a lot of fun making like fictional movies. My dad bought it for home movies, of course.

for making memories of trips and this kind of thing. But my brother and I really used it for dramatic purposes. I remember one time we were at my cousin's house and we were making a scary movie. That involved a lot of fishing line tied to objects to make them move. And then also we put together an outfit and like stuffed it with other clothes or something. I don't know. We made a dummy that we threw off a balcony.

Oh, my God. Yeah. And the worst part of it is that movie got erased. No. Yes. My aunt accidentally videotaped something over it. The movie was called Boo 2. It was a sequel to one my brother and I had done called Boo. And it's lost forever. Oh my gosh. We can still remember some of the lines from it.

You guys should re-record it. Like we sometimes, Nikki and I will go, the piece is moving. Because there was a scene where we were playing the game Sorry. Yeah. And the pieces started moving around on the board. Oh, wow. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. I mean, this was an intense film. Wow. So that was a really memorable gift. And actually, I remember another gift that was memorable so much because of the packaging.

It was given to me by a friend of the family, Barbara Bainan, and she always gave really good gifts. And this year, she had given me a gift that was so small. that I just was so excited about what could be this small. And it turned out to be a teeny little Christmas ornament that was really cute that we still have and we still hang on our tree. The thing that just really got me was how interesting that size was.

And that makes me want to think about that when I'm giving gifts to kids in the future. How can we make it extra enticing and interesting by the size or something about the way it's wrapped? So it was a tiny little... package but it was wrapped yeah it was just it was like an inch by an inch by a half inch maybe and wrapped in the traditional way yeah flaps on the side and it was yeah wrapped in christmas paper

I don't think it had a bow on it, but it might have had a tag. But I was just so taken by that. That's fun. You know, your gift, the family gift that your dad got you guys, then recently he's digitized some of those. and he just gave his siblings a gift of that footage. Yeah, he gave them a flash drive, and it had on it an interview that they did with my grandparents when my grandparents were...

in their late 80s, early 90s, just talking about their lives. My aunt sat down with them and interviewed them, and my dad taped it. And that's really awesome. That's something that I want to... do with some of my audio and video equipment is get some of the stories that the family passes around on tape because I don't want to have to try to remember them all.

It's funny that we still use the term on tape when everything is digital now. I was thinking that too. Yeah. On my hard drive. There you go. Backed up. You know, I think when we think about gifts, we often think about childhood. What about any gifts that you've received as an adult that have been exceptional or memorable? Yeah, I was thinking about that too. Childhood comes to mind. I think that those presents under the tree, that would just, you know.

They stood out so much in our memory. But another great birthday that I had was when I turned 40. And, you know, we invited all of my family. ton of friends to our house and the gift was not an actual gift but having all those people in the room at the same time was so much fun and you know we had good food and just people hanging out and being around. That's one of my birthday highlights for sure. Yeah, that was a really fun evening and day. And I remember feeling...

Really happy that it worked out like that because I was seven months pregnant and I was not up to coming up with an amazing gift idea. And it's the 40th birthday. That's a big deal. So I was really glad that. We had that idea and that you kind of also took on some of the planning that maybe I normally would have done if I had more energy and was feeling more up to it. So what do you mean 40 is a big deal?

You mean what does big deal mean? It means out of the ordinary and important. It's like 39th birthday, not a big deal. You know, I also use the phrase up to it. I didn't feel up to it. I didn't feel up to throwing you a big party because I was really physically drained by being pregnant. So if you're feeling up to it, that means, okay, you have the energy and the time to put forth the effort to do something.

If you're not feeling up to it, then it means you don't. So for example, I could say, you know, David, I know we are planning on going out to eat tonight, but I'm just not up to it. I'm feeling tired. Can we eat in instead? You could use it like that. It can be something major. I'm not up to switching jobs right now. I'm just going to stay here even though I'm not that happy. Or you can use it for something minor. Hey, are you up to dinner out tonight? Sure, that sounds great.

For me, I had a great birthday gift also when I was pregnant. So David and I have birthdays that are only 25 days apart, both in November. I'm the fifth and he's the 30th. And so... Stoney was due at the end of December. So that one year where David turned 40, I was also very pregnant on my own birthday and was not sure, you know, what I was feeling up to.

And then also knowing that this was going to be my last birthday without being a mom. And David did something really special. We had been in New York. Was it just the weekend before visiting Renee? I don't remember that. We had been in New York. I think the weekend before, and David had brought a wad of cash that he passed off to my friend Renee. A wad being like a big ball, a chunk, a wad of cash. He gave it to my friend Renee.

so that she would have it. And then he and Renee, over the course of the week or the couple weeks before, had been looking at cultural events. David knows I'm big into the performing arts. And so they had chosen a symphony.

and had emailed a bunch of my girlfriends in New York and got everyone who was free to come to the symphony. But before that, we were going to do dinner. Not everyone could go to the symphony. And before that, we were meeting at this chocolate shop but i didn't know any of this so the day of my birthday my friend krista here in philly has asked me to go to lunch which is part of the ruse which is what does that word mean um the setup the

The conspiring. Yeah, the conspiracy to get me to New York without me knowing it. Ruse or ruse? You know, that's a really good question. I'm going to go ruse. Let's check. Okay, it's pronounced ruse. Nailed it. No, I said it with an S. What? I said Roos. I nailed it. Yeah, you nailed it. One in every hundred times I get one right and you get it wrong. This brings up an interesting point. First of all, nailed it means got it.

Did it. I was right. Did it well. And then the other thing is this word is spelled R-O-U-S-E. So a word ending in S-E can go either way. Mouse is an S, but rose. is a Z. So you don't always know how something is pronounced. Now, I should have known this. I feel like I've heard this a number of times. I just, I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention, but...

The thing that I find interesting is that you can know a word well by having read it, but it might be a word that's used more in writing than an actual conversation. And so you're not really sure how it's pronounced. And this is something that... Even Americans, even someone like me who focuses so much on pronunciation will run into problems where we are mispronouncing words. Actually, just this past Thanksgiving, we were with my...

dad's side of the family, and my cousin brought a game called Taboo. And they were calling it Taboo. So they were putting a schwa in the first syllable, T. And I was putting the AA vowel, TA. We were both doing the same stress. And I was kind of making fun of them for calling it taboo. And they're like, that's how the word's pronounced. And I said, no, it's taboo. So I looked it up and both pronunciations are acceptable, but actually the schwa is more common.

And I was surprised because I felt like I had not heard it that way. But again, I mean, it's not uncommon for me to be looking up a word. It happens every so often where I'm not sure about the pronunciation or someone else. thinks it's different and we have to look it up to see yeah and i think it's also you know what we just did there was kind of had fun with it like let's each place our bets and take our guesses on which way it's pronounced that makes it kind of fun yeah

But then someone is right and someone is wrong and you were right and now I feel bad. Okay, anyway, back to the whole point. So Krista invited me out for lunch. And at this lunch, I got a phone call from David. And David said, Krista has something for you. So Krista pulls out this train ticket. And he says, go home, pack up real quick. Krista's going to take you to the train station. You're going to New York.

So I was like, this is amazing because New York is my favorite place on earth. We live in Philadelphia. So it's not a long train ride. Krista took me home. I packed up a quick overnight bag. He said I was staying with my friend Renee and, uh, we headed, she took me to the train station and on the way up. So David said, you're to be at LA Burdick, which was one of my favorite.

places in New York. It's not there anymore, but it's a chocolate shop. He said, go to LA Burdick at five. And so I knew I was going to have some extra time. So on the way on the train, I booked a massage that was heaven. And then I walk to LA Burdick. And as I'm walking, I'm like two blocks away. Maybe I'm even on the block.

And I turn a corner and I'm walking and up behind me walks one of my best friends in the whole world, Beads. And she was like, hey, Beads. Beads is the nickname she calls me and I call her. Her actual name is Lynn. And I was like, oh, my God. beads hi and so we walked to la burdick together where did she tell you at that point i mean i knew what was going on i assumed i was going to be meeting some people there okay and um renee was there haquen shows up

Hill comes, Lori comes, and just over the course of the next half hour, it was so exciting seeing who was going to walk in the door next. And I didn't know who had been invited. And I, I mean, I obviously I had a pretty good guess, but it was just excitement every time a new friend walked in the door. You just used walk in the door twice, which is funny. Why? Because it does, it's not doorway.

That would make sense. But walk in the door is like, why would you walk into a door? Right. Well, it's not into, it's not through, but you're right. She walked in the door. That is a phrase we use for entered the room. So we had our chocolate, then we went and grabbed some tacos, ate them in the park, and then we went to the symphony. And I stayed the night with Renee, came home the next morning, and it was just so much fun. That was a great birthday gift, David.

That was fun to plan. You know, experiences really rank high in birthday gifts for me. Yeah. Well, actually, a couple times recently I've been with people and I have asked them about a memorable gift. So let's listen to what a couple other people have to say. This first one is Elliot Friesen, who was on a recent podcast. He's an IELTS test expert at Magoosh.

And because I had him mic'd up already for that podcast, I went ahead and asked him this question because I knew I wanted to do a podcast on this topic at the end of the year. Well, I'm not sure this is the best gift I've ever gotten, but a gift that was memorable for me recently. So my wife and I have two small kids and I recently got a weekend.

to hang out with some college friends as sort of a gift of time that I got. And, you know, as I found that the further I get away from college, the harder and harder it has been. to get together with those old friends and to find time to do those kinds of things. And so that's one of the really the best gifts I've gotten recently was just the opportunity to sort of...

take a weekend away from family obligations or other things we were doing and reconnect with some people I hadn't seen before. So that stands out as something recently that my wife has sort of taken on because she, of course, had to stay at home. and spend a long weekend with the kids and everything. So. So David Elliott just said the word, the phrase stand out.

it really stands out as an amazing gift. So when something stands out, this is a phrasal verb, and we use it to mean is very memorable or is more noticeable. It's usually a positive thing. So something stands out as being better than something else. Although I guess you could also use it negatively if you're talking about something that's not good. Well, this one really stands out.

Yeah, I think you can go positive or negative. So it just means makes itself known for being more of something, more attractive. Oh, this one really stands out. This is a really attractive offer. More attractive. worse, better, whatever, you name the adjective, whatever you're talking about, if there's one that is more than the others, then you can say, this one really stands out. If you say someone stands out from a crowd, that's a positive.

They're more noticeable, maybe more attractive, more beautiful, better dressed, whatever. Also, when my cousin Brooke was recently with us, I asked her about a gift. And she also talked about the idea of experiences. You know, we're talking about experience gifts. Elliot just talked about an experience gift, a gift of time.

Embrook also talked about an experience gift. So I really think there's a theme here, especially for adults when opening something, like the excitement of opening something isn't. quite there, I think experience gifts become even more meaningful. Let's listen to Brooke's answer.

Well, I think in the most recent years, my parents have begun to give our family experiences as gifts as opposed to like physical items. And last Christmas, they told us that they were going to take us on a... weekend ski trip close by our house and so that was memorable and it was very significant to us because we got to spend time with my parents we got to spend time with one another having fun we were outdoors and then it was also something that I

didn't have to keep track of like a present and um you know feel guilty if we weren't using it it was an experience we all enjoyed and appreciated I like that I read somewhere recently that when they do research on like happiness and spending and stuff, that people tend to have more happiness associated with spending on experiences rather than actual physical objects. I think that makes good sense. I mean, the more...

There's probably a threshold of physical items that help you feel comfortable in your home or wherever you live. But then I think beyond that... really more stuff in your house and more gifts that you're given sometimes it feels like it's just weighing you down that you can't do what you want to in your life because you're so worried about all your stuff and so experiences that makes good sense to me that you experience it

you live it, you have the memories, and then it lives kind of in your heart and your memory as opposed to sitting in a corner in your house. Right. That memory lives with you forever, whereas the thing you probably get rid of at some point or it breaks. Yep. I think one thing about my cousin Brooke is she has three kids, so I can see how reducing the amount of physical gifts and things that are brought into the house really matters because, you know, her kids are all...

making stuff at school, buying stuff for this activity, these toys, these books. And when you multiply that by three kids, I think that probably really adds up. When something adds up, that means, might become more than you expect. For example, you could say, well, I have one coffee every day and it doesn't, it's not a lot of money, but over a whole year, that really adds up. All right. Well, that wraps up this episode.

of the Rachel's English podcast. David, thanks for sitting down with me and discussing some memorable gifts. You're welcome. Once again, if you would like a copy of the transcript for this podcast, you can get it at rachelsenglish.com slash podcast. Just search for this episode. It's absolutely free to download. And as we close out 2017, I'm wishing everyone a really happy holiday season. And I hope you get the gift of your dreams this year.

If you have some time, please head over to the iTunes store to rate and review this podcast. I do read all the reviews and I love hearing what people think of the podcast. And even better, it would be a great gift to me if you would share an episode of the podcast with your friends, family, on social media. Say why you like it. And hopefully we can get even more people enjoying this podcast. That's it, guys. Until next week.