Podcast: It blew me away

By Ana | Podcast Inglês Online

Jul 05
Inglês - Podcast It blew me away

O podcast de hoje fala sobre a palavra BLEW.

Transcrição

Hey, what’s up? I’m Ana Luiza, with a new episode of the inglesonline podcast. To download or just listen to other episodes and download transcripts, go to inglesonline.com.br and click Podcast Inglesonline.

Today I’m gonna focus a little on pronunciation. This will be the first in a series of episodes where I’m gonna talk about these words: b-l-e-w, f-l-e-w, g-r-e-w, k-n-e-w and t-h-r-e-w. So the words I just spelled out, they are blew, flew, grew, knew and threw. I thought it would be a good idea to focus on these words for some time because this kind of pronunciation, when we have the word b-l-e-w and we say it “blew”… This can be counterintuitive for us Brazilians and other Portuguese speakers. We tend to say it “bliu”, “fliu”, something like that… instead of blew and flew. So let’s hear them! I’m going to actually focus on blew on today’s episode. I’m gonna use blew in many examples, and you’ll have the opportunity to get used to it and the way it is pronounced a little bit more.

So let’s get started. B-l-e-w. Blew is the past form of “blow” and blew, b-l-e-w, is actually pronounced like the color blue. Practically speaking, there’s no difference. One of the meanings of blow has to do with air in motion. For example… you know what blows? The wind. The wind is air in motion, so you can say “The wind was blowing outside”. And we always blow up balloons for kids parties, right? That means we blow air into the balloons so that they’ll get big.

So here’s an expression: something blew me away. B-l-e-w, blew. That means that I was amazed at this thing, I was very moved or I was deeply affected by this thing. For example, people who went to the last U2 concert in Brazil said that it blew them away. The U2 concert blew them away. They left the concert in a state of amazement, they kept talking about the concert for days, they kept thinking about it, they had dreams about the U2 concert… It blew them away, it really blew them away. The first time I visited my sister’s hotel, it blew me away. I was expecting a nice hotel but what I saw just blew me away. It was beautiful and very well decorated, with a lot of attention to detail. It blew me away. I was amazed and very impressed. The hotel blew me away.

Here’s another very informal expression: blow someone off. Let me tell you a story I just read on a magazine to illustrate the meaning of “blowing someone off”: a guy was working out in a gym, and he saw an attractive girl on a treadmill. He decided to approach her and say something, you know, try to talk to her. Well, he did that, and the girl just looked at him for a few seconds and walked away. She blew him off.  The girl blew him off completely.

Here’s another example: you made plans with a friend to go see a movie. You guys talked on the phone a few days ago and you agreed to go see this new blockbuster that just came out. So, as you’re about to leave home, you get a text message from your friend that says “Sorry! Something came up. I can’t make it tonight”. You wonder what happened, so you give your friend a call. His mom answers the phone and she tells you that his ex-girlfriend showed up unexpectedly, and then they decided to go out. So your friend blew you off. He blew you off for his ex-girlfriend.

So here’s a recap: many people told me that the U2 concert blew them away. The first time I visited my sister’s hotel, it blew me away. A guy at the gym approached a girl and she blew him off. And your friend blew you off for his ex-girlfriend. So, what are your stories? Tell us about something that totally blew you away. Or maybe the last time you blew someone off at the last minute…Or tell us about how someone blew you off when you tried to talk to them. Talk to you next time!

 

Key expressions

  • it blew me away
  • blow someone off

Glossary

treadmill = esteira (de ginástica)

something came up = ocorreu um imprevisto

I can’t make it = Não dá pra eu ir

unexpectedly = de surpresa, inesperadamente

Ana
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Ivomar Venancio 16/11/2011

Hello, Anna, how´s everything? i´d like that you could clarify my mind. What is the difference between “give a cold shoulder and blew someone off” thanks a lot.

    Ana 16/11/2011

    give the could shoulder é como dar um gelo, e blow someone off é, por exemplo, dar uma desculpa furada pra não comparecer em algo q tinha sido combinado.

Paulo Lopes 26/07/2011

Hi Ana.
My wife’s name is Ana Luisa too ( but with “s” and the last name Ferreira – Rsrsrs).
Well, once I travel to Portugal ( I lived there for 3 years) It blew me away so much, because the cities are clean and have many trees and flowers and there the law work.

Tk u

Veronica Neves 21/07/2011

Hiya!
Last week I went to a restaurant and ate a Dutch pie that totally blew me away. That was the most delicious pie I’ve already ate!
Everytime someone who I don’t appreciate that much starts a conversation with me on the msn I blew them off! That’s why I always let my status busy, so that’s an excuse!

Thanks for this episode! (:

Ana Luiza 20/07/2011

Hi everyone! Love reading the examples… keep it up!

Vera Graña Cruz 14/07/2011

If someone blow me off, I don’t go out again with him again. 

I’ve seen Robinhos house player in Sao Paulo and I confess it blew me away..

Ricardo 11/07/2011

Hi, Ana! How do you do?

I’m the same guy that mentioned you on twitter. Thanks for your reply!

So, following your counsels, I registred myself on ESLPodcast, the files are great!

Of course, I keep downloading your podcasts, that, in my opinon, are really amazing. Your fluency admires me.

About the subject of this podcast… When I went to São Joaquim, SC, in July 2009, the weather was very cold and snowy, it blew me away! By the way, I’m going to go back there on July 17th and 18th, however, on this time I hope to get a little chilly just!

Now, concerning the another expression, I hate when I text someone and I don’t receive a message back. Last weekend, my friend blew me off! Actually, I am still a little angry about that situation.

Take care! hugs.

Tercio N de almeida 10/07/2011

Hi there Ana luiza, I like it very much, I like the tip you sugested me about the ESLPODCST Dr. Jeff McCquillian and the Lucy Tse. They are… I can say I am certanly learning much better than before. I became very interested that I wanna recomend all this method to our friends that has been listening you. Now I am undestend you very well, thanks.

Juliana 09/07/2011

In the last month I went to Paris. Everything is this wonderful city blew me away.
I have a very distracted friend, so one day she blew me off on the phone call. I was very nervous!! I really didn’t like!!

eliana pavan 06/07/2011

Good… very good text. I appreciated the quality of the sound.  It´s perfect to mp3 to listen and listen yeah,  it´s a kind of exercise for the listening comprehension.Thanks. Eliana

Ana Luiza 06/07/2011

Hi everyone, thanks – the links have been fixed and the right files are ready to be downloaded.

Valdomir – congratulations on your English! The Basic course is probably a good way for you to recap.

bruno – não sei… Como o blog é aberto e muita gente diferente visita, prefiro manter PG13 (apropriado pra crianças, rsrs)

Marilia – thanks for all your comments, and congratulations on your English. It is fantastic. I would like to know more about how you acquired English… can you shoot me an email? Or I can email you. XO

Hey Kelly – thanks, and enjoy smile

Kelly Santos 06/07/2011

Valdomir is totally right, the link for the listening was switched, the mp3 file for this lesson is, actually, the mp3 file for the previous lesson.
But since it’s my first time posting here, i would like to take the opportunity to say thank you for the blog, it has been helping me since i started reading you. Keep up with the excellent work.
Cheers,
Kelly.

Marilia 06/07/2011

Hi Ana…. When I got to Maceió on my honeymoon trip, the wonderful beaches there totally blew me away!! I can’t remember when was the last time I blew someone off… but I hate it when people blow me off… hahahah

bruno santos 06/07/2011

Sei que é estranho mas, você bem que poderia fazer um podcast falando de palavrões em inglês. Afinal de contas, não tem nada mais fluente ( e normal ) do que xingar um pouquinho. rsrsrsrsrs

Valdomir 06/07/2011

Hi Ana the files in this podcast are changed, when I tried to download them, it cames the files of the last episode “cry” would you please post the right one. By the way I’m one of your students in the basic course, but it helps me to make a recap of the language. I’ve been listening to your podcasts for three months and I enjoy them a lot. That’s the way to keep my ears and vocabulary up to date and improve the fluency.

Maria José Strongoli Nemes 06/07/2011

I loved it.

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