When Words Aren't the Whole Story
Spoken English isn't just fast. It's layered.
Back in the 90s, the phrase “yada, yada, yada” became popular after it was featured in an episode of the sitcom Seinfeld.
Yada, yada, yada became a playful way to skip over details and assume shared understanding. The fun is in the ambiguity.
In the clip above, however, we can see one of the downsides of this ambiguity, as George goes a little crazy, wondering what exactly the woman he’s dating meant by this phrase.
In a sitcom, this kind of ambiguity is funny.
In real-life — especially at work — it can have more serious consequences.
Do you know what I mean?
In a previous job, a student told me that his supervisor kept saying “Juneauwuddeimeen” and he never knew how to respond.
I explained that the supervisor was asking, “Do you know what I mean?” but it was being pronounced as one phrase with a lot of connections and reductions.
Once the student understood what was being said, he was able to appropriately confirm their shared understanding for the task at hand.
Shared cultural understanding
English is full of these phrases that assume shared understanding, and this can complicate your understanding of what you’re hearing. Not only do you have to decode the sounds into words, but now you have to understand the subtext of these ambiguous phrases.
That’s why the “what the British say vs. what they actually mean” memes are so popular today. It just shows that even native speakers don’t always get that shared understanding.
Setting realistic expectations
Many learners believe they should understand 100% of what they hear. I don’t.
80% is a more realistic target. Spoken English often includes:
cultural references
new words
slang
implied meaning
connected speech
Not even native speakers understand 100% of everything they hear in English. Instead, it’s better to try to aim for 80%.
And for that other 20%, learn to live with the ambiguity.
Skilled listeners don’t worry about understanding everything. They just have better strategies, like not getting stuck at unknown words.
Instead of fighting ambiguity, let’s play with it!
I’ve created a small matching game to help you test your understanding of the subtext behind common business phrases.
(Just for fun — real-life subtext always depends on tone and context.)
Try it a few times to see all the phrases!
I did in 30 moves...😆
Fun game!