In this mini episode, you will learn how to use the expression “Tell me about it.”
Episode 357 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you how to use the expression “Tell me about it.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi, everyone. This is Rose, from China. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 357 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you about a very common expression. The expression is “Tell me about it.” Tell me about it.
That’s t-e-l-l, m-e, a-b-o-u-t, i-t. Tell me about it.
You might be thinking, “This doesn’t sound like a very interesting expression.” And sometimes it is not very interesting. Sometimes “Tell me about it” just means what it looks like. It means “Please tell me about something,” or “Please describe something to me,” or “Please explain something to me.”
But, sometimes it means something very different. Sometimes, what it really means is, “Yes, I agree with you.” Or “Yes, I have had the same experience.” Or “Yes, I have made the same conclusion.”
Let me give you an example of a situation where this expression might be used in that more interesting way.
Let’s say that you have just watched a movie at a movie theater. This movie was very long. Let’s say this movie was three hours long. That’s a very long movie. And let’s also say that this movie was very boring. Not very much happens in this movie. Okay, so that is our situation.
Now, imagine that you leave the theater, and then you say, “That movie was so boring!” And somebody else turns to you and says, “Tell me about it.”
What they are saying is not “Please tell me what you think. Please continue. Please give me your opinion.”
What they are really saying is “Yes, I agree with you. That movie was boring.” And I think it even sounds a little bit like they are saying, “Yes, that is obvious.” Or “Everybody would agree with that. I agree with you, and I think everybody would agree with you. Yes, that movie really was boring.”
That is an example of a situation where “Tell me about it” doesn’t really mean “Please tell me about something,” or “Please tell me that.” It means “Yes, indeed. I agree with you.” Or “Yes, I think that is clear.” Or “I think that is obvious.”
One important thing you need to know about this expression is this: When we use it to have this special kind of meaning, we always stress the word tell. We always say, “Tell me about it.” Tell me about it. We never stress a different word in this phrase. For instance, we never stress the word me. Tell me about it. We never stress the word it. Tell me about it. Tell me about it. No, when we use this expression to mean those things like “Oh, of course I agree with you,” we always stress the word tell.
Tell me about it. That movie was so boring. Tell me about it.
And again, that just means “Yes, of course, I agree.”
And that is “Tell me about it,” an interesting and useful expression that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 357 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Rose recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!