In this mini episode, you will learn the expression “to wrap your head around something.”
Episode 360 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the expression “to wrap your head around something.” 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
“Hello, everyone. This is Damon, from Nanjing, China. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 360 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 an interesting expression. And the expression is “to wrap your head around something.” To wrap your head around something. That’s wrap, w-r-a-p. Your, head, h-e-a-d, around something. To wrap your head around something.
You will also hear this expression as “to wrap your mind around something.” But I think it’s more common to hear “wrap your head around something.”
Okay, but what does this expression mean? “To wrap your head around something” means “to fully understand something confusing or difficult.” Or “to accept something confusing or something that is difficult to accept.”
And you will usually hear this expression in a negative sentence. As in, “I cannot wrap my head around” this. Or you will hear it in the form of a question. “Can you wrap your head around” this thing?
Let me give you an example of a situation where we might use the expression “to wrap your head around something.”
Let’s say that you have a friend at work. And one day, you go to your job, and you find that your friend is not there. So you ask somebody, “Where is” So-and so?
“Where is John? John’s desk is empty. There’s nothing here. Where is he? Where is John?” And somebody else tells you, “Oh, you didn’t hear about this? John moved. He moved to France yesterday.”
This is something that’s very hard for you to understand. What a strange and sudden thing. It’s very hard for you to understand or accept this.
So you can say, “I really cannot wrap my head around this. You’re telling me that John moved to France? Yesterday? Wow, I cannot wrap my head around this.”
In other words, you are saying, “I cannot understand this. I cannot accept this new fact or this new information.”
I guess the idea is that if you can wrap your head around something, that means that you can hold that thing within your head. You can hold that thing within your mind. But if you cannot wrap your head around it, that means you cannot hold it within your head or your mind. It’s something that you just cannot understand or accept. It’s too hard to understand. It’s too strange. It’s too unexpected. It’s too weird in some way.
And that is “to wrap your head around something,” an interesting expression that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 360 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 Damon 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!