In this mini episode, you will learn the interjection “For crying out loud!”
Episode 423 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the interjection “For crying out loud!” 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
“This is Soongjae from Gyeonggi, Korea. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 423 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 interjection.
Do you know what an interjection is? An interjection is a word or a phrase that is used to express strong, sudden emotion. That means that words like Ouch! and Huh? are interjections. Ouch! and Huh? Those are interjections. They express strong, sudden emotions.
The interjection that I’m going to tell you about in this episode is a little bit different. It is a longer phrase. Not just one word, but a whole phrase.
And the interjection is “For crying out loud!” For crying out loud!
That is spelled f-o-r, c-r-y-i-n-g, o-u-t, l-o-u-d. For crying out loud!
The first thing I want to tell you about this strange interjection is I don’t really know where it came from or why we use it at all. “For crying out loud!” What does that really mean? I don’t know. I don’t really know what it means. I just know that people sometimes use this expression in certain situations:
When people feel frustrated or annoyed, especially when they are suddenly frustrated or annoyed, they might say, “For crying out loud!” It’s really just a way of expressing that strong, sudden emotion—an emotion of frustration or annoyance.
That means you might encounter situations like this:
Your friend comes home after a long, hot day outside. And he turns on his air conditioner. He wants to make his apartment cooler and more comfortable. He pushes a button on the air conditioner, and nothing happens. Your friend might say, “Oh, for crying out loud? The air conditioner is broken?”
When he says, “For crying out loud,” he is expressing a feeling of frustration and annoyance.
“For crying out loud! The air conditioner is broken.”
You could also imagine a situation like this:
Let’s say that your friend is looking at an email from her boss. Her boss is telling her when she needs to work next week. Her boss is saying what her work schedule will be. Your friend opens up the email, reads it, and says, “For crying out loud! I have to work late every day next week!”
That is another situation where somebody might be expressing a sudden feeling of frustration or annoyance: “For crying out loud! I have to work every night next week.”
These are the kinds of situations where people might use this interjection, “For crying out loud!”
And that is “For crying out loud!” an interesting interjection that I think you should know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 423 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any 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 Soongjae 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!