AEE 1995: I've Got Bigger Fish to Fry! How to Say Something Is Less Important in English

This is an All Ears English Podcast episode 1995. I've got bigger fish to fry. How to say something is less important in English. Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times. Are you feeling stuck with your English? We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection, with your American hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the English adventurer, and Michelle Kaplan, the New York radio girl, coming to you from Colorado and New York City, USA. To get real-time transcripts right on your phone and create your personalized vocabulary list, try the All Ears English App for iOS and Android. Start your seven-day free trial at allearsenglish.com board slash app. In today's episode, you'll get a fun and interesting way to say that your priorities are shifting at work and in your social life. Listen in to liven up your English today. Hey there, Michelle, what's shakin'? Hey, Lindsay, everything is good, everything is good. Just try to prioritize a lot of things lately, you know? I feel like the kids get to sleep and then there's always some sort of assignment, something that needs to be done. And you always have to say, oh, what's the priority for tonight? Yes. How do you prioritize things you need to do with your work life or your personal life? Are you good at doing that? I know that feeling, by the way. Yeah, good question, Michelle. I know what you mean, that feeling of there's always some assignment, there's some project. I don't even have kids yet. I feel in our lives, that's the case. There's some renovation thing, some work guy, we got a call to come over, schedule a contract or some vet appointment we have to array. There's always a thing, it's like, oh my gosh, when did I start adulting so much? It's true though, it's true. There's always like what's on the schedule for tonight? Tonight we need to talk about what we're getting. So there's always something, it just seems like more and more. More and more, more and more. Yeah, I think this is the messy middle of life, right? Getting into our 30s or 40s, this is the messiest part of life. But in some ways the best, because you have your kids, you're building your home, I mean, it's beautiful. And I think it is where a lot of our listeners are too, in their lives. So they're really going to relate, you guys are really going to relate to this today. But your question is, do I prioritize? Well, I don't think I do a very good, I think I get stressed out. I don't do a very good job prioritizing, Michelle. No, you know. No. No. No. With work and personal life or one more something. It's trying to prioritize with work, but with work, it feels like everything's urgent and important, right? Like it's very hard for me to be like, this is more important than that. Yeah. It all feels important, which ends up weighing on my mind a lot. Yes. Yes. Well, that makes me think of a conversation we had last week, because we were trying to figure out, we have a few meetings that, we were scheduling, but we also have to record. And I remember we were talking about, you know, the priority, like in the schedule, how we were going to schedule things. And you said, okay, so like the first priority would be this, you know, like, so what kind of takes precedent? That's a good expression. Like, what does that mean? Yeah. What takes precedent? Again, it's the most important thing. And I think we did that pretty, pretty well. That was very clean. We said, this matters the most. And this is second. This is third. Right. And it was pretty obvious to me at that moment. There are other times when things are not as obvious, right? And I get a little paralyzed, like, oh my gosh, it all matters. Right. Right. So it can be tricky. And today we're going to talk about an expression, a kind of cool, casual expression that you can use to talk about your priorities and what's the most important thing. So this is a very casual sounding expression, but it's very useful. Lindsey, what is it? Oh, this is great. It's fun. I have, it's really I have bigger fish to fry. Which I do like. Yeah. Do you like fried fish? Do you like, how do you take your fish in general? Would you go for fried or grilled or, you know, what's your scenario? What's the not grilled, not fried or grilled? Seared. I like seared, but also what's like the one where it's just like very seasoned very well. Um, baked? Baked? No. Oh, I just had grilled. Uh, grilled. Uh, marinated? No. I get. Uh, I already said that. Uh, I can't think of it. I'm really in chefs in the audience that are just doing crazy right now. But I, I like a lot of fish. I mean, you know, not all the time, but you know, I do like, I like seared. I do like seared. Um, how about you? I love sushi. If it's fresh, um, it depends on the fish, right? I tend to like salmon more than like a white fish. But sometimes it's fun when you go down south, like we went to, we went to Arkansas last summer in 2021 and had some fried fish. It's very southern, right? That's why I'm wondering where this expression comes from. I have a feeling it does come from southern, southern culture. Yeah. Uh huh. Uh huh. So guys head on over to all of his English episodes, 17, 12. And that was animal idioms, the bird edition. So today we're talking about fish, not, not completely, but I would just wanted to give you another fun episode to listen to. And guys, make sure that you hit follow wherever you were listening to all ears, English, because we come out with four episodes a week and you don't want to miss any of them. Yep. 100% focused on connection. So today we're going to teach you how to really use this super fun expression to build connection, have some fun in English and show what matters to you. Okay. That's right. That's right. So Lindsey, what doesn't mean we didn't talk about it yet? What does that mean? We have, I have bigger fish to fry or we have bigger fish to fry. Yeah. This is the lose expression. It's fun. It's casual. Right. So I wouldn't say this in a very serious business conversation where we're pricing. Um, no, it's more just like, Hey, other things matter more than this. This is by far not the most important thing to me right now. Oh, maybe it's like, if you're not going to, maybe you don't like what someone said, but you're not going to worry about it. You're not going to call them out on it because there's just more things you could do with your energy. Yeah. Something else is more important. Something else is a higher priority. Like we shouldn't worry about one thing because we have to focus on something else. And some people are better at this than others. I mean, there are some, there are people, especially at work that can stay very high level. And I struggle with that. I, I, it's really hard to stay high level and not worry about the details sometimes, you know, but you have to to get things done. Yeah. Right. So, it's true. So, um, so, you know, don't worry about one thing because we got to focus. So how, when can we use this? When my, Okay. Well, first of all, you can use it to talk about tasks. You can use it at work. I would just be careful. It's pretty casual. Um, so I would see it being used more, uh, like after work at a happy hour, when you're talking about the project with your colleagues, not so much with your boss, where your boss is like, why isn't this done? I have bigger fish. Oh, no. You certainly don't want to do that. Right. Right. Right. Or in school, you know, prioritizing this exam prep over this project, this paper, maybe. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Your personal life, um, decisions, changes, things like that, um, that, you know, might be going on. Lindsay, do you use this expression? I like this expression. I think it's fun. I think it is a little zippy. We love that word zippy. It's a bit back again, that word. Um, sure. I'll use it now that we're talking about it. I'll probably remember it and use it today. It's funny how sometimes these expressions, like they'll come to us through the show and either either works in one way. Like, you know, we, we, uh, think of an expression from our real life and plan an episode about it or then we have an episode and then it seeps into our real life, I think. Yeah. Exactly. I mean, we're reminded of it. Yeah. It's true. I mean, I'm not sure if this is the best example, but we're getting close to the concept. Are you the person that when you fly, you spend time arranging the perfect seat? I mean, maybe it depends on the flight length. Um, but do you spend time like talking to who you're flying with? Okay. Let's get seats three and four. It'll be perfect. Blah, blah, blah. Or do you just say like, okay, I don't care where I sit. I mean, do you, do you mean like ahead of time when you're like, do I like to like, do I like to book it? Yeah, I do. You do. Because, because, um, I don't like, I like to have an aisle seat because I'm like, I'm like, I'm like worried about having to get up and go to the bathroom and bother people. Um, so I do like that. Like, um, yeah, that, so I do, I do like it. What about you? Okay. It depends on the flight length for me. Um, when I'm flying like with friends or family, I'm always in the middle because I'm a small person. So they put me right in the middle. So that's not a choice I have. If it's an overnight flight or anything longer than three hours, I will, but I won't spend like hours on the phone with customer service. No. Get the best seat. Some people will. So, oh, no, no, no, I don't think I would spend hours doing it. I think if I, no, if they were something like that, but sometimes it's easy, you know, you can just select it. Um, yeah, sure. So, and then I try and, but no, I would not unless it was like really that, you know, when my kids are something, I mean, right. Uh, you know, then, then I don't think I would do that. But, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, uh, yeah, um, I think, you know, at these, uh, it, this can be a very useful expression. So let's give a couple examples of how it could be used. Let's see. What's the first one? All right. So here we go. Okay. Let's put this to the side for a moment because we have bigger fish to fry. Our presentation is in two days. So, for example of you're not talking to your boss and saying why your priority, it's more like you're talking with your teammates on that project. Right? Right. Right. Right. Right. Exactly. This is the most important, the presentation. Yeah. What about parties? Yeah. You could say, you could say, forget about the birthday party decision. We have bigger fish to fry. Jason just got suspended. Yeah. So that's kind of something very important is happening. We have all the immediately, we have other things to do to pay attention to. Right. Right. Right. Exactly. There's a problem. So we're forgetting about the party for now. And what's the next one? Yeah. Or I'd like to buy a new car, but I have bigger fish to fry right now. Meaning maybe you have to pay your mortgage or you have other debts that you have to pay in a way before you're going to go and buy a car and take out a car loan. Right. Right. Exactly. Yeah. This is, it can be used a lot with money and deciding what to spend things on. Yeah. Whatever. What is it expressed to people? What's the feeling when we use this, Michelle? What did you say? Yeah. Well, I think it shows people what's important to you, right? Or what may be important to them or what should be important to them. And I think, you know, it's, it's, it can bring about connection too because it shows what is important, what matters. 100%. That is connection. When people know you and what you care about, you are connected to them. Right. Mm hmm. All right, Michelle. Are there other things? Like maybe less kind of idiomatic ways that we could say this? Yes. Well, this first one, I really, I like this one. Um, what is it? Yeah. Okay. It's pressing. I like this because this could translate, I think a little better in the workplace. Yes. Right. Fish to fry. Hey, you can use it at work, but I think it's more for personal life at home, right? Friends, you know, I like this new one, pressing, right? More, I have more pressing issues. I have more pressing problems. We have some more pressing concerns to talk about right now. Okay. Mm hmm. Um, yeah, I like this one as well. So then the next one is get someone's priorities straight. Right. So you could say, let's get our priorities straight and focus. Yeah. Or I, you know, urgent matter. This is an urgent matter. Right. And yeah, we could talk about, you know, in the business world and time management, uh, in circles, people talk about the difference between urgent versus important, right? Um, and as you move up into your organization, you have to figure out the difference, uh, make sure you're spending time on the important things, not always the urgent things. Ah, but Michelle, that's another conversation for another day. It's just a business English podcast, right? Yes. That could be a good one. I like it. I like it. So should we do a role play? Mm hmm. Let's do it. So here we are friends. Talking about an issue that we've been dealing with, um, when planning a party. So here we go. You ready? Mm hmm. Well, I think if we send the invites tomorrow, it'll be fine. One second. Oh, we have bigger fish to fry. The band just backed out. Oh, no, this is an urgent matter. Seriously. So let's get our priorities straight. Yeah. We have to figure this out now that we have more pressing issues. Maybe we can assign the invites to Tracy. Okay. I'll talk to her. Yeah. So a lot of times in business, you know, things happen and all of a sudden everything falls into a new priority, uh, level, right? It's crazy. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. This is, that's true. Like something happens and all of a sudden the priorities get shuffled, right? Totally. And that's part of being a professional is being able to keep up with that and constantly reprioritize things. Right. And the band just backed out. Okay. And then you said, Oh, no, this is an urgent matter. And then you said seriously. So let's get our priorities straight. Yep. And then you said now that we have more pressing issues, maybe we can assign the invites to Tracy. So you're trying to kind of like redistribute tasks here, delegate things because we have to deal with something more important. Yeah. 100% stressful situation. They want to cancel the party. If there's no band, I don't know. I totally put the party in jeopardy itself. Right. Oh, no. Oh, God. Well, I hope the party can still go on. I really hope so Michelle. All right. Where do we want to leave our listeners today? This is a big topic. I think we should come back to prioritizing, especially in business, another time. Right. Right. Yeah. This, it's very useful to talk about your priorities to signal what's important to tell someone to remind yourself what's important. So it's good for, you know, we talked about expressions that might be better for the business world, better for personal life. But this is a good one for today to try out, especially in your personal life to signal what's really important in that moment. I love it. Good stuff, Michelle. And guys, don't forget, we also have the business English podcast. And I think we'll revisit, like I said, this concept of urgent versus important over there. We'll talk about that, how that applies to business. Yeah. All right. Michelle, take care. Have a good day. Okay. You too. Bye. Bye. Thanks for listening to all ears English. Would you like to know your English level? Take our two minute quiz. Go to all ears English dot com forward slash fluency score. And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything. See you next time. ♪ ♪