Transcript of AE 1404 - Expression: On Thin Ice

You ever say or do something and immediately know you've pushed your luck? The room goes quiet. Someone raises an eyebrow. Another person looks at you and says, "Right."

Nothing's exploded yet, but you can feel it. You're not in trouble, but you're definitely not safe either. That awkward, risky space where one wrong move could make things a whole lot worse is so common.

We've got a classic expression for it. And today you're going to learn exactly what it is and how to use it. Let's go!

G'day, you mob! Welcome to Aussie English. I'm your host, Pete. And my objective here is to teach you guys the English spoken Down Under. So whether you want to sound like a fair dinkum Aussie, or you just want to understand what the flipping hell we're on about when we're having a yarn, you've come to the right place. So sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy Aussie English. Let's go!

G'day, you mob! I am your host, Pete. Welcome to the Aussie English Podcast. This is the number one place for anyone and everyone wanting to learn Australian English. I hope you guys are well. I hope you're staying out of the heat.

Gosh, it's been a, it's been a hot summer, guys. I tell you what. Yeah. If you've got kids and you're living in Australia and they're young kids at primary school, I hope that they have now returned to primary school. Mine are just on the edge.

My daughter is about to go to primary school. She's starting Prep tomorrow and my son is about to start Grade One. And it's always really funny. I find my kids the arrangement of my children the age gap, because it's almost an exact copy of what my sister and I experienced.

And the gap between us- like my sister was, or is 21 months younger than me. My son and his sister. My daughter. My daughter. My son's sister, my daughter. My daughter is 22 months younger than my son. So it's almost the exact same age difference.

And I obviously went to school. And then my sister started a year early and was the year below me instead of two years below me. And my daughter is about to do exactly the same thing with my son at primary school. So it's so funny how, how things end up, right, how things end up.

And the more, the more my kids grow up, the more compassion I feel towards my parents when they were young. Young parents with young children. Yeah, it's funny how often the things leave my mouth. And, um, I'm like, I'm pretty sure my dad said that to me.

I'm pretty sure my mom said that to me all the time. You get these kind of like flashbacks. It's almost like PTSD, right? Post-traumatic stress disorder. All right. Anyway, stop rabbiting on Pete. Get into the episode.

So today we are going to cover the expression "on thin ice", "to be on thin ice". I wonder if you guys have ever been "on thin ice".

And I wonder if in your native languages, you say the same thing, or have some equivalent way of expressing this idea before we get into it.

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So if you want to sign up, check it out at AussieEnglish.com.au/podcast. The link will be in the description. Alright, without any further ado, slap the bird, get it laughing and let's get into today's joke.

So today. Today was hard. I was like, God, how do I find an ice joke? Joke about ice. I tried to find something in that area. So we're going to talk about snowmen, okay? All right.

"Why did the snowman pick through a bag of carrots?"

Hmm? You know, a snowman? You make these in the snow, usually like a small ball. Makes the body in a smaller one. Makes the head, I guess, you know, and then you you put glasses on it or a scarf on it, or, you know, some fruit on it. Whatever, to make the nose.

"Why did the snowman pick through a bag of carrots?" "Ah, he was just picking his nose!"

You get it? So the snowman was 'picking' through a bag of carrots. He was, why was he picking through it? Why did he pick through a bag of carrots? "He was just picking his nose." "He was just picking his nose."

You get it? Come on. Like the literal image of this frozen snowman looking through a bag, trying to find a carrot to make his nose. That's funny, right? And maybe he's picking it at the same time. At the same time he's picking it. All right, all right. Anyway. Moving along.

[That was good, wasn't it? It was good for a bit of a giggle, anyway.].

All right, let's get into the words in today's expression. Short one today, we've only got three words: "on thin ice".

So "on". This is a preposition meaning in a position above or resting above something, usually in contact with it, okay. To be "on something".

"I put the book on the shelf." Right?

"He's sitting on a chair."

"Thin". This is an adjective. Not thick. Fragile. Weak. Okay, so not thick. Thin. Not fat. Thin. "The ice on the lake is very, very thin."

"Careful! If you skate on the lake, you might break the ice and fall in because the ice is thin."

And lastly, "ice". This is a noun meaning frozen water. Here, it symbolises instability or danger, in the context of this expression though, ice.

"The pond was covered in frozen ice."

"I put some water in the freezer to make some ice cubes. Ice blocks."

"Because it's so hot at the moment, I want to drink a drink with some ice."

So what does the expression mean "to be on thin ice"? It means to be in a risky or precarious situation, often because of your behaviour or choices.

It's commonly used when someone is getting close to getting into trouble, right? Like at work, in a relationship, at school, in a family. My Dad definitely said this to me all the time.

"You need to stop. You're on thin ice."

"You're on thin ice. Pete, you're on thin ice."

So I can also describe situations that are unstable or uncertain as well. Perhaps you're not necessarily in trouble, but the situation is precarious. Uncertain, unstable. "Everyone's on thin ice."

So "to be on thin ice", in a risky or unstable situation, that could go wrong if you're not careful.

So let's go through some scenarios of how I would use the expression "on thin ice" in everyday English. All right.

Imagine someone at work who's been pushing their luck lately, right? To push your luck. It's kind of like going a bit too far. You're about to get in trouble as well. You're doing something you shouldn't be doing. You're sort of testing your luck. Pushing your luck.

So they've turned up late a few times. They've missed a deadline and brushed off feedback like it didn't matter, right? They didn't give a rat's ass. They didn't give a rat's ass- call back to a previous episode.

At first the manager lets it slide right. They ignore it. Everyone has off weeks. Maybe you're just having a bad time. You know, who knows?

But then another report is late, and this time the manager calls this person aside. The tone is calm but serious, mate.

"After all of this, you're on thin ice. You're in trouble." "Okay, you need to watch yourself. You're pushing your luck." "You need to try and improve things because you're on thin ice."

Nothing dramatic happens in that moment, but it's clear. One more mistake, one more wrong move, and there'll be consequences.

Example number: two relationship trouble. Picture someone who's already forgotten an important date in their relationship. Apologies were made. Things settle down mostly.

Then it happens again. Or perhaps a message is unanswered. You know, the person got "seened". "Seened!" Someone saw their message, and you get that little message of 'seen'. And then you don't reply.

Or perhaps a promise was broken. A friend hears about it and shakes their head and they say,

"Oh, mate, you're on thin ice. I reckon you're, you're going to be in trouble if this keeps going."

"It's not a joke. It's just a warning. You're, you're on thin ice."

So the relationship hasn't ended yet. It's just unstable. You're not sure what could happen? One more slip could be enough to crack it completely and have you fall into the water. I guess, metaphorically speaking. So you're "on thin ice".

Example number three: school rules and consequences. Another thing I remember happening when I was a teenager at school. I'm sure we'll go through the example.

Imagine a student who enjoys pushing boundaries, talking in class, messing around. One prank too many. Definitely sounds like what I was like at high school. Teachers have already spoken to them more than once.

And after the latest incident, the teacher pulls them aside and says, "Mate, you are on thin ice."

"One more stunt, one more joke, one more day where you're mucking around and you might be suspended, okay. You might get into a lot of trouble."

The room goes quiet. In that moment, the student knows exactly where they stand.

They're not in trouble yet, but close enough that any mistake could tip things over. They're on thin ice.

And lastly, a bonus example, a social situation. Picture a friend group where someone's sense of humour is starting to wear thin. They keep making jokes that cross the line. Comments that are just jokes but don't really land.

At first, people laugh politely. Then the laughter fades. Eventually someone pulls them aside and says, "Careful, I reckon you're on thin ice."

It's not said angrily. It's said to prevent things getting worse. Because the situation hasn't blown up yet, but it's fragile and it won't take much to break it.

"Be careful. You're on thin ice."

So hopefully now, guys, you understand the expression "to be on thin ice". This is to be in a risky or unstable situation that could go wrong if you're not careful to be on thin ice.

[Would you like a car-donay, Kylie? Kim, it's not car-donay. The correct pronunciation is chardonnay. Mum! It's French! The H is silent! Back me up here, Kylie!].

So, as usual, let's go through a little speaking exercise where you can work on your Australian pronunciation. So I'm going to read through the phrase, "you're on thin ice". I'll go through all the different pronouns. I'm, your, he's, she's, we're, they're, it's.

You can practice your pronunciation of those contractions "I am" = "I'm", "you are" = "your", "he is" = "he's", etc. And then the expression in context.

So if you're working on your Australian pronunciation, try and say things exactly as I do. Try and focus on linking stress, connected speech, everything like that. If you're working on a different accent, then just use the phrases that I read aloud as prompts and just say the same thing out loud in the accent that you are working on, okay? So listen and repeat after me.

I'm on thin ice.

You're on thin ice.

He's on thin ice.

She's on thin ice.

We're on thin ice.

They're on thin ice.

It's on thin ice.

Good job guys. How did you find that? Bit of a quick one today, wasn't a lot of really long phrases that we were doing. Shorter ones today, but interesting nonetheless in terms of connected speech, contractions, everything like that.

Something I'll cover today. We've covered connected speech in some of the recent episodes we've done. Instead, today I want you to focus on the contractions.

So I am = I'm. You are = you're.

You'll notice how the pronunciation of the vowel in "you" changes, so instead of "you" it becomes an /jɔː/ sound like the possessive "your" Y O U R, right? They can be pronounced the same way. /jɔːr/.

He is = he's.

She is = she's.

Now it gets interesting!

We are = we're.

Like, "Where are you?" W H E R E, pronounced the same way. "We are" contracted together = we're, /wɪər/.

And the same thing for they are = they're /ðeər/.

As in "there", the location, or "their", the possessive.

Right? T H E R E "there". "I'm over there".

Or "their" as in the possessive T H E I R. "That's their dog", okay. Pronounced the same way there.

You might be thinking, how the hell do you know the difference when someone says this word? When they say "they are" and "they're" instead of the possessive "their"?

Or the uh, I can't think off the top of my head of the grammar, but "there" as in the location "there".

Usually it's the grammar of the sentence tells you, right.

"They're over there with their dog."

You know, instantly "they are", "over there", in that location, "with their", possessive pronoun, "dog".

"They're over there with their dog."

Okay, so usually the grammar tells you.

"We're here where we're waiting", right? "Where", "we're waiting". You'll hear that same thing. "We're", "where".

Okay, so if you ever get confused and you're like, how the heck do people know it's the grammar of the sentence tells you, okay.

And then lastly, it is = it's /ɪts/.

Make sure you mute that T /ɪt/ and then you go straight into the S sound. /ɪts/ /ɪts/ /ɪts/ /ɪts/.

And in all of these cases, link to "on"

I'm◡on, you're◡on, R sound there.

You're◡on, he's◡on, Z sound. He's◡on, she's◡on.

We're◡on, R sound. They're◡on, R sound again.

It's◡on, S sound. It's◡on okay.

I'm on, you're on, he's on, she's on, we're on, they're on, it's on.

And then lastly, as a little bonus.

Thin◡nice, thin◡nice, thin◡nice.

Link that N at the end of the word "thin" to the word "ice".

Thin◡nice.

I'm◡on thin◡ice.

You're◡on thin◡ice.

He's◡on thin◡ice.

Okay, link it all together.

Okay, time to get into the Aussie fact of the day. So Australia has real ski resorts, that might surprise a few of you, especially if you're not here in Australia. In the south east, we actually have ski resorts.

And sometimes Australia receives more snow than Switzerland! It's one of those things I remember learning about this and thinking, yeah, but Switzerland's not very big, so it's sort of unsurprising, right? Australia is pretty large.

People overseas usually imagine Australia as a giant, sunburnt desert with kangaroos bouncing across red dirt. So when you tell them that Australia actually has proper ski resorts, not just hills with a dusting of snow, but real alpine towns, they look at you like you're joking, but it's true!

The Australian Alps running through Victoria and New South Wales regularly get heavy winter snowfalls, and in strong La Nina years the snowpack can be deeper than Switzerland's!

Yep, Australia the land of beaches and barbies sometimes beats the Swiss Alps for snowfall. The ski resorts are fully legit, too.

Perisher is the largest ski resort in the entire Southern hemisphere, with over 1200 hectares of terrain.

Falls Creek has a real alpine village where you can ski from your hotel door.

Hotham is famous because the village is at the top of the mountain. You literally ski down into the resort instead of up.

On a good season, the snowy mountains turn into a proper winter wonderland. You get snow drifts taller than people, icy winds coming off the peaks and ski lifts running all day.

Meanwhile, tourists from Europe are still trying to process the idea that Australia even has mountains, let alone ski instructors and black diamond runs. It's one of those Aussie facts that completely flips expectations.

Australia can get more snow than Switzerland and we have the ski resorts to prove it.

So I hope you've enjoyed this episode today, guys. I'm your host, Pete. Don't forget, if you want to grab today's free PDF, click the link in the description.

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