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Speaker 1: Have you ever been to the county fair. Those events

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have the whole nine yards, including the food. Yeah, that

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fair food is a total gut buster, but it sure

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does taste good. Let's check it out.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael al Ry.

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Speaker 1: Thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here from

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Happy English and I help people speak English better. And

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this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight fifty nine. American

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Culture County Fairs. Hello and welcome. Thanks for tuning in.

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So summer in the US is all about sunshine, road

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trips and big outdoor events. Now, one of the most

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iconic parts of American summer culture is something called a

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county fair, or sometimes a state fair. By the way,

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a state is usually divided into smaller areas, each called

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a county. If you've ever seen a movie or TV

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show with people riding a ferris wheel, eating cotton candy,

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playing games to win a giant stuffed animal, they're probably

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at a fair today. I want to give you a

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little behind the scenes tour of what an American fair

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is like, and at the same time we'll learn a

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few natural fun expressions that go along with the fair experience.

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Let's head on in, so what is a county fair.

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A county fair is usually held once a year in

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the summer or the early fall, and like I just said,

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the county is just a part of a state, like

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a region, and the fair is a local event for

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that area. Fares are usually held outdoors in a big

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open field or fair ground and they last anywhere from

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a weekend to a couple of weeks, and man, the

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whole town shows up. You'll find carnival rides like the

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ferris wheel, bumper cars, or something that spins so fast

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you'll regret eating beforehand. There's also usually live music, and

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depending on where the fair is, that music is usually

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provided by local bands playing pop, rock, and even country music.

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You can also find booths selling handmade crafts or regional

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snacks there too, And of course, let's talk about the food.

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Fair food is not healthy, but it is legendary and

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typically American. Oh yeah, Burgers, hot dogs and sausages are

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on the menu for sure, but the main culinary attraction

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is well deep fried everything, corn dogs, finel cakes, and zeppeli,

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which are kind of deep fried Italian style doughnut balls.

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I've even seen deep fried butter at a fair. Yeah,

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that's right. Someone decided that butter wasn't rich enough, so

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they fried it, and the food is big. I once

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had this massive chili cheese dog at a fair in Connecticut.

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It was so big I had to hold it with

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two hands. My friend looked at me and said, man,

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that thing is a total gut buster. A gut buster.

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Gut is a slang word for the stomach, So a

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gut buster is something so big or so greasy that

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it really feels you up, maybe too much. Maybe it

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will bust your gut. Like I had one of those

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bacon wrapped turkey legs at the fair. That was a

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gut buster for sure. And after two fineal cakes, I

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couldn't move. They were a total gut buster. Now fares

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aren't just about food. They're also full of carnival games.

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Picture this rows of booths where you can throw a

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ring into a bottle, pop balloons with darts, or try

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to toss a soft ball into a tiny basket. You

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hand over a few dollars, play the game, and if

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you win, you get a giant stuffed animal that's bigger

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than most toddlers. The problem. These games are almost impossible

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to win. They're fun, but the chances of winning are

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pretty low. So when your friend says I'm gonna win

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that big Panda, you might reply herea good luck. That

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game's a long shot. A long shot that means something

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that's very unlikely to succeed, like getting that basketball in

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the tiny hoop. Total long shot. But hey, even if

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it's a long shot, it's fun to try, right, And

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your friend might try asking the pretty blonde from school

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on a date to the fair. But she's popular and

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he's not so so asking her is totally a long shot.

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But you know, that's part of the experience of life,

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trying something you know you probably won't win, but doing

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it anyway. By the way, when I was in my

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early twenties, I spent a summer working at the fair

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in charge of some of the games. It was a blast.

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Beyond the rides, the food, and the games, a fair

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is a full on community event. You'll see kids with

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painted faces, teenagers walking around in groups, and even families

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bringing farm animals for judging. Yeah, there are contests for

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the best cow, the best pig, even contests for the

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best homemade pie. The best zucchini bread, you name it. It's chaotic,

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but in a good way. And when I say they

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go all out for these events, I mean it. They

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really do the whole nine yards. The whole nine yards.

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That means they do or include everything with no shortcuts,

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like there was live music, fireworks, a petting zoo, a

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pie contest. This fair had the whole nine yards. When

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Americans want to say something was done completely, done to

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the max, we say the whole nine yards. And fares

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are the perfect example, like the food court at the

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State Fair. Fried food, fresh lemonade, barbecue, ty food, tacos. Yep,

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they had the whole nine yards. Now, look, fares are loud, crowded,

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and kind of over the top. Some people love them,

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others not so much. And when something doesn't appeal to you,

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in English, you can say, is it's not my thing?

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Like I'm not into carnival rides, it's not my thing.

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My buddy Paul likes going to the County Fair for

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the food, the beer, and the live music, but the games, Nah,

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it's not his thing. Not my thing. It's a casual

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way to say that you're not interested without being rude,

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like it's not my cup of tea. That's another casual

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phrase that we use as an indirect way to show

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that we don't like something like for me watching football, well,

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it's not my cup of tea. Okay, let's recap. Today.

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We took a little tour through an American summer tradition,

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the county Fair. We talked about fried food and why

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gutbuster meals are half the fun, carnival games that are

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mostly long shots, fairs that go all in with the

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whole nine yards, and how to politely say it's not

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your thing. If you ever visit the US in the

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summer and you get the chance to go to a fair,

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even just to walk around, people watch and smell the

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funnel cakes, do it. It's a cultural experience like no other.

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And if you've been to a fair or something similar

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in your country, I'd love to hear about it. Come

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tell me on Instagram at Happy English and Why, or

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drop a comment on the blog. Thanks as always for listening,

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and remember the best way to remember English, like this

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and any other word or phrase in English, is to

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take that word or phrase, write it in a sentence

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that's true for you or true in your world, and

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then memorize your sentences. And if you really want to

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get more practice using your English, well, then you should

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checked by me. To learn more, just visit Myhappy English

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dot com and choose podcast lesson eight fifty nine. Remember,

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learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,

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and I'm here to help you on your journey.

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