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One browse over published speeches, YouTube caption videos, studio reference recordings, and digital presenters. Twenty-five clips per page. Unpublished and unlabelled rows stay out.
Page 58 of 145 · 3622 clips · 25 per page
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
Knee-jerk reactions seem to happen automatically without a decision-making process. We often use “knee jerk” as an adjective.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
Like hitting your kneecap to move your leg, knee-jerk reactions or statements also seem like an involuntary reflex
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
"Knee jerk" also describes predictable behavior. Again, hit the knee, the leg will kick every time.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
So "knee jerk" describes someone who always reacts quickly and without enough thought.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
For example, let’s say you are on a team with someone who never faces responsibility for their mistakes in the game.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
If brought to account, the player always blames the dropped ball on other teammates. You can say that player is having a knee-jerk reaction to criticism.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
They have a go-to response. It’s like a reflex they can’t control.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
We often use knee-jerk in a criticizing or negative way. Now, a gut reaction also happens without thinking.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
But it is a bit different than a knee-jerk response. A gut reaction is a feeling.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
When we have a gut reaction, our instincts are telling us that something may not be right. Gut reactions are instinctual warnings.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
So, we also use this expression a bit differently than "knee jerk." We usually talk about our own gut reactions or impulses, not others.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
Here is an example: One day, I was hiking on a mountain in California. I had hiked for about two hours and was near the top.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
The view, I was told, was truly beautiful. I couldn’t wait to see it!
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
Then, suddenly, I had a strange feeling. Something just didn’t feel right.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
I can’t explain why, but my gut instinct was to turn around and head back down the mountain.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
I later found out that a dangerous bear had been sighted in the same area that I had fled. I am so thankful I listened to my gut instinct.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Knee Jerk and Gut Reactions: When We Are Not in Control
And that’s Words and Their Stories Until next time, I’m Anna Matteo.
- Reference recordingrp
knight, night
knight, night
- Public domaingeneral-american
Language Is 'What Makes Us Human' in New Children's Book
See if you know the answer to this riddle “I have been around for a very long time. Longer than toys, dogs, or anyone you know.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Language Is 'What Makes Us Human' in New Children's Book
“My roots go back many centuries. Some of them even longer.”
- Public domaingeneral-american
Language Is 'What Makes Us Human' in New Children's Book
“I can connect you to the past, the present and the future. I make you human.”
- Public domaingeneral-american
Language Is 'What Makes Us Human' in New Children's Book
Can you guess what I am? The answer is language.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Language Is 'What Makes Us Human' in New Children's Book
Children’s author Victor D.O. Santos asks readers that question in his book, What Makes Us Human
- Public domaingeneral-american
Language Is 'What Makes Us Human' in New Children's Book
Each page on the book provides a clue to the riddle’s final answer. Artist Anna Forlati illustrated the book.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Language Is 'What Makes Us Human' in New Children's Book
Santos told VOA Learning English that the book is about the value of language. It is also meant to bring more attention to the world’s native languages.
Source badges: Public domain · Creator video · Digital presenter · Reference recording. Literary passages are public domain. Studio notes are not spoken in the audio.