Summary

Neil has shaved off his beard. Apparently, beards are 'a thing' now, and Neil no longer wants to have one. What does that mean? Listen to his conversation with Feifei to find out.

Transcript

Feifei
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Feifei.

Neil
And I'm Neil.

Feifei
Where's… your beard?

Neil
I, uh, shaved it off. I fancied a change. Beards are such a thing these days.

Feifei
Yup, ever since beards became a thing, I've found them a bit boring.

Neil
'A thing'. Of course, we know what the word 'thing' normally means, but what does 'a thing' mean here?

Feifei
Our phrase for today means 'a trend' or 'something recognisable in popular culture'. If beards are 'a thing', it means they've become fashionable: lots of people have them.

Neil
Yes. Cats on the internet – they're a thing.

Feifei
Oh, fidget spinners. They're definitely a thing.

Neil
Fidget spinners?

Feifei
Yes, those little metal or plastic toys that you spin on your finger. Know them?

Neil
Oh, those things that kids everywhere are playing with.

Feifei
Not just kids. Anyway. What else is a thing? Listen to these examples.

Examples
Using funny GIFs in your message is such a thing.

You know parkour: the sport of running and jumping across buildings? Why is that such a thing?

Organic powdered food. Since when has that been a thing?

Feifei
A well-known use of this phrase was after American personality Kim Kardashian posted a picture of herself pregnant, with the words "pregnancy lips".

Neil
It's not a term that many people had heard of, and prompted responses like this: "Pregnancy lips? Is that even a thing?"

Feifei
Yes, when someone refers to a trend you haven't heard of, or that you doubt exists, feel free to respond with 'is that even a thing?'

Neil
But there's little doubt the phrase 'a thing' is itself 'a thing' – it's now been included in major dictionaries.

Feifei
There we are. A thing. No plans to grow the beard back, then?

Neil
Only when being clean-shaven becomes too much of a thing!

Feifei and Neil
Bye.