#63- Survival, Danger and Difficult Situations

Welcome to episode #63- 20 Words for Survival, Danger and Difficult Situations. In this fun and exciting episode, you'll learn real-life phrasal verbs, slang words and idioms you can use when talking about survival, danger, and difficult situations—like in a zombie apocalypse! 🧟‍♂️🔥

You'll learn the meaning of useful phrases like touch and go, get by, look out for, and more. These are expressions native speakers use all the time—and now you can use them too!

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• Example sentences
• Fun practice activities
• The transcript

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Transcript

[00:00:00] On this episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast, I'll be teaching you 20 phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang about survival and nature—zombie edition. In this fun episode, you'll be learning vocabulary like off the grid, bug out, hunker down, rough it, and more. Let's get to it.
Hey there. Welcome to the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby, your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.
Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.

Hey, hey, hey. Greetings from New York City. I'm so excited about this episode [00:01:00] because it's about one of my favorite topics: survival. Let me give you a little bit of history about this topic. As many of you know, I teach English here in New York City. I have reduced my hours recently in order to spend more time on English with Gabby and also spend more time with my kids, but I've been teaching the B2 level for about 13 years, and I teach other classes as well, like English through media, slang and idioms—a lot of classes.
 But in my B2 class, one of my favorite weekly themes is survival. Really, the theme is fantasy and learning conditionals. But I have a little fun with it, and we make it survival, apocalypse, zombie-themed, and it's a lot of fun.

[00:02:00] So let me explain something about the USA, which I'm sure you probably know, but we're gonna talk about it for a little bit.
 Here in the USA, we have almost every kind of natural disaster you could imagine. We have hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, volcano eruptions, floods, forest fires—you name it, we've got it. We've all been in situations where we've had to evacuate our homes or run from a place quickly or be without electricity for a set amount of time.
 In fact, millions of Americans lose their homes every single year because of natural disasters. It's a very normal part of American culture to have an extra supply of [00:03:00] things in our homes, which we say "stock up on." So most Americans stock up on water, canned food, flashlights, emergency radios, et cetera.
 I'm sure you've seen survivalists on social media who have underground bunkers and shelters—things like that. And if you've ever seen a zombie movie or a post-apocalyptic movie (meaning after a world-changing event), I'm sure you've seen Americans with rifles and guns and knives trying to survive.
 If you've ever watched the popular show The Walking Dead, or if you've ever seen a zombie movie, you know what I'm talking about.

For example, just this week alone, we had a tsunami warning in Hawaii. We've had ongoing volcano threats in Hawaii. Here in New York City, we [00:04:00] had extreme flooding. In the Midwest, we had floods that killed campers over the summer. We've had crazy hurricanes. Like I said, it's very normal for us here.

In addition to natural disasters, we also, unfortunately, are a country of mass shootings. This, I know that you've all heard about with the USA. Most schools and companies have to go through trainings—safety trainings—about what to do in a mass shooting event. I worked in the Empire State Building for over 10 years. That’s where the school that I teach at, Kaplan International—well, one of the schools—that’s where they were located for over 10 years. Being in such an iconic building, we had to do mass shooter survival training with the New York [00:05:00] Police Department’s Counter-Terrorism Unit.
 They came in, and they taught us what to do in case of a mass shooter emergency. And you wanna know what's crazy? I had this episode planned out for a while, but guess what happened? Earlier this week, there was a mass shooting in Manhattan. We typically don't have mass shootings here in New York City because we have very strict gun laws—stricter than most states.
 But a shooter from Las Vegas drove all the way to New York City to shoot a CEO in one of our famous office buildings, and he killed three other people as well and tried to shoot a lot of people. He had a history of mental health problems, yet they still sold him a rifle. Welcome to the [00:06:00] USA.

So between natural disasters, mass shootings, and terrorist attacks—like what happened back on 9/11—here in the United States, we've gotten used to having to be prepared to leave at a moment's notice.
 We are all prepared to live without electricity or be in emergency situations. This is an unfortunate truth about being American.

So because of this, we have what we call a survivalist culture. Teaching students here in New York City, I want my students to be prepared. I don't know if you remember this, but a few years ago there was a shooter on our subway system, and one of my students was on the train right behind where the shooting took place. And so, for a lot of us here, it's just reality [00:07:00] to talk about survival and being careful. But when I teach this to my students, I want to make it fun and not scary.

And so I used to teach it as a zombie theme. So instead of being scared of a mass shooter, I would do it more with, "Let's be scared of zombies," since they're not real.
 Because after all, what would you rather talk about—a mass shooter coming into your classroom or zombies coming into your classroom? A blizzard causing a power outage or a zombie virus?

Today I'm teaching you some vocabulary with a zombie apocalypse theme so that it's less scary and more fun and interesting. If you don't like zombies, it's okay, don't worry too much. They're not the main focus of the episode. Feel free to imagine that I'm talking about aliens or humans [00:08:00] instead.

So now let me tell you the 20 vocabulary words and expressions you are gonna learn in this episode:
 Go off the grid, pack up, bug out or a bug out bag, head out, hike up, camp out, pitch black, to live off the land, to fend for yourself, to rough it, make do, set up, set up camp, hunker down, run out of, hold out, touch and go, get by, look out for something, gear up for, and make it out alive.

Before I get into the story, I just want to remind you that there's a study guide waiting for you that has everything you need to really remember everything you learn in this [00:09:00] episode, so that you can use it in your everyday English. This study guide includes all of the words and definitions, example sentences, the story, the transcript, and practice activities so that you can truly remember these words and use them confidently.
 In order to get the study guide, click the link in the episode description.

Now listen as I read this story that has all of this episode's vocabulary in real-life contexts. See if you can figure out any of the meanings by hearing them used in context, as they're used by Americans regularly.
 Here we go.

Within just one week, the world just fell apart. A virus had taken over the world that seemed to turn people into zombies. When [00:10:00] things first fell apart, Lena and her younger brother, Milo, had no choice but to go off the grid. Their city was being overrun by zombies, and it wasn't safe anymore.
 They had to pack up their things within an hour and bug out quickly. Thankfully, they had already prepared bug out bags filled with food, water, first aid kits, small weapons, and a few other essentials. They grabbed their bags and headed out into the mountains.
 At first, it was scary. They had to hike up steep trails and camp out in the forest. At night...

At night, it was pitch black and they could hear strange sounds in the trees. "We'll have to live off the land for a [00:11:00] while," Lena told Milo as they picked berries and tried to catch fish. There were no stores anymore; they had to fend for themselves. It wasn't easy. They had to rough it without electricity, clean water, or warm beds.

Sometimes they had to make do with what they had—eating canned beans for days and using sticks to cook over a fire. One night, a storm came. They had to set up camp quickly and hunker down in their tent, hoping the wind wouldn't blow it away.

They were almost outta food. "We've run out of everything but crackers," Milo said. "How can we hold out like this?" Lena didn't know. Every day was touch and go. Some days were quiet. Other days they had to [00:12:00] hide from zombies or wild animals.

"We'll get by," Lena promised. "We just need to look out for trouble and stay smart."

Soon winter approached. They had to gear up for cold nights and maybe some snow. They luckily found an old cabin in the woods and decided to stay there for a while.

A few weeks later, on a sunny afternoon, they heard a sound in the distance—a helicopter! Help had come. They ran outside, waving their arms, trying desperately to get the helicopter's attention. Thankfully, a military group had been searching for survivors and had seen them trying to get their attention. They picked up Lena and Milo and brought them to a [00:13:00] city where people had formed a survival community.

Thankfully, they had done it. They had made it out alive and would continue fighting in this new normal reality.

The end.

All right, let's talk about all the vocabulary that you just heard in the story. First off, we have "to go off the grid" or "be off the grid." In the story, it says Lena and her brother Milo had no choice but to go off the grid. This is a very common expression, and it means to live without modern technology like electricity or the internet.

Basically, nothing can trace you or track you—you just wanna live like people lived in the past. We have a lot of American influencers who live off the grid, and [00:14:00] this is what they do. They don't have electricity, or they live in the forest in trailers, things like that. It's pretty interesting. For example: They decided to go off the grid and live in a cabin in the forest.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb pack up. "Pack up" means to put things into bags or boxes to get ready to leave. Typically, you pack up in some kind of box or storage bag. For example: We need to pack up our things before the sun goes down.

Next up, we have bug out bag and bug out. First, let's talk about bug out. "Bug out" means to leave quickly because of danger. You get an alarm that a tornado is coming your way—you've gotta leave quickly. You have to bug out. [00:15:00]

So a bug out bag is a backpack that many Americans have that has emergency supplies. So here in my home, we have a bug out bag that has extra clothes for each of us and some extra supplies. In case we need to leave very quickly, we don't have to spend too much time packing up.

For example: We need to make a bug out bag so that we can bug out quickly in case of an emergency.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb head out. This is to leave a place and start a journey. They headed out into the mountains. For example: Let's head out before it gets too dark.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb hike up. "Hike up" means to walk up a hill [00:16:00] or mountain. In general, the word hike means to walk in a very natural place, right? "Hike up" is more specifically when you're going up a hill, up a mountain. For example: They hiked up the hill so they could see the sunset from the top.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb camp out. "Camp out" means to sleep outdoors in a tent or a shelter. Sometimes we say, I'm going camping, for example. Or sometimes we say, We are camping out this weekend. For example: We camped out under the stars near the river, and it was awesome.

Next up, we have the expression pitch black. In the story, they say that at nighttime it was pitch black. [00:17:00] "Pitch black" means completely dark with no light at all.

For example: It was pitch black in the forest at night. We have something here called pitch, and it's a material and it's extremely dark, and that's where this came from—pitch black.

Next up, we have the expression to live off the land. "To live off the land" is to survive only by using nature—hunting, fishing, growing food, maybe picking berries. We have something called scavenging. Scavenging is when you pick berries, pick mushrooms, for example. So that's what living off the land means. There are actually quite a bit of Americans who live off the land. We have a lot of people who've started farms, and then in addition to that, they go hunting. They kill deer, they eat [00:18:00] it. They kill turkeys, they eat them, and that's what they had to do in the story.

For example: They survived the plane crash by living off the land for two weeks.

Next up, we have the expression to fend for yourself. "To fend for yourself" means to take care of yourself without help. This is a very popular expression, and you'll hear it in many different contexts. So it's very possible that you've heard it in an American TV show or movie.

To fend for yourself is just—you are the only person who is looking after you. You can't rely on any help. And so in the story, it says they had to fend for themselves.

For example: When you're out in the wild, you have to fend for yourself.

Next up, we have the expression to rough it. "Roughing it" is [00:19:00] living without comforts, like a warm bed or clean bathroom. You're living a tough or rough life.

For example: We had to rough it for a few days with no running water.

Next up, we have the expression to make do. I know this is extremely weird because it's two auxiliary verbs together—make do. "To make do" is to manage with what you have, even if it's not perfect.

So let's say that you're giving a presentation and your technology's not working, your computer's not working. You might say, All right, I'll just have to make do. I'll have to manage with what I have.

And so in the context of survival, we have to manage and survive with what we have. It's not perfect. [00:20:00] It's not enough, but it's what we have, and we have to use these resources the best that they can be used.

For example: We didn’t have much food, but we made do with crackers and soup.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb to set up, but specifically set up camp. "Set up camp" is to prepare a place to sleep outside. So if you're walking around in nature and it's time to start preparing for bed, you'll say, All right guys, it's time to set up camp.

Let's prepare the place where we're gonna sleep. We're gonna put up tents, we're gonna make our beds, etc. Maybe we're gonna build a fire.

For example: We set up camp near the river before sunset.

Next up, we have to hunker down. This is a strange one, and I'm sure that most of you listening have never heard this in [00:21:00] your life. Hunker down—this is a really high-level phrasal verb. You'll probably never learn this in any kind of textbook or classroom, but you will hear it from Americans.

"Hunker down" means to stay in a safe place and wait for danger to pass. So you might commonly hear this in a news broadcast. For example, you're watching the news and they're predicting a hurricane and they're saying, The hurricane is hitting in two hours. You don't want to leave—hunker down. And that just means stay where you are. Don’t try to leave. Wait for the danger to pass.

For example: We hunkered down in the cabin during the storm.

Next up, we have run out of. "Run out of" is a three-word phrasal verb, and it means to use all of something so that there's none [00:22:00] left. We've talked about this before on the podcast. It's a very popular phrasal verb. It's used often for shopping.

For example: We ran out of food after three days in the woods. An everyday use example would be: I have to go to the store because I ran out of shampoo.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb hold out. "Hold out" means to survive or continue for a certain time without help. In the story, they say, How long can we hold out like this? Because they ran out of food and they only had crackers left.

For example: We can only hold out for two more days without supplies.

Next up, we have touch and go. This is an expression that means to be uncertain—could be bad or dangerous. [00:23:00] Sometimes the condition is unknown. Things could go really wrong. It's touch and go. We don't know how it's gonna go. In the story, they say that every day was touch and go.
Every day was uncertain. We didn't know what was gonna happen. Some days were good, some days were bad. A common way to use touch and go is actually for your health—like someone's in the hospital in very bad condition, and we say things are touch and go. They're uncertain. We don't know what's happening. Things could go bad. For example:
It was touch and go for a while, but we finally made it.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb to get by. To get by means to survive with little money, little food, or little help. It's like working with what you have. For example:
We didn't have much, but we got by with what [00:24:00] we had.
 Let's say that you are on vacation and you lose your wallet and you only have $200 left for your last two days. You'll say, "Okay, we're just gonna have to get by. This is what we have. We've gotta survive."

Next up we have look out for. This is a three-word phrasal verb, and look out for something, for example, is to watch carefully for specific danger or problems.
If someone says, "Watch out!" that's very general, right? Watch out. Or, "Look out!" But once you add for to look out—look out for something, watch out for something—this is something specific.
So: Look out for zombies. Look out for lightning. [00:25:00] Look out for something specific that's gonna cause danger or problems. For example:
Look out for wild animals while walking in the forest.

Next up we have another three-word phrasal verb: gear up for.
 Gear up for means to get ready for something, especially something difficult. The word gear means equipment. For example, if you play soccer and you buy soccer gear, it's gonna be maybe shin guards, gloves, any type of equipment that you need to play soccer safely.
Gear up for is like, make sure you're equipped for what's gonna happen, and it's gonna be hard. For example:
We geared up for a cold night with extra blankets and firewood.

And lastly, we have the expression make it out [00:26:00] alive.
 This means to survive a dangerous situation. They were scared, but they made it out alive. We survived.

Well, that concludes all of the new vocabulary from this episode.
 But wait! Before the episode ends, I'm gonna give you some homework so that you can remember everything you just learned.

Number one is to go download the study guide if you have not done this already.
 Number two is to pick 7 to 10 of the vocabulary words and expressions from this episode and try to use them this week. You can write them down in a journal and make some sentences. You can create sentences out loud and record yourself. You can use them with a friend. You can [00:27:00] teach a friend who's also learning English—because teaching is a great way to learn.
 However you practice, just make sure you do it. Because your brain needs repetition and repeated exposure in order to really remember new words. So get to it.

Well, that's a wrap for today's episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast.
Be sure to download today's study guide so that you can learn how to use this vocabulary confidently.
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Thanks so much for tuning in.