Hi everybody. Welcome back to my YouTube channel. In today's video, I will be interviewing my friend Marcelis who is from Cincinnati, Ohio. Let's get started. I'm with my friend Marcelis. So, Marcelis, how many siblings do you have? I have three. I have a sister and I have two brothers. What's it like having two brothers and one sister? I got built-in best friends, so it's great. Are you the oldest, youngest, in the middle? And my younger brothers share the middle. I grew up the middle and then we had my sister like just way later. So then I end up sharing the middle. But yeah, middle.

What do you do for work? I do three things. I work at a skateboard shop. I serve. And then I also cut hair at my house. So it's kind of like a side gig. Marcellis said cutting hair is his side gig. A side gig is a job you do in addition to your main job, usually to make extra money. It's casual, flexible, and not your main source of income. For example, I work at a school, but I also sell jewelry online. That's my side gig. You'll also hear side hustle. Same meaning. I work at a bank, but I also do photography on weekends. That's my side hustle. The word gig alone just means a job. Musicians use it all the time. We

have a gig tonight at 9:00. What's your favorite job out of the three of them? Cutting hair. Cutting hair is probably the best one. It's like talking with the homies, pretty much. He mentioned spending time with the homies. So what does that mean? Homie or homies for the plural means a close friend. Someone you grew up with, live near, or just feel really comfortable around. For example, I'm not going out tonight, just chilling with my homies. The word comes from homeboy, which originally meant someone from your same neighborhood or hometown. Over time, it got shortened and spread everywhere. Now people use it all across the US, not just in one region.

What kind of music do you listen to? All right, that I know a lot of people say everything, but everything. I love French music, UK rap, even R&B, American R&B. I love rap. Um, some bachata, some Brazilian funk. Oh man, like everything. I've recently started liking country, so I've even been dabbling in country music. Did you catch that word? He said he's been dabbling in country music. What does dabbling mean? To dabble means to try something casually. You use it when someone does an activity just for fun without becoming an expert. I dabble in photography, which means I take photos sometimes, but I'm not a professional. She dabbles in cooking.

She cooks occasionally and tries new recipes, but it's not her main thing. He used to dabble in music. He played music a bit in the past, but never seriously. What kind of sports do you follow here in America? Like what do you like to watch? Football. I fell back in love with Not soccer, football. No, not soccer football. American football. Growing up, I always play football. I started playing when I was about four. That was my first love and then I've always been a fan of the Bengals. I stopped being a fan for a few

years only because I just didn't watch the sport. Recently, I've been picking up a bit of baseball as well and that was another one of my like first sports I played growing up. I've got to be honest. I honestly just go to the games for the food. Nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong as long as you're supporting the right team. Are you from Cincinnati originally? Cuz you said you grew up like playing football and stuff. You like the Bengals? Born and raised. I'm from Madisonville. Marcelis said he was born and raised in Cincinnati. This means he was born there and grew up there. Same city his whole life.

Yeah. Born and raised here. I don't know if I'll say. What is your favorite thing about Cincinnati and your least favorite thing? Just to get the negatives out the way, least favorite thing are probably the drivers and then the amount of construction we always have and then how bad the roads can be. Like I just feel like I'm always hitting a pothole and a pothole is a hole or crack in the road, usually caused by cold weather or old pavement. They can damage your car's tires and wheels. I hit a pothole and got a flat tire. The city needs to fix all these potholes. Cincinnati and many

Midwest cities are famous for bad potholes in winter. So now you understand exactly why Marcelus is complaining. The roads, they are bad. The roads are bad. I mean, my car has been in the shop like twice in the past year cuz I went over three, four potholes and it cost a lot of money to repair your car. My favorite thing in Cincinnati, honestly, the atmosphere, especially when it comes to events and sports and then also the diversity of people. You could like go somewhere and just meet someone you never thought you'd meet and

then also like take a few steps down the road and meet a completely different person. Since you're from Cincinnati, do you think you have a Midwest accent? I never thought about me having an accent until I was a little bit younger. I was like a teenager and I was on the Xbox and somebody was like, "Yo, where are you from?" I was like, "I'm from Ohio." They're like, "You got an accent." I'm like, "What?" And then like as I got older and like I will like recognize that I'll say some words with like a little bit of like twang to it or like just like I'll emphasize it a different way someone else would.

Twang is a distinctive sound in someone's voice or accent. It's a specific quality that makes it easy to identify where someone is from. You'll mostly hear it used to describe southern or rural American accents. For example, she has a southern twang when she talks. It can also describe a literal sound. The guitar made a sharp twang when he plucked the string. Speaking of accents and the way people talk in different places, that actually reminds me of today's sponsor, Preply. If you want to learn a language with a specific accent or from a particular region, Prely is perfect for that. With hundreds of tutors, you can learn English from the UK, California, Texas, New York,

or whatever you prefer. You choose the tutor that fits you best. And if you don't like the match, you can easily switch to another one. Personally, I love that I can focus on the way people actually speak. The slang, the everyday expressions, the things you never learn in a textbook. It has helped me feel so much more confidence talking to native speakers. So, if you have ever felt like you understand English but struggle to actually speak it confidently, Preply is a great option. Use my code 50 to get 50% off your first lesson. The link is in the description box below. I do think some Midwestern people do have an accent. Like even my mom, she can say some words a little bit countryesque and I'm like, "Whoa,

where'd that come from?" Marcela said his mom sounds a little countryesque sometimes. The ending esque means in the style of or similar to. So countryesque means kind of country sounding. You can attach it to almost any word or name. For example, the city has a Europeanesque vibe. It feels like a European city. What are some like Midwest slang words? One I think I always use or like I grew up saying if like if something is cool, we'll be like, "Oh, that's live." Like that's just like live. Like that's that's cool as heck. That's live as He said that's live but not alive like a living thing and not a live concert. In Midwest slang live means cool or exciting. For example, did you see his new shoes? Those are live or that party

was so live last night. It's similar to fire or sick. And here's a little tip in English slang. Some words that sound negative can mean something really good. It's more Gen Z in Midwest, so not every American says it, but you'll definitely hear it. I feel like a lot of people are like, if someone's like lying, like, oh yeah, you capping. That's that's cap. Like, you capping. Like, uh-uh. Cap means a lie. Capping means lying. And no cap means I'm not lying. This is the truth. For example, he said he ran 10 miles. That's cap. He's lying. Stop capping. We all know what happened. Stop

lying. No cap. That was the best pizza I've ever had. No cap at the end of a sentence means the person is being completely serious. You'll also hear the word facts as the opposite, meaning something is 100% true. This class is hard. Facts. This is a little bit of a curse word, but like if someone is like telling the truth, you can be like, "Oh, I'm dead ass." Okay. He gave us a warning that this one has a little bit of a bad word. Dead ass means I am completely serious. I am not joking at all. I'm dead ass. I saw a celebrity at the grocery store means I'm not joking. This really happened. Are

you dead ass right now? Are you being serious? It's used when you really want someone to believe you or when something is shockingly true. Here's a more formal way to say the same thing. You can say, "I'm dead serious." Or, "I'm not kidding." Remember, this is casual slang, so don't use it in a job interview or professional setting. Save it for your friends. One word I'm trying to lowkey bring back. We used to always say like beasty. Like if something was super cool, you'd be like, "Oh, that's beasty." Like if you see a crazy souped- out car, you're like, "Dang, that's beasty." Even if someone does like a crazy soccer move, like they rainbow over somebody. Oh,

beasty. That was beasty. Like anything great. If it's good, it's beasty. Beasty is older Midwest slang Marcelus is trying to bring back. It means something is incredible, impressive, or really cool. Did you see that dunk? That was beasty. That skateboard trick was You're from the Midwest and so am I. Would you say pop or soda? Pop. What happens when you open the can? There you go. A carbonated drink like Coca-Cola, Sprite, or Pepsi has different names depending on where you are in the US. In the Midwest, so in Ohio, Michigan, or Illinois, people say pop. On the coast and in the south, people say soda. So,

if you ask for a soda in Ohio, people understand you, but locals will probably say pop. This is a great example of regional vocabulary. Same country, same language, but different words. The US is huge, so this happens a lot. You'll never be wrong. Just sometimes you'll sound like you're from somewhere else, and that's totally fine. What is your favorite accent in the United States? I can't like personally do it, but I really like the Jersey accent. The Jersey Italian accent. Forget about it. That is one of my favorites. And I love the New York accent. So, I have students that follow me from all around the world, but sometimes they have trouble understanding others. What would be difficult for someone that's

learning English to understand people from the Midwest like you or other people from different regions of the US? Definitely like the different slangs make it so much harder, but also the different accents. It's just like the mix of the accent and the slang. There are words that mean one thing, but they'll use it to mean another thing, and they'll use it in a different context. You would kind of just have to know the context of everything or to kind of get a gist of what's happening. Get a gist means to understand the general meaning or main idea, even if you don't understand every single word. For example, I don't speak Italian, but I got the gist of what he was saying.

Just give me the gist. I don't need all the details. With the different accents and then using the same word that means something else in a different way. I feel like that would be like very difficult for even us Americans going to another state rather than a whole person coming from a different country. You were talking about sling and you were saying beasty. Like I don't even know what beasty. I was thinking about Mr. Beast when you said beastie. Does the black community have different sling versus the white community? Definitely do, which is funny. I've come across different videos on how like black people say something or white people say something or even the different ethicy how they say something.

There definitely is a difference, but they get the same message across. Shut the hell up or like you better close your mouth. Just like little stuff like that. Comparisons of like how we say this and how they say it. There's a bunch. Did you know that white slang is just black slang reversed? I'm up for it. I'm down. She looks really good. She's bad. That was really smooth. That's tough. Say no more. Say less. That's cool. That's hot. He's a cool cat. That's my dog. Heavens no. Hell no. Don't test me. Try me.

Yeah, that is hilarious. The what's up dog? That's a cool cat. Hilarious. But you guys use that like every single day. Every day. I say what's up dog all the time. Even in text messages. What up dog? What's up dog? Has there been an instance where you're talking to someone from, you know, California or New York and they don't understand you or what you're saying? When I was a kid, I visited um Paris, Kentucky. Not Paris, France. We had this thing in Cincinnati where we call it butter neck and it's basically like when you like slap your friend in the back of the neck, right? And so I went there, we're like doing it to like our cousins or

whatever. We're like butter neck and they look at us like butter neck? What's neck? And we're like what you mean? They were like we call it bacon and we like what? It's like cuz you know you smack your neck and it hurts. It's like a sizzle like bacon. I was like what? So funny. Like just that small difference is a good example. If they said bacon to me, I would just think of like actual bacon and like butter neck. I would just think of like butter on my neck or something. Yeah, it's so funny what people come up with and how they use it.

Okay, this story is so funny and it's one of the best language lessons in the whole video. Butterneck is a Cincinnati thing where you slap the back of someone's neck. In some other places, kids call this same thing bacon because the sting on your neck sounds like bacon sizzling. Slang can change not just from country to country or state to state, but from city to city, even neighborhood to neighborhood. So, if you ever hear something in English that makes no sense, this is why. The best thing you can do is use context clues, watch people's reactions, and ask. Okay, everybody, that's all for today's video.

I hope you guys enjoyed this conversation with Marcelus and I. And I hope you guys were able to understand both of us. I know sometimes it's hard understanding people from all over the US. There are so many states, so many different regions, accents, and it all depends where you grew up. So, if you guys liked this video, go ahead and give me a like and subscribe, and I'll see you guys next week. Bye.