Welcome to the English we speak with.
Me Phil and me Fei Fei.
We have a phrase that's about trying to find out what someone thinks, often without them knowing.
It's sound out.
Sound out.
How do we use it?
I've got an idea for a new podcast.
I need to sound the boss out about it.
Why don't you just ask him?
What do you mean by sound him out?
Going to ask some questions to see if he's looking for something new and what he might be looking for.
Then I'll be able to tell if my idea could work or if I should change it a bit.
I don't want to just ask because I'm not sure if my idea is a good one or a bad one yet.
So we can use sound someone out when we are trying to find out what someone thinks indirectly.
Maybe we don't want to let people know exactly what we're thinking.
If you're coming up with a plan, it's a good idea to sound out what the people it will affect.
Think about it.
Then you can adjust your plan before presenting it to them.
Have a listen to these examples.
Before we start working on anything new, we should sound out what our customers think about our existing products.