Touchy-feely

Touchy-feely

Li:	Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I'm Yang Li.
William:	(subdued) I'm William Kremer.
Li:	So, what English are we speaking today, William?
William:	(sigh) I don't know.
Li:	Oh what a big sigh! What's wrong?
William:	Oh, it doesn't matter.
Li:	Oh, come on! I can see something's not right. What's wrong?
William:	(sigh) It's ... well, if you must know, it's Tigger ... he's died.
Li:	Tigger? Who's Tigger?
William:	Tigger ... Tigger is ... Tigger was my beautiful cat. He was my best friend. I suppose you could say that. I'm going to miss his stripey face in the morning. And his purr, yeah, I'm going to miss that. But, you know, these things happen. I shouldn't get so upset ...
Li:	Why not? I think it's normal to be very sad when a pet dies.
William:	No, no, it's silly! I'm getting upset over an animal! I'm not a baby! I should grow up.
Li:	But you might find it helpful to talk about your feelings for Tigger.
William:	No, no, no, no! I hate all of that touchy-feely stuff!
Li:	Touchy-feely?
William:	Yeah, if something is touchy-feely it's very emotional. If you are a touchy-feely person you don't mind talking about your feelings and maybe actually hugging people.
Li:	I see. So is this a negative phrase, touchy-feely?
William:	Yeah, a little bit. Let's hear a couple of examples of it in use:

Man: Do you know, I never once saw my mum and dad kiss or hug.
Man 2: Really? Gosh, that seems incredible.
Man: But I think they really loved each other. They just weren't all touchy-feely about it.

Woman: Did you go to that drama group?
Woman 2: Yeah. I don't think I'll go again.
Woman: Oh? Why not?
Woman 2: Well, the acting was fine. But it's all that touchy-feely stuff they do that I don't like.

Li:	Look, you English people! You just can't talk about your feelings, can you?
William:	Well, you might be right Li—we're not famous for talking about our feelings. Now, before we finish, I have heard this phrase touchy-feely being used in a very different way too. Listen to this:

Woman: I love your sweater!
Man: Thanks.
Woman: It's so soft! I love this material. It's so touchy-feely!
Man: OK. Shall I take it off and then you can touch it properly?!

Li:	So in that example, 'touchy-feely' was being used to describe a kind of material.
William:	Yes. If something is touchy-feely it is very soft. You want to stroke it, just like Tigger. I'm going to miss stroking Tigger.
William:	The way he used to purr ... And sometimes he would bring me a little present, you know. A dead mouse or maybe a little bird. So thoughtful.
Li:	Hmm. It's OK to cry you know, William ...
William:	(recovering himself) No! No it's not. No touchy-feely stuff!
Li:	Oh I give up. Goodbye everyone.
William:	Bye!