Open to

Open to (something)

To be “open to” something is to be willing to consider it. “I’m open to that” means, “I’m willing to consider that.”

You use this when there are many options. And you use “open to” when you haven’t committed to one option, but you haven’t eliminated it from consideration either. You’re open to it; you’re willing to think about it.

Many of you know, I moved from Chicago to Mexico City about 18 months ago. I knew I wanted an international experience in a Spanish-speaking country. I was pretty sure that Mexico City was where I would wind up, but I was open to other options. I was open to a smaller city in Mexico—Puebla, for example, is a smaller city that I really liked. I was open to other countries. I was open to Colombia—I visited once and really liked it. I would have been open to Spain, although I probably would have had a hard time getting a visa.

I was open to these options—I was willing to consider them; I did consider them—but ultimately I made a different choice. I chose Mexico City. But I did consider, I did think about, those other options. I was open to them.

This is a term you can use when you have to make a decision with another person. Let’s say you and your friend have decided to meet for dinner. You really want to get pizza. But your friend says, “Hey, what do you think about trying this new Mediterranean restaurant?” You can say, “I’m open to that.”

That doesn’t mean “yes.” That doesn’t even mean, “I think that’s a good idea.” It just means, “I’m willing to consider it.” Let’s keep talking about it.

Now when someone says to you, “I’m open to that,” this is an invitation for you to convince that person of your proposal. So, your friend says, “Let’s try that new Mediterranean restaurant.” You reply, “I’m open to that.” Your friend might try to convince you. She knows you are willing to consider it. So she might say, “I’ve seen the menu and it has some great dishes and the prices are reasonable.”

From there, you can decide together. But the important thing is, you said “I’m open to it,” meaning, “I’m willing to think about it.”

I read an article that quoted someone from Bulgaria. She said that, growing up, she learned that Turkish people were horrible and she would never consider going on vacation to Turkey. But now she watches Turkish dramas on television and it totally changed her mind. Now, she says, she and others from Bulgaria are open to traveling to Turkey on vacation.

That doesn’t mean they take every trip there. That doesn’t even mean that everyone who watches the shows goes there. That just means, they’re now willing to consider Turkey as a vacation destination, whereas before they were not willing to consider it. And in fact , she, and other Bulgarians do often go to Turkey on vacation.

Here’s another way to use it. If you want to propose something to someone, but you’re not sure how they’ll react, you can phrase it like this: “Would you be open to…” and then say your proposal.

So let’s say you work in Chicago and you’re trying to fill a job in Houston. You want someone good, someone you know, someone you trust, to move to Houston to do this job. These are two big cities, but they’re very different. You might approach one of your employees in Chicago and say, “Would you be open to possibly moving to Houston?”

This is a very gentle way of making a proposal. When you say, “Would you be open to possibly moving to Houston?” You’re not telling the person to move. You’re not even requesting that the person move. You don’t need an answer right away. You’re only asking if they would think about it. “Would you be open to it?” means, “would you consider it? Would you at least think about it?”

If someone asked me, “Would you be open to moving to Houston?” I would say yes, I would be open to it. I would think about it. Tell me the proposal. How much would you pay me? What kind of job would it be? I’d be open to it, but that’s not a promise. That just means, I’d think about it.

See you next time!

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That’s all for us here. Lesson 667 is in the books. We’ll be back on Monday with a new topic. See you then.