Episode 0070

My name is Marco. And I'm Erica.

And today we're bringing you a very, I would say, embarrassing lesson for us men.

That's right. We're going to be talking about buying underwear, specifically women's underwear.

Right. So, um, obviously not the favorite thing for men to do.

Well, apart from being a little bit uncomfortable, it's also boring.

Yeah, it involves shopping, right?

It involves shopping, so we're not really big on that.

All right, but well, even though it might be a little bit of an uncomfortable topic, there is some great language in here, isn't there?

Yeah, there's some really good words and of course the different types of underwear that we're going to be looking at.

Yeah.

But we also have some words that we're going to take a look at before we get into our dialogue. So, let's start with vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview.

Well, we're going to look at two words that will appear in our dialogue. And the first one is lingerie.

Lingerie.

Lingerie.

Okay, so lingerie. This is a nice fancy word.

Mhm.

Basically for underwear, right?

Right, for women's underwear.

Women's underwear.

So lingerie, but it's very nice, very...

Like pretty, sexy.

Sexy underwear. Yeah.

Now, the spelling of this word is interesting, isn't it?

Yeah, it's spelled L-I-N-G-E-R-I-E.

Lingerie.

Lingerie.

So women's nice, pretty, sexy underwear.

That's right. And our second word, awkward.

Awkward.

Awkward.

Awkward.

So this is a feeling that men have, especially when they're buying women's underwear.

Well, yeah, you feel a little bit uncomfortable or it's a strange situation.

Or weird or out of place.

It's awkward.

Yes. All right, so we're going to be hearing both of these two words in the dialogue. Now, Marco, where are we here?

We're going to be at a department store at the section where they have women's lingerie, and we have a guy buying underwear for his girlfriend.

All right, well, let's find out what happens.

All right, these are fine.

You look a little lost. Can I help you?

Um, I'm just having a look around.

It's my girlfriend's birthday tomorrow. I'm trying to find her something.

Well, you can't give her granny panties. Have you thought about getting her some sleepwear?

We've got these lovely silky nighties or how about some nice panties and a bra set?

Look, here's a nice satin push-up bra and you can choose a few different styles of undies to go with it.

Sure, that's fine.

Well, do you want a thong, some bikini briefs? Maybe this nice pair of lacy boy shorts?

Um, I'll go with these two.

I'm sorry, sir. I'm going to have to take a look inside your bag.

Yeah, he was really nervous and of course, it was very uncomfortable for him.

I know. And then the security guard shows up.

Exactly. But we have the opportunity to take a look at some really great words and phrases.

So, let's start off with our first one in language takeaway.

Language takeaway.

All right, well, we're going to look at words here that mostly have to do with underwear, describing underwear.

Right.

And the first one is granny panties.

Granny panties.

Granny panties.

This isn't like a real, real word, right? It's not something you'll find in a dictionary.

No, it's a slang word. Um, and we use it to describe really big, ugly underwear like your grandmother would wear.

All right, so they're not like the sexy little underwear, it's more like long and it's not very appealing.

All right, so granny panties.

So obviously, um, this guy doesn't want to be buying any of those, but the saleswoman suggests that he try some sleepwear.

Sleepwear.

Sleepwear.

Sleepwear.

Okay, so sleepwear.

Obviously, clothes you wear when you're sleeping.

Now this is really interesting because men aren't really that complicated when it comes to sleeping. Just throw on a t-shirt and that's it.

Well, obviously for women, there are more options and and more different things you can choose from. So it's a whole separate category for women.

Yeah. Even when you're sleeping, you must wear something nice.

Yes. One type of sleepwear is silky nighties.

Nighties.

Nighties.

N I G H T I E S.

Okay, so a nighty.

Um, it's basically a dress that you wear when you sleep.

Okay. Now the pronunciation is interesting because the first five letters are night.

Right.

Right? But you don't say night.

You don't say nightie.

You say nighty.

Yeah, you you make the T a D. Nighty.

Now she offered him some silky nighties.

Right. So silky. Obviously, we know silk is a soft, shiny fabric, right?

Right.

So when something is silky, it's either made from silk or it's soft and shiny.

Okay, so some silky nighties, very soft, shiny nighties.

Exactly. Okay.

What about our next word?

Well, the salesgirl offers different styles of undies.

Undies.

Undies.

Undies.

So undies is an interesting word. It's basically short for underwear.

Underwear, okay.

So you can just call underwear undies.

Yes. But I think you mostly use this when you're talking about women's underwear.

Oh, really?

I mean, I don't know if I would say undies when I'm talking about men's underwear.

No, I don't think so. Maybe children's underwear.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for children.

For children, right?

Yep. Okay.

All right, so we saw some of the different types of clothing, but now let's take a look at this interesting adjective, mortifying.

Mortifying.

This is mortifying.

Mortifying.

Okay, so when something is mortifying.

Well, I think we've got some examples to show you what that is like.

Example one.

Example two.

Example three.

So basically it's very embarrassing.

Super embarrassing.

You want to die almost.

Which is I interesting. I mean, mort.

Right? From dead, right?

French. Yeah.

Interesting.

All right. Well, um, etymology here at EnglishPod.

All right, so some interesting. Okay, so we saw the different types of underwear, we saw this really great word for when you're really embarrassed.

Mhm.

So now let's take a look at some of the phrases that you would use when you're really embarrassed in fluency builder.

Fluency builder.

All right, we have two phrases to look at here. The first one, get the hell out of here.

Get the hell out of here.

Get the hell out of here.

Okay, so if I say I want to get the hell out of here.

You want to leave this place really quickly.

Really quickly. Just I want to leave.

Right now.

Now when you're using this this phrase or this sentence, uh get the hell out of here, is it really polite?

No, of course not. It's it's impolite.

Okay, so it's It's really negative.

Very negative and informal, right?

Yeah.

So you would use this maybe with your friends or like in this case, think it to yourself.

Yes, but it's not a good idea to use with your boss or your mother.

Right. Yeah.

I guess sometimes depending on the tone you use, how you say it, you can sound really angry, right?

Definitely. Right. Okay.

All right, well, let's listen to some examples.

Example one.

Example two.

Example three.

We're at a friend's party and all of a sudden her parents arrived. We got the hell out of there as quickly as possible.

All right, so get the hell out of here.

Get the hell out of here.

Now let's take a look at our last phrase for fluency builder. Get this over with.

Get this over with.

I want to get this over with.

So you want to finish it really quickly.

But you want to finish it because you're not really enjoying it, right?

Exactly. This is something that you use when the situation is negative.

It's negative. Okay.

Okay, so I just want to get this over with.

Yeah, I want to get this test over with. I want to get this day over with. I want to get this...

Maybe if you're on a bad date, I want to get this date over with.

Yes, exactly. Okay.

All right, well, interesting phrases, and I think it would help us to hear them once more in context in the dialogue.

All right, these are fine.

You look a little lost. Can I help you?

Um, I'm just having a look around.

It's my girlfriend's birthday tomorrow. I'm trying to find her something.

Well, you can't give her granny panties. Have you thought about getting her some sleepwear?

We've got these lovely silky nighties or how about some nice panties and a bra set?

Look, here's a nice satin push-up bra and you can choose a few different styles of undies to go with it.

Sure, that's fine.

Well, do you want a thong, some bikini briefs? Maybe this nice pair of lacy boy shorts?

Um, I'll go with these two.

I'm sorry, sir. I'm going to have to take a look inside your bag.

All right, so I guess the situation is very common. Men either having to shop for this type of article for their girlfriend or wife, because it's their birthday.

Yeah.

Or sometimes we get dragged into a store to to buy this.

So you're shopping with your girlfriend and she's going to make you go look at underwear with her.

Yeah. I usually don't do that though. I will just uh go to the next section and just look around.

Look at tools.

Look at TVs and PlayStations.

Yeah. But you know what? I have seen some men who go shopping with their girlfriends or wives and actually enjoy buying underwear.

See, that's the thing. I think it it it makes sense, but I don't know how comfortable you would actually be. I don't know why. I guess it's just the how it indicates sexuality and all this stuff.

Oh, well.

Like I could do it for maybe five or 10 minutes, give my professional advice and then I'm out of there.

All right, well, maybe those guys who look like they're enjoying themselves are just really talking in their heads, um, telling themselves how much they hate this.

Exactly. Maybe they're just uh they're pretending. Pretending or listening to their iPod.

Well, tell us, well guys, I know we've got a lot of male listeners. Tell us what you think. Um, are you embarrassed by women's underwear?

Right. Or women, why aren't you embarrassed when you buy men's underwear for your boyfriend or husband?

I think there's a lot to talk about here. So come to our website at EnglishPod.com.

Right. Leave your questions and comments and of course, tell us what you think about this topic.

The English Pod Audio Review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Women's underwear.

Lingerie.

Leave this place.

Get out of here.

Clothes you use for sleeping.

Sleepwear.

A night dress, nightgown.

Nighties.

A bra that raises the breasts so as to offer additional size through padding.

Push-up bra.

Informal way of saying underwear.

Undies.

Women's underwear worn on the lower part of the body.

Bikini briefs.

Women's underwear that looks like little tight shorts.

Boyshorts.

Extremely embarrassing.

Mortifying.

Women's underwear.

Panties.

Clothes a woman wears to support her breasts.

Bra.

Type of underwear that men use which are similar to shorts.

Boxer shorts.

Normal or traditional underwear for men, similar to the shape and size of panties.

Briefs.

A term used to describe when a person is not wearing any underwear.

Going commando.

A garment worn under the clothing used to mold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes.

Corset.

British English, same as panties.

Knickers.

Let's try that faster.

British English, same as panties.

Knickers.

Women's underwear.

Lingerie.

Type of underwear that men use which are similar to shorts.

Boxer shorts.

Women's underwear.

Panties.

Normal or traditional underwear for men, similar to the shape and size of panties.

Briefs.

Informal way of saying underwear.

Undies.

A night dress, nightgown.

Nighties.

A garment worn under the clothing used to mold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes.

Corset.

Clothes a woman wears to support her breasts.

Bra.

A term used to describe when a person is not wearing any underwear.

Going commando.

Clothes you use for sleeping.

Sleepwear.

A bra that raises the breasts so as to offer additional size through padding.

Push-up bra.

Leave this place.

Get out of here.

Women's underwear worn on the lower part of the body.

Bikini briefs.

Women's underwear that looks like little tight shorts.

Boyshorts.

Extremely embarrassing.

Mortifying.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

I suck at basketball.

Let's have a look around before we decide.

I don't know what I'm going to get. I haven't had a look around yet.

Do you want to have a look around and see what's available?

I don't like lacy dresses.

It's too lacy. I don't like it.

Mortifying.

Mortifying.

Mortifying.

Alright, let's get this over with and go home.

We have one thing left to do, so let's just get it over with.

Can we get this over with by Monday?