Episode 0073
Summary
The audio captures a humorous wedding ceremony where the officiant begins by blessing the ring. The groom then struggles to place the wedding ring on the correct finger, leading to multiple exasperated corrections from the bride and eventual laughter from the attendees. The bride has to explicitly tell him where the ring finger is after he mistakes his pinky, index, and thumb for it.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
The rings, please. May this ring be blessed, so he who gives it, and she who wears it, may abide in peace and continue in love until life's end.
With this ring, I thee wed. Where it is a symbol of our love and commitment.
Honey, uh, that's my pinky. The ring goes on the ring finger.
This one?
That's my index finger.
Oh, right. Uh, this one, right?
Uh, that's the thumb, Nick.
Okay, I got it. This is the ring finger.
That's my middle finger, Nick. This is my ring finger!
Summary
This audio features a lighthearted discussion about wedding ceremonies, focusing on the names of fingers and common phrases used in English weddings. It includes a comedic dialogue during a ceremony where the groom struggles to identify the correct finger for the wedding ring. Hosts Marco and Erica explain the meanings of traditional wedding phrases, the names of all five fingers, and the cultural significance of engagement and wedding rings.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Hello everyone, welcome back to English Pod. My name is Marco.
And I'm Erica.
And today we're at a wedding ceremony.
Right, nice.
Another nice wedding. But of course, it wouldn't be English Pod unless we have something unexpected happening at this wedding.
Okay, so we're going to be talking about hands.
Oh, but Marco, what is there to say about a hand?
Well, as you may or may not know, each finger has a name on your hand.
Okay.
So we're going to learn how, so we're going to learn what those names are in English.
Perfect. And also we're going to learn about some common phrases that you might hear in an English wedding.
Exactly, because I think, exactly because usually it's old English. Maybe English that's not used anymore.
All right. Well, I'm excited to find out what this unexpected event is. So, let's listen to our dialogue for the first time.
The rings, please. May this ring be blessed, so he who gives it and she who wears it may abide in peace and continue in love until life's end.
With this ring, I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment.
Honey, that's my pinky. The ring goes on the ring finger.
This one?
That's my index finger.
No, right. Uh, this one, right?
That's the thumb, Nick.
Okay, I got it. This is the ring finger.
That's my middle finger, Nick. This is my ring finger.
All right, embarrassing moment for the groom, right?
Yes.
Confusing the fingers in front of all his friends and family. Not good. So, I mentioned before that we're going to learn the names of each finger in your hand, so let's get started. Let's take a look at these in Language Takeaway.
All right, well, why don't we start with the smallest finger on your hand?
Okay, the smallest finger on your hand. That's called the pinky.
Pinky. Pinky. Sometimes people call it the little finger.
Yes, right? So, the pinky. And the next finger...
Is the one the groom couldn't find.
Okay, the ring finger. The ring finger.
The ring finger.
So, this is, of course, like the name says, where the wedding ring is usually placed.
Exactly. Yep.
Now, the next one, it's a controversial finger.
That must be the middle finger.
Okay, easy, middle finger. So, why is it controversial?
Well, you know, if you put your middle finger up and you put all other fingers down, you are making a very rude gesture. It's a rude sign.
So, what would you call that?
I would call that giving the middle finger.
Giving the middle finger, or I've also heard the phrase 'flip someone off'.
Yes, or also 'flip the bird'.
Flip the bird, exactly. Or 'give him the bird'.
Yes. So all phrases that you can use when you are showing only your middle finger to somebody.
Right. It's not very polite.
No, don't do it.
Don't do it, unless somebody deserves it, I guess. Well.
We won't talk about that, but what we will talk about is the next finger.
The index finger. The index finger.
Index finger.
Index finger. So this is the finger you use to point.
Right. Yep.
The index finger. Any idea why they call it the index finger?
Cause when you're looking through the index of a book, you always use this finger.
Right. I, I think you also use this finger to pass pages on a book, right?
Yeah. Okay, don't believe anything I just told you.
Well, we're not sure, maybe you guys know the real answer to this. And our last finger, the most important one, the thumb. Thumb.
T H U M B.
The thumb. Okay, so that's the short but fat finger on your hand.
The very movable one. The movable one.
The one that you use to play PlayStation and all that. Video games.
Okay, so the pronunciation here, do you say the B at the end of this word?
No, I actually only pronounce the M, the thumb.
Thumb. The thumb.
Yeah, I you wouldn't say the thumb.
No. Mhm.
Okay, so now that we're clear on all five fingers, let's listen to our dialogue again and then we'll come back and talk about these difficult phrases that the priest used.
The rings, please. May this ring be blessed, so he who gives it and she who wears it may abide in peace and continue in love until life's end.
With this ring, I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment.
Honey, uh, that's my pinky. The ring goes on the ring finger.
This one?
That's my index finger.
No, right. Uh, this one, right?
Uh, that's the thumb, Nick.
Okay, I got it. This is the ring finger.
That's my middle finger, Nick. This is my ring finger.
Well, this is really common wedding speak, isn't it?
Yeah, it's really common. That's what usually the priest or the person who is marrying somebody would say.
Well, why don't we look at some of these phrases now, because it's really interesting to talk about their meaning. So, the first one, 'May this ring be blessed'.
May this ring be blessed. So what does it mean when you bless something or someone?
Well, usually the, the religious leader does this, right? And he's giving good wishes to that thing.
Could be for an object or to a person, right? You can be blessed as well.
Yeah. And so these good wishes usually come from God.
Okay. Great. So, what about our next phrase?
Abide in peace. Abide in peace.
Wow. So this verb 'abide'. It means to live. To live, to, to be.
To be. To be in peace.
Yeah. But it's very fancy. And I don't know if you use it anymore.
No, I think you would, you would never use this word in conversation or even very rarely in writing. It's, it's quite old.
Yes, definitely, I would agree. So, 'abide in peace'.
Mhm.
Okay, what about our next phrase? I like this and it's the common phrase you'll hear in all movies and in all marriages. With this ring, I thee wed.
With this ring, I thee wed. With this ring, I thee wed.
Okay, we've got two words in here that are also older English words. So, 'thee'.
Thee. T H E E.
Thee. So, this is an, this is a Middle English term for you.
You. Yes.
Right? So, I would, can I say 'I love thee'?
You could, that would be very romantic. But also inappropriate for the office.
But it's very old English. I guess you would, if you're reading Shakespeare, you would definitely come upon this, right?
Yeah. Yes, yes.
And what about 'wed'?
This is also an old word for, an old verb for the action of marrying someone.
So I can say, 'we will be wed next year'.
Mm-hm. But don't say that now because you'll sound quite silly.
Yeah. It's too old-fashioned. Yeah, I guess so.
But it's good to know, especially if you guys are reading something a little bit more classical.
Or you plan to get married to an English person.
All right, and our last phrase. 'Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment'.
Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment.
So now he's referring to the rings, right? Wear the ring as a symbol.
A sign. A representation.
Yes, of love and commitment. So why would you wear a ring as a, as a symbol of something?
Well, obviously, you know, love, you can't see it, you can't touch it. So, so you need something to show you that it's there.
Mhm. So you need a sign of that love. Something that you can see. So that's what the ring represents.
Yeah. But how about this word 'commitment'?
A commitment is a strong promise, so you promise to love that person, to take care of them, etcetera.
Yeah. Okay, great. So now we are a little bit more familiar with some of the language you hear in a wedding ceremony. And we also know all of the names of the fingers.
Exactly. So why don't we listen to the dialogue one more time to hear these all in context?
The rings, please. May this ring be blessed, so he who gives it and she who wears it may abide in peace and continue in love until life's end.
With this ring, I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment.
Honey, uh, that's my pinky. The ring goes on the ring finger.
This one?
That's my index finger.
No, right. Uh, this one, right?
Uh, that's the thumb, Nick.
Okay, I got it. This is the ring finger.
That's my middle finger, Nick. This is my ring finger.
All right, so now it's perfectly clear. And uh, a romantic dialogue in the end.
Yeah, very romantic.
Although a little bit embarrassing.
Yeah.
So what about wedding rings? Now we have different types of rings, right? We have the wedding ring, the one that that we just heard. But we also have an engagement ring.
Yes, yeah. In most English-speaking countries, the woman is very, very lucky.
Because she gets two rings.
Right. So, when the man asks her to marry him, he gives her a diamond.
A diamond ring that is usually that's the engagement ring.
And it's, it's really, really important that he does this.
Yeah.
And it's also really important that he spends a lot of money on the diamond.
Diamond. I know about this. Diamonds are forever, right?
Yes. And and the tradition is you must spend at least one month salary.
Wow. Is that it? Yeah. So the girl gets an a diamond engagement ring, and then on wedding day she gets the the wedding ring.
Yes. And usually, will she wear both of them?
Yeah, she'll always wear both of them. So the engagement ring goes closest to you and then the wedding ring on top.
And the engagement ring, it represents the commitment to marry her.
So, the commitment from the man to marry her.
Okay, so that it's a symbol that they will get married. Yes, it's a symbol of the promise.
Mhm.
Now what happens if they break up and uh, and they don't get married? Does he get the ring back?
I don't know. Um, okay, here's the rule.
If he was a jerk, no. But but if if it was sort of like a happy breakup, then okay.
Okay. I guess it's a big risk, right?
All right, so that's all for today, guys. Let us know if you guys have any interesting wedding stories. I know that sometimes weddings can be embarrassing, people, I don't know, objecting, maybe, I've seen the groom faint.
Or even fall in a pool.
Fall in a pool. So, if you have any stories, please share them with us. Come to Englishpod.com. And also, if you have any questions or doubts, Erica and I are always there to answer them.
Well, thanks for listening to this lesson, everyone, and until next time, goodbye.
Summary
This audio is an English vocabulary practice session that introduces and reinforces words related to body parts (fingers, toes), marriage, wishes, and jewelry. The session is divided into two main parts: first, a speaker defines a word and another speaker provides the vocabulary word; second, a speaker reads example sentences using some of the previously introduced vocabulary to provide contextual understanding.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
The English Pod audio review.
Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.
Give good wishes to something or someone.
Bless
Live
Abide
You, old use or formal use.
Thee
Get married, old use or formal use.
Wed
Something that represents a certain idea.
Symbol
Little finger.
Pinky
The finger beside the thumb.
Index finger
The short, thick finger on the side of a hand.
Thumb
The finger which is in the middle of the five.
Middle finger
The finger between the middle finger and the little finger.
Ring finger
Ring you receive when you get married.
Wedding band
The fingers on the feet.
Toe
Smallest finger on your hand, synonym for pinky.
Baby finger
A ring a man gives to his girlfriend when he asks her to marry him.
Engagement ring
The hard part at the end of your finger that keeps growing.
Fingernail
Let's try that faster.
The finger between the middle finger and the little finger.
Ring finger
Give good wishes to something or someone.
Bless
A ring a man gives to his girlfriend when he asks her to marry him.
Engagement ring
Smallest finger on your hand, synonym for pinky.
Baby finger
Something that represents a certain idea.
Symbol
The fingers on the feet.
Toe
You, old use or formal use.
Thee
Live
Abide
Little finger.
Pinky
Get married, old use or formal use.
Wed
Ring you receive when you get married.
Wedding band
The finger which is in the middle of the five.
Middle finger
The finger beside the thumb.
Index finger
The hard part at the end of your finger that keeps growing.
Fingernail
The short, thick finger on the side of a hand.
Thumb
Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.
Abide
People in this country all abide in peace and happiness.
Abide
Do you abide in your own house now?
Abide
You must abide by the law or we will take you to prison.
Raising a child is a big commitment.
She isn't ready to make a lifelong commitment to her boyfriend.
Are you afraid of making a commitment?
Pinky
She was cutting some vegetables and she cut her pinky.
Pinky
Pinky rings are really popular these days.
Pinky
She slipped the ring onto her pinky.
Index finger
Don't point at me with your index finger.
Index finger
Some people think that the longer your index finger, the more success you will have in life.
Index finger
I lost my left index finger in a car accident.
Ring finger
Do you see the diamond ring on her ring finger?
Ring finger
The wedding ring doesn't go on the index finger. It goes on the ring finger.
Ring finger
Please fit the ring to the exact size of my ring finger.