Episode 0074

Hello English learners, welcome back to English Pod. My name is Marco.

And I'm Erica.

Today we're bringing you an upper intermediate lesson and something that we all do.

Right, talking to ourselves.

Talking to ourselves, right?

Yeah.

I think everyone does it. You think to yourself or you talk to yourself.

Yep.

And we're going to be doing that today, but we're going to be looking at some specific vocabulary. Erica, why don't you tell us about that?

Well, unfortunately, we're going to be following a guy as he's in a really embarrassing situation and we're going to hear him call himself some bad names.

In his mind.

So, he's a little bit nervous and he thinks he is uh not very smart, right?

That's right.

Okay, so before we start with this dialogue, there are a couple of words that we should look at in vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview.

All right, we're going to hear both of these words in the dialogue, and the first one is famished.

Famished.

Famished.

Okay, so famished is an adjective.

That's right, meaning very, very, very hungry.

Very, very hungry. Okay, so just very hungry, very easy.

Yes.

Famished.

Now, what about our next one? Sexist.

Sexist.

Sexist.

Another adjective to describe a person, right?

Right. Or a thing, I guess, like, yeah, an idea.

Okay, so a sexist person would be...

Somebody who judges people by their sex. So like all women are stupid, for example.

Which is not true, of course.

No, of course not.

Right? So sexists works both ways. A woman can be sexist, a man could be sexist.

Exactly. Um, meaning the woman thinks all men are stupid.

Which is also not true.

Yes. Let's just be clear about that.

All right. So now that we've taken a look at these two phrases, let's start with our dialogue and we'll be back to talk about all the great words.

Miss, your salad.

And for you, sir.

Thank you.

Enjoy.

Thank you.

Ah, she's eating salad. All right. I'll have a salad.

Just take a fork and eat your salad.

Um...

Hm? Oh, sorry. What were you saying?

You're eating my salad.

Oh, yes, it's delicious.

Okay, embarrassing first date, huh?

Well, it happens to us sometimes, we are in the company of a very beautiful girl and we just get really nervous.

All right, well, um, you know, psychologists call this negative self-talk.

Oh, really?

Yeah, this sort of calling yourself names and talking negatively about yourself, but actually you can use some of this language to talk negatively about others.

Yeah.

So why don't we look now at this language in language takeaway.

Language takeaway.

So in language takeaway today, we have five words. Let's start with our first one.

Dumbass.

Dumbass.

Dumbass.

Okay. Now this isn't a very uh polite word, I would say.

Definitely not polite.

Okay. But what is a dumbass?

Well, um, it's obviously a dumb, stupid idiot.

Okay, so it's a person that is not very intelligent.

And our next word is also quite similar.

Moron.

Moron.

Moron.

A moron.

If a person is a dumbass or a person is a moron, what's the difference?

Um, well, basically, a moron is someone who is not smart, who is very unintelligent.

Okay.

Okay? So they don't know what 1 + 1 is.

Okay.

Right? But a dumbass is a person who does stupid things.

Okay.

So maybe a dumbass, like you're planning a bank robbery and the dumbass forgets to bring the gun.

Okay. That is a dumbass. All right. So maybe moron is a little bit less offensive and it's actually, you'll find it in the dictionary, right?

Yeah.

Whereas a dumbass, I don't think you'll find it.

Yeah, it's slang. It's slang, exactly.

Now, what about this next, it's also a negative name you can call people, a tool.

Tool.

Tool.

This is very strange because I don't know how a tool can be something negative.

Towards a person.

Yeah. But it actually means the opposite, right? If a person is called a tool, it means they are...

Useless. Useless, right?

Yeah.

So if you ever call a tool, they're saying that you're useless.

Exactly. You're good for nothing.

All right, well, these are three interesting words. So why don't we hear some examples of each of these words in use.

Example one.

Example two.

I don't like Kevin very much. He can be a real moron at times.

Example three.

He was looking for a job, but he didn't even have a resume prepared. He's such a tool.

Okay, so great examples and here at English Pod, we're bringing you real street talk.

Exactly. Language as it is spoken by today's youth.

Okay. Now let's take a look at our last two words.

All right, well, these phrases you can use when you're trying to calm yourself down and make yourself relax a little bit, right?

Right. Let's take a look at the next one. Chill.

Chill.

Okay, chill.

Chill.

So again, relax.

Calm down. Calm down.

Yeah. You need to chill.

Yes. And then you also need to be cool.

Be cool.

Be cool.

Now, if you can tell the pattern is related to temperature, right? Chill is cold, cool is similar to cold.

Yep.

So again, that's what it means to relax.

To calm down your emotions. Make your emotions not so hot.

Exactly. Yeah. All right. So chill, be cool.

Exactly. And you use them together like that, don't you?

Yeah. Yeah. Now, chill also has another, another way of using it, right?

Exactly.

You can say I'm chilling with my friends.

Yeah, we're chilling here in the English Pod studio.

Which means we're just relaxing, we are just having fun, not doing anything, right?

Exactly. But you can't say chilling. You have to, you have to drop the G.

Yeah, you have to try. Right. You can't say I'm chilling. You have to say I'm chillin'.

I'm chillin'.

Okay, so that's all for language takeaway, but now let's take a look at some of the really useful phrases that we saw in this dialogue in fluency builder.

Fluency builder.

Okay, so this guy is so happy he's on this date that he wants to scream at the top of his lungs.

Scream at the top of my lungs.

Scream at the top of my lungs.

So basically he just wants to like scream.

To shout really loudly. Really loudly.

He's so excited, right?

Exactly.

Okay, so for example, sometimes you're at a concert, right? And you need to talk to your friend and you're like screaming at the top of your lungs because the other person can't hear you.

Exactly. Or maybe you're lost in the woods and you need to scream at the top of your lungs so that someone will hear you and find you.

All right, very good. Okay, so scream at the top of my lungs.

Mhm. Our next phrase.

Get it together.

Get it together.

Get it together.

So if I tell you, Erica, you need to get it together.

Basically, you're telling me to calm down, relax.

So pull your emotions together, you know, get your ideas straight.

Right. So it kind of gives you this idea that you got to pull, like you said, pull your emotions together in a little box and tie them up.

All right, so get it together.

So Marco, when would you use this phrase, get it together?

I guess when somebody is either very emotional, maybe crying or very nervous, you know, you tell a person, oh, get, get it together, you know, relax.

Yeah.

Or when somebody maybe is not doing something good in their life, you know, like making bad decisions or not being responsible, you you tell that person, you need to get it together.

Exactly. Right?

Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself.

Okay. So now, why don't we move on to our next phrase and this is really, really high frequency, I think you would hear it all the time.

All right, so what the hell?

What the hell? What the hell?

So why would you say what the hell?

Well, obviously you're asking a question, right? Cause you've got your, your W, you've got your what. But when you say the hell, you're putting emphasis on the what.

So you're asking a really strong question.

Right, but it's not polite. It's not polite.

Okay. So if I say what the hell is going on?

Um, what's happening? Really, really what's happening.

Right? So, and we can change it a little bit. We can replace the what with another WH, like why?

How? How? Where? Where or when? Yeah.

Okay. So why don't we hear some examples of how this expression is used using different WH words?

Example one.

Example two.

Example three.

Example four.

All right. Now our final word, also a little bit strong, um, but pretty high frequency.

Oh yeah, very high frequency.

Oh crap.

Oh crap. Oh crap.

So it's a little bit strong but less strong than maybe saying a really bad word, right? But it's definitely saying like you made a mistake, right?

Yes. Yeah, it's like a really strong oh no. Oh no.

Exactly, a really strong oh no.

Yeah. But I guess not many people say, oh no, you know.

Yeah. Oh no, I just lost $10 million.

Exactly, right? You would not say that. So it's a very strong oh no, but it's not as strong as it could be.

Yeah. There are other words out there that are stronger, but we are not going to go into them here.

But maybe you guys know, so let us know. We can definitely keep an eye out on the comments section.

But don't write the words in the comments section.

Okay, so we saw some really great phrases, some really great words, a lot of informal language, but it's very high frequency and you'll use that with your friends or you'll see it in movies, TV shows.

Yeah, really common in movies and TV shows.

Exactly. So let's listen to this dialogue one more time and then we'll come back and talk a little bit more.

Miss, your salad.

And for you, sir.

Thank you.

Enjoy.

Thank you.

Ah, she's eating salad. All right. I'll have a salad.

Just take a fork and eat your salad.

Um...

Hm? Oh, sorry. What were you saying?

You're eating my salad.

Oh, yes, it's delicious.

So these slang words, they're actually very common, right?

Yeah, I think like you said, it's not likely that you'll find them in a dictionary.

Of course. And you can find them in movies or sometimes when you're having a conversation, a very informal conversation with a native speaker.

Yep.

These words will slip out and these uh slang terms will come up.

Exactly. And you know what, there's a great resource out there for wonderful English slang terms called urbandictionary.com.

Exactly. If you ever see a word that maybe you can't find in the conventional dictionary, you're probably going to find it there.

Yeah, we'll put a link up to it on the site.

All right. So also, if you have any questions or comments, be sure to come to our website Englishpod.com.

Marco and I are there to um answer all your questions and we also got lots of resources like links to Urban Dictionary.

Right. And also, if you have any questions on any other slang terms that you may have heard or how to use them, be sure to post it on the comment section.

Well, guys, thanks for listening to this lesson and until next time.

The English part audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

A dish made of raw vegetables.

Salad.

Truly.

Positively.

Very hungry.

Famish.

To be as loud as possible.

At the top of one's lungs.

An impolite way of calling someone foolish.

Dumbass.

Sexy to the greatest degree.

Sexy.

Someone who is stupid or useless.

Tool.

Control your emotions.

Get it together.

An impolite way of saying something is foolish.

Crap.

Someone who is very stupid.

Moron.

Calm down, relax.

Chill.

The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.

Feminism.

A romantic outing with someone that you have not met before.

Blind date.

A person who is very clumsy or awkward.

Spaz.

The way people see or perceive you the first time you meet.

First impression.

To miss an opportunity or chance.

Blow it.

Let's try that faster.

An impolite way of calling someone foolish.

Dumbass.

Calm down, relax.

Chill.

Very hungry.

Famish.

Someone who is stupid or useless.

Tool.

To be as loud as possible.

At the top of one's lungs.

Truly.

Positively.

Sexy to the greatest degree.

Sexy.

Someone who is very stupid.

Moron.

An impolite way of saying something is foolish.

Crap.

Control your emotions.

Get it together.

A dish made of raw vegetables.

Salad.

To miss an opportunity or chance.

Blow it.

A person who is very clumsy or awkward.

Spaz.

The way people see or perceive you the first time you meet.

First impression.

The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities.

Feminism.

A romantic outing with someone that you have not met before.

Blind date.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Dumbass.

Dumbass.

Dumbass.

That guy looks crazy, he's screaming at the top of his lungs.

Get it together.

Get it together. Now is not the time to start crying.

Get it together.

Get it together.

Chill.

Chill. I'll be there in five minutes.

Chill.

Chill.

Chill out, man. It's not a big problem.