Episode 0128

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

That's right. Today is the finale, the final episode, episode 10. This is where it all ends. So, what do you think is gonna happen?

There was a lot of controversy around it because, you know, I wanted to know if people wanted a happy ending, a sad ending, unexpected. I guess everyone wants a happy ending, right?

[Train whistle and rumbling sounds]

It was fine. I've been better, but it's great to be home. I've missed you all.

You, what's new with you?

I hope that one day I can have that.

Of course, man, come on. I mean, everything was set here for you to marry Shalini. You know, she's still pining after you. I don't think she'll ever get over you.

Get over it. You're home now. Everyone here thinks so highly of you. There'll be girls throwing themselves at you, you can marry anyone you want.

You are incorrigible.

[Sound of a train horn and passing train]

Hi, Stephen.

Veronica. How did you get here? How do you know where I live?

I waited for you at the airport, but you never showed. I also have some little secrets that I haven't told you about, but we can discuss that later.

I realized that I was just scared, scared of how much I love you and of the commitment that marriage requires. I'm here now. Now, there's something I want to ask you. Stephen, will you marry me?

And those weddings are like four days long.

Absolutely. I was glad to see that it was a happy ending, I have to say. If it had been a sad ending, I would have been a little bit disappointed because, well, Veronica and I...

So, apart from this happy ending and this happy finale that we had, uh we did look at a lot of great words and phrases, so, why don't we start now with language takeaway?

[Jingle: Language Takeaway]

So, the first couple of phrases we want to talk about here have to do with maybe catching up and talking about family or gossip because we're talking to Stephen's Indian family who he hasn't seen for a long, long time.

And the first thing he's he's talking to his brother about his brother and his wife. So, Gulam and Nisha are expecting, we find out.

Right, they're expecting. So if Gulam and Nisha are expecting, what does that mean exactly?

They're expecting a letter?

Expecting a baby, maybe?

Aha, yeah, so here we go. I'm expecting is a very common English way of saying, 'I'm going to have a baby. I'm pregnant.'

All right. So, don't get this confused. If somebody says, 'Oh, well, I'm expecting,' you don't have to say expecting what.

Exactly, when it's only expecting, when it's not a thing afterwards, I'm expecting means I'm pregnant or she's expecting. She's gonna have a baby.

So, they are expecting a baby. They're expecting. Well, and they were talking about, well, Stephen, he he was supposed to get married in India. And uh his brother said a very interesting word. He said, 'Well, these girls are still uh this girl is still pining over you.'

So, this Shalini, some girl that Stephen used to to know when he was living in India, she's pining after you. Well, pine has many different meanings in English. But in this sense, we're talking about having a crush on or being in love with.

And also, it's a way of saying that you are that you desire, you yearn for this person very, very much.

But that you don't have them.

You want them.

You want them.

So, you're pining over this person. Now, can you pine over an object?

No. No. Usually it's maybe uh related to love or to a person, right?

Yeah, so she she stands by the door every day waiting the letter that doesn't come. She's pining away for her dear love, Thomas, or whatever.

And you know what I read recently is that people can get addicted to pining.

Really?

Yeah, after a breakup, maybe you can pine after a person, not because you miss them or you want to, but you kind of grow accustomed to it and you become addicted to this pain that's kind of pleasurable.

There is a way to describe this, it's called Petrarchan love. Well, it's this kind of traditional idea in poetry where you have a love that's never consummated, that's never filled. You never get to be with the person that you love, that you desire.

And so it's a way, yeah, it's a way of uh distinguishing the two different kinds of love. One where you're with the person and the other where you always want them but you can never have them.

Well, hopefully none of our listeners are pining over anyone or or get to experience that, huh?

Exactly. But uh if you do pine away, or you pine after someone, um, you have to hope that one day you'll get over that person.

Yeah. You have to get over it. And that's what his brother says, 'Hey, get over it.'

I don't think she'll ever get over you.

So, what does it mean when you're supposed to get over someone?

Okay, this is a good question because, you know, we're talking here not about actually getting up on top of a fence or a wall. We're talking about emotions. So, getting over someone, so I have to get over him, means that I have to stop feeling so sad about what what happened, right? Because usually you say this when someone's sad or angry.

And and also it kind of means that you have to forget or let that person go, you know, like get over it.

We're gonna move on here to the last word in today's language takeaway, which is incorrigible.

Okay, an incorrigible person.

All right, incorrigible. What does this mean? Well, let's look at the sentence where we find it. You are incorrigible.

Gulam says this to Stephen.

Right. So, it's an adjective and basically it means that you have no correction of some sort.

Where there's an argument between Stephen and Gulam. So they're brothers, and Stephen says, 'I don't want to get married. I don't want to marry her.' He's complaining and his brother says, 'You are incorrigible. You just won't stop.'

Right.

So someone's someone's feelings, their emotions, their ideas about something, they just can't be changed or altered. They're fixed. You know, this guy, he's like, 'I'm not gonna get married.' And his brother says, 'Ah, you're incorrigible. I just can't change your mind.'

So it's kind of like being stubborn.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And we hear this phrase a lot um together, so you're incorrigible, right? So this is often just kind of a it's a it's not an insult, but it's a way for us to kind of be sarcastic or to make fun of someone.

Okay, cool. So, five great words in language takeaway today. And well, before we move on and listen to the dialogue again, why don't we take a look at fluency builder?

[Jingle: Fluency Builder]

All right, this first phrase is something that parents often use and grandparents as well, because obviously parents and grandparents, they're very proud of their children, their grandchildren. So they describe something as being their pride and joy.

My pride and joy.

So, it's uh usually a person that's your pride and joy.

It could be a thing too.

It could be a thing.

His Porsche Boxster is his pride and joy. He goes out every morning and he washes it, he changes the oil, he checks the gas, he checks the tires, so it's his pride and joy.

All right.

It's his most valued possession.

So it always goes together, right? My pride and joy.

I think you are.

Hmm.

All right. So, uh you don't know my mom. All right, so somebody's pride and joy.

So now, another phrase that we took a look at and it's a way of making conversation especially with a person that you haven't seen in a while. He said, 'Hey, what's new with you?'

What's new with you?

Uh-huh. What's new with you?

All right, so this might sound a little strange because normally we say, 'How have you been? It's been a long time. How are you?' But this is like, you know, it's it's a fluency builder phrase. So it's very colloquial, it's very spoken language. So this you hear often between friends or family members.

Hey, Marco, what's new with you?

So, how do you I would answer this by saying, 'Oh, well, not much' or uh, 'I just bought a new house.' So basically you're asking for news from a person.

All right. And usually after somebody asks you, 'what's new with you,' you say something and then you usually would follow up and ask that person as well, right? What's new and what's new with you?

Exactly. So, you know, I got a new house, got a new job. What's new with you? Or what about you? What about you? So, it's a nice, very relaxed, informal way of asking someone for news in their life.

Perfect. All right, what's new with you? Um, what else? Now, he was supposed to get married, right?

Right, so this is news. He was supposed to get married. He didn't get married. What's going on? His brother, his mother, they all want to know what's going on. And we find out that wedding, that girl, he just couldn't go through with it.

So, I can't, I couldn't go through with it.

Okay, there's past tense. So he's saying, 'before I came to India, with this girl, I couldn't go through with it.'

Uh-huh. So, present would be I can't go through with it.

And going through with what? Here? We've got it. This kind of magical, strange word it. What what could this be?

So basically what he's saying is that he couldn't complete or maybe finish something that he started.

So in this case, we're talking about a relationship or marriage.

So, maybe we loved each other, but I couldn't go through with it. I couldn't go to the finish line.

Right. I couldn't get married. You see that a lot when maybe in movies, two people are supposed to get married. They're at the altar, and all of a sudden the bride says, 'I can't' or she goes away crying.

Exactly, right? So because she loves somebody else. So, can't go through with it.

Great. So, really good phrase. I can't go through with it. He couldn't go through with it.

And uh we find out that, well, not such a bad thing. Stephen, he's very popular in India. The girls love him. We've got a great phrase for describing having lots of girls who love you.

Right, he says there'll be girls throwing themselves at you.

Literally? Like, how? That might have hurt.

I can't imagine that, like just somebody throwing themselves at you. No, it's not literal. It's basically saying girls are very interested in you. Girls are so interested in you that they'll be chasing you almost.

All right, so many, many girls they will they will follow you, they want to be in a relationship with you, they like you. So he's saying, 'Listen, there are other girls. Don't worry. Girls here, they love you.'

And it doesn't only work with girls, right? I can say there'll be boys throwing themselves at you.

Right, so this is uh this is something we say about both genders, boys and girls. You can say, 'Oh, God, all the boys were throwing themselves at her. I'm so jealous.'

Right. So, but it's only basically in a loving way, right? It can't be anything else like somebody's chasing you for other reasons.

No, this is saying that they have crushes, they have feelings, they want to be romantic. It's not like a it's not a bad thing, but sometimes it's too much attention so it can be kind of negative.

Yeah. All right, well, interesting phrases on fluency builder today. I think it's time for us to listen to this dialogue for one last time.

[Train whistle and rumbling sounds]

It was fine. I've been better, but it's great to be home. I've missed you all.

You, what's new with you?

I hope that one day I can have that.

Of course, man, come on. I mean, everything was set here for you to marry Shalini. You know, she's still pining after you. I don't think she'll ever get over you.

Get over it. You're home now. Everyone here thinks so highly of you. There'll be girls throwing themselves at you, you can marry anyone you want.

You are incorrigible.

[Sound of a train horn and passing train]

Hi, Stephen.

Veronica. How did you get here? How do you know where I live?

I waited for you at the airport, but you never showed. I also have some little secrets that I haven't told you about, but we can discuss that later.

I realized that I was just scared, scared of how much I love you and of the commitment that marriage requires. I'm here now. Now, there's something I want to ask you. Stephen, will you marry me?

All right, um, it's over.

Well, we went from them meeting casually by a bike accident. Yeah, we had nice music.

Yeah.

Then it turned out that uh she was angry. They kind of broke up, they got back together.

He was being strange with all of these secret trips to save people.

Uh-huh.

It's a it was interesting. We went a lot of different ways. People.

She was pregnant, she wasn't really pregnant, she had a stalker.

The doctor was stalking her.

He's in the secret service.

It was an interesting ride.

Very interesting. But Well, now we need to uh think of a new uh drama, a new uh soap opera or novel. So, um, we need your input.

Maybe we should open it up. What did you like, what didn't you like and what kind of genre are you interested in? Because you know, there's tons of different kinds of stories we could tell.

Right, maybe we can do um something scary, like a thriller or horror.

I'm a big fan of sci-fi.

That'd be kind of cute.

Yeah, it could be. All right, so listeners, why don't you give us your input? We need your feedback. Tell us what series you would like next, what type of series, maybe like we said drama, sci-fi, action, what what would you like?

[Upbeat music]

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Indicates something someone does very often.

All she ever does.

The mother of someone's wife.

Mother-in-law.

Someone or something that makes you very proud.

Pride and joy.

To run away with a lover, especially with the intention of getting married.

Elope.

To want or desire something or someone very much.

Pine.

A marriage arranged by someone other than the persons getting married.

Arranged marriage.

To do something that you have thought or talked about.

Go through with.

Money or property brought by a bride to her husband at marriage.

Dowry.

Not able to be corrected or changed.

Incorrigible.

A marriage partner, a husband or wife.

Spouse.

Let's try that faster.

A marriage arranged by someone other than the persons getting married.

Arranged marriage.

The mother of someone's wife.

Mother-in-law.

Money or property brought by a bride to her husband at marriage.

Dowry.

To do something that you have thought or talked about.

Go through with.

To run away with a lover, especially with the intention of getting married.

Elope.

Indicates something someone does very often.

All she ever does.

To want or desire something or someone very much.

Pine.

Not able to be corrected or changed.

Incorrigible.

Someone or something that makes you very proud.

Pride and joy.

A marriage partner, a husband or wife.

Spouse.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

All she ever does.

All she ever does.

All she ever does.

Pride and joy.

Jack's new car is his pride and joy. He washes it every weekend.

Pride and joy.

Pride and joy.

Pine.

Pine.

Pine.

I read that pining for lost love can turn into a physically addictive pleasure. Can you believe that?

Go through with.

I don't know if I can go through with this deal. I'm having doubts.

Go through with.

Molly was supposed to get married last weekend, but she couldn't go through with it, so the wedding was canceled.

Go through with.

I committed to this project, and now I have to go through with it.

Incorrigible.

Incorrigible.

Incorrigible.