Episode 0135

And my name is Catherine. Hello everyone. Today Marco, what are we talking about?

Well, today we are not really in the best mood.

You know what you mean.

Yeah, it's a it's a cloudy day. Maybe that's why.

The blues.

The blues. So yeah, that's what we're talking about today. We're going to have a lot of different descriptive words to express maybe feeling sad or maybe you're angry or you're nervous or something like that.

Okay, well, this is a very useful lesson. Hopefully you're not feeling this way, but if you have to talk about someone who is, I've got lots of words for you, but first we're going to preview a couple in today's vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview.

All right, so today on vocabulary preview, we're going to look at two words. And uh the first one is a way of saying that you feel sad. So basically, I'm feeling down.

Okay, down. You might have heard this before because it's the opposite of the word up.

Exactly.

So you're not feeling up, happy, looking up, you're feeling down. This is another word for sad, like Marco said.

Or you can also say I'm I'm a bit down today, right?

Yeah, so you you look sad. Are you is everything okay?

So down. So now another feeling or a way that a person is feeling, maybe that person is grouchy.

I think you have

No, so grouchy is is a way someone acts, usually when they're in a bad mood.

Right. So it's not like really angry, you're not angry, but uh you're not very happy either.

You're not very nice to people.

So there's a very famous TV character called Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. Look for him on YouTube or Youku. And uh he's very, very good uh for learning about this feeling, grouchy, because he's a grouchy guy.

Yeah, he's always angry or not never happy basically.

Right. He's always complaining about something. So that word again is grouchy.

All right. So after taking a look at these two words, we're ready now to listen to our dialogue for the first time. Let's see what this dialogue is about if maybe they're grouchy or maybe just sad.

Fine.

Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye.

Carrie, are you okay? You seem a bit down.

Maybe it's just that he's stressed out from working or something. He does have a pretty nerve-wracking job, you know.

Men are like that, you know. They can feel nervous, anxious, or on edge, and the only way they can express it is by trying to hide it through aggressiveness.

Talk to him. Try to cheer him up when he's down, and if that doesn't work, I say get rid of him and get a new one.

You are something else. You know that.

All right, so two girls talking about guys. I guess guys have a bad temper sometimes, right?

I think anyone can have a bad temper, but we're talking today about one of uh the boyfriend of one of these girls who has a very bad temper and has been very grouchy recently.

Mhm. And that's why she's feeling a bit down.

Mhm.

So let's take a look at those words now in language takeaway.

Language takeaway.

All right, so in today's language takeaway, we've got some wonderful words for you, words that are very good for describing stress or having anxiety. And the first of these words is something you hear all the time, especially with young people.

Right, somebody is stressed out.

Wow, you really are stressed out.

I am. Well, I don't have any homework and I don't live with my mom. But uh being stressed out is usually something you feel when you have too much stuff to do.

Mhm. So maybe you can be stressed out because uh of school like in your case or maybe at work you have a lot of things to do or a project to finish, right?

Exactly. And I just want to point out here that you can say I'm stressed or I'm feeling stressed, but uh commonly in spoken English, so when you're talking to your friends, you hear this much more often stressed out.

Stressed out. He's really stressed out lately.

Mhm. All right.

So we're stressed out or another word that kind of means the same is uh this is nerve-wracking.

Nerve-wracking. So nerves are those things in our body that help us feel things, right? And so something that racks our nerves makes us very, very tense, very anxious, very uncomfortable.

Okay, so it makes you very nervous.

Right. So there are some movies that are nerve-wracking. For example, suspense movies like Hitchcock's movies like Psycho or The Birds.

Or like horror like maybe Saw.

Oh, nerve-wracking. Also, some people think that roller coasters are nerve-wracking. They're very, very uh anxious when they ride roller coasters.

Right. So let's listen to a couple of more examples of in different situations where we can use this phrase nerve-wracking.

Example one.

I think being a doctor is one of the most nerve-wracking jobs in the world.

Example two.

Skydiving was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life. I almost had a heart attack.

Example three.

The final match between Brazil and Italy was incredibly nerve-wracking.

And there's another way to describe this feeling again. It's a little bit different but very, very similar. We can say someone is feeling on edge.

On edge.

So this person was feeling on edge. Uh but what does that mean exactly?

All right, all right, jeez.

All right, so someone who is on edge is easily angered, right? So it's very easy to make this person upset or angry.

Mhm.

Someone who just quit smoking might be on edge. That means it's very, very easy to get them to be upset.

Wow. So yeah, you are on edge, right?

Exactly. He's on edge or he seems on edge, doesn't he?

Mhm. Okay, very good. Wow, these uh three words that we've just looked at are are really interesting and very, very useful. I guess you can describe many different situations or a person that's going through these feelings, right?

Absolutely. I think there are a thousand ways to describe being nervous or anxious or upset. So maybe we should take another listen to today's dialogue and figure out how exactly we use these words and we come back, we're talking about some other phrases that are useful.

Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye.

Carrie, are you okay? You seem a bit down.

Maybe it's just that he's stressed out from working or something. He does have a pretty nerve-wracking job, you know.

Men are like that, you know. They can feel nervous, anxious, or on edge, and the only way they can express it is by trying to hide it through aggressiveness.

Talk to him. Try to cheer him up when he's down, and if that doesn't work, I say get rid of him and get a new one.

You are something else. You know that.

All right, great. So now that we're back, we can start with a couple of different phrases now on fluency builder.

Fluency builder.

All right, so Marco, here's the big question. What makes you lose your temper?

Hmm. I think what makes me lose my temper very, very easily is uh like a dirty house or like a dirty room.

Really? You're a neat freak.

Not really neat freak, but like if it's not at least semi clean, you know, it really it really bothered bothers me.

Okay, so this great phrase, lose your temper or lose one's temper is is a phrase we use in English to describe getting angry. All right. So maybe you're okay, you're a little frustrated with something, but someone does something like throws all of their clothes on the floor and Marco here says, that's it. I'm tired of this. You're always throwing your clothes on the floor. And that's that's an example of Marco losing his temper.

What about you? What makes you lose your temper?

You hear this?

What is that? Oh, drilling? Construction? Hammer?

Explode.

Exactly, so.

All right. So that's what's so that's what makes you lose your temper. I'll be sure to um keep my eye out for that and not tap my pen.

You please don't. All right.

All right. So, okay, you lose your temper. And now uh there are situations sometimes where you need to brush someone off.

All right, or when you get brushed off, and that's not very good feeling. But uh this phrase to brush someone off, you've heard the word brush before. It's the word that we use to to, you know, brush your hair or brush your teeth exactly. When you brush someone off, it's like saying that you're ignoring them.

Yeah, so you ignore them or you basically tell them to go away very subtly sometimes or very directly.

Exactly. And so to brush someone off is to avoid their company. And so a lot of times when people are angry, they like to be alone, so they brush you off.

Mhm.

So I could say, hey, did you want to go see that movie tonight?

Uh no, I can't. I uh have to do something tonight.

And then Marco walks away while we're talking. He's brushing me off. He's ignoring me.

Yeah. So uh it happens. And also maybe some people can make up excuses and that's also brushing someone off, right?

Right, exactly. So to brush someone off or he brushed me off, doesn't feel good.

Mhm. All right. And well, all of these, all of these bad feelings, brushing somebody off, maybe you feel stressed out. In the end, you always need a good friend to cheer you up, right? And that's what this dialogue is all about.

Exactly. And so friends are actually the people that do that the best or family, I think. And uh well, we can break this phrase down because uh most of it's pretty clear but cheer might be a new word for some of our listeners.

So cheer or people cheering or cheers when the beer.

Exactly. So you want to cheer up your friends or maybe if you're feeling a bit down, a family member will try and to cheer you up.

Do you need someone to cheer you up, Marco?

Yes, I do.

All right. So we've taken a look at a lot of great phrases, but the last sentence of the dialogue is maybe a little bit strange, right? When she says, you are something else, you know that?

Uh, something what? Like she an alien? Is she a monkey?

What does she mean when she says you are something else?

That's a great question. Well, this might be a little bit hard to understand at first, but she's saying, I can't believe you. She's like, there's no one like you. You're really something else, you know that. So it's kind of like a joke, but uh what she's saying is, I can't believe you. You just want to go on and encourage me to find another boy. You're you're unbelievable.

So it could be is it on a positive note or can it be both positive and negative?

Well, here we've got two friends who are using it, so it's a positive note, but she's kind of making fun of her saying, I can't believe you. Uh but it can be it can be more negative. Like if you're fighting with her boyfriend and and her boyfriend cheats on her and she's like, you're really something else, you know.

You are something else, you know that. It's like there's no comparison. You're the worst.

Yeah, exactly. So yeah, it really depends on how this is used and with the tone of voice, so how someone says it. Uh but in this case, I think it's uh kind of a joke joke, but uh it's it's a positive meaning.

Right. Very interesting. It's very spoken English as you say because all the words that we see there, they're pretty simple, but the context or or the connotation, the meaning is very, very different from the actual words, right?

Exactly. Mhm.

All right. So let's listen to this dialogue for the last time and then we'll come back and talk a little bit more.

Okay, I'll talk to you later. Bye.

Carrie, are you okay? You seem a bit down.

Maybe it's just that he's stressed out from working or something. He does have a pretty nerve-wracking job, you know.

Men are like that, you know. They can feel nervous, anxious, or on edge, and the only way they can express it is by trying to hide it through aggressiveness.

Talk to him. Try to cheer him up when he's down, and if that doesn't work, I say get rid of him and get a new one.

You are something else. You know that.

So, Catherine. Are you a grouchy person or are you happy? Do you have a bad temper?

Oh, these are, well, very interesting questions, Marco. Thank you for asking. No, the first, the first time, am I grouchy? No, not very, only before 9:00 a.m.

You're not a morning person.

Not a morning person, so I'm very grouchy in the morning. But uh, I'm generally pretty good about losing my temper. It doesn't happen very often.

Oh, really?

Um, but I do get frustrated with things like tapping or when people eat with their mouth open.

Ooh.

It's kind of uh it it also makes me lose my temper. I don't know, it more than makes me lose my temper it's kind of annoying, right?

It is annoying. So what makes you really lose your temper? We say what makes you blow your top. Think about a volcano.

Really grinds my gears.

Yeah.

I agree. So what's something that really cheers you up? Because we talked about like going out with a friend maybe helps you helps you cheer up, but is there one thing, some kind of remedy?

Really?

I mean, I won't buy anything like clothes or anything like that. Usually I'll get maybe something for somebody else or for the house or something like that. It's very strange.

Helps you like clear your mind.

Yeah, it's just like walking around and spending a little bit of money. I don't know, it's kind of a good remedy.

Yeah, I think so. What about you? What cheers you up?

I kind of like to organize things.

Really?

Yeah. So if I'm really angry, really upset about something, I'll um alphabetize all of my books.

Oh, wow. So A to Z.

Wow.

See, everyone has different remedies. So come to our website Englishpod.com. Tell us what makes you angry, what makes you lose your temper or what really cheers you up, what makes you happy?

Or who cheers you up? So tell us, who is someone you like to talk to when you're upset and how do they cheer you up?

All right, we'll see you guys there. And also if you have questions, comments, suggestions, you can also leave them there in our comment section.

Please do that. So that's all for today. Goodbye everyone.

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Feeling sad, not happy.

Down in the dumps.

Sad or unhappy.

Down.

Having sad feelings or emotions.

Have the blues.

To feel very worried or anxious.

Stress out.

To fluster, unnerve.

Rattled.

Causing a person to feel very nervous.

Nerve-wracking.

Refuse to talk about something with someone.

Brush me off.

To make someone happier.

Let's try that faster.

Causing a person to feel very nervous.

Nerve-wracking.

Sad or unhappy.

Down.

Having sad feelings or emotions.

Have the blues.

Refuse to talk about something with someone.

Brush me off.

Feeling sad, not happy.

Down in the dumps.

To fluster, unnerve.

Rattled.

To make someone happier.

To feel very worried or anxious.

Stress out.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Down.

Down.

Are you okay? You seem down today.

Down.

Stress out.

David has been really stressed out lately. His boss is putting a lot of pressure on him in his new job.

Stress out.

Stress out.

Are you okay? You seem to be really stressed out lately. What's going on?

Nerve-wracking.

I think being a doctor is one of the most nerve-wracking jobs in the world.

Nerve-wracking.

Skydiving was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life. I almost had a heart attack.

Nerve-wracking.

The final match between Brazil and Italy was incredibly nerve-wracking.

Brush me off.

When she told me my project would be a better television film than a feature film, I thought she was brushing me off.

Brush me off.

Brush me off.

Carolyn went to the doctor without an appointment, and the receptionist brushed her off and told her to come back the next day.