Episode 0150

Hello everyone and welcome back to English Pod. My name is Marco.

And my name is Catherine and today we're talking about one of my least favorite things, Marco.

Mosquitoes. Uh, mosquitoes.

They're all over the place, especially in summer or near water.

Exactly.

And for me, the worst part is when you're trying to sleep and there's a mosquito that just keeps on biting you and won't let you sleep.

Yeah, you can kind of hear it around your, your head, you know, by your ear.

Yeah, around your ear, uh-huh.

And it burns sometimes.

Yeah. So that's what we're talking about today. Fun stuff.

Uh, let's jump right into this dialogue and we'll be back in a minute to talk about what's going on.

Do you have any bug spray?

All right, we're back. So, uh, let's take a look at some of these words in language takeaway.

All right, so as we mentioned, we're going to be talking about mosquitoes.

And well, these are just little small insects that suck your blood.

They do, and they're very thin, and um, not much to say about them. They were very important in the movie Jurassic Park, if you remember that.

Right. Now, what's the difference between a mosquito and a fly?

Okay, a fly usually is just annoying. It doesn't suck your blood.

Mhm. But a mosquito does. It sucks your blood.

And flies are fatter and and like shorter.

And they're big and black.

Black, or green kind of sometimes.

Black and green.

And they um, yeah, they just buzz around.

And mosquitoes actually bite you.

Okay, so a mosquito and a fly. Now, if a mosquito bites you, you really, really want to scratch.

That's right. So, uh, you feel like you need to scratch your body because you have this bite, you're, you know, it's really an allergy and you have a red bump on your arm, a red mark, and you scratch and it gets worse and worse.

All right. And moving on to our next word, mosquitoes have a reputation of being sneaky.

Okay, so you can say sneaky about a lot of things. One, you know, obviously, we're saying mosquitoes are very sneaky. Um, that means that they can kind of hide and get you when you're not expecting it.

Yeah, because sometimes during the day, you don't really see them in your room, right? They're hiding or they're in a place where you can't really see them.

And then at night, all of a sudden, they come out.

They come out.

So, and they're very hard to see. They fly around in, in a way that's very difficult to catch them or kill them, right?

Right, we could say thieves are very sneaky. Like a thief is someone who steals something and they like to sneak around and hide in the dark, and then when you're not expecting it, they come out and they steal your, your stuff.

Exactly. And now, what do we, what do we do, or what do we use in order to prevent mosquitoes from biting us?

This is essential, especially if you're going to the beach. Uh, we bring bug spray.

Bug spray.

So, a spray is something that, that you can usually have in a can that you push a button and it comes out.

All right. Right. It's like a, it's like water, but it keeps the bugs away.

So, bug spray keeps bugs away. Not only mosquitoes, but like, uh, flies too.

Flies.

Now, specifically for mosquitoes, you would use maybe a uh, mosquito repellent.

Right, so repellent is, uh, it means something that pushes or keeps away things you don't want. So, something that keeps mosquitoes away is called a mosquito repellent. And usually it's a cream you put on your arms or legs.

All right, very good. So, interesting words that we've just taken a look at. Let's listen to our dialogue again, and we'll be right back.

Do you have any bug spray?

All right, we're back. So, now let's take a look at a couple of different phrases on fluency builder.

All right, so the first phrase is very, very common. Uh, the person in the dialogue says that they're going to have to put up with it, put up with these mosquitoes because they didn't have any bug spray.

So this phrase to put up with is really important.

All right, so if you put up with something, it means that you tolerate it.

All right, that means even if you don't want to, you'll still handle it, you'll still have to deal with it.

You accept it.

So maybe you have a little brother that's very annoying and you just have to put up with him. There's no other option.

Ah.

Or um, someone says to you, you're just going to have to put up with it.

All right. So I think this is a great phrase for us to take a look at a couple of different examples.

If you can put up with the smell, then stinky tofu is actually very tasty.

And after this, we've got another phrase. We're talking about beer.

Okay. And so the person says, 'Oh, I have an idea. Instead of bug spray, we can, we can cover ourselves with beer.'

Mhm. So to cover yourself, or cover ourselves.

So, it means that we put it all over us.

Right, so you could even cover yourself with bug spray.

Okay. So every part of your body, you put bug spray on it.

Head to toe.

Head to toe. Now, you can cover yourself under a tree, maybe.

Or you can cover yourself with a blanket.

Okay. So to cover yourself, to completely hide under something.

And finally, we have the response to this idea, the answer. The first the person says, 'Oh, without a doubt,' that means absolutely or definitely.

Okay, so there is no doubt. It is true, or it is certain.

Right, so a doubt is something that maybe you're not so sure about. You're not convinced.

But you can say this is without a doubt the best mosquito spray.

Or this is without a doubt, the best cake I've ever eaten. That means it's definitely the best cake I've ever eaten.

All right. So I think we've covered all the phrases now. Why don't we listen to our dialogue for the last time, and we'll be right back.

Do you have any bug spray?

Mosquitoes are very annoying, but at times they can be very dangerous, right?

They can. Uh, there are a couple of diseases that can be passed by mosquito bites. One of them is malaria and that's, I think, pretty common in Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Now, there was another situation where people believed that if a mosquito bit a person infected with HIV or AIDS, they could pass it on to another person.

Aha, well, I don't know that that's even possible because there's no AIDS-carrying mosquitoes. But there is another disease called dengue fever.

Dengue fever.

And this is another very dangerous one. It's also known as breakbone fever and I think it's, it's so painful, it feels like your bones are breaking, and that's where the name comes from.

It's very, very common in, uh, South America as well, and because we have such a tropical climate, that, uh, in the rainforest of Brazil, Peru, Colombia, it's, it's common to, to see this, but not so much anymore now they're eradicating it.

Oh, well.

All right. So, uh, an interesting topic. Mosquitoes are not only irritating, but can be dangerous.

So, uh, if you have any other questions or doubts, please come to our website Englishpod.com, and we're there to answer any questions.

The English Pot Audio Review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

To rub your skin with something sharp.

Scratch.

Behaving in a secret and usually dishonest manner.

Sneaky.

To allow to exist or happen.

Put up with.

A liquid used to prevent being bitten by bugs.

Bug spray.

A small flying insect that bites the skin.

Mosquito.

Let's try that faster.

A liquid used to prevent being bitten by bugs.

Bug spray.

A small flying insect that bites the skin.

Mosquito.

Behaving in a secret and usually dishonest manner.

Sneaky.

To allow to exist or happen.

Put up with.

To rub your skin with something sharp.

Scratch.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Mosquito.

Mosquito bites are very itchy.

Mosquito.

Some mosquitoes can spread diseases through their bites.

Mosquito.

Only female mosquitoes bite.

Scratch.

The cat scratched me with its claws.

Scratch.

Will you please scratch my back?

Scratch.

Be careful not to scratch the table.

Sneaky.

That was a sneaky trick.

Sneaky.

The sneaky thief crept into the open window.

Sneaky.

The kid snuck into the movie without paying.

Bug spray.

Pass me the bug spray, I'm being eaten alive!

Bug spray.

Try to avoid getting the bug spray in your eyes.

Bug spray.

Let's try this natural bug spray. It's made with garlic.

Put up with.

I can't put up with the noise any longer. Turn down that music.

Put up with.

If you can put up with the smell, then stinky tofu is actually very tasty.

Put up with.

I have put up with him for too long. I want a new roommate.