Episode 0159

So what are we talking about today, Marco?

We are going to the flower shop.

Okay, so this is an intermediate level lesson, and we're going to be learning about the different kinds of flowers you can buy at a flower shop.

And so, we've got a guy here who's probably trying to say something to someone he loves.

Yeah, I think he he did something to his girlfriend or wife. And well, that's the typical thing, right? You do something wrong, so you got to get her flowers.

All right, so let's listen to the dialogue and we'll be back soon.

Hello, sir. How may I help you?

I would like to buy some flowers, please, something really nice.

I see. May I ask what the occasion is?

Very well. This arrangement here is very popular among regretful husbands and boyfriends.

It includes a small teddy bear to achieve the effect of immediate forgiveness.

I think I'm gonna need more than just a dozen red roses and a bear. What else do you recommend?

Hm, well, this is our 'I'm sorry I cheated on you' package: two dozen red roses lined with tulips, carnations and lilies. The fragrance and beauty of this flower arrangement is sure to make her forgive you.

I don't think that's gonna cut it. I need something bigger and better.

I'm sorry, sir, but what exactly did you do?

All right, we're back. So what do you think? Is this really like a bad thing to do?

No, really?

Well, no one wants to hear that someone thinks they're fat, okay? And chubby is maybe not as bad as fat, but the guy could have been a little bit nicer.

All right, so we'll we'll give our listeners some advice towards the end of the lesson. So now, why don't we take a look at all the flower names in language takeaway?

Language takeaway.

Okay, this first flower is a beautiful one and it has delicious seeds that people like to eat.

It's called a sunflower.

A sunflower.

All right, so that's a yellow flower, right?

It's bright yellow and in the middle is orange and the stems are very, very long, so it's, yeah, and thick, so it's a tall flower.

Okay, sunflower.

And yeah, as you mentioned, some people eat sunflower seeds.

They're like the little salty ones, right?

All right. Next is an orchid.

Okay, an orchid is a beautiful flower and they're often grown just one at a time, and people collect orchids, so these can be very, very expensive.

They're very expensive.

And they come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

Okay, an orchid.

Now, what about a tulip?

A tulip is another pretty flower and I think they're most famous in Holland for their tulips, because this actually used to be the kind of money that they would use. This was their currency for many years.

They used to use tulips?

They used to use tulips. And um, the tulip flower is kind of like a, it's like a champagne glass. It's tall and it's it's kind of empty in the middle.

What about a carnation?

Okay, a carnation is another pretty flower and they come, I think, in red, pink and white.

Yeah, I've I've mostly seen white carnations.

Yeah. And um,

you know, flower giving, there's a whole method to it, right? So yeah, every flower is symbolic of something. Red red roses are for love and carnations, I think, are generally for either friendship or like when someone die, I'm not sure.

You can give them somebody when someone has passed away?

Really? I'm not sure I'll have to look it up.

But carnation is another very, very common flower that you'll see in many different colors.

Okay. And the next flower is also really common. It's a lily.

All right, a lily is a beautiful flower and usually you see these on water, so water lilies, for example, is another name you might hear.

Okay, a water lily or just a regular lily.

And next, we have the most common of all the flowers. Um, but we've added a little twist to it. It's a long stem rose.

Right, so a rose everyone knows. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Shakespeare wrote a lot about roses, but in this case,

uh, we're talking about long stem roses. And we talked about this with sunflowers. The stem is the green part that grows out of the ground and you think of the flower as the head.

And so the stem is actually the connector between the ground and the flower.

Okay. So these types of roses have a really long stem, so they're very nice to like maybe give them give one of them away or something.

That's right. And you see, for example, at the opera, you see singers, people throw these roses at them and they pick them up and they're so long, the stems are so long and they collect them in their arms. And so that's a long stem rose.

All right, interesting.

Okay, why don't we listen to our dialogue for the second time? Let's keep a lookout for these flower names and their pronunciation and we'll come back in a little bit.

Hello, sir. How may I help you?

I would like to buy some flowers, please, something really nice.

I see. May I ask what the occasion is?

Very well. This arrangement here is very popular among regretful husbands and boyfriends.

It has a dozen long stem red roses with a couple of sunflowers and a single orchid that stands out.

It includes a small teddy bear to achieve the effect of immediate forgiveness.

I think I'm gonna need more than just a dozen red roses and a bear.

What else do you recommend?

Hm, well, this is our 'I'm sorry I cheated on you' package: two dozen red roses lined with tulips, carnations and lilies.

The fragrance and beauty of this flower arrangement is sure to make her forgive you.

I don't think that's gonna cut it. I need something bigger and better.

I'm sorry, sir, but what exactly did you do?

All right, we're back. So in this dialogue, we had a lot of interesting phrases, so let's look at them now in fluency builder.

Fluency builder.

A lot of these phrases, Marco, have to do with, well, what the guy did wrong in today's dialogue.

And so the first one is to cheat on.

So the woman offered him the I'm sorry I cheated on you package, right? So it's like an arrangement of flowers that usually people buy when they cheated on their boyfriend or girlfriend.

Right. And so in this case, to cheat on means to see another person. So if you're you're married, um, to a woman, seeing someone else, uh, you know, having a date or a romantic encounter with another person, is cheating on your wife.

So you're a cheating on your wife. And you use it like this, cheat on, right?

Cheat on. So he cheated on her, or they were both cheating on each other.

Okay. So to to cheat on, not a good thing.

Not a good thing.

All right, so he was explaining to her that it wasn't enough, the arrangement wasn't enough, and he said, I don't think that's gonna cut it.

Well, okay, you've probably heard the word cut before, but in this case, Marco, we're talking about to be able to cut something, cut it.

So, uh, that's not gonna cut it, or it's not gonna cut it.

It's not gonna be enough.

Exactly. So that's not quite what I'm looking for, it's not enough. He wants bigger and better.

He wants more.

And so, for example, we could say, you know what? This dessert's not gonna cut it, we need something much fancier.

Mhm. Okay.

To be good enough for.

Okay, so to be good enough for. All right, very good.

And then he was explaining to the shop lady what happened and he said, well, I accidentally insinuated.

Okay, to insinuate is to suggest.

So, I could say, hey, you're really chubby.

That's not an insinuation, that's a statement.

But I could say, well, you're looking a little bit round at the sides. That's an insinuation because I'm suggesting without saying something.

Right, so you're saying something indirectly, right?

Exactly.

And he was insinuating that his girlfriend was getting chubbier.

Chubby. So chubby, chubbier, chubbiest. In this case, we're talking about being round or a little bit overweight.

Right. So it's not really saying fat.

No, fat is rude.

Chubby is, you know, it's in between.

Yeah, like maybe you had a little bit too much ice cream over the past couple months.

All right. Very good. So why don't we listen to the dialogue for the last time and we'll be back.

Hello, sir. How may I help you?

I would like to buy some flowers, please, something really nice.

I see. May I ask what the occasion is?

Very well. This arrangement here is very popular among regretful husbands and boyfriends.

It has a dozen long stem red roses with a couple of sunflowers and a single orchid that stands out.

It includes a small teddy bear to achieve the effect of immediate forgiveness.

I think I'm gonna need more than just a dozen red roses and a bear.

What else do you recommend?

Hm, well, this is our 'I'm sorry I cheated on you' package: two dozen red roses lined with tulips, carnations and lilies.

The fragrance and beauty of this flower arrangement is sure to make her forgive you.

I don't think that's gonna cut it. I need something bigger and better.

I'm sorry, sir, but what exactly did you do?

All right. So, if you make a mistake, like as a guy, right? You give flowers to your girlfriend.

What about women giving flowers to guys? Is that common? Do you think that's possible? Can you do that?

I'm sure you can do it, but I don't know if it's as common.

Um,

Like, I think as a guy, I wouldn't really feel comfortable receiving flowers.

Really?

I mean, I would be touched by the gesture and I would be like, oh, that's really sweet, but like flowers, it's a little bit too feminine, I think.

Generally, I think it's a one-sided thing.

So you can get flowers for your mother, or you can get flowers for a friend, or if someone, you know, passed away, you can get flowers for their family.

But in a romantic situation, rarely do you get flowers to a guy.

So, if you want to say I'm sorry to a guy, what do you give him?

Have you never given a gift to somebody like saying I'm sorry?

No.

No? You don't make mistakes?

I like to use my words.

Ah, that's good. Yeah, this is kind of interesting. Why do we do this though? Why do we give gifts to people as a token or as a demonstration of our of our regretfulness?

Right. Oh, maybe that's it.

I don't know. If you disagree with me, please let us know.

The English pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Occasion.

Occasion.

A word used to describe 12 units.

Dozen.

Says something deserves to be chosen.

Null.

Null.

Null.

More polite way of calling someone fat.

Chubby.

Let's try that faster.

Occasion.

Occasion.

Null.

Null.

A word used to describe 12 units.

Dozen.

Says something deserves to be chosen.

Null.

More polite way of calling someone fat.

Chubby.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Dozen.

I would like to buy a dozen of eggs.

Dozen.

He sent her six dozen flowers, representing the six years that they have been married.

Dozen.

Take a dozen of your best men and scout the forest.

Occasion.

On this occasion, I would like to buy something very special.

Occasion.

Occasions like this don't come so often in my life.

Occasion.

What's the occasion for your visit?

Null.

I recommend you to stay away from that jungle.

Null.

He would recommend many unnecessary things.

Null.

He recommended me to hire this man.

Null.

The fragrance of lilies is very pleasant.

Null.

He always has such a sweet fragrance.

Null.

She bought a new perfume with a fragrance too sweet for my taste.

Chubby.

She got so much chubbier over the summer.

Chubby.

My dog keeps getting chubbier.

Chubby.

He was a lot chubbier last time I saw him.