Episode 0178

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

Exactly. So we're going to be looking for a Christmas gift. And so let's listen to our dialogue for the first time and we'll be back to explain some words.

What's wrong? Slow down. You're going to give yourself a heart attack.

Take it easy. Let's go to the mall, window shop a little and see if there's anything she might like.

That's where you're making a big mistake. You can't just guess people's likes or sizes, especially with clothes or jewelry.

On top of that, I think that you should get your mom something that shows how much you love her.

At the same time, you should show her that you took the time and effort to look for something that she would really like.

Yeah, you're right.

When it comes down to it, I can be pretty tacky.

Yeah, tell me about it.

All right, we're back. So now why don't we take a look at language takeaway?

Language takeaway.

Okay, so there are a lot of interesting words in this dialogue. Some of them have to do with Christmas and some of them have to do with shopping. So this first one has to do with neither. It's actually a phrase. It's a medical term.

Right. He talked about a heart attack.

Okay, so you know what a heart is, but a heart attack is when there's no more blood going into your heart and your heart stops beating. It's a very, very dangerous situation.

So the person actually said this because the other guy was like, Bill, Bill, you got to help me. He was so very excited. So it was like, whoa, whoa, you know, slow down or you're going to give yourself a heart attack. So it's not literal, right?

Yeah, it's not a real heart attack. He's saying calm down.

Calm down.

Okay.

All right. And well, he was very upset because he hadn't bought a gift and he said, I suck at getting presents for people.

I suck at getting presents for people. Well, suck is not a very polite word. My mom used to get angry at me when I used it, but it's a way to say that I'm very, very bad at doing something, okay? So I suck at playing tennis.

All right. Or you can say, I suck at math.

All right. But again, this is not something you should use on a test or in an essay because it's very spoken, colloquial English.

Right, exactly.

And this other word is actually okay to use, and when you're talking about presents or you're talking about decorations, you say something is tacky.

Okay, well, if you call something tacky, uh, this is an adjective, so something is tacky. It's really a matter of opinion. Okay? So I think this is tacky, but you don't. Maybe that's the problem.

So let me give you an example of tacky. Uh, I think that that clothing with lots of bows and glitter and shiny things are very tacky.

Okay. So it's something that you don't really like, or you think that is a little bit strange.

That's right.

Right? So as you say, it's an opinion because you think that clothes with bows and teddy bears on it is tacky. Well, somebody else can think, no, it's it's cute. It's nice.

Exactly. You know, you can also, and you can also describe things that people do as being tacky. So, for example, um, he gave me a present, but he left the price on it. That's so tacky.

Oh, that is so tacky.

Right, that is tacky.

All right. So the word is tacky. And moving on, we talked about a gift certificate. You should get your mom a gift certificate.

Well, a gift certificate is a very popular form of gift giving now. Um, you know what a gift is, but a certificate is a piece of paper. Okay? So you could have a a birth certificate, for example, it says when you were born, where you were born. But in this case, a gift certificate is a piece of paper that you give someone to say, you have this much money to spend at this store.

Mhm.

So I could give my mom a gift certificate for a bookstore for $50 and she can go with this piece of paper and spend $50 for free.

Okay.

Because I already paid.

Yeah. So it's kind of a a very popular thing to do because sometimes as in the dialogue, you don't know the person's size or you don't know if they like this color. So you're just like, look, here is, you know, a gift certificate for $100. Go to the store that I know you really like and get yourself whatever you want, something nice.

Exactly.

But it's less tacky than giving that person cash, right?

Right. Cash is considered a tacky gift. Uh, I'm not really sure why, it just is. It's a social custom, but very popular right now are these gift certificates or even gift cards. They look like credit cards.

Right. Very good.

All right. So why don't we listen to our dialogue again and we'll return shortly to take a look at fluency builder.

What's wrong? Slow down. You're going to give yourself a heart attack.

Take it easy. Let's go to the mall, window shop a little and see if there's anything she might like.

That's where you're making a big mistake. You can't just guess people's likes or sizes, especially with clothes or jewelry.

On top of that, I think that you should get your mom something that shows how much you love her. At the same time, you should show her that you took the time and effort to look for something that she would really like.

Yeah, you're right. When it comes down to it, I can be pretty tacky.

Yeah, tell me about it.

All right, we're back. So now why don't we take a look at four key phrases on fluency builder?

Fluency builder.

Okay, I like this first phrase. Sometimes I have to use it about other people, sometimes people use it on me. Um, you say take it easy.

Take it easy. Hey, take it easy. Relax.

Yeah, this is a way to say, hey, be calm.

Be calm.

Yeah. So there's no, you don't, you can't really translate it, right? Take what easy?

You can't, but um, there are two main contexts, okay? There are two situations where this is really popular. Um, one is this. Oh my God, Marco. Oh my God, I'm freaking out. I you, I really need your help on this and I really need you to just really just be involved and

Take it easy. All right, relax. Take it easy.

Okay. All right. So that's someone who's upset and you're telling them to calm down.

Mhm.

The second situation is when you're saying goodbye to someone. This is a very kind of again, spoken language, um, very comfortable way of saying, hey, see you later.

Right. So it's like, all right, bye, take it easy.

Yeah, take it easy. Have a good one.

Yeah. Have a good one is another good phrase.

Take it easy. That means um, that means take life easy. Don't rush.

Don't don't rush.

Yeah. Enjoy your life.

Enjoy your life.

So if you try this with your your English speaking friends, you're saying goodbye, you say, hey, take it easy.

Yeah, bye. Take it easy.

It's a nice one.

Very nice. All right. And our second phrase, um, is actually it's interesting because when he talked about um, the ring that he got for her mom that was two sizes too big and a pair of shoes five sizes too small. So the construction there, two sizes too big, five sizes too small.

This is a very important construction and it doesn't quite make sense when you hear it, so that's what we're going to explain right now. Let me try to explain this using an example. If I have a size seven shoe and my brother gives me a Christmas present of size nine shoes, I say, Peter, these shoes are two sizes too big. Okay? That's the number two, two sizes two big. That means they're too big for me by two sizes because the difference between seven and nine is two.

Okay.

Right. But if he gives me a size five shoe, say, Peter, these shoes are two sizes too small.

That means that, you know, five is two less than seven. So this is a very popular construction.

So you're saying specifically how much bigger or how much smaller the shoes are in the case with the ring or shoes or anything that has a size.

Exactly. But the funny thing is, you can also exaggerate. You could say, oh, this sweater is so ugly, it's 10 sizes too big for me.

It's not really 10 sizes.

It's not really 10 sizes.

Right. So, but you can use this construction, right? Using one size too big, et cetera. Even when you're buying something to the store to the lady in the store, you can say, oh, I think this shoe is, uh, two sizes too big. Can you give me a a smaller pair?

Exactly.

All right. And our third phrase for today, when the person said, yeah, you're right. When it comes down to it, I can be pretty tacky. So we looked at tacky, but what does he mean when it comes down to it?

Okay, well, this it is very confusing sometimes when we talk about phrases in English, but when it comes down to it is a way to say in reality, or actually, or the truth is, yes. So it's a way to say something is truthful.

Right? So when times are tough or in the end or actually, maybe you have your small faults, but you are a good friend.

Right. Or when it comes down to it, Marco is a really hard worker. So sometimes he likes to play video games, but when it's really important, he will work really hard.

Very good. So very good uses of this phrase and uh you can use it in many different contexts.

And for our fourth phrase, when the person said, yeah, tell me about it. What does it mean? Tell me about it. Tell me about what?

Right. And so Marco is agreeing. He says, I don't like it either. Yeah? So this is a very, very uh spoken way, spoken language way of agreeing with someone. So you say, yeah, tell me about it.

Right. So it's a it's very natural. It's a very natural way of agreeing with someone, right?

Exactly.

All right. So great phrases. Why don't we take a look at our dialogue for the last time and we'll be back to talk a little bit more.

What's wrong? Slow down. You're going to give yourself a heart attack.

Take it easy. Let's go to the mall, window shop a little and see if there's anything she might like.

That's where you're making a big mistake. You can't just guess people's likes or sizes, especially with clothes or jewelry. On top of that, I think that you should get your mom something that shows how much you love her. At the same time, you should show her that you took the time and effort to look for something that she would really like.

Yeah, you're right. When it comes down to it, I can be pretty tacky.

Yeah, tell me about it.

All right, great. So now that the, uh, Christmas, all right, so as we said, gift certificates are a good idea, but, you know, what else do you like to give as Christmas presents?

So, you know, I think it's nice to give to give gifts like tickets to a music show or things like that where you you know the person will go and have a good time and enjoy themselves.

Yeah, I think that's really important because sometimes, uh, people just give gifts because you have to, but no, like stuff and you're like, oh, great, you know, a tie. It's like kind of impersonal. At the same time, you know, if you're, if your dad or your boyfriend or somebody's loves ties and has a 50 of them and you're going to give them another one that's really interesting or unique, then great, you know, but it is good to take the time to get somebody something they really like or they would really use or enjoy.

Exactly. So what kind of gifts do you plan to give this holiday season? Do you celebrate Christmas? Let us know on our website englishpod.com.

Right. We'll see you guys there and until next time. Bye.

Bye.

The English audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Examine the shop windows.

Window shop.

In addition to something else.

On top of.

When I look at what the whole situation amounts to.

When it comes down to it.

Looking cheap, having bad taste.

Tacky.

I agree. I understand.

Tell me about it.

Let's try that faster.

Looking cheap, having bad taste.

Tacky.

Examine the shop windows.

Window shop.

When I look at what the whole situation amounts to.

When it comes down to it.

I agree. I understand.

Tell me about it.

In addition to something else.

On top of.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Window shop.

My sister and I like to go window shopping every once in a while.

Window shop.

When my friend goes shopping, she never actually buys anything. She only window shops.

Window shop.

He finds it so hard to window shop because every time he sees something he likes, he wants to buy it.

On top of.

On top of.

On top of.

When it comes down to it.

When it comes down to it.

When it comes down to it, everything she's done for us has benefited us, even though it didn't seem like it at first.

When it comes down to it.

Tacky.

Her outfits are always really tacky.

Tacky.

That was a tacky thing to say.

Tacky.

Tell me about it.

Tell me about it.

Tell me about it.