Episode 0182

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

My name is Catherine and today we have another holiday lesson for you guys. It's an intermediate level lesson, but it's not about Christmas and it's not about New Year's.

So what's this holiday, Marco?

It's like after Christmas but before New Year's.

Okay, so let's look at this holiday in today's vocabulary preview.

Alright, so as you noticed in the title, this is called Boxing Day.

So like fighting boxing or...

No, no, no. Kind of like boxes, right? It's more related to to boxes.

Exactly. So this is a, this is a holiday that we don't actually celebrate in America. It's celebrated in what are called Commonwealth countries. That means countries that used to be a part of Great Britain or that are a part of Great Britain.

So England,

Okay.

Scotland, Canada, Australia.

And this is a day where, well, it's considered a holiday because it's a bank holiday. That means all the banks close. No one's at work. It's the day after Christmas, so it's December 26th. And it's traditionally a day when you give money or gifts to the poor.

Okay.

And so this is more or less what we're going to be talking about, but more modern, right? Before it was like that, but now it's kind of become this shopping thing, right?

It has. It's a day when everyone goes to the sales after Christmas to return things or to buy new things. Uh, so we're going to hear about this right away in today's dialogue and when we come back, we'll be talking about some of the phrases and words that you've heard.

What do you think of this one?

Eh, so-so.

And this one? Too flashy?

Nah, not too flashy.

Oh, and this sweater from my aunt, isn't it hideous?

Yes.

Well, I have to decide which gifts to keep and which to exchange for better ones when I go to the Boxing Day sales this afternoon.

Alright, great. So we're back and uh interesting the, the couple fighting right after Christmas.

Well, I think it's very common to hear fights around the holidays. People are very stressed out.

And tired of of dealing with family and presents and all the stress, right?

Exactly.

But uh we'll talk about that a little bit later on. Right now, why don't we take a look at four key words in language takeaway.

Okay, these first two words are words that the wife uses in talking about some of these clothes that she got as presents. So she says, well, she asks her husband, is this too flashy?

Flashy, flashy.

Alright, so, you know, flash, like the camera flash, right? This big light. Now flashy when you're talking about clothes or an object is it it's too noticeable, right?

It's too noticeable, too bright, too loud. So for example, a black shirt is not flashy.

Hmm, but an orange shirt.

An orange shirt with buttons and bells and Rhinestones, diamonds, that's flashy, okay?

Alright, flashy.

Flashy can also mean something that is it's supposed to look expensive.

Okay. So that sweater was a little bit flashy according to her. And um, but also she talked about uh another sweater being hideous.

So hideous is an ugly word and it means ugly.

Ugly.

Okay, so I could say this sweater is hideous. That means it's not only ugly, it's really ugly.

Okay, it's more than ugly. Alright, a hideous sweater.

And uh moving on, the guy now was a little bit irritated and stressed out and he said, you keep yapping on about your new clothes. So what is this yapping on?

Well, yap is a sound like yep yep yep yep yep. So yapping, to yap on about means to continue to talk and talk and talk about something.

Okay.

Because he's watching the football game on TV and she's talking and talking and talking and he's annoyed. So this is rude, you say, stop yapping about this or stop yapping on about your game.

Alright.

Uh it's very rude, it means just stop talking, I'm annoyed.

And well, then he mentioned another phrase that it's pretty much the same thing, right? Blabbering on.

To blabber, to blabber on about means to talk about something but to not really make sense, okay? So it's just worthless talk.

So you're just talking to talk. You're not really saying anything interesting.

Exactly. And so, um sometimes we make fun of people who blabber on about things because they're not important to us or they sound stupid.

Alright.

Okay, so four key words there. Blabbering on, yapping on. Why don't we listen to them again in the dialogue.

What do you think of this one?

Eh, so-so.

And this one? Too flashy?

Nah, not too flashy.

Oh, and this sweater from my aunt, isn't it hideous?

Yes.

Well, I have to decide which gifts to keep and which to exchange for better ones when I go to the Boxing Day sales this afternoon.

Alright, we're back. So now we have a couple of different phrases that we want to look at on fluency builder.

Okay, so this first phrase is very closely related to the the days after Christmas, especially here on Boxing Day. We've got someone who's talking about uh going to the stores, to the sales, to exchange her gifts for better gifts.

Okay, to exchange something for something better. This is a very common construction. It's an important phrase when talking about shopping.

So when we look at this construction, you would say, to exchange this sweater for a better one or for a larger one.

Exactly. So you can change the adjective, the word that's describing it, so you can say, to exchange these shoes for bigger ones.

Right.

If he's being rude to me.

Okay, so to exchange something for something else.

Exactly.

Alright. And then we saw another phrase that the husband replied to when she offended him with his football team. He said, oh no you didn't.

Didn't what?

I know, didn't what? No, you didn't what?

Alright, so this like you said, doesn't make sense alone, but um some cultural context might help. In English, we often say, um say this phrase to mean, oh no, you didn't just say that. Oh, you didn't just insult my team.

Oh, you didn't just insult my team.

He's saying, I can't believe you just said that. He's upset because what she said was rude or mean.

Okay.

Okay, so I could say, you know, Marco, I think Ecuador sucks.

I did just say it. I don't think so actually, but I.

So it's usually a response, right? You have to wait until somebody maybe says something mean or something that, you know, really hurts your feelings or you don't agree with, when you respond to this, but you're usually very, very offended, right?

Exactly. It's always a response to a comment that has made you angry or upset.

Okay. And our last phrase is when they finished talking and they were fighting, uh she left and said, I might just.

Just what?

I know, just what?

See again, these are common phrases, but they don't seem to make much sense alone. I might just. So let's listen to this is a response again. This is a response to the line before it. Um, why don't you just, just go and return all of those stupid clothes and not come back until much later. And she says, hm, I might just. I might just do exactly what you just said.

Okay.

She's threatening him. She's saying, I might just go out and not come back for 10 hours.

Alright, I might just do that.

Okay, so that's a way to say, what you said, I might do that. And I'm threatening you.

So again, it's usually a response, right? Or a a threat, as you said.

So I could say, Marco, why don't you just leave?

Alright, I might just.

So.

Alright, so uh three interesting phrases there. Why don't we listen to all the words and phrases again in our dialogue one last time.

What do you think of this one?

Eh, so-so.

And this one? Too flashy?

Nah, not too flashy.

Oh, and this sweater from my aunt, isn't it hideous?

Yes.

Well, I have to decide which gifts to keep and which to exchange for better ones when I go to the Boxing Day sales this afternoon.

Alright, we're back. So Boxing Day, as you said, is usually a Commonwealth thing. In the United States, you don't really have it, right?

We do not. My family, I don't know why, but my family sometimes celebrates that. We have friends who come over and we have a nice Boxing Day meal, but.

Oh, okay.

Um I've been told that the tradition in Commonwealth countries is to watch sporting events, local sporting events and to go shopping for all these sales and bargains and exchange all those ugly, hideous, annoying or or bad gifts that you received at Christmas.

Right. So it's usually like the after-Christmas sales.

Exactly. So if you have any special Boxing Day traditions, I'd be very curious to hear them. Again, not a holiday related to the sport boxing. It's spelled the same way and it looks the same, but they're very different. No. So if you have any stories or questions about the things that we talked about today, please do let us know on our website englishpod.com.

Nothing.

Alright, we'll see you guys there and until next time.

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Smart and noticeable, but in a rather vulgar way.

Flashy.

Bark in a high-pitched tone, nag.

Yap.

Give something and receive something in return.

Exchange.

An occasion for buying at special price.

Sale.

Help someone.

Do someone the favor.

Let's try that faster.

Give something and receive something in return.

Exchange.

Smart and noticeable, but in a rather vulgar way.

Flashy.

Bark in a high-pitched tone, nag.

Yap.

Help someone.

Do someone the favor.

An occasion for buying at special price.

Sale.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Flashy.

I don't like jewelry with lots of diamonds, because I think it is too flashy.

Flashy.

Her sequined dress was way too flashy.

Flashy.

The Las Vegas Strip is known to have flashy hotels, flashy casinos, and flashy cars.

Yap.

I tried to think of an excuse to leave as my date kept on yapping about sports statistics.

Yap.

She yapped on all night about how her and her prom date were meant for each other.

Yap.

He kept yapping on and on about how he was right and his father was wrong.

Exchange.

Most stores have an exchange policy if you want to return what you bought.

Exchange.

When I got home, I found out that the color of the tablecloth didn't match the kitchen at all. So I took it back to the store and exchanged it for a different color the next day.

Exchange.

In exchange for your sparkle sticker, I will give you two of my big stickers.

Sale.

Many stores expand their Boxing Day sales up until New Year's Eve.

Sale.

The mall is usually very crowded on Boxing Day because of the special sales.

Sale.

Clearance sales usually have big discounts because the purpose of the sale is to get rid of all the old merchandise.

Do someone the favor.

Can you do me the favor of turning off the television? It's on all the time.

Do someone the favor.

Can you do us the favor of handing over your wallet, so no one will get hurt?

Do someone the favor.

Can you do me the favor of letting me know you have to use the bathroom before we get into the car?

The English Pod audio review.