Episode 0196

That's right, we're going to go and get some clothes, but on this occasion, we are going to get a suit and we're going to have it made especially for us. So, before we get started, why don't we take a look at one keyword that we have in vocabulary preview?

Vocabulary preview. Okay, this word makes me think of things that are very rich and soft.

It's a fabric, right?

That's right, it's a kind of textile, it's called cashmere.

Cashmere.

So maybe you've heard of cashmere wool, it's a special kind of wool that comes from animals.

Uh-huh. So, this is a a textile or a fabric that is commonly used to make pants, um nice pants or suits for men.

Mhm. So, it can be a little bit expensive depending on the quality, and that's what we're going to be looking at now. We're going to be, we're going to be making a suit out of cashmere. So, why don't we listen to our dialogue for the first time?

I was wondering if you guys also tailor clothes.

Well, I'm looking to get a custom-made suit.

Now, let's measure the length of your arms and this bit around your neck here.

Can you make sure you leave a little extra space in the collar? My neck gets easily irritated.

No problem. Now for your pants, let me just measure your waist and the inseam.

You might also want to leave a little extra room in the waist area. I tend to gain a few pounds over the holidays.

Okay. Now you can pick your fabric and pattern design. Please, follow me.

So this reminds me of something that people used to do a lot more often, so you go to the tailor and you'd have some clothes made. Most people don't do this anymore.

Yeah. Well, it's actually really interesting. Maybe because it's more expensive nowadays or tailors are harder to find.

That's right. So, let's learn about the words first and what they mean and then maybe we can talk about this at the end of today's show.

Language Takeaway. All right, so today on language takeaway, we have a word that is a noun and a verb. So, as you mentioned, the person that makes suits is a tailor.

That's right. You can say, my uncle is a tailor. He makes clothes for famous people.

Mhm.

But this word is also a verb, that means it's an action word. We can say, my uncle the tailor, he tailors clothes.

Okay. So, to tailor clothes. And what does it mean when you say to tailor?

Well, it can have two meanings. The first is what we learn about in today's dialogue, it means to make clothes. So to make a shirt or to make a pair of pants. But these days we often say to tailor, which means to fix something. So, for example, Marco, if you buy a pair of pants and they're too long, you can have them tailored.

You have them tailored. And that means that I am going to have them fixed, so they fit me properly.

Exactly. This is a lot more common right now.

Okay. So we're going to be tailoring clothes. Now, if any of you have ever been to the tailor, what they do is they measure you. And what do they measure? Well, in this case, they get the width of your shoulders.

Well, what's really great about these upcoming words is that they're useful in math as well, math and basic measurements. So width is how uh big something is across.

Across, so how wide something is.

Exactly, wide, width.

Okay, so that's the width. Now, your shoulders, they are wide, and well, your legs on the other hand, your legs and arms, you don't measure the width usually, you measure the length. How long they are.

Okay.

So, width and length. Now, just to throw it in there, this wasn't in the dialogue, but what would be the other measure word?

So the third word would be height. So you think of a rectangle, uh you have the width, how wide something is, the length, how long it is, and the height, how tall it is.

How tall it is, right.

So, width, length and height. All right. Now that we've uh measured our arms and legs, now we want to measure our waist.

Okay, this is the important one. This is also the sensitive one. If you find out you've gained some weight, we measure the waist, okay, that's how big you are around your stomach. And so usually we measure this in a circle.

Okay.

Okay, so you've heard of a 26-inch waist or a 32-inch waist. This is the size of your stomach.

Okay. So it's just above your hips, right? As you say, it's your stomach.

And well, we've measured the waist, and now in men especially, they measure the inseam. Now this is very particular for tailors and and having suits made. What is the inseam of your pants?

Well, think of the word in, inside. This is the inside of your pants, so from your foot to the middle of your pants where your zipper starts.

Okay.

Mhm. So that's not the outside length, it's the inside length, okay?

Uh-huh. Now, for example, skirts, they don't have inseams, right?

No, because there's no inside, there's no middle, right? So it's just like a a circle. But in pants or shorts, you have an inseam. That's that's where it's um connected in the middle.

All right, so also in shorts, very interesting. So you can measure the inseam of pants or shorts.

All right, so very interesting and particular words for tailors. Why don't we listen to our dialogue again, and we'll be back shortly.

I was wondering if you guys also tailor clothes.

Well, I'm looking to get a custom-made suit.

Now, let's measure the length of your arms and this bit around your neck here.

Can you make sure you leave a little extra space in the collar? My neck gets easily irritated.

No problem. Now for your pants, let me just measure your waist and the inseam.

You might also want to leave a little extra room in the waist area. I tend to gain a few pounds over the holidays.

Okay. Now you can pick your fabric and pattern design. Please, follow me.

All right, we're back. So now we have three key phrases that we found in this dialogue. So let's take a look at them now in fluency builder.

Fluency builder. This first phrase is the topic of today's lesson. Uh, well we talked a little bit about measurements for a suit, but um in particular, we're getting a custom-made suit.

Okay. So this word custom-made.

Well custom is important, it means special or unique. There's no other like it. So we can talk about custom cars, that means a car that has been fixed especially for you.

Okay. So a custom-made suit would be a suit that was made specifically for your height, for how big your waist is, etc. Specifically for you.

Right. So, a suit that I buy at the department store is just a normal suit, but a suit that I have made for me is a custom-made suit.

Okay. And as you said, you can use it for cars, a custom-made car or maybe for example, a custom-made custom-made kitchen, that means that you get to pick every single part of the kitchen that you want.

Many people do that, right? They have custom-built or custom-made homes.

Yeah, that's that's always something I've wanted to do, but I hear that it's much more expensive than getting a normal homemade.

All right, so that's the first key phrase. Now moving on, when we talk about measuring, we say I measured, I measured the length of this street.

Right, or let's measure you so we can see how big you are.

But if you noticed in the dialogue, we use the passive voice. He says, let's get you measured.

Okay, I got measured or it got measured. To get measured as you say, is the is the passive voice. Now, what's the difference between passive and active?

All right, so basically, what happens here is we are concentrating on the person and the action falling upon you, for example. So I got measured. What happened to me? I got measured.

Who did it? Who measured you? We don't know.

We don't know, we don't care, right?

All right, the point, the important part is that you were measured, you got measured. But we could have a different phrase. We say, for example, um, I will measure this table or he measures the height of the door, and we know he measures, I will measure. We know who the actor is, that means it's active voice because the focus is on who's doing this action. But in passive voice, the important thing is who is receiving the action.

Right. Now, it's a little bit complicated because as you can see, measured is in the past, but we're not really talking about the past. So it may get a little bit complicated. We can take a more in-depth look at that in the community section, you can ask a couple questions, we'll place a couple of examples, but it's kind of hard to get into the grammar over an audio podcast, right?

That's true. So, that's what we have the practice space on the website.

All right. Now moving on, we have our last phrase. And when he was talking about the waist and how he should leave a little bit of extra room, it's because he tends, he tends to gain a few pounds.

Okay, so to gain a few pounds is like gaining a kilo, it means to gain weight over the holidays. And and in this case, to tend to, I tend to, means I normally or I usually. So, for example, Marco, what do you tend to eat for breakfast?

I tend to eat scrambled eggs and and a glass of yogurt.

Right? So, tend to, it's a tendency, is what usually happens.

It's normal.

It's normal.

All right, so very interesting phrases, very interesting words. Why don't we listen to our dialogue for the last time?

I was wondering if you guys also tailor clothes.

Well, I'm looking to get a custom-made suit.

Now, let's measure the length of your arms and this bit around your neck here.

Can you make sure you leave a little extra space in the collar? My neck gets easily irritated.

No problem. Now for your pants, let me just measure your waist and the inseam.

You might also want to leave a little extra room in the waist area. I tend to gain a few pounds over the holidays.

Okay. Now you can pick your fabric and pattern design. Please, follow me.

All right, so we talked earlier about how most people buy their clothes at a department store or a clothing store. Have you seen much of this, you know, maybe back in Ecuador it's more common than in America?

Um yeah, usually people just go to a a department store and get suits for example, but um it's actually very common as well because it's kind of in their artisans to be like a shoemaker or to be a tailor. So actually people like it more and go to tailors because they kind of become renowned, like, oh, he used to make suits for the president. So, you know, people really, really like to get suits made there. And obviously, they they fit much better, you feel more comfortable.

And you look better. As I've said before, you know, I see people who who buy all these suits, my brother for example, they never quite fit right. You can tell it's a little too big in the shoulders. My brother's tall, so his his pants are always a little bit too short. But when you come to a place like China and most people can get these these suits made for them, they just look fabulous.

That looks very, very nice.

Yeah, so um maybe you guys can tell us if you've ever had anything tailor-made, not only guys suits, but girls also get tailor-made dresses, tailor-made blouses.

I always get coats made actually because my shoulders are broad and so it's hard for me to find coats that fit right, but if I get one custom-made, it looks really good.

Right. So come to our website Englishpod.com, leave your questions and comments there and we'll see you guys later.

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Made especially for the needs of one person.

Custom made.

To ascertain the dimensions, quantity.

Measure.

Be sure.

Make sure.

Be more likely.

Tend.

An artistic or decorative design that repeats.

Pattern design.

Let's try that faster.

An artistic or decorative design that repeats.

Pattern design.

Be sure.

Make sure.

Be more likely.

Tend.

Made especially for the needs of one person.

Custom made.

To ascertain the dimensions, quantity.

Measure.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Custom made.

Brad got a custom-made motorcycle.

It looks amazing.

Custom made.

I want to get a custom-made sports car.

Custom made.

Her dress was custom-made in Italy.

Measure.

I need to measure the length of this street.

Measure.

Help me measure the width of this box.

Measure.

Many people tried to measure the diameter of the earth.

Make sure.

Make sure you make some extra food just in case.

Make sure.

Please make sure you leave the door unlocked.

Make sure.

Can you make sure those reports are done by the end of this week?

Tend.

Don't buy cheap things.

They tend to break easily.

Tend.

I always tend to forget my keys in my car.

Tend.

People tend to forget what happened in the past.

Pattern design.

This flower pattern for my dress looks really nice.

Pattern design.

I bought wallpaper that has a black and red circle pattern.

Pattern design.

I want a simple and elegant dress pattern.

English Pod.