Episode 0220

Mm, so we're going to talk about a lot of vocabulary today. Pay attention while you're listening to some of the pieces of furniture that we talk about. We'll be back in a moment to talk more about them.

How about this floor lamp?

We still need to find an armoire and a dresser.

Fine. I'm going to go home and drop off this nightstand, coffee table and love seat while you look for the rest of the things.

Recliner? In my beautifully decorated living room? I don't think so.

All right, we're back. So now what we're going to do is since we have so much vocab, we're going to take a look at this language in two parts. So now let's go to the language takeaway part one.

Language takeaway.

Okay, so everyone's heard of a lamp, a light. This is something that you use to to read in the dark for example, to see in the dark. But uh, in this case we have a floor lamp. Floor lamp. So this is a lamp you put on the floor.

Yes, exactly. So usually this lamp would be a lot taller. It'll maybe be like a meter tall or a meter and a half, maybe.

Okay, so for example, in your living room next to your sofa, you might have a very tall floor lamp. This allows you to get more light in the room.

Right. So sometimes, you know, the center light in your living room, it's not enough. You want maybe more light in the corners, you get a little floor lamp.

Mhm.

Okay, so that's the first item. Now that we go to the bedroom, we are getting an armoire.

Okay, an armoire. This is kind of like a wardrobe. It's a, it's a piece of furniture we use to keep clothes in, but usually they're hanging clothes.

Okay. So a closet is usually inside a wall, right?

Right. So a closet's a part of your house. It's not furniture.

Right. So an armoire is the same as a closet, but it's not in the house, like in the wall. So it's outside. It's a piece of furniture. It's a big box.

I could, yeah, I could pick it up and move it.

Okay.

Yes, so an armoire is a tall place to keep clothing, usually you, you hang your clothes, you hang your shirts and your dresses and your coats.

Okay. And moving on, we have a dresser. Now this seems pretty straightforward to get dressed, you have a dresser.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, but uh, there is a big difference here between an armoire and a dresser. A dresser is usually drawers.

Ah. So you keep your sweaters, your shirts, your socks, your underwear in a dresser.

Okay. So an armoire, as you said, usually you hang your, your shirts or your pants.

It's for hanging stuff only. A dresser is you have different drawers where you can put your socks, your boxer shorts and any other things that you keep.

Exactly.

Okay. Very good. So two very handy words and that's what makes the difference between a closet. So many people say, oh, it's just a closet. No, a closet's different.

No, a closet is actually part of your house. It's a part of the wall, maybe it has a door. And yeah, it's a, there's a big difference there.

Okay. So uh, moving on we have a nightstand that's also usually in the bedroom.

That's right. So I always wondered why is it called a nightstand and not a daystand? Uh well a nightstand, it makes sense. It usually has a lamp on it, a light on it. And so when you're in bed and you want to read, you have a nightstand next to you to put your lamp so you can turn the lamp on.

Uh-huh.

Uh usually I also keep my books here. So when I'm reading, I put my books down then I go to sleep. Some people also keep their glasses and their alarm clock on a nightstand.

Okay.

It's a small table that stands next to your bed.

Very good. And our last word for language takeaway part one, we have a coffee table.

Okay, so with the coffee table, Marco, we're moving back into the living room. And in the living room you have a sofa, you have some chairs. You need a table, but you don't want a big table, you want a a small table or a a very short table. This is a coffee table.

It's called a coffee table. Uh I'm not really sure why. I guess cuz if you're having coffee in the living room, this is where you put the coffee.

Isn't for you to actually to read all the time.

And this is interesting though because in many other countries, they're they're not really called a coffee table. So a direct translation wouldn't really help you in many cases.

No.

Like I know I think in Chinese it's it's called a tea table, not a coffee table.

Yeah. That makes sense.

Right. Or um like I I know in Spanish it's just called a center table.

Mmm, okay. So this is basically the the low table you have in your living room next to your sofa, in front of your sofa actually, so you can you can have tea or coffee and read books or put your feet up while you're watching TV.

All right, so now why don't we go back, listen to the dialogue again and we'll be returning a little bit with more vocab.

How about this floor lamp?

We still need to find an armoire and a dresser.

Fine. I'm going to go home and drop off this nightstand, coffee table and love seat while you look for the rest of the things.

Recliner? In my beautifully decorated living room? I don't think so.

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at language takeaway part two.

Language takeaway.

A love seat.

Love seat.

It does. Well, think about a sofa. A sofa can be very large. You could have four or five people on a sofa.

Right.

But a love seat is a small sofa for two people.

Okay. So that's what makes the difference, right? It's a sofa but only two people can sit on this.

That's right. So if it's a big sofa, it's not a love seat.

And what about if it's one because usually sofa sets, you have a love seat, a big one, and you have one sometimes an individual one. Do you just call that a a chair?

Yep, a chair.

A chair. Okay.

Exactly. We'll come to it in a minute. There's a special kind of chair that it might be, but uh we're not we're not quite there yet. First we have another kind of chair, which is very special and uh reminds me a lot of the 1970s.

Right. We have a bean bag. And this is actually a piece of furniture that's still very popular in many places.

And it's called a bean bag because it's a huge bag that is filled with beans.

Right, beans or something soft and when you sit on it, it looks like, it looks like a ball, but when you sit on it, it can change shape.

Right, it molds to how, what shape you are.

I've never slept on, well maybe once. But I I don't remember sleeping on a bean bag. I imagine it's quite uncomfortable.

Yeah, for your back. But moving on after a bean bag, which is good informal piece of furniture, we have a dining set, which is a lot nicer.

Okay, dining set. All right. So a dining set has many pieces. You have a dining room table. You have chairs. So a set is basically a collection of a table and chairs together.

Sometimes I think it will also include some type of piece of furniture that's next to the dining table where you can keep your plates and you can keep your teacups and all of that. What's that called?

That's called a buffet and that's basically, it's like a dresser for your dining room.

Right, exactly.

It's got like drawers and stuff for your plates, your cups, like you said. Uh and it's next to the dining room table. Uh but the dining room set or the dining set is is for the dining room. It's it's the table where you eat dinner.

Recliner. So we have a word here, recline. It means to lie back, to put your head back, to get comfortable. Uh so a recliner is a chair that you can you can change the shape of to make you lie down flat. So, you know, when you sit down, you're sitting, but what if you want to lie down in a chair? This chair lets you do that.

And it also from the bottom part where your feet are, a little thing pops up so you can rest your feet on top of this uh little extension of the of the chair.

Okay, so it has a built-in foot rest.

Actually, they're I think in the United States, they're very commonly known by the brand Lazy Boy.

That's right. There's a brand, it's not a kind of furniture, but it's the name of the brand. It's Lazy Boy and they're very, very famous. You're right, Marco. For their reclining chairs.

Exactly. So, Lazy Boys, you may hear it, uh, but the real word for it is called a recliner.

How about this floor lamp?

We still need to find an armoire and a dresser.

Fine. I'm going to go home and drop off this nightstand, coffee table and love seat while you look for the rest of the things.

Recliner? In my beautifully decorated living room? I don't think so.

All right, we're back. So uh talking about furniture, it's very interesting. How do you take it home? What do you do? And in this case, they were transporting it themselves and the guy said I'm going to go home and drop off this nightstand, coffee table and love seat. So to drop off.

Okay, this is a great verb to drop off. It's a verbal phrase. Um so the preposition there is off, not on.

Right.

So I could say for example, Marco, I'm just going to drop off my bag at home and then I'll meet you guys for dinner.

Uh-huh.

That means I'm going to go to my house and put down my bag and then I'll leave. So to drop off is basically to go somewhere so you can so put something in that place. Uh but it doesn't mean that you're going to go to that place and stay there.

Right. So if I say I'm going to drop off the kids at school, that means I'm going to take the kids and leave them at school and then go away.

It doesn't mean you're going to school yourself.

Right, exactly.

So, can you drop off the laundry at the dry cleaners, please?

Very good. So I'm going to take the laundry to the dry cleaners, leave it there and then go somewhere else.

So what happens at 3 o'clock when the kids are still at school?

That's right. Now we use the opposite verbal phrase and that is to pick up.

Okay, drop off, pick up.

So you go pick up the kids. You go pick up the laundry.

So this isn't just about some picking something up from a table or the ground. You can actually use your car to pick something up.

Right. You go and retrieve it.

So I'm going to the post office to pick up my package.

Mhm. Very good. So phrases that you're going to have to use if you're talking about furniture, if you're talking about buying something. And while we're on the topic, I know that one of the most popular places to buy furniture is IKEA. Are you a big fan of IKEA?

Furniture is very expensive.

And it's because you put it together yourself, right?

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

A tall lamp with a base that stands on the floor.

Floor lamp.

A large wardrobe or cabinet.

Armoire.

A set of shelves usually used for holding clothes.

Dresser.

A small table or stand placed at a bedside.

Nightstand.

Small sofa that seats two people.

Love seat.

An armchair that can be reclined.

Recliner.

During the time you are there.

While you are at it.

Let's try that faster.

A large wardrobe or cabinet.

Armoire.

An armchair that can be reclined.

Recliner.

During the time you are there.

While you are at it.

Small sofa that seats two people.

Love seat.

A set of shelves usually used for holding clothes.

Dresser.

A tall lamp with a base that stands on the floor.

Floor lamp.

A small table or stand placed at a bedside.

Nightstand.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Armoire.

My sister prefers armoires to dressers because she can see everything at once.

Armoire.

My room doesn't have a closet, so I use an armoire instead.

Armoire.

He gazed longingly at the antique armoire with its carved wood and faded paintings, but he only had $50 in his pocket.

Dresser.

Please make sure you put your clothes away in your dresser.

Dresser.

He took some change out of the piggy bank on his dresser.

Dresser.

I opened up the dresser drawer and hid my diary underneath the clothes.

Love seat.

My parents have a wooden love seat on their front porch.

Love seat.

Love seats are much cozier than couches.

Love seat.

I curled up next to my husband on the love seat.

While you are at it.

While you're at it, can you take the clothes out of the dryer?

While you are at it.

While you're at it, can you make sure the dogs have enough water in their bowl?

While you are at it.

Can you pick up some coffee while you're at it?

Recliner.

After a hard day's work, my father would always sink into his leather recliner and watch the news.

Recliner.

A recliner is a special chair designed so that you can sit upright or recline back with your feet up.

Recliner.

It wasn't until a few hours later that I discovered the chair I was sitting on was a recliner.