Episode 0304

Hello everyone and welcome to EnglishPod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and today we're talking about someone who's very, very dirty.

That's right. And actually not only are we talking about something being dirty but also that we want to clean everything.

Okay, so you'll learn how to call someone who likes clean things in English today. Let's take a listen to our dialogue.

Helen, why do you keep flushing the toilet? What's wrong?

I can't help myself. It's just so disgusting in here.

Hang on. I'm just going to quickly wipe this sink and sweep the floor.

All right, we're back, so this girl was very much of a neat freak and we're going to take a look at that word a little bit later on.

Why don't we go back to the very beginning and take a look at some vocab on Language Takeaway.

The first word we have here on Language Takeaway today is pigsty.

Right, this bathroom is a pigsty.

Okay, so a pigsty is a place where pigs live.

Okay, so uh now this obviously the bathroom is not really a place where pigs live.

So if you call something a pigsty, you're saying that it's very...

Dirty. You're saying it's disgusting. It's very, very dirty, like a pigsty.

So actually if you go to a farm and you see where all the pigs are, that is actually called a pigsty.

Right, there's mud and dirt and yeah. That's a pigsty.

So someone who is very, very dirty, you can also call a pig.

Okay.

Now she was saying that the bathroom is so dirty and it's really gross in here.

Okay, so gross means uh something is she doesn't like it. It's really dirty and, you know, makes her uncomfortable.

So something that doesn't taste good, you can say it's gross.

That's right. So I don't like to eat snake. I think eating snake is gross.

Okay, very good. So something that is gross is something that's not really nice. Maybe it tastes bad or it smells bad, something that is bad in general.

That's right.

Okay. So she went on to talk about the toilet seat and that there was a stain on the toilet seat.

Okay, a stain is usually a bad thing. It means that there's a color or a mark that's permanent or maybe can be washed away on something.

So in this case, the toilet seat has a mark on it.

Okay. Maybe it's brown or yellow.

But I can also say um I was drinking wine and I spilled the wine on my shirt.

Mhm.

And it left a stain.

Right. So now there's a there's always this red red part on my shirt. It can't it won't go away.

Okay, so a stain is a mark that usually won't go away.

Okay, so then she went on to describe the bathroom as being disgusting. So I guess this is very similar to gross.

That's right. Something that is gross is usually also disgusting.

I can say, "uh, this food is awful, it's just disgusting."

Okay.

Um but I can also say in this case, "uh, your room is disgusting. You need to clean it. It's so dirty or bad or unappealing."

So something that is gross, something that is disgusting is something negative.

Yes.

Okay.

And then we have our keyword and the title of this uh lesson for today, a neat freak.

Her friend says, "You're such a neat freak."

That's right. So a neat freak is someone who likes things to be very clean. Okay?

Uh and so a neat freak does not live in a pigsty.

Right.

A neat freak does not like to be in pigsties. A neat freak likes things to be in order and organized and clean.

So maybe somebody that's cleaning all the time or or that's very, very organized, uh you can say that that person is a neat freak.

He is a neat freak or she is a neat freak.

Now, it's not necessarily a good thing to be a neat freak, but it's not terrible either to call somebody a neat freak.

You can say, "Hey, are you a neat freak?"

Right.

That means, "Are you really concerned about cleanliness?"

Uh-huh. Okay, very good.

So a lot of great vocab. Why don't we take a look again at our dialogue and we'll be back in a bit.

Helen, why do you keep flushing the toilet? What's wrong?

I can't help myself. It's just so disgusting in here.

Hang on, I'm just going to quickly wipe this sink and sweep the floor.

All right, we're back, so now let's take a look at Fluency Builder.

So the first thing we want to talk about today is this phrase "I can't stand it."

So this is our neat freak talking, she says, "I I just can't stand it."

I just can't stand it.

So if you can't stand something, that means that you can't tolerate it.

That's right. It means I don't like it, I don't want it anymore. I need to change it.

Okay. So for example, if a if a bar is too loud, you say, "I I have to leave, I can't stand it. It's too loud in there."

That's right. Or if you are next to me all day and you do tap, tap, tap, tap with your pen, I say, "Marco, stop it. I can't stand it anymore."

Okay, very good.

And then she went on to explain or to justify why she was cleaning the public restroom and she said, "I can't help myself. It's just too disgusting in here."

I can't help myself. So this means that I cannot control my actions. Okay, I cannot control what I do.

And so in some cases, like with a neat freak, the person really needs everything to be clean. And so she says, "I can't help myself, I have to clean."

Okay.

So it's a phrase like this. Don't try to separate it uh don't try to separate it and and try to define what help and help yourself. It's more of a phrase saying, "I can't control myself, I can't control my actions, I can't help myself."

Or in the case of the another person, you say, "she can't help herself." "He can't help himself."

Right. So maybe you'd like to smoke and uh you're smoking all the time and you say, you say, "Stop smoking," you say, "I can't help myself, I have to smoke."

Yeah, I have to smoke.

Okay.

And for our last phrase, uh, she said, "Hang on. I'm gonna I'm just gonna quickly wipe the sink and sweep the floor."

Hang on. This means wait. Wait a moment.

Yeah. Yeah, so this is a really common phrase we hear in English. It's something that you'll hear all the time in a pretty relaxed environment, not maybe in school, but um, if someone says...

If someone says, you know, "Okay, I'm gonna go, see you later," and the other person wants to say something to you, you say, "Hang on. Wait a moment, I have to tell you this thing."

So you wouldn't really use it with your boss or or a customer, you wouldn't say, "Hang on a second."

No, you would say that with a friend or family member, things like that.

Okay, so it's a very informal way of saying wait a moment, wait a minute.

That's right. So the formal way is please wait.

Please wait.

And the informal way is hang on.

Hang on.

Or hang on a sec.

Mhm. Which is hang on a second.

All right, that's all the words we have for today. Why don't we review our dialogue one last time?

Helen, why do you keep flushing the toilet? What's wrong?

I can't help myself. It's just so disgusting in here.

Hang on, I'm just going to quickly wipe this sink and sweep the floor.

All right, so talking about cleanliness and being uh neat.

What type of person are you? Do you usually, are you a neat freak? Do you keep everything very clean and ordered?

I'm not a neat freak, but I'm also not a pig, not a slob. Um, I like things to be very organized.

But I'm not really concerned about cleaning so much. I'm too lazy. So there's a difference for me.

I in my house, I know where everything is, but maybe there's clothes on the floor and there's books in the bathroom and yeah. So I'm in the middle.

What about you? Are you a neat freak?

Uh, no, I'm not really a neat freak per se, but I do like everything to be very clean on the other hand.

So I can't uh really stand it when things are if things are out of order a little bit, that's okay, but if things are dirty, that really gets to me.

But I'm not the type of person that has, you know, folders with all my bills in in one folder or labels or or even when I was in school, I didn't have my notebooks in order.

Really?

So we're the opposite.

Yeah, exactly. But I hate things that are dirty.

Uh-huh. Interesting.

Well, let us know, are you a neat freak? Our website is englishpod.com. You can talk about yourself all over that um that lesson comments area.

That's right. And if you have any other suggestions or comments, we're always there as well and we'll see you guys next time.

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

A dirty or untidy place.

Pigsty.

To cause water to clean a toilet.

Flush.

Disgusting.

Gross.

Saying to indicate someone's idea or actions is unbelievable or crazy.

For example, are you out of your mind? You can't fight a bear.

Are you out of your mind?

Likes to have every element of their life tidy and in order.

Neat freak.

Let's try that faster.

Disgusting.

Gross.

To cause water to clean a toilet.

Flush.

A dirty or untidy place.

Pigsty.

Likes to have every element of their life tidy and in order.

Neat freak.

Saying to indicate someone's idea or actions is unbelievable or crazy.

For example, are you out of your mind? You can't fight a bear.

Are you out of your mind?

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Pigsty.

Mike never cleans his room. It's like a pigsty in there.

Pigsty.

The kitchen looked like a pigsty after the party.

Pigsty.

Don't use that washroom. It's like a pigsty.

Flush.

Someone forgot to flush the toilet. It's so disgusting.

Flush.

Make sure you flush the toilet when you're done.

Flush.

Robert is training his cat how to flush the toilet.

Gross.

The bathroom is so gross. Can you clean it, please?

Gross.

That guy's wearing a bikini brief. It's so gross.

Gross.

I saw some worms on the floor. It's so gross.

Are you out of your mind?

Are you out of your mind? This is going to cost you a fortune.

Are you out of your mind?

She's dating a married man. Is she out of her mind?

Are you out of your mind?

I can't believe he's going to quit. He must be out of his mind.

Neat freak.

Lily is such a neat freak. She cleans her bathroom three times a day.

Neat freak.

My mom is a neat freak. She asks me to clean my room three times a day.

Neat freak.

Johnny organizes all his CDs and books alphabetically. What a neat freak!