Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast
number 29. Welcome to English as a Second Language
Podcast number 29. My name is Dr. Jeff McQuillen.
and we are coming to you today from Los Angeles,
California, and the Center for Educational Development.
Visit our website at www .eslpod .com for more
information about this podcast and for the script
or text of the first part of today's podcast.
Today we are going to talk about saying unkind
or not nice things about another person and how
we react to that. Now let's get started. Yesterday
I was talking to an ex -colleague of mine who
frankly has something of a big mouth. I bumped
into him at the beach where he was walking his
dog. Anyway, as I was saying, he's the kind of
guy that always is bad -mouthing his co -workers.
So he comes up to me and says, Hey Jeff, long
time no see. What have you been up to? Uh, not
much, I said. Well, guess who I saw yesterday.
John Robeson, the guy from accounting at Firth
Industries. You remember him, the guy with big
ears and an ego to match. It takes one to know
one, I thought, but I kept that to myself. Oh,
really? How interesting," I replied. Yeah, well,
I hate to talk behind someone's back, but ever
since he and I had that falling out last year,
I've never really cared for the guy. How come?
I asked. Well, he's a bit of a backstabber. always
trying to outdo the other guy. I know what you
mean, I said. I knew at this point it was time
to make my exit. Otherwise, this guy would go
on about John Robeson for the next ten minutes.
What time do you have? I asked him. It's quarter
after five. Geez, already? Man, I've got to hit
the road. I'm supposed to meet my brother at
the pier in a few minutes. But, hey, it was sure
good to see you again. You take care. With that,
I made my exit. I've got better things to do
than to listen to him gripe all day. Now let's
talk about what I just discussed. In my story
I said that I was talking to an ex -colleague
of mine. An colleague is someone usually that
you work with or that is in the same profession
or the same occupation as you are. An ex -colleague
here would mean someone that I used to work with.
I said that, quite frankly, he has something
of a big mouth. Quite frankly means quite honestly,
to be very honest. To be frank means to be honest.
I said he had a big mouth. To say someone has
a big mouth is something of an insult. It means
that they talk too much. That they're always
telling things to other people that they should
not. I said I bumped into him at the beach. To
bump into means to meet someone that you were
not expecting to meet. It is similar to, I ran
into. I ran into my friend at the supermarket.
I wasn't expecting or planning to see him there,
but there he was. My friend was walking his dog.
To walk your dog, of course, means to take your
dog outside so the dog can, well, do his business,
let's say. I said that my friend is the kind
of guy who is always bad -mouthing his co -workers.
To bad -mouth means to say bad things about another
person. Don't bad -mouth your friend, meaning
means don't say unkind or unnice things about
your friend. Co -workers is the same as colleagues,
someone that you work with. I said that my friend
comes up to me. He comes up to me and says, to
come up to someone means to approach someone.
He says to me, long time no see. This is a common
expression that we often use. It's an informal
expression. Which means it's been a long time
since I have seen you long time no see You say
that to someone you have not seen in a long time
He told me that he saw a Mutual or someone that
we both know friend John Robeson and He said
insulting John that he had big ears an ego to
match well an ego your ego is of course your
pride your ego is how you feel about yourself
with someone has a big ego they think they're
very important to say someone has an ego to match
To match means the same as, the same size as,
or the same amount as. My friend said that the
guy has big ears and an ego to match, meaning
his ego is also big. I thought to myself, it
takes one to know one. It takes one to know one
is another expression. Just like long time no
see, very common in American English, it takes
one to no one means when someone says something
unkind, not nice about another person, we say,
we sometimes say if that same person has those
same negative or unkind qualities, it takes one
to no one. For example, someone who has a big
ego, who complains about another person with
a big ego. Well, it takes one to know one. You
have to be something in order to recognize it
in someone else. My friend said that he hated
to talk behind someone's back. To talk behind
someone's back means to say unnice, again, unkind
things, not nice things about someone when they
are not present, when they are not there. He,
my former colleague, my ex -colleague said that
he and John Robeson had a falling out last year.
A falling out means an argument, a fight, not
necessarily a physical fight. but when you have
a disagreement with someone and that disagreement
causes you to not talk to each other. My friend
and I had a falling out over who was going to
pay for dinner last night. We often say we have
a falling out over some problem. My friend says
that he never really cared for John Robeson.
To care for someone, of course, means to like
someone in this case. To care for also means
to help, to assist, but here it just means to
like. How come, I asked, meaning why? How come,
why? It's an informal way of asking why. Well,
my friend said he's a bit of a backstabber a
backstabber To stab means to take usually a knife
and put it into something to stab someone means
to take a knife and put it into them a backstabber
would be somebody who attacks you Without you
having a chance to defend yourself It's very
closely related to the expression to talk behind
someone's back a Backstabber is someone who does
something not nice something unkind to you Behind
your back meaning without you knowing According
to my to my ex -colleague John Robeson was always
trying to out do The other guy, to outdo, means
to do better than the other person. I said at
this point I needed to make my exit. To exit,
of course, means to leave. To make your exit
means to leave. It means the same as exit, to
make my exit. It comes, the expression probably
comes from the theater. from someone in a play
making their exit, meaning they leave the stage.
They leave off where people can see them. I said
my ex -colleague would go on about John for the
next ten minutes. To go on about something or
someone means to talk too much. I was talking
to my brother yesterday and he went on and on
about his new car, meaning he talked for a long
time, too long of a time. I used a couple of
expressions in responding to my ex -colleague.
I asked him, what time do you have? This is the
same as asking someone, what time is it? It's
a little bit more polite. If you come up to a
stranger or someone that you do not know, and
you say, excuse me, what time is it? That's okay,
but a little more polite way would be to say,
excuse me, can you tell me what time you have?
Here I just said, what time do you have? Meaning,
could you tell me the time? After I was told
the time, I said, geez, already? G's, G -E -E
-Z, is a informal way of saying, wow. I also
said, man, I've got to hit the road. Man here
is, again, informal. It just is an expression
of excitement, or it means the same as, sometimes
we say, boy. boy, I've got to hit the road. It
just emphasizes that you have to do that particular
thing. The thing I had to do was to hit the road.
To hit the road means to leave, to go somewhere.
What time are we going to hit the road? Well,
we'll probably leave at 7 p .m. The pier I said
I was meeting my brother at the pier. The pier,
a pier is P -I -E -R, is something that goes
out into the ocean from the beach. It's usually
made of wood and people can walk out onto the
pier. I told my ex -colleague that it was sure
good to see him again. This is a common way of
saying goodbye to someone. after or someone that
we haven't seen in a long time it's sure good
to see you again means it's nice to see you again
I told him to take care that is to take care
of himself again a very common expression you
take care means I hope that everything goes well
for you that you take care of yourself I wanted
to leave because I didn't want to hear my friend
gripe all day. To gripe, G -R -I -P -E, means
to complain. It's a somewhat informal expression
meaning to complain. That's going to do it for
today's English as a Second Language podcast.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
We'll see you next time. ESL Podcast. ESL Podcast
is produced by the Center for Educational Development
in Los Angeles, California. This podcast is copyright
2005.