WEBVTT 00:00:00.270 --> 00:00:04.870 Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast 00:00:04.870 --> 00:00:15.570 number 37. You're listening to English as a Second 00:00:15.570 --> 00:00:21.109 Language podcast number 37. Visit our website 00:00:21.109 --> 00:00:30.480 at www .eslpod .com for more information about 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:35.259 this podcast. I'm Dr. Jeff McQuillen from the 00:00:35.259 --> 00:00:38.219 Center for Educational Development coming to 00:00:38.219 --> 00:00:43.079 you today from Los Angeles, California. Today's 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:48.079 topic is going to a pet store. I'm going to talk 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:52.420 a little bit about my experience recently shopping 00:00:52.420 --> 00:01:04.709 for a pet. Let's get started. My niece is turning 00:01:04.709 --> 00:01:10.909 eight next week, and I decided to buy her a new 00:01:10.909 --> 00:01:16.709 pet. She had been asking her parents for a pet 00:01:16.709 --> 00:01:21.769 for a long time, but they were worried about 00:01:21.769 --> 00:01:28.590 taking care of a pet. I told them I would go 00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:33.670 to the pet store and see if I could find a pet 00:01:33.670 --> 00:01:40.890 that wouldn't be too much of a bother. I walked 00:01:40.890 --> 00:01:46.989 into a big pet store and looked around. I saw 00:01:46.989 --> 00:01:53.030 cages with dogs and cats. There were also bird 00:01:53.030 --> 00:02:02.920 cages with birds of every color. I even saw I 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:09.360 saw a sales clerk and asked him for help. I told 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:14.860 him that I was looking for a pet that was easy 00:02:14.860 --> 00:02:21.680 to take care of. He suggested a cat or a kitten. 00:02:22.979 --> 00:02:28.300 But I told him that my niece was allergic to 00:02:28.300 --> 00:02:36.370 cats. Then he suggested a puppy. I walked over 00:02:36.370 --> 00:02:41.729 to the rows of dog kennels and asked the clerk 00:02:41.729 --> 00:02:48.330 how often they needed to be walked. He said that 00:02:48.330 --> 00:02:55.229 usually dogs need to be taken out three to five 00:02:55.229 --> 00:03:01.490 times a day. That was much too much work I told 00:03:01.490 --> 00:03:06.949 him he then showed me some birds including a 00:03:06.949 --> 00:03:13.449 parrot then I asked him how often the cages had 00:03:13.449 --> 00:03:20.490 to be cleaned and when he told me I nixed that 00:03:20.490 --> 00:03:26.330 idea finally he took me to the back of the store 00:03:26.330 --> 00:03:33.080 I have the perfect pet for you," he said. I looked 00:03:33.080 --> 00:03:39.219 around and saw aquariums full of fish. There 00:03:39.219 --> 00:03:44.539 were twenty different kinds. The clerk said that 00:03:44.539 --> 00:03:49.539 they were very easy to take care of. With the 00:03:49.539 --> 00:03:53.659 right equipment, you don't have to clean the 00:03:53.659 --> 00:04:00.159 tank regularly, and all you have to do feed the 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:07.740 fish. That was it. The perfect solution. The 00:04:07.740 --> 00:04:13.099 next time I visited my niece, she told me she 00:04:13.099 --> 00:04:19.800 loved her fish. She had named them all. She even 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:27.459 named one after me. It was called Jeffish. Get 00:04:27.459 --> 00:04:32.930 it? Now she's happy, and so are her parents. 00:04:34.110 --> 00:04:39.569 Just before I left, my niece asked me, when can 00:04:39.569 --> 00:04:46.029 we go to Disneyland? Ah, the work of an uncle 00:04:46.029 --> 00:04:59.259 is never done. I began talking about The fact 00:04:59.259 --> 00:05:05.079 that my niece is turning eight next week To say 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:09.959 someone is turning a certain age means they're 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:16.199 going to have a birthday I'm turning Well, I'm 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:20.339 not going to tell you how old I am but to say 00:05:20.339 --> 00:05:28.399 I'm turning 29 means I am going to be 29. Usually 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:35.779 we say, I am turning 29 next month. I wish I 00:05:35.779 --> 00:05:41.759 were turning 29 next month. I decided to buy 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:47.560 my niece a new pet. A pet, of course, is some 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:51.699 animal that you have in the house, a cat or a 00:05:51.699 --> 00:05:56.769 dog often. My niece's parents, however, were 00:05:56.769 --> 00:06:02.529 worried about taking care of a pet. To take care 00:06:02.529 --> 00:06:10.750 of means to look after, to be the person who 00:06:10.750 --> 00:06:15.870 is responsible for. You can take care of a pet. 00:06:16.329 --> 00:06:20.370 You could take care of a child. You can take 00:06:20.370 --> 00:06:24.519 care of a situation. All of those are possible 00:06:24.519 --> 00:06:29.480 uses of that expression, to take care of. I went 00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:33.240 to a pet store, a store where they sell pets, 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:37.579 of course, and I was looking for a pet that wasn't 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:42.139 going to be too much of a bother, meaning it 00:06:42.139 --> 00:06:46.720 wasn't going to be too much trouble. To say something 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:52.560 is a bother means it causes you problems. I went 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:55.980 into the pet store and one of the things that 00:06:55.980 --> 00:07:04.319 I saw was a bird cage. A cage is a usually made 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:10.339 of metal, a place where we keep an animal, like 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:17.079 a bird, sometimes other animals as well. A bird 00:07:17.079 --> 00:07:20.879 cage of course is a place where we keep birds. 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:30.220 The clerk at the pet store suggested a cat or 00:07:30.220 --> 00:07:35.860 a kitten for my niece. A kitten is a baby cat. 00:07:37.379 --> 00:07:42.980 I said my niece was allergic to cats. To be allergic 00:07:42.980 --> 00:07:49.500 or to have an allergy means that it causes you 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:53.699 problems when you are around for example, a cat. 00:07:54.259 --> 00:07:58.519 You start to sneeze, your eyes start to water. 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:02.079 This is what happens when you have an allergy. 00:08:03.100 --> 00:08:06.839 It's a medical condition that some people have, 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:12.639 are born with, typically. The clerk also suggested 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:18.519 a puppy. A puppy is a baby dog. We don't say 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:24.470 baby dog or baby Cat we say a puppy or a kitten 00:08:24.470 --> 00:08:31.350 When you have to go on vacation and You do not 00:08:31.350 --> 00:08:35.649 want to take your dog or cat with you you can 00:08:35.649 --> 00:08:40.090 bring them to a place where you can pay to have 00:08:40.090 --> 00:08:46.090 them kept and that place is called a kennel a 00:08:46.090 --> 00:08:51.039 Kennel is a place where you will find many dogs 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:57.080 or many cats. I asked the clerk how often the 00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:02.899 dogs needed to be walked. To walk a dog means 00:09:02.899 --> 00:09:08.639 to take the dog out so the dog can do what dogs 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:14.399 have to do when they are outside. He said that 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:19.379 the dog needed to be taken out three to five 00:09:19.379 --> 00:09:26.100 times a day. To be taken out means to go with 00:09:26.100 --> 00:09:30.580 the dog outside. But that expression, to be taken 00:09:30.580 --> 00:09:34.500 out, can refer to anything that you are moving, 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:38.059 say, from the inside of the house to the outside 00:09:38.059 --> 00:09:42.399 of a house. It can also be used for people. When 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:46.259 are you going to take me out? My wife asked me 00:09:46.259 --> 00:09:50.029 yesterday. Means when are we going to dinner 00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:53.490 or to a movie? When are you going to take me 00:09:53.490 --> 00:10:00.009 somewhere else? but that's my problem I Said 00:10:00.009 --> 00:10:03.649 that taking the dog out three to five times a 00:10:03.649 --> 00:10:09.830 day was much too much work that expression much 00:10:09.830 --> 00:10:16.379 too much is Means it's it's way too much It's 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:21.840 a lot. It means the same as too much, but it 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:26.539 is even more dramatic, putting more emphasis 00:10:26.539 --> 00:10:31.320 on how much it is. Much too much work, much too 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:39.200 much money. In going through the store, I considered 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:43.600 the idea of buying a bird, but when I found out 00:10:43.769 --> 00:10:49.409 that the cages had to be cleaned, I nixed that 00:10:49.409 --> 00:10:54.950 idea. To nix, N -I -X, in the past tense is to, 00:10:55.110 --> 00:11:00.889 is nixed. I nixed that idea means I decided that 00:11:00.889 --> 00:11:05.309 that idea was not good. I rejected that idea. 00:11:06.929 --> 00:11:11.149 Instead, I found some aquariums full of fish. 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:17.100 We keep dogs in a kennel we keep fish in a big 00:11:17.100 --> 00:11:22.100 usually square tank of water which we call an 00:11:22.100 --> 00:11:29.139 aquarium a tank is a big container usually something 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:34.659 that you put liquid into a tank of water for 00:11:34.659 --> 00:11:41.179 example is a a Like a big box with water in it 00:11:42.990 --> 00:11:47.230 I said that after I gave the fish to my niece, 00:11:47.830 --> 00:11:53.529 she was very happy, and she named one after me. 00:11:54.269 --> 00:11:59.269 To name something after someone means to give 00:11:59.269 --> 00:12:03.730 it that person's name. So when a father, if the 00:12:03.730 --> 00:12:07.610 father's name is Patrick, and my father's name 00:12:07.610 --> 00:12:13.139 is Patrick, and he has a son, and he names that 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:18.960 son after himself, he calls or gives the son 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:23.259 the name of Patrick. To name something after 00:12:23.259 --> 00:12:28.039 someone is a common expression, means you give 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:34.179 that person that same name. My niece named her 00:12:34.179 --> 00:12:40.100 fish Jeff Fish, and after I said that, I said 00:12:40.429 --> 00:12:45.730 Get it? To get it means, of course, to understand 00:12:45.730 --> 00:12:50.990 it. I'm asking if you understood the joke. Jeff 00:12:50.990 --> 00:12:56.629 is my name. The fish is Jeff fish. When we tell 00:12:56.629 --> 00:13:02.750 a joke, usually a bad joke like that one, and 00:13:02.750 --> 00:13:08.450 the person doesn't laugh or the person doesn't 00:13:08.450 --> 00:13:13.379 think it's funny, We will sometimes say get it 00:13:13.379 --> 00:13:18.240 meaning didn't you understand it? That wasn't 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:22.139 the problem here of course My niece wanted to 00:13:22.139 --> 00:13:27.639 go some day to Disneyland and you probably know 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:31.320 Disneyland is here in Southern, California. It's 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:35.360 a Amusement park. It's a big park where people 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:40.940 go usually children to go on rides Rides are 00:13:40.940 --> 00:13:45.639 things like a ferris wheel or a merry -go -round 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:52.519 that children like to ride on I ended my discussion 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:57.460 of the pet store trip by saying that the work 00:13:57.460 --> 00:14:03.059 of an uncle is never done This is a old expression 00:14:03.059 --> 00:14:08.960 in English the work of a Aunt or an uncle or 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:13.860 a father is never done. It's meant to be something 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:18.940 of a joke Meaning I work very hard. I'm always 00:14:18.940 --> 00:14:23.419 working That's going to do it for today's English 00:14:23.419 --> 00:14:27.659 as a second language podcast Email us tell us 00:14:27.659 --> 00:14:30.539 who you are and where you are listening from 00:14:30.539 --> 00:14:42.649 our email address is ESL pod From Los Angeles, 00:14:42.649 --> 00:14:46.110 California, I'm Dr. Jeff McQuillen. We'll see 00:14:46.110 --> 00:14:48.950 you next time on ESL Podcast.