Procrastination

Dialogue

We listen to Andrews story about not doing anything.

Key vocabulary and phrases that are discussed in the podcast:

I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular

Nothing specific. Hard to say exactly what you were thinking or doing.

I’m not going anywhere in particular.

What restaurant were you thinking of going to tonight?

Nowhere in particular

I was in a daze

Thinking about something, maybe not moving your eyes much. Just staring at the wall and thinking

Walking aimlessly around the house

No direction. Just walking around with no idea of what to do.

I’d had it.

I was sick of it. I had enough, I couldn’t take it anymore. I needed something to change.

Source:china232.com

Dare

Dialogue

Key vocabulary and phrases that are discussed in the podcast:

Decent looking guy – Good looking or handsome guy, often guys describe other guys in this way. They don’t want to sound gay.

Gazing – Staring for a long time

Hot girls – Great looking or incredibly sexy girls. We often say hot to describe girls. Girls also use hot to describe great looking guys.

Dare – A challenge that you give to someone. It’s a kind of challenge that they normally would be scared or embarrassed to do. It’s a fun kind of thing between friends.

This can also be used as a characteristic to describe someone. We can call someone “daring”. That means the person is willing to take chances, bold or courageous.

Wimp – Weak man. Scared, babyish, not strong.

Backfires – If a plan backfires it means that it did not turn out the way you hoped that it would. It went the opposite of how you hoped it would go.

What’s the worst that could happen? –This is a question to ask yourself or someone else if they are considering not doing something. The idea is that if the worst thing that can happen isn’t really that bad, then you should do it.

Win-win situation – A situation where no matter what the result is, there is something still good about it. Here, if the girls like Tony, he wins. If they don’t like him, he will get free drinks for the rest of the night, so he wins again.

Source:china232.com

Dare 2

Dialogue

We hear the sequel to the dare

Key vocabulary and phrases that are discussed in the podcast:

Buzz

The good feeling after drinking alcohol. Not too drunk but feeling the effects.

Backing down

Not accepting the challenge. Back down from a fight, back down from a dare.

Chugged

Drink quickly. Drink the beer all at one time without putting the glass down.

Stumbled

Walked like a drunk person. Almost falling down walking.

Audacity

After doing something rude, like taking the wing, he didn’t apologize and just did something rude again. No shame.

That man stole $1000 from the girl and had the audacity to ask if she would be his girlfriend.

Pull up a chair

Sit down with us, or join us at the table.

Work wonders

Do a lot of good for something.

That investment will work wonders for your bank account.

If you find a beautiful girl who likes you it will work wonders for your confidence.

Self-esteem

Confidence or belief in yourself.

If you have a high self-esteem then you think you are a capable person and like yourself.

If you have a low self-esteem you get discouraged easily and don’t have a lot of self-confidence.

Source:china232.com

Frustration

Story

Key vocabulary and phrases that are discussed in the podcast:

Frustrating – you try hard at something and you feel that all your time and energy are wasted. Ex. working for 4 hours writing something on the computer and you forget to save it. Another example is Inviting your friends to a great restaurant and when you get there it is closed.

Accomplishing – getting something useful done. Mom used to always ask “what have you accomplished today?”

next to nothing – almost nothing or very little.  I accomplished next to nothing today.

totally worthless – means to have no value.  Jeff is somehow able to convince his boss that he isn’t totally worthless. This is funny here because if you are working for someone, you should try and show your boss that you have a lot of value and skills, not just better than being totally worthless.

Apparently – obvious, evident or easy to have seen.  Here Jeff had apparently taken the proposal off my desk and shown it to the boss.  We didn’t seen him take the proposal but we think it is obvious that he did.

Took credit –  say or show that you did something(even if you didn’t do it).  Here Jeff took credit for my work. He said he did the proposal even though he didn’t.

Pissed off – angry at someone or something.

Source:china232.com

Misunderstanding

Story

Key vocabulary and phrases that are discussed in the podcast:

Pig/slob – very dirty or messy person

getting really tired of this –  the feeling of being annoyed or bothered by something.  In this story the roommate was getting annoyed because Tony is a slob.

to bring this up – to talk to someone about something.  Here, the roommate wanted to “bring up” the idea that he didn’t like the place to be messy to Tony.

neat freak – someone who really needs things to be neat and organized at all times

getting out of control – was a problem here that was getting larger and larger. Here, the problem was of Tony’s habit of not cleaning anything.

come clean – telling someone the truth and what you are thinking.  In this story, the roommate “comes clean” with Tony about his feelings towards Tony’s cleaning habits.

be annoying or anything –  this phrase here meant that the roommate didn’t want to annoy Tony or make him feel uncomfortable or bother him.

Source:china232.com

Down Low

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ESL Conversation

I’ve gotta hand it to you:  This phrase means that you really want to give someone credit or congratulate them about being right about something.

I’ve gotta hand it to you! Amanda is amazing just like you said she would be.

Really something:  This just means incredible or amazing. It can also be used as a joke to imply “bad”.  It depends on the context and the tone of voice used to say it.

Your new girlfriend is really something!

I hate to say I told you so but:  This is a phrase you use when someone first disagrees with you about something, but they get proven wrong later.

I hate to say I told you so but you obviously had too much to drink last night.  You should take my advice more often.

Your cup of tea:  This phrase means what you like or would be interested in.  Something can also not be your cup of tea, meaning you wouldn’t like or be interested in it.

I had an ok time at the party but it wasn’t really my cup of tea.

Rumor: an unconfirmed story or gossip.

Rumor has it that someone is going to be fired today.

What possessed you to:  This means, “Why did you do something”.  It is always used in a negative way though and means that you have no idea why someone did something.  It also means you thought it was a bad idea.

What possessed you to call me at 3.a.m. this morning?

I wanted to keep it on the D.L: The D.L. stands for “down low”.  If you want to keep something on the D.L. it means that you don’t want any or many people to know about it.

“Let’s keep this business idea on the D.L.! It would suck if anyone stole this idea.”

Zoo:  If a place is a zoo it means that it is overcrowded

The shopping mall was a zoo.  It took me 2 hours just to get my car out of the parking garage.

You’ve got issues:  This just means that you have some weird and unhealthy thoughts or behaviors.  You could “have issues” about someone or about something.  You could also just “have issues” in general.

If someone hasn’t been out of the house for a week you might tell them, “you have issues”.

Another example is, “You really have issues with your father.  You should forgive him.  He’s not a bad guy.”

Source:China232.com

Job

ESL Conversation

Barking up the wrong tree:  If you are “barking up the wrong tree” it means you are using effort in the wrong place.

For example you could say, “Stop calling him.  He’s married.  You’re barking up the wrong tree.  He won’t leave his wife no matter how hard you try”.

Blew your chances: If you “blow your chances” it means that you ruined your chance.  You once had a chance but now you don’t because you made some mistake.

I think you blew your chances with her.  She seemed to like you at first but you called her too often.  I don’t think she’s interested anymore.

We’re good now:  This is a slang phrase.  It means that two people have gotten over some disagreement or problem and don’t have any problems anymore.

We used to fight a lot but we’re good now.

It’s all water under the bridge:  If something is water under the bridge it means it is a problem in the past and is no longer a problem now.

Oh, don’t worry about that.  That happened years ago.  It’s all water under the bridge.

Where was I?: If you are in the middle of a conversation and forget what you were talking about you can ask, “where was I?”

If you are talking to your friend, then you answer the phone to talk to someone else, you may want to go back to the same spot in the conversation you were at before you got interupted by the phone.  You can ask your friend, “so where were we?”
I lost my train of thought: If you started to talk about something and then in the middle of it you forget what your point was you could say, “I lost my train of thought”.  It means that you already forgot the ending of the story you started to tell.

Source:China232.com

China232 Story

ESL Conversation

Take our heads out of the sand: If your “head is in the sand” it means you aren’t facing reality.  It means you don’t want to see the truth because the truth is painful.

On the fence: If you are “on the fence” it means you haven’t made a decision yet.

She is still on the fence about whether or not to go to graduate school in the fall.

Business models: A business model is the way that a company earns money.

Google’s “business model” is to provide a free service and make their money from advertising.
Our new business model at China232 is to charge annual subscription fee.

Part of me: If you say “part of me” wants to to something.  It means that in some ways you want to do it, in some ways you don’t want to.  It means you can see the pro’s and con’s of making that decision.

Cough up: “cough up” is a slang term that means to “spend money”.

I coughed up 200 bucks for these tickets, and my girlfriend decided not to go at the last minute.

Put it that way: This phrase means to explain something in a certain way.

Sick: This slang phrase really depends on the context.  It often means really really good.

Kobe Bryant was sick in the 4th quarter of last night’s basketball game.

Presentation

ESL Conversation

You look like you saw a ghost: You use this expression to tell someone that they look really scared about something.  If they look white, scared, and their eyes aren’t moving much you can say, “you look like you saw a ghost”.

What’s up with that: This slang question is really asking, “What is the reason for that?”.  It is often rhetorical, meaning you don’t expect it to be answered.

An example is, “Trevor was acting really weird yesterday.  What was up with that?”

Execs: This is a short form for “executives” which are high level people in a company.

You know your stuff:  This slang phrase can be used to tell someone that they know something really well.

Don’t be nervous about tomorrow’s math test.  You know your stuff.

Stagefright: Stagefright is when a person is really afraid to be in front of an audience.

Freeze up: “Freezing up” is the feeling that you can’t move or talk because you are so nervous or scared about something.

He’s good at the piano but he freezes up when he plays in front of anyone.

Think on my feet: If you have to “think on your feet” it means that you have no time to prepare something.

Even if you prepare well for a job interview, you may still have to think on your feet if the interviewer asks you something you weren’t at all expecting.

Don’t psych yourself out: If you “psych yourself out” it means that you convince yourself that you can’t do something.  It’s a really negative thing to do.  “Psyching yourself out” is when you come up with all kinds of strange reasons and excuses about why something will fail.  Many people don’t try something new because they psych themselves out.

Picture: “picturing” something means to imagine something in a certain way.

Last resort: If you do something as a “last resort” it means that you will only do it after you’ve tried all other options first.

Some presidents say they will only go to war as a last resort.