Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 305, Describing People's Body Types.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 305.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is called Describing People's Body Types, describing their physical characteristics, what their body is like.
Let's get started.
We need to get these costumes sorted out.
I'm not sure we have ones that will fit each person in this play.
Let's see.
We need a shirt for Hector.
He's broad-shouldered, so this one would be too small.
Any luck finding one over there?
No, but I think I found a dress for Leanne.
She's petite and thin, and I hadn't been able to find anything that would fit someone that slender.
All of the other dresses are for women with either pear-shaped or hourglass figures.
Okay, at least that's some progress.
What about Malcolm?
Unlike his brother, who is tall and skinny, he's big and fat.
How are we going to find one to fit him?
He's not fat.
He's stocky.
He is really muscular and not at all flabby.
Oh, here's a pair of pants that would fit Pierre.
These are perfect, since he's not long-legged like all of the other men.
We're actually doing pretty well, I think.
We just need a costume for you.
Me?
What do you mean?
I'm not in this play.
Oh yes, you are.
Ike dropped out, so they need a replacement, and you're the only one who isn't already in the play.
Oh no.
I thought I could avoid being in the play by volunteering to help with the costumes.
Sorry, but I don't think you can get out of it this time.
Our dialogue begins with Remy saying, we need to get these costumes sorted out.
A costume, C-O-S-T-U-M-E, is clothing that you wear to look like someone else.
For example, in a play, you might put on a costume for your character, the person you are portraying or the person you are playing in that production.
A costume could also be for Halloween, for example.
So Remy and Brian are talking about costumes, perhaps for a play.
And Remy says we need to get these costumes sorted out.
To sort out something or to sort something out is a two-word phrasal verb that refers to organizing and grouping, putting together objects by similar characteristics, by the type.
So I may have 20 pieces of paper on my desk.
Actually, I have about 100 pieces of paper on my desk.
I need to sort them out.
I need to put papers related to the podcast in one place, papers related to my household bills in another place, papers related to my vacation in a third place.
That's to sort something out.
Remy says, We have ones, costumes, that will fit or be the right size for each person in this play.
A play is a performance with live actors at a theater.
Play has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Brian says, let's see.
We need a shirt for Hector.
He's broad-shouldered, so this one would be too small.
To say a person is broad, B-R-O-A-D, hyphen shouldered, means they have very wide shoulders.
There's a large distance between their two shoulders.
American football players often are very broad-shouldered.
They have lots of muscles.
They're big on the top.
Brian then asks Remy, any luck finding one over there?
When you say to someone, any luck, meaning have you been able to?
Remy says no, but I think I found a dress for Leanne.
She's petite and thin, and I hadn't been able to find anything that would fit someone that slender.
These three words, petite, thin, and and slender s-l-e-n-d-e-r are similar to be petite means to be small usually short and thin thin is the opposite of fat i am fat my wife is thin Petite.
Sometimes we say someone who is petite has small bones.
To be thin means to be not fat, not overweight.
It's the same as slender.
Slender is just another word for thin.
Anyone can be slender or thin.
Petite usually describes a woman who is not only thin but also somewhat short and small.
The word petite comes from the French word meaning small, as do a lot of words in English coming from the French.
Remy says all of the other dresses are for women with either pear-shaped or hourglassed figures.
The word figure is used to describe the shape of your body.
If you say to someone, she has a nice figure, you mean she's attractive.
A woman.
Hourglass or pear-shaped figure is a way of describing a woman's body.
Two different kinds of shapes.
To be pear-shaped means to be in the shape of a pear, the fruit, which means you have a woman who's thin at top and a little wider at To be hourglass, to have an hourglass figure means that a woman has how shall I say it?
Large breasts, a small waist and large hips.
So an hourglass is something you use, people used to use many years ago to measure time.
And it is often made of glass.
And you put sand at the top.
And then there's a very small hole that goes into the part of the hourglass at the bottom.
So it's wide enough. thin, and wide.
An hourglass figure would be a woman who has that kind of shape, that kind of figure.
Brian says, okay, at least that's some progress, meaning we are doing better now.
What about Malcolm, he asks.
Unlike his brother...
Not like his brother, who is tall and skinny, he's big and fat.
Skinny, S-K-I-N-N-Y, is the same as thin, slender, not fat.
Skinny isn't a negative description, but it could be.
You could say someone is skinny as a compliment, as a nice thing, but some people, for example a man, might find that to be a negative description to be skinny.
Brian describes Malcolm as not skinny, someone who is big and fat.
Remy says he's not fat.
He's stocky.
S-T-O-C-K-Y.
Someone who is stocky is short but has a big body.
Not overweight, just large muscles and bones.
That would be someone who is stocky.
It's a neutral or positive description of someone, not a negative description.
To be fat is certainly considered negative, even though many Americans are fat.
Remy says that Malcolm is muscular and not at all flabby.
To be muscular means to have big, strong muscles, like me and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
To be flabby, F-L-A-B-B-Y, means to be fat, to have a lot of extra fat, to be overweight.
It's something of an older word, but we still use it.
Remy says, oh, here's a pair of pants that would fit Pierre.
These are perfect... since he's not long-legged like all of the other men.
To be long-legged means to have long legs, legs that are longer as a percentage of your total height.
So your legs are taller, or your legs are longer, rather, than what is considered normal.
Pierre is not long-legged, Remy says.
Brian then says, We're actually doing pretty well, I think.
Remy says, We need a costume for you, Brian.
Brian says, me?
What do you mean?
I'm not in this play.
I'm not part of this play.
Remy says, oh, yes, you are.
You are part of the play.
Ike, one of the other men, dropped out.
To drop out is a two-word verb meaning to decide not to do something.
We often use that word in talking about high school students that don't complete their education.
They drop out of school.
They leave school.
Well, one of the players, Ike, dropped out.
So they need a replacement player.
A replacement is a substitute.
It's a person who takes the place of someone or something else.
Brian says, oh no.
I thought I could avoid being in the play by volunteering to help with the costumes.
He doesn't want to be in the play.
That's why he's working with the costumes.
Remy says, sorry.
But I don't think you can get out of it this time.
To get out of something is an idiom, which means to have an excuse or a reason for not doing something.
To find a good reason why you don't have to do something.
Now let's listen to the dialogue this time at a normal speed.
We need to get these costumes sorted out.
I'm not sure we have ones that'll fit each person in this play.
Let's see.
We need a shirt for Hector.
He's broad-shouldered, so this one would be too small.
Any luck finding one over there?
No, but I think I found a dress for Leanne.
She's petite and thin, and I hadn't been able to find anything that would fit someone that slender.
All of the other dresses are for women with either pear-shaped or hourglass figures.
Okay, at least that's some progress.
What about Malcolm?
Unlike his brother, who is tall and skinny, he's big and fat.
How are we going to find one to fit him?
He's not fat.
He's stocky.
He is really muscular and not at all flabby.
Oh, here's a pair of pants that would fit Pierre.
These are perfect, since he's not long-legged like all of the other men.
We're actually doing pretty well, I think.
We just need a costume for you.
Me?
What do you mean?
I'm not in this play.
Oh, yes you are.
Ike dropped out, so they need a replacement, and you're the only one who isn't already in the play.
Oh, no.
I thought I could avoid being in the play by volunteering to help with the costumes.
Sorry, but I don't think you can get out of it this time.
The script for this podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on...
ESL podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2007.
