Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 266, Making a Move on Someone.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 266.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Remember to visit our website at eslpodcom and download the learning guide for this episode.
Our episode number 266 is called Making a Move on Someone.
It's a conversation between AJ and Gloria about a man who AJ thinks is romantically interested in Gloria.
Sounds interesting.
Let's get started.
What was going on with you and Tiago in his office earlier today?
You two were pretty cozy in there.
What?
Oh, I was a little upset about messing up my presentation in the morning meeting and Tiago was trying to reassure me about it.
It looked like he was doing more than comforting you.
He was sitting really close to you, and he had his hand on your shoulder.
If you ask me, he was making a move on you.
Don't be ridiculous.
Tiago and I are just friends.
Would you notice if he was?
Remember Paul?
He hit on you for two weeks before you noticed.
That was completely different.
He wasn't hitting on me.
He was bothering me.
And I actually had to file a sexual harassment complaint against him before he'd stop.
You're comparing apples and oranges.
I'm just saying that you're not the most observant person when it comes to these kinds of things.
Mark my words.
Tiago is interested in you.
If he is, I'm flattered.
He's a very attractive guy.
That's what all the women say.
Some guys have all the luck.
To add insult to injury, he doesn't even know that women find him attractive.
Even the other men in the office think he's a nice guy.
Tell me the truth.
Do you really think he's interested in me?
Thank you.
Thank you. to talk to them, perhaps to invite them to dinner or for a coffee.
That would be, or could be, making a move on someone.
You are showing the person that you are interested in them romantically.
AJ begins the conversation by saying, what was going on with you and Tiago?
The expression, what's going on with, means what is happening, what is taking place between you two.
You two, he says, were pretty cozy in the office, in his office.
To be cozy, C-O-Z-Y, means to be very comfortable and often very close to someone else.
If you say he's cozy with her, you mean he is physically close to her.
Cozy can also be a general adjective to mean comfortable, very comfortable.
I am cozy sitting in my living room watching television.
Gloria is surprised by AJ's comments.
She says, what?
Oh, I was a little upset earlier.
To be upset, U-P-S-E-T, means to be unhappy, to be sad, maybe even a little angry or mad.
That is to be upset.
Gloria was upset because she messed up her presentation.
To mess up means to make a mistake.
It's one of those two-word verbs. to make a mistake, to mess up.
To do something wrong or to do something incorrectly is to mess up.
Usually it's a small mistake But it could be something more serious.
The word mess, M-E-S-S, as a noun, usually means something that is not clean and in good order.
Something that is disorganized would be a mess.
My desk, for example, is always a mess at work.
But to mess up means to make a mistake.
Gloria says Tiago was trying to reassure her about her presentation.
To reassure her.
R-E-A-S-S-U-R-E means to make someone feel better about something.
To help someone feel less worried or less scared about something is to reassure someone.
You could say, I was very worried about...
AJ says that it looked to him...
To AJ, like Tiago, was doing more than comforting Gloria.
To comfort, C-O-M-F-O-R-T, means to try to make someone feel better. when they're sad or when they are worried.
I'm going to comfort someone.
We also use that word.
For example, if someone dies and you talk to one of the friends or family members, you may try to comfort them, make them feel better, because they are sad that something bad has happened.
AJ says that Tiago was sitting really close to Gloria and his hand was on her shoulder.
He says, if you ask me, he was making a move on you.
If you ask me is a common expression to mean I'm going to give you my opinion.
Even though you didn't ask me, sometimes, if you ask me means in my opinion.
AJ says that Tiago was making a move, showing his romantic interest in Gloria.
There are other meanings of this expression, to make a move on.
You can look at our learning guide for this episode for additional explanations.
Gloria tells AJ, don't be ridiculous.
To be ridiculous, R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S, means to be absurd, to be silly, to be unreasonable.
When you say something or do something that makes you seem weird or silly or difficult to believe.
Gloria is telling AJ don't be ridiculous.
In other words, you are completely wrong.
Tiago and I, she says, are just friends.
Ah, yes, just friends.
AJ says, would you notice if he was, meaning, would you notice if he was making a move on you?
To notice, N-O-T-I-C-E, means to pay attention to something, to hear or to see something and become aware of it.
AJ is telling Gloria that she would not notice, she would not realize that Tiago was making a move on her.
He says, remember, Paul, he hit on you for two weeks before you noticed.
To hit on someone means to say something that would express your romantic interest.
It's very similar to make a move on someone.
To hit on someone is to show them that you are interested in them romantically.
This is an interesting verb because the verb to hit means means to punch someone or slap someone.
To hit on means to show you are romantically interested.
Just the opposite.
Although, if you hit on a woman who's not interested in you, you might get hit.
So be careful.
And I had to file a sexual harassment complaint against him before he'd stop.
Sexual harassment complaint.
H-A-R-A-S-S-M-E-N-T means when you do something or say something, usually at work, that is considered inappropriate.
Something usually related to having a romantic or sexual interest in another person.
But you do something that is against the rules.
You say something or do something that makes the person feel uncomfortable.
Many companies and the government have rules and regulations about how people behave at a workplace, talk to each other and behave toward each other.
This is something that is fairly new in the last 25 years or so.
So Gloria is saying that Paul was sexually harassing her, causing her problems.
She says you're comparing apples to oranges.
The expression to compare apples and oranges or apples to oranges means you are trying to compare two completely different things, things that are very different.
Even though they are different, you are trying to say that they are the same.
AJ says, I'm just saying that you're not the most observant person.
To be observant means to be aware of what is happening around you, to be paying attention.
Someone who is observant notices things around them.
A.J. is saying that Gloria is not a very observant person.
Mark my words, he says.
The expression mark is M-A-R-K.
My words means listen carefully to what I'm saying and remember this.
Usually it is something you say before making a prediction or saying something that will become true in the future.
Mark my words.
So AJ says, mark my words, Tiago is interested in you.
Gloria says, if he is, if he is interested, I'm flattered.
To be flattered, F-L-A-T-T-E-R-E-D, means to be happy now. or pleased to know that another person thinks you are good, or pretty, or smart, or talented.
Someone says, oh, you are a very beautiful woman.
And you say, oh, I'm flattered.
Somebody said that to me once.
I wasn't flattered.
AJ says, that's what all women say.
Some guys have all the luck.
The expression, to have all the luck, means to be very lucky, to be very fortunate.
To add insult to injury, Tiago doesn't even know that women find him attractive.
AJ is saying, to add insult to injury I-N-J-U-R-Y, which means that you are describing a bad situation that is even worse or becoming worse, bad or negative.
That happens after something else.
Bad and negative happens.
For example, I lend a friend of mine ten dollars.
And the next day, I see him and I say, John, do you have my $10 I lent you yesterday?
He has to give me the money back.
He doesn't give me my money back.
To add insult to injury, he says that I never gave him the $10.
So there's a bad thing he doesn't give me back my money, followed by an even worse thing he doesn't admit that I gave him the money.
So AJ is saying that not only is Tiago an attractive guy, he doesn't even know that other women find him attractive.
Gloria says at the end, what can I say?
Tell me the truth.
Do you really think he's interested in me?
The expression what can I say is one that we use sometimes to show that you have no control over a situation.
You are helpless sometimes.
In this case, Gloria says, what can I say?
Meaning, she has nothing to do with, she is not responsible for Tiago being interested in her.
But it's also something of a joke sometimes.
What can I say?
Everyone loves me.
Means, I can't help it.
I'm so great that everyone loves me.
That would be a funny use of that expression.
Gloria, of course, now is wondering if Tiago is interested in her, and so she is asking AJ.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
What was going on with you and Tiago in his office earlier today?
You two were pretty cozy in there.
What?
Oh, I was a little upset about messing up my presentation in the morning meeting and Tiago was trying to reassure me about it.
It looked like he was doing more than comforting you.
He was sitting really close to you and he had his hand on your shoulder.
If you ask me, he was making a move on you.
Don't be ridiculous.
Tiago and I are just friends.
Would you notice if he was?
Remember Paul?
He hit on you for two weeks before you noticed.
That was completely different.
He wasn't hitting on me.
He was bothering me.
And I actually had to file a sexual harassment complaint against him before he'd stop.
You're comparing apples and oranges.
I'm just saying that you're not the most observant person when it comes to these kinds of things.
Mark my words, Tiago is interested in you.
If he is, I'm flattered.
He's a very attractive guy.
That's what all the women say.
Some guys have all the luck.
To add insult to injury, he doesn't even know that women find him attractive.
Even the other men in the office think he's a nice guy.
What can I say?
Tell me the truth.
Do you really think he's interested in me?
The script for today's podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2007.
