Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 278, Meeting the Future In-Laws.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 278.
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 a learning guide for this episode.
This episode is called meeting the future in-laws.
Your in-laws are the relatives of your wife or husband.
Let's get started.
I don't mind telling you that i'm really nervous about meeting your parents.
You look like you're about to face the firing squad.
It's not going to be that bad.
I wish I could believe that.
I'm going to try to make a good first impression, but I don't think they're going to like the fact that I'm a professional musician.
I've already told them about you, so there won't be any surprises.
How do you know I didn't?
You don't know everything about me.
Very funny.
Maybe we should postpone this visit with your parents for a little while.
No.
I'm just putting it out there.
We've put off this visit for months and my parents are really starting to wonder if you really exist.
Let's not blow this visit out of proportion.
They're only my parents.
I know, but it's not like our whole relationship is riding on this visit.
I'll still like you, no matter what.
And plus, my parents know that I have good taste in men.
At least I know that's true.
This dialogue between Atsushi and Scarlett is about the in-laws.
Your in-laws I-N hyphen L-A-W-S are the mother father, brothers and sisters of your spouse, of the person you are marrying, so your husband or your wife.
The term in-laws can be used for all of these relatives.
You can say my father-in-law or my mother-in-law, my brother-in-law, my sister-in-law.
All of those are possible.
In the dialogue, Etsushi begins by saying that I don't mind telling you that I'm really nervous about meeting your parents.
Atsushi and Scarlett are obviously going to be married.
And Atsushi begins with a common phrase to mean I want to tell you or I'm not embarrassed to tell you this
That's the meaning of the expression, I don't mind telling you.
Atsushi is nervous about meeting Scarlet's parents.
Nervous means anxious, worried, perhaps scared of something.
Scarlett says, you look like you're going to face the firing squad, S-Q-U-A-D.
To face F-A-C-E, the firing squad, means to be in a very difficult or dangerous situation.
Literally, the expression refers to a group of people with guns, usually working for the government perhaps, or the army, and they get together in a small group a squad is a small group and are supposed to kill one of the people, one of the people perhaps, who is a prisoner in a war.
There's a famous painting by the Spanish painter Goya about a firing squad, a group of men who have guns and they are going to all shoot their guns to kill this prisoner, this person.
That's what a firing squad is.
To face something means to go in front of something, or to confront something, to have to deal with something.
Scarlett says Atsushi looks like he's about to face the firing squad to be put in a very dangerous situation.
Scarlett says, it's not going to be that bad, meaning it's not going to be as bad as you think.
Atsushi says, I wish I could believe that.
I'm going to try to make a good first impression, but I don't think they your parents, are going to like the fact that I'm a professional musician.
Atsushi wants to make a good first impression.
The first impression is the way that you feel about, or what you think about someone the first time you meet them.
For additional explanations of that expression.
First impression take a look at the learning guide for today.
Atsushi is a musician, someone who plays or writes music professionally, meaning he gets paid for it.
That's what his job is.
If someone says, I'm a professional musician, They mean I get paid to be a musician.
You could be a professional dancer.
You could be a professional baseball player.
You could be a professional podcaster.
Scarlett says that she has already told her parents about Atsushi and that he is a musician.
So there won't be any surprises.
The parents already know that he's a musician.
Musicians sometimes have the reputation of being not very reliable musicians.
Someone that you don't want your daughter to marry.
That's kind of the joke about musicians, in part or partly because it is difficult to get work as a professional musician.
I have been trying to get work as a professional singer for many years and I have not been very successful.
I don't know why.
Atsushi says that it doesn't help that your last boyfriend was a straight-laced college student.
The adjective straight, S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T hyphen laced, L-A-C-E-D, means someone who is very traditional or conservative. someone who doesn't do anything very risky, someone who is very safe.
We would say they were straight-laced.
Scarlett's other boyfriend was a straight-laced or conservative college student.
Atsushi says, couldn't you have dated a convict before me?
A convict C-O-N-V-I-C-T is someone who has been arrested and put in prison.
A criminal someone who has done something against the law.
Atsushi is saying that Scarlett should have dated someone with a worse reputation than a musician, and then he would look good by comparison or in comparison to someone else.
In comparison or by comparison means compared to something else.
Scarlett says, Again, she's joking.
She means.
Atsushi says When you think someone is making a joke but you don't think it's funny, you say oh, very funny, meaning I don't think that's very funny.
It's a strange way of saying that, but that's the way we use that expression usually.
Atsushi says, maybe we should postpone this visit with your parents for a little while.
To postpone, P-O-S-T-P-O-N-E, means to delay, to decide to do something at a later time.
Scarlett says no.
Atsushi says, I'm just putting it out there.
The expression to put something out there means to present an idea for consideration by other people, to ask people to think about something.
It's a suggestion.
It's an idea that you would bring to someone and say, think about this.
Atsushi wants to postpone the visit to Scarlett's parents, and Scarlett says no.
Scarlett says, we've put off this visit for months.
To put off something or to put something off means to delay something.
It's the same as to postpone something.
She says my parents are starting to wonder if you really exist, meaning if you're real, if you are alive.
Let's not blow this visit out of proportion.
To blow something out of proportion means to make it more important or more dramatic than it really is.
To believe that it is more important than it really is.
Atsushi says I know, but they the parents of Scarlet, meaning the two of them could be getting married.
Scarlett says, To ride, R-I-D-E, on something means to depend on something.
That everything is depending on this thing.
Scarlett says, I'll still like you no matter what.
No matter what means regardless, without giving importance to anything else.
It doesn't matter, no matter what.
Scarlett ends by saying, My parents know that I have good taste in men.
To have good taste T-A-S-T-E in something means to be very good at identifying the good things from the bad things.
To be good at choosing something.
You could have good taste in shoes or good taste in cars.
You pick the best.
You know what's good.
Good taste in podcasts, for example, would mean listening to ESL podcasts, of course.
Now let's listen to the dialogue this time at a normal speed.
I don't mind telling you that I'm really nervous about meeting your parents.
You look like you're going to face the firing squad.
It's not going to be that bad.
I wish I could believe that.
I'm going to try to make a good first impression, but I don't think they're going to like the fact that I'm a professional musician.
I've already told them about you, so there won't be any surprises.
It doesn't help that your last boyfriend was a straight-laced college student.
Couldn't you have dated a convict before me?
I'd look pretty good to your parents in comparison.
How do you know I didn't?
You don't know everything about me.
Very funny.
Maybe we should postpone this visit with your parents for a little while.
No.
I'm just putting it out there.
We've put off this visit for months and my parents are really starting to wonder if you really exist.
Let's not blow this visit out of proportion.
They're only my parents.
I know, but they may also be my in-laws soon.
I know, but it's not like our whole relationship is riding on this visit.
I'll still like you no matter what.
And plus, my parents know I have good taste in men.
At least I know that's true.
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 Podcast.
