Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 450, Getting a Bad Reputation.
This is English as a Second Language podcast number 450.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
Go there to download a learning guide for this episode that contains information to help you improve your English even faster.
This episode is called Getting a Bad Reputation.
It's a dialogue between Lance and Paulina Talking about a woman and her reputation, or what other people think of her.
Let's get started.
Did you see Kim at the party last Saturday?
Yeah, I saw her.
Why?
Why?
She was wearing a skimpy dress, and all of the men were leering at her all night.
I used to think she was a nice girl.
Isn't she worried that she'll get a reputation?
For being, you know...
No, I don't know.
For being easy.
It doesn't take much for people to jump to the wrong conclusions when a woman is dressed like that.
So, based on one dress she wore to a party, you're ready to consider her promiscuous?
No, not just based on that.
The guys at the party were talking and one of them said he used to date her.
And he said Now you're listening to some sleazy guy at a party boasting about his conquest.
The question is, why are you so ready to give credibility to rumors like that?
Whoa, don't go ballistic on me.
I was only telling you what I heard.
I thought you might be interested.
Well, you thought wrong.
I used to think that women were catty, but you men are much, much worse.
Our dialogue begins with Lance saying to Paulina, Did you see Kim at the party last Saturday?
Paulina said, Yeah, I saw her.
Why?
Lance says she was wearing a skimpy dress.
Skimpy usually means that you are wearing clothing that does not cover very much of your body, letting other people see a lot of your skin.
This is often a term used to describe women's clothing that does not cover up a great deal of the body.
For example, you could say that a dress was skimpy or that an outfit, a set of clothing, was skimpy.
Usually, we use this word when the amount of clothing that the person is wearing isn't appropriate for the occasion.
So if you go to a formal dinner and you wear, for example, a bikini top...
If you're a man, that's a little strange.
If you're a woman, that would probably be considered a little skimpy.
Not enough clothing.
Lance says that Kim was wearing a skimpy dress and all of the men were leering at her.
To leer, L-E-E-R, means to look at someone in a sexual way.
It's a negative term to describe the way a man might look at a woman, for example.
It's not something that a woman would like.
She may say, stop leering at me, stop looking at me in a sexual way.
Lance said, I used to think she was a nice girl.
Here nice girl would refer to a young unmarried woman who does everything right, who doesn't date a lot of men.
Lance said, isn't she worried that she'll get a reputation?
Reputation is a general term to refer to how people think of you, what people think of you.
However, if someone says he has a reputation, usually they mean he or she has a bad reputation.
For a woman to have a reputation is to have people think that you are sexually active with many different men, for example, or that you are too sexual.
Paulina says a reputation for what?
Lance says for being, you know.
Paulina says, no, I don't know.
Lance doesn't want to say it directly.
Finally, he says Easy is a term used to describe a woman who has sex with other men, usually soon after she meets them, a woman who may have many sexual partners.
Once again, it's usually a negative or insulting term.
The word easy has several meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Lance says, It doesn't take much for people to jump to the wrong conclusions about The expression.
To jump to the wrong conclusions means to decide something quickly, without necessarily thinking it through, without looking at all of the evidence, to form a quick and often incorrect opinion about something.
Just looking at someone and how they are dressed and deciding what that person is like may be jumping to the wrong conclusion.
You are reasoning incorrectly.
Paulina says so based on, or because of, one dress she wore to a party.
You're ready to consider her Kim, promiscuous?
Promiscuous is similar to easy.
It's someone who has sexual relations with many different people.
Lance says, no, not just based on that.
That is, not just with that information or because of that information.
Lance says the guys at the party were talking and one of them said he used to date her and he said Paulina interrupts and says now you're listening to some sleazy guy at a party boasting about his conquest.
To describe someone as sleazy means that you are saying that person is immoral or unethical, someone who is not very nice.
It's a very negative way to describe someone.
Paulina says that Lance is listening to some sleazy guy at a party boasting about his conquest.
To boast B-O-A-S-T means to talk about something that you have done so that other people will be envious of you or will think highly of you.
To boast is normally not a good thing.
To go around and tell everyone how good you are, how great you are.
Another word for to boast is to brag, B-R-A-G.
So Paulina is saying that this person, this man, this sleazy guy, was boasting about his conquest.
To have a conquest means to win, to have some victory.
Here it refers to having a sexual relationship with another person.
If a man talks about his conquests, he may be talking about women that he has had sexual relations with.
Paulina says, the question is, Why are you so ready to give credibility to rumors like that?
Credibility means deserving to be trusted or to be believed in.
Believability.
If someone lies a lot, you could say that person doesn't have very much credibility when they speak.
No one believes them.
Rumors are information that people tell each other, usually about some secret.
And often these are things that are not true.
So Lance is giving credibility, believing, in rumors that he heard at this party.
Lance says, whoa, meaning wait a minute.
The expression to go ballistic B-A-L-L-I-S-T-I-C means to get very angry, to get very mad at someone, very quickly and perhaps unexpectedly.
The person wasn't expecting you to get so angry so quickly.
Lance says, Paulina says, That's a common expression when someone says, Well, I thought that...
Something, something.
That is, they are thinking something that the other person knows is wrong.
The other person may say, you thought wrong, meaning you are incorrect.
It's not a nice way to express your opinion, but it is a very direct way.
Paulina says, you thought wrong.
To be catty C-A-T-T-Y means to say that someone else is mean, or to say bad things about someone when they are not present, when they are not with you.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Did you see Kim at the party last Saturday?
Yeah, I saw her.
Why?
She was wearing a skimpy dress and all of the men were leering at her all night.
I used to think she was a nice girl.
Isn't she worried that she'll get a reputation?
A reputation for what?
For being, you know.
No, I don't know.
For being easy.
It doesn't take much for people to jump to the wrong conclusions when a woman is dressed like that.
So based on one dress she wore to a party, you're ready to consider her promiscuous?
No, not just based on that.
The guys at the party were talking and one of them said he used to date her.
And he said Now you're listening to some sleazy guy at a party boasting about his conquests.
The question is, why are you so ready to give credibility to rumors like that?
Whoa, don't go ballistic on me.
I was only telling you what I heard.
I thought you might be interested.
Well, you thought wrong.
I used to think that women were catty, but you men are much, much worse.
The script for this episode was written by someone with complete credibility, Dr. Lucy Saye.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks 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.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
