Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 473, Showing Respect and Disrespect.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 473.
© transcript Emily Beynon an 8-10 page guide that will help you improve your English even faster.
This episode is called Showing Respect and Disrespect.
It's a dialogue between Kadir and Melissa about not being respectful, not being nice, not giving someone the proper respect and the vocabulary related to that.
Let's get started.
Stop that.
Stop snickering.
Gabriel Voltaire is an author of great acclaim.
You should show a little reverence.
Yes, but he seems to have a bad case of stage fright.
I know it's an honor to hear him speak, but it's hard to show reverence when the man is sweating like a pig.
He's not sweating like a pig.
He's just talking passionately about his writing.
I, for one, appreciate his level of dedication to his work.
I admire his work too, but he's making a fool of himself.
Really, who can pay attention to what he's saying when he's stuttering like that?
Unlike you, I can listen to the genius of his words without worrying about a little stuttering.
The man is making a spectacle of himself.
I think he needs to stick to writing and give up public speaking.
Shh, that's enough.
I won't hear another word said against him.
Whatever you say, I'll leave you to your hero worship.
For me, enough is enough.
Kadir begins our dialogue by saying, stop that.
Stop that means stop doing what you are doing.
Stop snickering, he says.
To snicker S-N-I-C-K-E-R means to laugh quietly, but in a mean way, when you're making fun of someone else.
We sometimes use this verb for children who are laughing at other children, being mean to them.
Gabriel Voltaire is an author of great acclaim, Kadir says.
They're listening to a speech by Gabriel Voltaire.
He's an author, a writer, of great acclaim.
Great acclaim means very famous for doing something well, someone who people have praised.
He says you should show a little reverence.
Reverence is another word for respect.
It's usually something we use when talking about God, showing reverence to God.
But it can also be used to mean to show serious respect to someone who is very important or very famous and deserves our respect.
Melissa says yes, but he seems to have a bad case of stage fright.
He seems to be afraid of giving a speech.
Melissa says, To say something is an honor means that it is something you should be thankful for, something that you should be proud of, usually because you have done something good or admirable.
In this case, it's an honor to hear him speak means that Melissa should be grateful, should be thankful for this rare opportunity.
She says it's hard to show reverence when the man, Gabriel, is sweating like a pig.
To sweat means to have water that is coming out of your skin because you're hot or, In the case of Gabriel giving his speech, he's very nervous.
So he's sweating like a pig.
The idea is that pigs sweat a lot.
They may or may not, but that's the expression.
To sweat like a pig means to sweat a lot.
Qadir says he is not sweating like a pig.
He's just talking passionately about his writing.
To speak passionately about something is to speak with a lot of emotion, often a lot of love for what you are talking about.
Qadir says that Gabriel is just talking passionately about his writing.
The expression I, for one, is a somewhat formal phrase we use when we are about to give our opinion, especially in situations where other people might not agree with us.
Kadir says Dedication here means his commitment, his hard work, his effort in his writing, in doing his work.
The word dedication has several different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Melissa says To admire means to respect.
To think something is good, to think something is impressive.
You could admire a beautiful painting.
You could admire the work that your colleague, your co-worker does.
Anything that is admired deserves great respect because it's so good, because it is perhaps so excellent.
Melissa says, I admire his work, meaning Gabriel's writing. but he's making a fool of himself.
To make a fool of yourself means to do something that other people may laugh at you for, and you don't want them to laugh at you.
To make a fool of yourself means to look silly, to look foolish in front of other people.
Melissa says, really, who can pay attention to what he's saying when he's stuttering like that?
To stutter means to not speak properly, to repeat sounds.
That is stuttering.
Someone who goes, uh, uh, uh, uh, I, that would be to stutter.
Kadir says unlike you, I can listen to the genius of his words without worrying about a little stuttering.
Genius means very smart, very intelligent.
Qadir says he can listen to the genius of his words, meaning the intelligent things that are in his writing or in his speaking.
Melissa says the man is making a spectacle of himself.
To make a spectacle of yourself means to do something that would make other people look at you and think that you are stupid or foolish.
They may even be laughing at you.
It's similar to making a fool of yourself.
Melissa says, I should stick to podcasting.
That's what I should continue doing, because perhaps I'm not very good at other things, which is true.
I'm not very good at most things.
Melissa wants Gabriel to stick to writing, meaning he should continue to write, but not public speaking, not giving speeches to people.
Kadir says, shh, be quiet.
Melissa says, Meaning, I'm not going to argue with you.
I'll leave you to your hero worship, she says.
Hero worship is the practice of admiring someone very much, maybe too much.
You think of this person as being so great that you might lose perspective.
You might not see the truth.
Melissa says for me, enough is enough.
The expression enough is enough is an informal one used to show that you have had enough of something.
You no longer want to be part of this situation.
For her, it means she doesn't want to listen to Gabriel's speech anymore.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Stop that.
Stop snickering.
Gabriel Voltaire is an author of great acclaim.
You should show a little reverence.
Yes, but he seems to have a bad case of stage fright.
I know it's an honor to hear him speak, but it's hard to show reverence when the man is sweating like a pig.
He's not sweating like a pig.
He's just talking passionately about his writing.
I for one appreciate his level of dedication to his work.
I admire his work too, but he's making a fool of himself.
Really, who can pay attention to what he's saying when he's stuttering like that?
Unlike you, I can listen to the genius of his words without worrying about a little stuttering.
The man is making a spectacle of himself.
I think he needs to stick to writing and give up public speaking.
Shh, that's enough.
I won't hear another word said against him.
Whatever you say, I'll leave you to your hero worship.
For me, enough is enough.
It's always an honor to listen to one of the scripts 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 Podcasts.
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.
