Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 475, Hiring a Hitman.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 475.
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This episode is called Hiring a Hitman.
It's sort of a funny dialogue about a woman who wants to get rid of someone.
Let's get started.
Are you Shirley?
Yeah.
Thanks for agreeing to meet me here.
I'm told you're the best sniper in the business and you can be discreet.
I need a hitman who can do a job, then make himself scarce.
I'm your man.
Tell me about it.
There's someone who's been a thorn in my side keeping me up at night, and it's time to take him out.
Taking care of problems is my specialty.
I'll need a down payment now and the balance when I finish him off.
We shouldn't meet again, so I'll tell you later where to make a drop.
All right.
Good.
How will I be able to spot the target?
Here's a picture.
He's usually in the yard in the afternoons.
You want me to kill a dog?
Right.
He's my neighbor's dog and he keeps me up every night.
Is that a problem?
You bet it is.
Are you kidding me?
You won't take the job?
Nope, I won't.
If you want to pay good money to take out a dog, then that's your prerogative.
But I have my standards.
Our dialogue begins with Gus saying to Shirley, Are you Shirley?
They haven't met before.
They're meeting for the first time.
Shirley says, Yeah, thanks for agreeing to meet me here.
I'm told you're the best sniper in the business and you can be discreet.
A sniper.
S-N-I-P-E-R is someone who is very good at using a gun and can shoot people from a far away distance very accurately.
So it's a gunman, someone with a gun, or a gunwoman, who is very accurate.
The army and the police might have a sniper.
Shirley says to Gus, I heard that or I'm told that you can be discreet.
Discreet means to be able to keep a secret very quietly, not tell anyone this information, not make yourself noticeable.
Someone who is discreet keeps things to themselves, keeps things secret.
Shirley says, I need a hitman who can do a job and then make himself scarce.
A hitman is a person who is paid for killing other people illegally, of course.
They are hired by people to kill other people.
That is a hitman.
Shirley says I need a hitman who can do a job, meaning who can get this particular killing done and then make himself scarce.
To make yourself scarce is a phrasal verb meaning to disappear quickly, to be difficult to find, to leave a place.
That is making yourself scarce.
If somebody says make yourself scarce, they mean get out of here, leave.
Gus says I'm your man, a phrase we use to show that you can do what the other person wants you to do someone who is going to hire you.
For example, if someone says I'm looking for someone who is good with cars and you're a mechanic, you're a person who fixes cars you might say I'm your man, you should hire me.
Shirley says there's someone who's been a thorn in my side keeping me up at night and it's time to take him out.
A thorn in your side is something that is very annoying, very unpleasant, something that is painful and won't go away.
Usually, we use this expression to talk about a person who bothers you or a situation that causes you pain or annoys you somehow.
A thorn, T-H-O-R-N, is something that you would find in a plant or a flower like a rose.
It's like a needle or a small stick that when you touch it, it hurts.
So a thorn in your side is something that hurts you.
Shirley says that this person, this someone has been keeping her up at night, meaning not allowing her to sleep.
And she says it's time to take him out.
To take someone out is an informal expression meaning to kill someone, to murder someone.
Well, this all sounds very serious.
Gus says Your specialty is something that you do very well, something you're very good at, something that you have made your profession, your job, your expertise.
Well, Gus says that taking care of problems is his specialty, in this case getting rid of people.
He says, I'll need a down payment now and the balance when I finish him off.
A down payment, two words, is money that you pay before some service is finished.
Usually it's a certain percentage of the total cost.
So if you're going to get your house painted and it's going to cost you 4000, the painter might tell you I need a down payment of.
25%.
You need to pay me $1,000 before I start.
This is a down payment.
Gus wants a down payment and the balance when he finishes him off.
The balance is here the rest of the money that you have to pay someone.
So in the case of the painter, it would be the other $3,000.
The expression to finish someone off says, also means to kill someone.
It's the same as taking someone out.
To finish off means here just to kill someone.
Gus says we shouldn't meet again, so I'll tell you later where to make a drop.
To make a drop means to put money or something else very valuable in a secret location so that someone else can come and get it later.
This is something you will see in the movies.
For example, if there's a spy, someone who is collecting information about another country.
The person might have someone in that country that is helping them, that is giving them information.
That person inside the country may put the documents or the other information in a place, say in a park, and then leave.
And then the spy comes and picks up that information.
It can be used to talk about money.
It can be used to talk about information or something else.
Shirley says alright, meaning okay.
Gus says good.
How will I be able to spot the target?
To spot something means to see and identify, to find something.
If there's a big crowd of people, lots of people, and you're looking for one person, you might say to your friend I can't spot her.
And then when you see her, you say, oh, I've spotted her now.
So it means to look, to see, and identify.
Say, oh yeah, that's the one.
The target is someone or something that you are looking for.
We often use that word when we are going to attack that thing.
We are going to shoot that thing.
That can also be a target.
Target has a couple of different meanings in English, so take a look at the learning guide for some more explanation on that.
Gus says, how will I be able to spot the target?
Shirley says, here's a picture.
He's usually in the yard in the afternoons.
The yard here refers to the back or the front of the house where there is grass.
We talk about the front yard and the backyard.
The front yard is the space in front of your house that is part of your property, and the backyard is the space behind it.
Gus says, you want me to kill a dog?
Shirley has given him a picture of the target, and the target is a dog that she wants to have killed.
Shirley says, right.
He's my neighbor's dog, and he keeps me up every night.
Is that a problem?
Meaning, are you okay with that?
Does that mean you don't want to kill him for me?
Gus says, you bet it is, meaning yes, it is a problem.
Who do you think I am?
Meaning what kind of person do you think I am?
People are disposable, but dogs, they're a man's best friend.
Something that is disposable is something that you can throw it away, and Usually we use this word to talk about a thing, something you use once and then you throw it away or something that is very inexpensive and cheap.
He says that people are disposable, meaning, well, it's okay to get rid of people, but not dogs.
He says they're man's best friend, which is an old expression.
A dog is a man's best friend.
Shirley says, are you kidding me?
Are you joking?
You won't take the job.
You won't do it.
Gus says, nope, which is an informal way of saying no.
I won't.
He says, if you want to pay good money to take out a dog, then that's your prerogative.
But I have my standards.
To pay good money here means to spend a lot of money for a specific thing, especially when someone doesn't think it's a good idea.
You may say, I don't know why he pays good money to buy that old car.
You're saying he's paying too much money, or a lot of money, for something that he shouldn't be paying for.
Gus says, if you want to pay good money to take out, to kill a dog, then that's your prerogative.
Your prerogative is your choice, your decision.
It's often used when someone is not in agreement with you.
They say, well, that's your prerogative.
That usually means I don't agree with your choice, but that's your choice.
You can do that if you want.
Gus says that he has his standards.
Here.
Standards means rules that you follow, that tell you what is right and wrong, what is good and bad.
They are principles or rules that you believe in and you try to follow in your life.
Standard has a couple of different meanings in English however, so once again, take a look at that learning guide for some more explanations.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Are you Shirley?
Yeah.
Thanks for agreeing to meet me here.
I'm told you're the best sniper in the business, and you can be discreet.
I need a hitman who can do a job, then make himself scarce.
I'm your man.
Tell me about it.
There's someone who's been a thorn in my side keeping me up at night, and it's time to take him out.
Taking care of problems is my specialty.
I'll need a down payment now and the balance when I finish him off.
We shouldn't meet again, so I'll tell you later where to make a drop.
All right.
Good.
How will I be able to spot the target?
Here's a picture.
He's usually in the yard in the afternoons.
You want me to kill a dog?
Right.
He's my neighbor's dog, and he keeps me up every night.
Is that a problem?
You bet it is.
Who do you think I am?
People are disposable, but dogs?
They're a man's best friend.
Are you kidding me?
You won't take the job?
Nope, I won't.
If you want to pay good money to take out a dog, then that's your prerogative, but I have my standards.
The script for this episode was written by someone whose specialty it is to write good scripts, 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.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
