Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 478, Having Plumbing Problems.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 478.
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.
The learning guide will help you improve your English even faster.
This episode is called Having Plumbing Problems.
It's a dialogue between Mickey and Colleen and uses a lot of vocabulary that you would associate with plumbing.
Let's get started.
Hello, McQuillan Plumbing.
Hi, I'm having a lot of plumbing problems.
Can you send a plumber out to my house right away?
Yes, we can.
But first, let's find out what the problems are.
Well, to start, my toilet won't flush, and it's overflowing.
An overflowing toilet.
Check.
What else?
The sink in the bathroom is stopped up, and the pipes underneath the sink are leaking.
A stopped-up sink and leaking pipes.
Check.
What else?
The garbage disposal in the kitchen is making funny noises and the water won't drain.
A busted garbage disposal.
Check.
Is that all?
No, the faucet in the shower is stuck, and I can't shut off the water.
A stuck faucet.
Got it.
What else?
That's it.
You've got some really big problems there.
Yes, I know.
That's what I've been trying to tell you.
Can you send someone out right away?
Sure, no problem.
How about next Tuesday?
Next Tuesday?
Didn't you hear me?
These are emergencies.
Yes, but all of our plumbers are booked up until next Tuesday.
Should I put you down for a morning appointment?
Forget it.
By next Tuesday, I'll be under 10 feet of water.
Our dialogue begins with Mickey answering the phone.
Hello, McQuillan Plumbing.
Colleen says, Hi, I'm having a lot of plumbing problems.
Plumbing is a general term we use to talk about the water that moves through a building, especially in long metal tubes.
Sometimes the water is moving into the building, the clean water.
The dirty water is moving out of the building.
Both of these are part of your plumbing.
Colleen says, can you send a plumber...
A plumber is the person who fixes problems with your plumbing.
She is asking Mickey to send a plumber out to her house, meaning to send the plumber to where she lives.
Mickey says, yes, we can, but first let me find out what the problems are.
Colleen says well, to start meaning, the first thing is my toilet won't flush and it's overflowing.
Your toilet is a large, usually white thing in the bathroom that has a large hole on the top of it where you sit to get rid of things that are inside your body.
I think you understand.
Flush is to move water through something to clean it, especially a toilet.
So after you finish using the toilet, you flush the toilet.
You use water to take that out of the pipes and out of your building or house.
Flush actually has a couple of different meanings in English, so be sure to take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Colleen says the toilet is overflowing.
To overflow means to have water coming over the top of something and out of it because there's too much water.
If you have a toilet or a sink that is overflowing when you turn the water on, that usually means that there is something blocking or preventing the water from escaping.
Colleen says that her toilet is overflowing.
Mickey says, Check.
The word check here is used to show that you heard and understood what the other person has said, often because you are making a list of something.
It's a little informal, but Mickey is trying to indicate to Colleen that he's taking notes and he's making a list of her problems.
Colleen says the sink in the bathroom is stopped up and the pipes underneath the sink are leaking.
The sink, S-I-N-K, is a large open container that holds water.
It's used in bathrooms and in kitchens to clean things.
In the bathroom, it is used to clean your face and your hands.
In the kitchen, it's used for cleaning dishes and so on.
Sink has a couple of meanings in English however, so again, take a look at the learning guide for some additional explanations.
The sink in the bathroom is stopped up, Colleen says.
To stop up is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to become blocked, to stop working properly, especially something like a pipe or a tube that water or liquid is going through.
Another word we use for this is clog, C-L-O-G.
If someone says the pipes that are below the sink, the tubes that come from the sink and lead the water out of your house, are clogged.
They mean that they are stopped up.
There is something in them that is preventing the water from moving and flowing, we would say, freely.
Pipes, as I just mentioned, are long hard, either plastic or metal tubes that you use to move a liquid or a gas through.
In this case, it's for the water.
Colleen says that the pipes underneath, below the sink, are leaking.
Something that is leaking is something that has water coming out of it, usually very slowly.
If you have a roof on your house that is leaking, that means that there is water coming through it.
Another word we use is leaky, L-E-A-K-Y, which is the adjective.
Mickey then repeats back to Colleen what she said to indicate that he has understood.
He says, What else?
Colleen says, The garbage disposal is a small machine that is underneath or below your sink.
Thank you for watching.
Garbage is another general word meaning the same as trash, things that you don't want anymore and are throwing out.
Here the garbage is going to be food that you don't want anymore.
To dispose of something means to get rid of something.
So the garbage disposal is the machine that helps you get rid of the unwanted food that you didn't eat or simply didn't want.
Colleen says the garbage disposal is making funny noises, meaning it's making a noise that is not usual.
She also says the water won't drain.
To drain means to make the water go through something or away from something.
In this case, the water is going to go from the sink into the pipes and then out of your house.
Mickey then says a busted garbage disposal.
Check.
Busted is an informal word indicating broken, not working properly.
Colleen says that the faucet in the shower is stuck and she can't shut off the water.
The faucet is a little piece of metal that above the sink or the bathtub, that water flows through.
It's a place where you can turn the water on and off.
You can start the water moving out of the pipe or stop it from moving out of the pipe.
So faucets are for the water coming into your house.
This faucet is stuck, meaning it won't move.
When something is stuck, you can't change its position.
You can't move it.
To shut off is a phrasal verb meaning to turn something off, to stop something from continuing.
A parent might say to his son or daughter, turn off the television, meaning stop watching the TV.
Unplug it or turn off the switch.
A wife might say that to her husband who's watching baseball instead of paying attention to her.
Shut off the TV.
Colleen wants to shut off the water, meaning she wants to stop the water from flowing out of the faucet.
Mickey says a stuck faucet got it, which is the same as I understand it.
Or, as we said earlier, check.
What else, he asks.
Colleen says that's it, that's all.
There are no more problems.
Mickey says, you've got some really big problems there.
Colleen says, yes, I know.
She says, can you send someone out right away?
Can you have someone come to my house immediately?
Mickey says, sure, no problem.
How about next Tuesday?
Colleen says, next Tuesday?
Didn't you hear me?
These are emergencies.
These are things that I need to have fixed today.
Mickey says yes, but all of our plumbers are booked up until next Tuesday.
To be booked up means to be unavailable because your schedule is full.
You already have other appointments.
If you're sick and you call your doctor, the secretary may tell you that the doctor is booked up today.
This happens a lot on Mondays, so you should try not to be sick on Monday.
In this case, Mickey's plumbers are booked up until next Tuesday.
They don't have any free time to go over to Colleen's house today.
Colleen says, forget it.
By next Tuesday, I'll be under 10 feet of water.
I'll be under 10 feet of water means that, because of the plumbing being broken, her house will be filled with water if she waits to fix it until next Tuesday.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Hello, McQuillan Plumbing.
Hi, I'm having a lot of plumbing problems.
Can you send a plumber out to my house right away?
Yes, we can.
But first, let's find out what the problems are.
Well, to start, my toilet won't flush, and it's overflowing.
An overflowing toilet.
Check.
What else?
The sink in the bathroom is stopped up, and the pipes underneath the sink are leaking.
A stopped up sink and leaking pipes.
Check.
What else?
The garbage disposal in the kitchen is making funny noises and the water won't drain.
A busted garbage disposal.
Check.
Is that all?
No, the faucet in the shower is stuck and I can't shut off the water.
A stuck faucet.
Got it.
What else?
That's it.
You've got some really big problems there.
Yes, I know.
That's what I've been trying to tell you.
Can you send someone out right away?
Sure, no problem.
How about next Tuesday?
Next Tuesday?
Didn't you hear me?
These are emergencies.
Yes, but all of our plumbers are booked up until next Tuesday.
Should I put you down for a morning appointment?
Forget it.
By next Tuesday, I'll be under 10 feet of water.
The script for this episode was written by someone who is overflowing with good ideas, 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.
