Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 530, Exterior Parts of a Car.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 530.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you.
Thank you.
This episode is called Exterior Parts of a Car.
It's a dialogue between Ethan and Marie and it will review a lot of basic vocabulary related to what you find on a car.
Let's get started.
You missed a spot.
Hold on.
When we made our bet for the loser to wash the winner's car, it didn't include the other person being there and being a pain in the neck.
I'm just here to make sure everything gets washed properly, from the hood to the taillights.
Don't you worry.
See how carefully I'm washing the windshield, side mirrors, and headlights?
I bet they've never been cleaner.
When are you going to get to the tires and the hubcaps?
And I think you forgot the tailpipe.
Will you get lost?
I'll do a better job without you looking over my shoulder.
I doubt that.
If I weren't here, who would remind you to clean the roof rack and the windshield wipers?
I bet you would have forgotten those for sure.
I'm going to forget about this whole thing if you don't shut up.
Nuh-uh.
That's not an option.
When you lose a bet, you have to pay the price.
Well, I'm willing to be a graceful loser if you'll stop gloating.
Not a chance.
Don't forget the grills.
Our dialogue begins with Ethan saying to Marie, you missed a spot.
A spot is a small area of something.
In this case, Marie is washing Ethan's car and Ethan is telling her that there is a.
We sometimes use this expression as a joke when someone is washing their car or cleaning something.
We may say, oh, you missed a spot, saying that they're not doing a very good job.
Of course, it's probably not our business to be telling them, and certainly that's the way Marie feels about Ethan.
Marie says, hold on, meaning stop.
So Ethan and Marie had made some bet that Marie lost, and so Marie has to wash Ethan's car.
But she says the bet, their agreement over something that if it happened one way would result in Marie winning.
If it happened the other way would result in Ethan winning.
Didn't include the other person being a pain in the neck.
The expression a pain in the neck is a person who is very annoying, a person who makes things difficult or frustrating.
My older brother is a pain in the neck.
I won't say which older brother since I have eight.
They can guess which one it is.
Ethan says The hood is a large flat piece of metal in the front of the car that in an American car covers the engine, the motor.
So the hood is something that is in the front that lifts up like a door.
The taillights are two red lights in the back of the car that indicate when you are going to stop.
The lights turn on when you step on the brake, which slows down or stops your car.
Marie said, don't you worry, meaning don't worry.
See how carefully I'm washing the windshield, side mirrors, and headlights?
I bet they've never been cleaner.
She's saying that she's washing the windshield, which is the large window in the front of the car that you look out through.
The side mirrors, which are the two mirrors one on each side of the car that allows you to see if someone is behind you or next to you.
And the headlights, which are the two lights in the front of the car that help you see at night.
Marie says I bet they've never been cleaner, meaning this is the cleanest that they have ever been because I am washing them.
So Ethan shouldn't complain.
That's what she's saying here.
Ethan says, when are you going to get to the tires and the hubcaps?
When are you going to get to?
Here means when are you going to start working on the hubcaps and the tires?
The tire is the thick piece of rubber that goes around the four wheels of your car.
The hubcap is a flat... round piece of metal that covers the side of the tire.
It's used mostly for decoration.
Some people like to buy very expensive, fancy hubcaps.
Some people like me don't care.
Then Ethan says, we think jokingly, and I think you forgot the tailpipe.
The tailpipe is a long round metal tube that comes out of the back of the car where the hot gases from the engine go out.
We don't ever wash the tailpipe.
No one even sees it for the most part.
So most people would never wash the tailpipe.
We think then that Ethan here is just trying to make a joke.
Marie then says, will you get lost?
Normally, if you get lost, you don't know where you are.
But if someone tells you to get lost...
They're saying they want you to go away, to leave that person alone.
That's to get lost.
It's a very informal, somewhat rude thing to say to someone.
You would only say it to someone you knew very well, or someone that you didn't know, that you didn't care.
You were being rude to.
It's not a nice thing to say.
Marie says, I'll do a better job without you looking over my shoulder.
To look over someone's shoulder means to observe very closely what the other person is doing.
Usually we use this expression when the other person, the person doing the task, doing the action, doesn't want you watching them.
So if you are, for example, fixing something and someone comes and watches you to make sure you do it right and you don't want them there, you may say stop looking over my shoulder.
That's what Marie is asking Ethan to do.
Ethan says, I doubt that.
I doubt you would do a better job if I weren't here, he means.
The roof R-O-O-F is the top of the car is something that you put on the top of your car so that you can put, for example suitcases boxes skis, things like that on top of your car without damaging your car.
They're long pieces of metal that protect the roof, the top of the car, and allow you to put things on top of them.
Most cars still have roof racks although, because cars have gotten so much larger, I don't see them being used as much.
I guess people put things inside of their car instead.
Ethan mentions the windshield wipers.
We said the windshield is the window that you look through in the front of the car.
The wipers are the things that go back and forth that clean the water off of the windshield.
There are usually two of them in the front of the car, and they have little pieces of rubber on them that help you remove the water from your windshield when, for example, it's raining.
Ethan says, I bet you would have forgotten those for sure.
For sure here means definitely, certainly.
Marie says, I'm going to forget about this whole thing if you don't shut up.
She's saying, I am going to stop washing your car unless you be quiet.
Ethan says, na-ah.
This is a very informal way of saying no, something you might hear from a child.
Na-ah means not at all, absolutely not.
Ethan says that's not an option.
You don't have that choice.
When you lose a bet, you have to pay the price.
Marie says, well, I'm willing to be a graceful loser if you'll stop gloating.
Someone who is graceful is someone who is polite, pleasant, perhaps sophisticated.
In this case, Marie means that she'll be a nice loser.
She won't complain if Ethan stops gloating.
To gloat G-L-O-A-T means to brag, to talk about your good luck or your success, especially around other people who are not successful.
So if you take an exam in school and you get a very high score and no one else got a high score, to gloat would mean to say oh, what a great score I got.
You got a low score?
Oh, that's too bad.
That would be to gloat.
It's not a very good thing, nice thing to do.
Ethan, however, says, not a chance, meaning there's no way that he's going to stop gloating.
Finally, he says, don't forget the grills.
The grill is a vertical or horizontal piece of metal in the front of the car that protects the engine and the radiator.
So in the very front of the car, in some cars anyway, there's a grill.
It's sort of like a screen that allows air to go into where the engine is.
Not all cars have grills.
Ethan is reminding Marie that she should wash the grill as well.
The word grill and the word hood that we used in this dialogue have additional meanings.
Please take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
You missed a spot.
Hold on.
When we made our bet for the loser to wash the winner's car, it didn't include the other person being there and being a pain in the neck.
I'm just here to make sure everything gets washed properly, from the hood to the taillights.
Don't you worry.
See how carefully I'm washing the windshield, side mirrors, and headlights?
I bet they've never been cleaner.
When are you going to get to the tires and the hubcaps?
And I think you forgot the tailpipe.
Will you get lost?
I'll do a better job without you looking over my shoulder.
I doubt that.
If I weren't here, who would remind you to clean the roof rack and the windshield wipers?
I bet you would have forgotten those for sure.
I'm going to forget about this whole thing if you don't shut up.
Nuh-uh.
That's not an option.
When you lose a bet, you have to pay the price.
Well, I'm willing to be a graceful loser if you'll stop gloating.
Not a chance.
Don't forget the grills.
The script for this episode was written by the graceful Dr Lucy Say, who's never a pain in the neck.
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.
