Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 531, Describing Fabric Patterns.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 531.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
Go there and download a learning guide for this episode.
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This episode is called Describing Fabric Patterns.
Fabric is what you use to make clothing or to put on a couch.
Pattern here refers to the design.
So we're going to be talking about common designs that you would see on fabric for something such as a chair or a couch.
Let's get started.
Now that we've picked out a new couch we need to pick out an upholstery fabric.
What do you think of this checkered one?
That's an eyesore.
I prefer something a little more subtle.
Subtle?
What's fun about subtle?
I want something bold, and that'll make a statement.
How about this one with the polka dots?
You've got to be kidding.
That pattern is so busy, if I had to look at that every day, I'd go crazy.
All right.
What do you think of this one with the stripes?
I'm not crazy about it, but it's not as tacky as the other ones.
Okay, then.
You pick one out.
Fine.
Let me see.
Now this is a sight for sore eyes.
But that has no pattern at all.
It's a solid blue color and a boring shade of blue to boot.
That's right.
That's what I call classic.
And that's what I call dull.
Our dialogue between Ruth and Jerry begins with Ruth saying Now that we've picked out a new couch, we need to pick out an upholstery fabric.
To pick out is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to select, to choose.
I need to go pick out a new shirt at the store.
I need to find a shirt, select one to buy.
Ruth and Jerry have picked out a new couch, a new sofa.
Now they need to pick out an upholstery fabric.
Fabric is soft material, usually made from cotton wool silk, other things that is used to cover something.
It can be used to make clothing as well.
In this case, they're buying fabric for upholstery.
Upholstery.
U-P-H-O-L-S-T-E-R-Y is specifically the material that is used to cover furniture such as chairs and sofas couches, that sort of thing.
Ruth says, what do you think of this checkered one?
She's showing him a sample of this upholstery fabric.
Something that is checkered is basically a grid like pattern, where you have vertical and horizontal lines crossing each other at regular intervals, at regular distances, so that you end up with these little squares.
We talk about the game of checkers.
That's a checkered pattern on the actual board itself, where you have horizontal and vertical lines crossing.
They could also be different colors inside of the squares, as is the case on a checkerboard.
Well, Jerry doesn't like the pattern.
He says, that's an eyesore, E-Y-E-S-O-R-E, one word.
An eyesore means something is very ugly, something that is painful to look at, something that is very unpleasant.
It's a very insulting, negative way of describing something.
Jerry says, I prefer something a little more subtle.
To be subtle, S-U-B-T-L-E, means that it's not as easily noticed.
Subtle can also mean not drawing attention to yourself, meaning you're not trying to get other people to look at you.
Subtle can be used in many different ways.
Here it's used as a description of a pattern, a pattern that is visually subtle, meaning you can see the differences in the pattern, but they aren't as bold, they aren't as strong as, for example, in a checkered pattern, where the pattern is very obvious.
Ruth says subtle.
What's fun about subtle?
I want something bold that makes a statement.
Bold, as I mentioned, is strong bright, something that attracts your attention, something you notice easily.
She wants a fabric pattern that makes a statement.
The expression to make a statement means that you are doing something that is different, that is interesting, that is unique.
But you are doing it in such a way that you want other people to notice.
Maybe you're trying to communicate some idea, but rather than saying it, you do something to make a statement.
That's what she's trying to do with her fabric.
I'm not sure to whom she's making the statement, but she wants to make a statement.
Ruth does.
Ruth says, how about this one with polka dots?
P-O-L-K-A-D-O-T-S.
Two words.
A polka dot is a design with many small circles.
It's usually, in most cases, considered a very bold, a very dramatic kind of pattern.
Most people kind of make fun of polka dot patterns nowadays.
It seems very old-fashioned to us.
You might wear a polka dot pattern as a joke, for example, but you don't see it very often.
Jerry says, you've got to be kidding, meaning you must be joking.
You're joking.
That pattern is so busy.
If I had to look at that every day, I'd go crazy.
The pattern we've already explained is the design, usually a repeating design on something.
Busy when we're talking about a visual pattern, the way something looks means that there are a lot of small things to look at, so that your eyes don't quite know what to focus on.
Something that would be busy would be something that would have too many small details.
Busy, however, has a couple of different meanings in English.
You can find those in our learning guide.
Jerry thinks that the polka dot pattern is too busy.
He says if he had to look at it every day, he'd go crazy.
He'd go mad.
Ruth says, alright, what do you think of this one with the stripes?
A stripe is a thick line.
It's a design that has many horizontal lines or vertical lines, but not both.
If it had both, that would be a checkered pattern.
You often will see business people dressed in very nice suits and sometimes they are what are called pinstripe.
There's a thin line pattern on the fabric.
Jerry says, I'm not crazy about that pattern.
To be crazy about something in this case means to be very excited and interested in something, something that you like a lot.
He says he's not crazy about it, but it's not as tacky as the other ones.
The adjective tacky T-A-C-K-Y means unattractive inappropriate, showing very poor taste, showing that you're not very good at knowing what is attractive and appropriate for a place.
So he's saying this one is not as tacky as the other ones, meaning the other ones are very tacky.
Tacky is a very negative way of describing something.
Ruth says, okay then, you pick one out.
You select one.
Jerry says, fine, let me see.
Now this is a sight for sore eyes.
He picks up one of the patterns and says it's a sight for sore, S-O-R-E, eyes.
A sight for sore eyes is something that is very pretty, very attractive, especially after you've been looking at ugly things for a long time.
Sore would be hurt, used too often.
If you have sore eyes, you've been looking at too many things, in this case, too many ugly things.
However, this expression is often used sarcastically.
If someone comes in and they're all dirty, they may be described as a sight for sore eyes, meaning that as a joke, meaning they're in fact not a good sight for sore eyes because they're also ugly.
But here, he means it in the original sense of something that is pretty and attractive.
Ruth says, Something that is solid. when it comes to design is only one color.
It has no design or pattern.
You would say it's a solid green.
That implies, that means there is no pattern to it.
It's just the color green.
Ruth says that not only is it a solid blue color, it also has a boring shade of blue to boot.
A shade of a color is a type of a color.
You can have red or dark red or light red.
Those are different shades or hues.
H-U-E is another word we use.
To boot, in this case, means in addition to.
It's a phrase we use to emphasize the last thing that you said.
I once had a girlfriend who said, Jeff, you're ugly, you're poor, and you're stupid to boot.
Oh no, wait a minute, that wasn't me.
That was Brad Pitt, I think, they said that about.
Boot has several meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Ruth doesn't like this solid blue color.
Jerry says it may be a boring shade of blue, but it's a classic meaning.
It's something that everyone recognizes as high quality.
Ruth says, and that's what I call dull.
Something that is dull, D-U-L-L, is uninteresting, not very exciting.
Sort of like my life, kind of dull.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Now that we've picked out a new couch, we need to pick out an upholstery fabric.
What do you think of this checkered one?
That's an eyesore.
I prefer something a little more subtle.
Subtle?
What's fun about subtle?
I want something bold, and that'll make a statement.
How about this one with the polka dots?
You've got to be kidding.
That pattern is so busy, if I had to look at that every day, I'd go crazy.
All right.
What do you think of this one with the stripes?
I'm not crazy about it, but it's not as tacky as the other ones.
Okay, then.
You pick one out.
Fine.
Let me see.
Now, this is a sight for sore eyes.
But that has no pattern at all.
It's a solid blue color and a boring shade of blue to boot.
That's right.
That's what I call a classic.
And that's what I call dull.
If you're crazy about today's script, you can thank our own Dr. Lucy Say for writing it.
Thank you, Lucy.
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.
