Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast, Episode 636, Being Lazy and Energetic.
This is ESL Podcast, Episode 636.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
© transcript Emily Beynon The guide will help you learn English faster and give you bigger muscles.
This episode is a dialogue between Carmen and Elias.
It uses a lot of vocabulary related to the ideas of laziness and being energetic.
Let's get started.
Wake up.
You're supposed to be working.
Shh.
I'm trying to sleep.
The boss is out of the office today, so I consider it a holiday.
Today, I can be a little out of it if I want to be.
Out of it?
You're sleeping on the job.
Literally.
So what?
Aren't you feeling a little tired on a Monday morning?
I admit I'm a little sluggish, but that's no reason to fall down on the job.
We both have work to get done, and I'm doing it.
What's wrong with you?
Why are you so hyper?
I'm as hardworking as the next guy, but I'm not going to jump through hoops when the boss is away.
You?
Hardworking?
Don't make me laugh.
You'd better get back to work, or when the boss gets back, he'll call you a slacker again.
Okay, I'm learning by your example.
I'm now as energetic and productive as you are.
Yeah?
Doing what?
Telling my co-worker she's a pain in the neck.
Carmen begins by saying, Wake up.
You're supposed to be working.
Wake up means stop sleeping.
Elias says, shh, I'm trying to sleep.
Shh means, of course, stop making noise.
Elias says he's trying to sleep.
The boss is out of the office today, meaning his boss is not there.
So I consider it a holiday.
To be out of it means that you are not aware of what is happening around you.
You're thinking of something else.
You may be talking to your wife or your husband or your child and thinking The other person doesn't seem to be paying attention.
They're thinking about something else.
You ask them a question and they said, oh, I'm sorry, I was out of it.
I wasn't paying attention.
There are some other meanings for this expression and those can be found in the learning guide.
Elias says he's a little out of it.
Carmen says, out of it, you're sleeping on the job, literally.
The expression to sleep on the job means that you are sleeping instead of working.
That's the most obvious or literal meaning.
The actual meaning of the words is the meaning of literally.
But also we use this expression to mean someone isn't doing what they're supposed to be doing at work.
They're not doing their job.
They're not paying attention.
Elias says, so what?
So what is an informal phrase meaning I don't care.
Or it's used to show that you think whatever the other person is talking about is not very important.
Elias says, so what?
Aren't you feeling a little tired on a Monday morning?
Carmen says, I admit I'm a little sluggish.
To be sluggish, S-L-U-G-G-I-S-H, means to be moving very slowly, without a lot of energy.
She says that's no reason to fall down on the job.
The expression to fall down on the job means to do poorly, not to do what you are expected to do.
Carmen says, we both have work to get done and I'm doing it.
So, Elias is obviously the lazy one in this dialogue, and Carmen is the energetic one.
She has lots of energy.
She works hard, even on a Monday morning.
Elias then says, what's wrong with you?
Why are you so hyper?
To be hyper, H-Y-P-E-R, means that you are very excited, overly excited, we might say, too excited.
You have lots of energy, lots of enthusiasm, but it's almost too much.
We often say that about, for example, young children, but it could also be said about an adult.
Not about me.
I am never overly energetic.
Trust me.
Elias says I'm as hardworking as the next guy, but I'm not going to jump through hoops when the boss is away.
The expression to be hardworking means that you work hard.
You are very serious about your job.
You make sure you do the best job that you can do.
Elias says he is as hardworking as the next guy.
This expression to be as something in this case, hardworking as the next guy or to be as lazy as the next guy, is used to compare people, showing that you are normal.
You are like other people.
You don't have anything less about that quality than other people do.
You might even have more of it.
So when Elias says he is as hardworking as the next guy, he means that he works just as hard as everyone else.
But, he says, I'm not going to jump through hoops when the boss is away.
The expression to jump through hoops H-O-O-P-S means to work very hard to make someone, usually your boss, happy.
The word hoop refers to something that is basically a big circle with a hole in it.
In basketball, for example, the hoop is what you put the ball into and through.
Sometimes we'd say that we're going to go play hoops or play some hoops.
That means we're going to play some basketball.
And when I say we, I mean other people because I don't really play basketball.
Although I was on my seventh grade basketball team in junior high school.
So if the Los Angeles Lakers our professional basketball team here ever need some help, I'm there to help them.
Elias is saying that he's not going to jump through hoops.
This expression actually refers to a different kind of hoop.
You may have heard of hula hoops, where you have a round circle of plastic that you put and you move your hips very quickly, and the circle, the hoop, goes around your body.
We also use those kind of hoops, for example, in animal shows, especially dog shows.
You would make the dog jump through the hoop.
That's what Elias says he's not willing to do.
He's not willing to put on a show.
He's not willing to perform for anyone if the boss isn't there, because there's no one to perform for.
Carmen says, you, hardworking, don't make me laugh.
When someone says, don't make me laugh, they're saying that they don't believe you.
It's a rude informal phrase that is used to indicate that the other person is being ridiculous, that they are saying something stupid that you don't believe.
Carmen says, you'd better get back to work.
You better start working again.
Or when the boss gets back, he'll call you a slacker again.
A slacker, S-L-A-C-K-E-R, is a lazy person, someone who doesn't do anything unless you tell them or ask them, someone who doesn't really have a clear goal in his life, someone who doesn't work hard.
It's an insulting term to use about someone.
Elias says, okay, I'm learning by example, meaning I'm observing you.
I'm learning by your example and I am getting that information and it is changing the way I think or what I do.
I'm learning by your example.
What is he learning?
Well, He says he's now as energetic and productive as Carmen is.
To be energetic means to not become tired, to have lots of energy.
Productive means you get a lot of things done in a very short amount of time, a short period of time.
You use your time very effectively.
We all want to be productive when we're at work, or at least we should want to be productive.
Carmen says, yeah, doing what?
Meaning, how are you being productive?
Elias says, telling my coworker she's a pain in the neck.
His co-worker is someone that he works with, in other words, Carmen.
And he's being productive by telling Carmen that she's a pain in the neck.
A pain in the neck is someone who is very annoying, very irritating, someone who bothers you.
It could also be a thing.
You could say, this class I'm taking is a pain in the neck.
It's difficult.
It bothers me.
I don't like it.
So Elias ends our dialogue by insulting Carmen, saying that she is a pain in the neck.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Wake up.
You're supposed to be working.
Shh.
I'm trying to sleep.
The boss is out of the office today, so I consider it a holiday.
Today, I can be a little out of it if I want to be.
Out of it?
You're sleeping on the job.
Literally.
So what?
Aren't you feeling a little tired on a Monday morning?
I admit I'm a little sluggish, but that's no reason to fall down on the job.
We both have work to get done, and I'm doing it.
What's wrong with you?
Why are you so hyper?
I'm as hardworking as the next guy, but I'm not going to jump through hoops when the boss is away.
You, hardworking?
Don't make me laugh.
You'd better get back to work, or when the boss gets back, he'll call you a slacker again.
Okay, I'm learning by your example.
I'm now as energetic and productive as you are.
Yeah?
Doing what?
Telling my co-worker she's a pain in the neck.
The script for this episode was written by the energetic, productive, never a slacker, 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 2010 by the Center for Educational Development.
