Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 661, Demanding an Apology.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 661.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles California, home of Hollywood and the Beach Boys, and a lot of crime and smog, but usually sunny and warm.
So that's something.
Here's another something.
You can go to our website at eslpodcom and download a special learning guide for this episode that will help you improve your English even faster, as well as giving you discounts at many fine restaurants here in Los Angeles.
Just bring your learning guide with you.
This episode is called Demanding an Apology.
Let's get started.
That was uncalled for.
You owe me an apology.
Chill out.
It was a joke.
It wasn't funny, and it crossed the line.
Why are you freaking out?
Get over it.
I was just joking.
You really hurt my feelings.
For God's sake, I didn't mean it.
I take it back, okay?
You do?
Yes, I do.
And you're sorry?
You really regret what you said?
I'm sorry you heard my joke.
That's not a real apology.
You owe me a real apology.
What you said was cruel.
I made a joke about you being over the hill.
You're clearly not over the hill, so it was clearly a joke, okay?
Do you really think I'm old?
No, I don't.
But you know what you're doing to me right now?
You're taking years off my life.
Vera and Alvaro are having an argument.
They are having a disagreement.
They're not happy with each other.
Vera says.
We don't know what Alvaro said, but Vera thinks it was uncalled for.
Something that is uncalled for is something that is inappropriate or unacceptable, something you consider wrong usually, something you consider insulting.
Vera says, you owe me an apology.
To owe someone something means that you have to give them something.
You did something, in this case wrong, and therefore you must give them an apology, a statement saying that you are sorry for what you did.
That's an apology.
Álvaro says, chill out.
Chill out is an informal phrase that's become popular in the last 20, 25 years or so.
That means to relax, to calm down.
Don't be so excited.
You have to be careful with this expression.
If you are saying it to someone you don't know very well.
It's often considered somewhat rude to tell someone to chill out.
However, if you're good friends with them, you could say it if you thought they were getting too excited about something.
Alvaro says it to his wife, always a bad idea.
He says, it was a joke.
Vera says that whatever Alvaro said wasn't funny and it crossed the line.
To cross the line is an expression meaning to go too far.
Often we say this when someone is perhaps joking, but then says something that is insulting, that makes the other person angry.
That's what Alvaro did, according to Vera.
Alvaro said, why are you freaking out?
To freak F-R-E-A-K out is a two-word phrasal verb.
Meaning to become very upset or worried about something, to react to something so strongly that you lose control of yourself.
You start yelling perhaps or doing something else to show that you are angry or worried.
To freak out is an informal expression.
If you are freaking out, someone might tell you to chill out.
Here, Alvaro thinks that Vera is overreacting.
She's getting more angry than she should.
Then he says something which I recommend very strongly if you are arguing with your wife or girlfriend.
He says, get over it.
Get over it is an informal phrase meaning that you should stop thinking about something.
Stop worrying about something that happened in the past. and just act as if nothing had happened.
Just go on with your life.
I'm joking, you would not want to say that.
If you still want to have dinner and sleep in your bed, you would not want to say that to your wife.
Get over it, is what Alvaro says to Vera.
He thinks that she should just forget about his little joke.
He repeats, I was just joking.
Vera, however, says, you really hurt my feelings.
To hurt someone's feelings means to make someone feel bad, usually by saying something that is insulting or offensive, something that would make them angry.
Alvaro says, for God's sake, I didn't mean it.
For God's sake.
S-A-K-E is a strong expression used to show that you are very frustrated, that you think the other person is being unreasonable.
You have to be careful with that expression and similar expressions that use the name of God or Christ or Jesus.
Many people will find those very strong and offensive expressions. in and of themselves.
That is, the expression itself may cause them to get more angry, so probably don't want to use that expression.
I never do.
But at least now you know what it means if you hear it or read it.
In any case, that's what Alvaro says.
He says, I didn't mean it, meaning I wasn't seriously trying to insult you.
He says, I take it back, okay?
When you say I take something back, you mean that you're sorry for what you said before and you want the other person to pretend that you never said it.
It was a mistake.
Vera says, you do?
Alvaro says, yes, I do.
Vera says, and you're sorry?
You feel bad about what happened and you wish that you had not done it?
She says, you really regret what you said?
To regret is similar to to be sorry.
It means to feel bad about something and wish that it had never happened.
Typically something that you did or didn't do.
If you have regrets, you have the feeling that you should have done something that you didn't do.
I think all of us have some regrets.
Vera is asking if Alvaro regrets what he said.
Alvaro says, I'm sorry you heard my joke.
He's not sorry for telling the joke.
He's sorry that Vera heard him say it.
Vera says that's not a real or true apology.
You owe me a real apology.
What you said was cruel.
Cruel means mean, something that you say or do to hurt another person.
Alvaro said, I made a joke about you being over the hill.
The expression to be over the hill means that you are old, that you are in the last half or last part of your life.
You are no longer young.
You are past the best years of your life.
That happens sometime around the age of, well, any age older than what I am right now.
Now, Alvaro says, you're clearly not over the hill, meaning it's obvious that you are not old.
So it was obviously or clearly a joke, okay?
He's explaining why what he said was meant to be a joke because, even though he said that his wife was getting old, that she was over the hill, in fact he didn't really mean it, because she is clearly not over the hill.
This is another good way of improving your marriage.
Tell your wife that she's over the hill.
You don't want to listen to my advice on marriage, trust me.
Vera says, do you really think I'm old?
Alvaro says, no, I don't.
But you know what you're doing to me right now?
You're taking years off my life.
The expression to take years off your life means to shorten your life.
More generally, it means to do something that makes you annoyed frustrated, perhaps frightened, something that may make you die sooner than you otherwise would have.
Vera by forcing Alvaro into an apology and by arguing with him is, according to Alvaro, taking years off his life.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
That wasn't called for.
You owe me an apology.
Chill out.
It was a joke.
It wasn't funny and it crossed the line.
Why are you freaking out?
Get over it.
I was just joking.
You really hurt my feelings.
For God's sake, I didn't mean it.
I take it back, okay?
You do?
Yes, I do.
And you're sorry?
You really regret what you said?
I'm sorry you heard my joke.
That's not a real apology.
You owe me a real apology.
What you said was cruel.
I made a joke about you being over the hill.
You're clearly not over the hill, so it was clearly a joke, okay?
Do you really think I'm old?
No, I don't.
But you know what you're doing to me right now?
You're taking years off my life.
Our scriptwriter never freaks out.
That's because it's the one and only Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2011 by the Center for Educational Development.
