Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 731.
Hints and Innuendo This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 731.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
ESLPOD.com.
That's our website.
Go there and become a member of ESL Podcast and help keep this podcast going.
This episode is a dialogue between Roberta and John about vocabulary related to innuendo, when we indirectly communicate meaning to other people.
Let's get started.
You know, my birthday is coming up.
Yeah, I know.
What are you getting at?
Nothing.
I was just thinking that it's kind of an important birthday.
A major birthday.
Yes, I know.
Spit it out.
What are you driving at?
I was just thinking that some people might not know what to get me for such an important birthday, since some people don't like to put a lot of thought into presents.
What are you implying?
Are you insinuating that I don't get you good presents for your birthdays?
No, of course not.
I just don't want you to have to rack your brain to think of the perfect gift, that's all.
Just tell me, what should I get you for your very important birthday?
What?
Just blurt it out?
I can't do that.
I can give you a hint, but since you love me so much, I'm sure you can read my mind.
That's where you're wrong.
If I had a nickel for every time a woman thought I should be able to read her mind, I'd be the richest man in the world.
I don't have an inkling of what you have on your mind.
Alright.
I'll make it more than a hint.
I'll give you three clues.
Great.
That'll make things crystal clear.
Our dialogue begins with Roberta saying to John, you know, my birthday is coming up.
Something that is coming up is something that will be happening in the near future.
Something that will occur soon.
John says, yeah, I know.
What are you getting at?
To get at is to say something indirectly, to communicate something to another person without saying it directly.
You're suggesting something.
Roberta says nothing.
She's not getting at anything.
John says yes, I know.
Spit it out.
Spit, S-P-I-T, it out, is an expression that means say something quickly.
Stop trying to hide it.
It's often used when someone will talk about something that is embarrassing or difficult or perhaps critical of the other person.
But when you say spit it out, you're saying to the person, just say it now directly.
John says, what are you driving at?
To drive at means the same as to get at, to say indirectly.
Roberta says Some people.
If you notice the way Roberta says, it is a way that we say something about another person without using their name.
We're really saying you, but you're trying to be polite or perhaps funny by just putting it in this neutral third person or, in this case, third people.
Some people, some people meaning you might not know what to get me for such an important birthday, since some people you, John don't like to put a lot of thought into presents or gifts.
To put a lot of thought into something is to think about something seriously for a long time.
Give it a lot of thought, a lot of serious considering before making a decision.
John says, what are you implying?
To imply, I M P L Y, means to strongly suggest something without saying it directly.
Well, John is asking what Roberta is implying.
He says, Are you insinuating that I don't get you good presents for your birthdays?
To insinuate means to suggest that something is bad, something is wrong. without saying it directly.
It's similar to imply, but it always has a negative connotation.
Something bad is being implied.
Roberta says, no, of course not.
Of course she wasn't insinuating that John gives her bad presents for her birthdays.
I just don't want you to have to rack your brain to think of the perfect gift.
That's all.
So Roberta is saying these things to help John.
That's what she says.
She doesn't want John to rack R-A-C-K his brains.
To rack your brain means to put a lot of thought into something, to take a long time to think of something.
We also use this if we're having difficulty remembering something or someone.
I'm racking my brain trying to think of the name of the girl who sat next to me in social studies class when I was a senior in high school.
I think her first name was Linda, Lydia, I can't remember.
Anyway, that's what racking your brain is trying to think of something, spending a lot of time and energy doing it.
So Roberta says she's trying to help John and John says just tell me, what should I get you for your very important birthday?
Roberta says, what?
Just blurt it out?
To blurt B-L-U-R-T something out is a phrasal verb meaning to say something without first thinking carefully about what you are saying or how you will say it.
Sometimes people say things and then they realize that it was a mistake to tell someone something.
Maybe they're nervous.
Maybe they're excited.
They blurt something out.
They say something they shouldn't.
Roberta says that she doesn't really want to blurt it out to tell John directly.
She says I can't do that.
I can give you a hint.
But since you love me so much, I'm sure you can read my mind.
A hint, H-I-N-T, is a small piece of information that suggests something else.
It's a clue.
It's to help you guess something or figure something else out.
To read someone's mind means to know what the other person is thinking.
So Roberta is saying here that she can give John a clue, a hint.
But because John loves her so much, he should be able to read her mind.
Now, this is something that many women believe about men, wives about their husbands, girlfriends about their boyfriends that, because they love them, they should know what they want for their birthday.
But of course, we men know this isn't true.
John says that's where you're wrong.
If I had a nickel for every time a woman thought I should be able to read her mind, I'd be the richest man in the world.
This phrase, if I had a nickel, which is five cents, for every time something happens I'd be rich.
The idea is that This has happened to you many, many times.
If, each time it happened, you got a very small amount, say a nickel, which is five American cents, you would be rich because it has happened to you so many times.
You could say, if I had a dollar or if I had a quarter, It has to be a small amount of money.
John is saying that many women in his life have thought that he should be able to read their minds.
He says I don't have an inkling of what you have on your mind.
An inkling, I-N-K-L-I-N-G, is a little bit of knowledge, a small idea.
You know a little bit, but not very much.
John says he doesn't have an inkling.
He doesn't have any idea what is on Roberta's mind, what she's thinking, what she wants for her birthday.
Roberta says, all right, I'll make it more than a hint.
I'll give you three clues.
A clue.
C-L-U-E is a piece of information that helps you solve a problem, usually when there's some sort of crime or mystery involved.
Roberta is going to give John three clues to what she wants to have for her birthday.
Notice we say clues to something.
You have clues to the gift in this case.
John says, great, that'll make things crystal clear.
The expression crystal, C-R-Y-S-T-A-L, clear, means easy to understand.
No doubt about something.
It's obvious almost.
You know exactly what it is.
That's something that is crystal clear.
The professor gave crystal clear definitions about what he was talking about.
They were easy to understand.
We're not sure here if John is being sarcastic, if he's making a joke, because of course a clue is not the same as the actual answer to the problem.
But we hope John will buy the right gift and figure it out.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
You know, my birthday is coming up.
Yeah, I know.
What are you getting at?
Nothing.
I was just thinking that it's kind of an important birthday.
A major birthday.
Yes, I know.
Spit it out.
What are you driving at?
I was just thinking that some people might not know what to get me for such an important birthday, since some people don't like to put a lot of thought into presents.
What are you implying?
Are you insinuating that I don't get you good presents for your birthdays?
No, of course not.
I just don't want you to have to rack your brain to think of the perfect gift, that's all.
Just tell me, what should I get you for your very important birthday?
What?
Just blurt it out?
I can't do that.
I could give you a hint, but since you love me so much, I'm sure you can read my mind.
That's where you're wrong.
If I had a nickel for every time a woman thought I should be able to read her mind, I'd be the richest man in the world.
I don't have an inkling of what you have on your mind.
All right.
I'll make it more than a hint.
I'll give you three clues.
Great.
That'll make things crystal clear.
Our script writer puts a lot of thought into these wonderful scripts.
We thank you, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again here 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.
