Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 774, Describing Height and Build.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 774.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is a dialogue describing people's height, how tall they are, as well as their build, what they look like.
Are they fat?
Are they skinny?
And so forth.
Let's get started.
Do you see that heavyset guy over there?
The one towering over everyone else?
Yeah.
What about him?
He's my ex-boyfriend.
I haven't seen him in years.
When I knew him, he was really skinny.
He's really put on a few pounds.
It's amazing what a few years can do.
None of us are as svelte as we used to be.
That's true enough.
I'm not as petite as I used to be, that's for sure.
How come you've never mentioned this ex-boyfriend before?
Oh, I'd almost forgotten about him.
Oh no, I hope that guy over there didn't see me.
Who, that short, stocky guy?
No, the average height guy who's walking this way.
He's another one of my exes.
I'd hope never to see him again.
It was a bad breakup?
Right.
Let's head toward the door.
Why hadn't you mentioned him before?
I thought I had.
There have been so many.
Don't look now, but your ex is also headed toward the door.
Which one?
The tall, medium-billed guy walking next to you.
There are many words we can use to describe someone physically.
It's impossible to include all of these in a single dialogue.
This dialogue only talks about how tall or short someone is, as well as their shape and weight.
In a way,
Gwen says to Denzel...
Do you see that heavyset guy over there, the one towering over everyone else?
Heavyset, H-E-A-V-Y-S-E-T, is someone who is a little overweight, perhaps.
They weigh a little too much.
They're a little fat, perhaps.
But they're also very large and often very strong.
They might have a lot of muscles like me.
Yeah.
Well, not really.
Gwen says To tower T-O-W-E-R over someone means to be much taller than everyone else or much taller than the person next to you.
Denzel says, yeah, what about him?
Gwen says that this heavyset guy is her ex-boyfriend.
Your boyfriend is the man or boy you are interested in romantically.
The other term, of course, would be girlfriend.
Ex-boyfriend would be someone who used to be your boyfriend, but you're not together romantically anymore.
Gwen says, I haven't seen him in years.
I haven't seen this heavy set guy in years.
When I knew him, he was really skinny.
To be skinny, S-K-I-N-N-Y, means to be very thin.
We might say slim or slender, S-L-E-N-D-E-R.
Slim, slender, thin, skinny, these are all the same idea.
Someone who doesn't have a lot of extra weight who is the opposite of fat.
Gwen says that the ex-boyfriend really put on a few pounds.
To put on a few pounds, P-O-U-N-D-S, means to gain weight, usually over time.
As people get older, especially after oh, the age of 30 or so, it's not uncommon for them to put on a few pounds, to gain weight, to become heavier or fatter.
Pound has a number of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some of those.
Gwen says it's amazing what a few years can do, meaning it's surprising how someone can change physically in just a few years.
Denzel says none of us are as svelte as we used to be.
Svelte means to be slender, to be thin.
But the difference between svelte and skinny is that when you say you're svelte, we mean you are perhaps somewhat muscular, or you are svelte in a way that looks very attractive.
You can be skinny and not be very attractive.
But when you're svelte, usually you not only are thin, but you also have a good muscular look about you as well.
At least that's a common way of using this word.
Gwen says that's true enough.
I'm not as petite as I used to be.
To be petite, P-E-T-I-T-E, is to be a thin or skinny woman who's usually somewhat small or short.
If you go to a store and you're a woman and you're buying a dress, they have different sizes and petite might be one of the sizes they have.
That would be for a woman who's not very tall and who is thin.
Denzel then asks Gwen...
Gwen said, Maybe because it was so long ago.
Then she says, Oh, no.
I hope that guy over there didn't see me.
Gwen is now talking about a different person.
Gwen says, I hope that guy over there didn't see me.
Denzel says, who?
That short, stocky guy?
To be short means short. the opposite of tall, someone who's below average in height.
Short has a number of meanings in English, however.
Take a look once again at our learning guide for those.
To be stocky, S-T-O-C-K-Y, means to be a little heavy.
You could be a little fat, or you might just have a lot of strong muscles.
Normally it describes someone who is perhaps not very tall, but they're heavy.
They're slightly overweight and or they have a lot of muscles so they look big.
Gwen says, no.
She's not talking about the short, stocky guy.
She's talking about the guy who is of average height.
Height refers to how tall or short you are.
Average would be someone who is about the same as most people.
Typical would be another way of saying that.
Statistically, average is the same as what we call the mean, M-E-A-N.
The mean of 5 and 15 is 10.
5 plus 15 is 20, divided by 2 is 10.
Well, here we're talking about an average height, how tall someone is.
Gwen says that there's an average height guy walking this way, meaning walking toward Gwen and Denzel.
She says, he's another one of my exes, another ex-boyfriend.
I'd hoped never to see him again.
She doesn't want to see this person.
Denzel says it was a bad breakup.
A breakup, B-R-E-A-K-U-P, one word, is the end of a romantic relationship.
When two people decide they're not going to be together romantically anymore.
You're no longer boyfriend and girlfriend.
Denzel says it was a bad breakup.
Gwen says right, meaning yes.
Notice that Gwen seems to have a lot of ex-boyfriends and Denzel doesn't seem to know anything about them.
Is that a good idea?
Should you tell your boyfriend or your girlfriend about all of the old boyfriends or girlfriends you used to have?
I don't know.
I don't know if that's a good idea.
I don't think so generally.
Maybe I'm wrong.
In general, I think it's a bad idea.
Well, anyway, Gwen says let's head toward the door.
Let's start walking out of here to leave.
Denzel says, why hadn't you mentioned him before?
Denzel wants to know why Gwen hasn't told him about her ex-boyfriends.
Again, personally, I don't care.
I don't want to know about your ex-boyfriends.
But Denzel wants to know.
Gwen says, I thought I had.
I thought I did tell you.
There have been so many times.
She's saying that she's had many boyfriends.
Now, that's probably a mistake, ladies.
You don't want to tell your current boyfriend the guy you're with right now that you've had lots of boyfriends in the past.
That doesn't look too good sometimes.
And I would say probably the same for a man telling that to a woman.
But in any case, Gwen tells Denzel that she has had many boyfriends.
Denzel says, don't look now, but your ex is also headed toward the door.
Don't look now is a phrase we use to warn someone that something bad is coming their way or someone they don't want to see is walking toward them.
Denzel says, Don't look now, but your ex, your ex-boyfriend, is also headed toward the door.
Gwen says, which one?
She thinks Denzel is talking about the heavyset guy or the average height guy.
But Denzel says, the tall, medium build guy walking next to you.
Tall, of course, is the opposite of short.
To be medium.
M-E-D-I-U-M build B-U-I-L-D means that you're not fat, you're not thin, you're sort of average in terms of the size of your body.
So Denzel is talking about a tall, medium-built guy walking next to Gwen, meaning himself.
He's saying that now he is going to break up with Gwen and Gwen is walking next to her newest ex-boyfriend.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Do you see that heavyset guy over there?
The one towering over everyone else?
Yeah, what about him?
He's my ex-boyfriend.
I haven't seen him in years.
When I knew him, he was really skinny.
He's really put on a few pounds.
It's amazing what a few years can do.
None of us are as svelte as we used to be.
That's true enough.
I'm not as petite as I used to be, that's for sure.
How come you've never mentioned this ex-boyfriend before?
Oh, I'd almost forgotten about him.
Oh no, I hope that guy over there didn't see me.
Who, that short stocky guy?
No, the average height guy who's walking this way.
He's another one of my exes.
I'd hope never to see him again.
It was a bad breakup?
Right.
Let's head toward the door.
Why hadn't you mentioned him before?
I thought I had.
There have been so many.
Don't look now, but your ex is also headed toward the door.
Which one?
The tall, medium-billed guy walking next to you.
I don't know anything about her ex-boyfriends, but I do know Dr. Lucy Say is a wonderful scriptwriter.
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 2012 by the Center for Educational Development.
