Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 788, Being Conservative and Daring.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 788.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
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This episode is a dialogue about someone who is conservative, not politically, but someone who doesn't like to take chances to be risky.
Let's get started.
I really don't think Monty is the right person for this project.
He's too conservative in his thinking.
We need someone who's a risk taker.
Monty will get the job done.
That's the most important thing.
Not if the finished product is staid and boring.
Our client won't be happy with that.
Okay.
Who do you have in mind?
I was thinking of giving the project to Lorenzo.
Lorenzo?
Well, he certainly likes to push the envelope.
But he's also a loose cannon.
Sometimes his ideas pan out, and sometimes they fall flat.
But Lorenzo is bold and daring.
Did you see what he did on his last project?
It was genius.
It was reckless.
It was only through sheer luck that everything worked out.
I know that Monty's ideas are more conventional and low-key, but they're also tried and true.
But in the end, it's your call.
In that case, I'm going with Lorenzo.
I'm sure he'll do a great job.
I hope so.
I wouldn't want us to end up with egg on our face.
Our dialogue begins with Wendy saying to Bert I really don't think Monty is the right person for this project.
He's too conservative in his thinking.
Conservative here means someone who is traditional or conservative.
Probably a better way of saying this is it's someone who doesn't like to take risks, who's very careful, who doesn't like to take chances.
Wendy says we need someone who's a risk taker.
Risk, R-I-S-K, is sort of like danger, something good or bad could happen.
You don't know.
A risk taker is someone who will do things that might not have been tried before and And they may or may not be successful.
It's sort of the opposite of the conservative person that Wendy doesn't want for this project.
Bert says, Monty will get the job done.
He will complete it.
He will finish it.
That's the most important thing.
Wendy says not if the finished product, the thing that he does, that he accomplishes, is staid and boring.
Staid, S-T-A-I-D, means old-fashioned, uninteresting, really it's the same as boring.
Wendy says our client, the person who hired their company, the person who is paying the company, won't be happy with that.
Bert says, okay, who do you have in mind?
Meaning, who are you thinking of for this project?
Wendy says, I was thinking of giving the project to Lorenzo.
Bert says, Lorenzo?
Well, he certainly likes to push the envelope.
The expression to push the envelope E-N-V-E-L-O-P-E means someone who is a risk taker, someone who goes to the limits or goes beyond the normal limits of something.
To push the envelope would be to do something that no one has done before, but also to do something that is probably somewhat risky, perhaps even dangerous.
Wendy says she wants Lorenzo, but Bert says Lorenzo is also a loose cannon.
A cannon C-A-N-N-O-N is a big gun.
That was more popular in say, the 19th century or 18th centuries.
It's a big gun.
You might find it on a ship.
And it, instead of bullets, uses a big round ball of metal called a cannonball.
But the expression loose cannon means someone who is unpredictable, maybe dangerous, someone you can't control.
It's definitely a negative way of describing someone.
Burt says sometimes his ideas pan out and sometimes they fall flat.
To pan P-A-N out is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to be successful, to result as you wanted it to result, to turn out as you intended it to turn out.
The opposite of panning out would be fall flat.
To fall flat means to be unsuccessful or to do something that other people don't like, and therefore to fail.
Wendy says, but Lorenzo is bold and daring.
To be bold means to be brave, to be courageous.
Here probably it means someone who's not afraid to take risks, someone who will do something different even if other people aren't doing it.
To be daring is very similar taking risks, doing things differently than the way other people do things, doing something even when it's dangerous.
That's daring.
Wendy says, Did you see what he did on his last project?
It was genius.
Genius.
G-E-N-I-U-S.
Genius. is very intelligent, very smart, very wise.
It's a very high compliment here.
Wendy means it was intelligent, but it's more of a general term to say it was wonderful.
It was excellent.
It was genius.
Bert says it was reckless, R-E-C-K-L-E-S-S.
To be reckless is a critical negative way of describing someone.
It means someone who's not careful, who's not paying attention, someone who is perhaps even dangerous.
You can be successful and reckless, but being reckless means that you are not careful and something bad could happen to you if you have some bad luck.
So if you drive a motorcycle and you don't wear a helmet on your head, something to protect your head that's reckless.
Although I guess if you fall off a motorcycle going at high speeds you're not going to be in very good shape anyway.
It's not going to be a happy ending.
But you may save your life by wearing a helmet.
Well, not wearing a helmet would be reckless.
Bert thinks that Lorenzo was reckless in his last project.
Bert says it was only through sheer luck that everything worked out.
Sheer, S-H-E-E-R, here means complete or total luck.
It was sheer luck.
It was complete luck.
Nothing but luck.
That's all it was.
Sheer has a couple of other meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for those.
Bert says I know that Monty's ideas are more conventional and low-key, but they're also tried and true.
Conventional means traditional, standard, nothing unusual, nothing exciting.
Low-key, L-O-W hyphen K-E-Y, means calm, not attracting a lot of attention, not very exciting.
Monty's ideas are conventional and low-key, but they're also tried and true.
This expression tried T-R-I-E-D, hyphen and hyphen true T-R-U-E means that they have been tested and shown to be successful.
We've used them before and they work.
Burt says in the end, it's your call.
When you say it's your call or it's my call, we aren't talking about a telephone call.
We're talking about a decision.
It's your decision.
It's my decision.
It's your call.
It's my call.
Wendy says in that case...
I'm going with Lorenzo.
I'm going with here means that's the person I'm going to hire or that's the person I'm going to use.
In general, to go with something means I'm making a decision to use this thing or this person.
To go with can also mean to actually leave with someone.
I'm going to go with my girlfriend to a bar this afternoon.
Don't tell my wife.
I'm kidding.
I mean you can tell my wife because I actually don't have a girlfriend.
It's just a joke.
Really.
Wendy says, I'm going with Lorenzo.
I'm sure he'll do a great job.
Bert says, I hope so.
I wouldn't want us to end up with egg on our face.
To end up is a very common phrasal verb in English.
It means to be in a certain situation after you have done a number of different other actions, after you have followed a plan.
So I'm going to work every day for two hours for one week.
And at the end of one week, I hope to end up with a good project.
That's the situation I want after I finish going through my plan.
That's the idea of to end up.
To end up can also mean simply to result after certain actions.
It can be a negative thing.
It could be a positive thing.
He stole money from his boss, and he ended up in prison.
That was the result of his actions.
Bert says, I don't want us to end up with egg on our face.
This is an old expression to have egg E-G-G on your face means to have made a major mistake.
And then you look stupid.
You're embarrassed because you made a big mistake and everyone sees it or everyone knows about it.
That's to end up with egg on your face.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I really don't think Monty is the right person for this project.
He's too conservative in his thinking.
We need someone who's a risk taker.
Monty will get the job done.
That's the most important thing.
Not if the finished product is staid and boring.
Our client won't be happy with that.
Okay, who do you have in mind?
I was thinking of giving the project to Lorenzo.
Lorenzo?
Well, he certainly likes to push the envelope, but he's also a loose cannon.
Sometimes his ideas pan out, and sometimes they fall flat.
But Lorenzo is bold and daring.
Did you see what he did on his last project?
It was genius.
It was reckless.
It was only through sheer luck that everything worked out.
I know that Monty's ideas are more conventional and low-key, but they're also tried and true.
But in the end, it's your call.
In that case, I'm going with Lorenzo.
I'm sure he'll do a great job.
I hope so.
I wouldn't want to stand up with egg on our face.
Our script today was sheer genius.
That's because it was written by the bold and daring 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 2012 by the Center for Educational Development.
