Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 991.
Describing distances.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 991.
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 between Sandra and Roger that will include vocabulary we use in English to describe distances.
Let's get started.
Where will we be staying when we visit Trumanville?
We'll be staying in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the town, but it's a stone's throw from some of the major sites we'll want to see.
I hope there'll be a lot of taxis around.
You know I hate to walk.
Trumanville is a very walkable city and will be within walking distance to everything.
We'll be able to go nearly everywhere on foot.
I told you I hate to walk.
At least we'll be within close proximity to the beach.
Actually, the areas near the beach are too expensive and we can't afford it.
And plus the beach is in a remote part of town and staying there would mean being in the boonies for our entire trip.
But we could take taxis.
Taking taxis everywhere would be really expensive.
Tell me that we'll at least be in the vicinity of good shopping areas.
It might be a bit of a hike to the shops, but it won't be too onerous to walk.
Are you out of your mind?
This is supposed to be a budget vacation, not a luxury trip.
I'm not made of money, you know.
And I didn't know you were such a cheapskate.
Our dialogue begins with Sandra saying to Roger, Where will we be staying when we visit Trumanville?
Sandra wants to know where they're going to be staying overnight, we assume.
When they visit this town called Trumanville.
Roger says we'll be staying in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the town.
The outskirts O-U-T-S-K-I-R-T-S are the edges of the town, not edges in the center of the town or city, but way out where the city is about to end, basically.
Roger says they're going to stay in a neighborhood on the outskirts of town, in an area on the outskirts of town, but a stone's throw from some of the major sites we'll want to see.
The expression a stone's throw is a somewhat old one to describe a distance that is very small, something that is very close, something that is nearby could be described as being a stone's throw from where you are or a stone's throw away.
A stone is a rock.
So if you think of how far you can throw a rock and most of us can't throw a rock very far That gives you an idea of why we use that expression for something very close.
Sandra says, I hope there'll be a lot of taxis around.
You know I hate to walk.
Sandra is hoping there'll be a lot of taxi cabs that they can take so she doesn't have to walk very much.
Roger says, however, Trumanville is a very walkable city.
When we call a place or a city walkable W-A-L-K-A-B-L-E, we mean the city is small enough so that you can walk from one place to another.
You don't need to take a car.
Los Angeles is not considered a very walkable city because everything is spread out.
Everything is far away from people the next thing you want to go to.
A place like New York City however, is typically more walkable, meaning you can find all the things you want just by walking around.
You don't have to take a car to get to say, a grocery store or the museum.
Trumanville, according to Roger, is a very walkable city.
He says we'll be within walking distance to everything.
Walking distance is the distance that you can walk.
Of course, everybody has a different tolerance for walking.
For some people, walking distance could be a mile.
For some people, like me, it's more like 100 meters.
Roger says, we'll be able to go nearly everywhere on foot.
On foot just means by walking, by using your feet.
Sandra said, I told you I hate to walk.
Roger doesn't apparently understand.
And so Sandra is trying to be very clear with him.
She says, I told you.
Sandra says at least we'll be within close proximity to the beach.
To be within close proximity, P-R-O-X-I-M-I-T-Y, to something is to be close to something, to be near something.
It's just another way of saying nearby.
Roger says, actually, the areas near the beach are too expensive.
Roger is saying that if...
They plan on staying near the beach in a hotel or area near the beach.
It will be very expensive.
It will cost a lot of money.
Roger says we can't afford it, meaning we don't have enough money.
We can't afford it.
And plus, meaning additionally, the beach is in a remote part of town.
Remote, R-E-M-O-T-E, means far away from everything else, very difficult to reach or to get to.
Roger says the beach is in a remote part of Trumanville and staying there would mean being in the boonies for our entire trip.
The Expression the boonies B-O-O-N-I-E-S refers to a very rural, undeveloped part of a state or a country away from the city, away from where most people are.
The term the boonies is an insulting one to describe a place that is far away from civilization, if you will, far away from where most people are.
Sandra says, but we could take taxis.
Roger says taking taxis everywhere would be really expensive.
Sandra says, tell me that we'll at least be in the vicinity of good shopping areas.
Sandra wants to be able to take taxi cabs, and Roger says that's going to be too expensive.
So Sandra then says tell me meaning.
Please tell me that we will at least be in the vicinity of good shopping areas.
Tell me here is really used to mean, then this better be true, or I hope it is true.
Sandra hopes that they will be in the vicinity, V-I-C-I-N-I-T-Y, of good shopping areas.
To be in the vicinity of something is to be near something.
It's just another way of saying nearby.
Sandra wants to be in the vicinity of good shopping areas, places where she can go and buy things.
Rogers says it might be a bit of a hike to the shops, but it won't be too onerous to walk.
A bit of a hike, H-I-K-E, means a somewhat long distance.
If someone says it's a bit of a hike, they mean you can walk there, but it's going to take a while to walk there.
It's going to take a long time to get there.
The verb to hike H-I-K-E means to walk, but typically to walk a long distance, and often to walk in areas that are outside of a city, such as a park.
Here it's used as a noun, a hike, to mean a distance that you can walk.
Roger says that it might be a bit of a hike to the shops, to the stores, but it won't be too onerous to walk.
Onerous, O-N-E-R-O-U-S, means very difficult, requiring a lot of energy and effort.
Roger says it will not be too onerous to walk.
It won't be too difficult.
Sandra again is not very happy with Roger, and she uses an expression that indicates that she's not happy and that she believes Roger is not paying attention to what she's saying.
She says, read my lips.
I don't want to walk everywhere.
Read my lips is a phrase that you use often when you are unhappy perhaps, with someone and want them to pay very close attention to what you are about to say.
It's another way of saying, pay close attention to what I am about to tell you.
The phrase, read my lips, became quite popular after George H.W.
Bush, the first Bush, used it to tell people that he wasn't going to raise taxes.
He said, read my lips, no new taxes.
He wasn't going to increase the amount of taxes that the federal government would have.
After he was elected, what happened?
Well, he raised taxes.
He wasn't elected a second time.
Back to our story, however.
Sandra says, read my lips.
I don't want to walk everywhere.
Maybe we can rent a car or hire a driver.
To hire a driver would be to pay someone to drive you around in their car.
Roger says, are you out of your mind?
The phrase to be out of your mind means to be crazy, to not be thinking rationally or logically.
Roger says this is supposed to be a budget vacation, not a luxury trip.
I'm not made of money, you know.
A budget vacation would be a vacation that doesn't cost very much money.
A luxury L-U-X-U-R-Y trip would be a trip that does cost a lot of money, a very expensive trip, vacation.
Roger tells Sandra, I'm not made of money, meaning I don't have a lot of money.
We use this expression when we don't have a lot of money to spend and somebody wants us to spend a lot of money.
Sandra says, and I didn't know you were such a cheapskate.
To be a cheapskate, C-H-E-A-P-S-K-A-T-E, is to be a person who doesn't like to spend a lot of money.
To be a cheap person is to be a cheapskate.
To be cheap means you don't like spending money.
You don't like spending money even in cases where you probably should spend money.
That's the idea.
The word cheapskate is an insulting adjective to describe a person who doesn't like to spend very much money, and that's what Sandra is doing here.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Where will we be staying when we visit Trumanville?
We'll be staying in a neighborhood on the outskirts of town, but a stone's throw from some of the major sites we'll want to see.
I hope there'll be a lot of taxis around.
You know I hate to walk.
Trumanville is a very walkable city, and we'll be within walking distance to everything.
We'll be able to go nearly everywhere on foot.
I told you, I hate to walk.
At least we'll be within close proximity to the beach.
Actually, the areas near the beach are too expensive and we can't afford it.
And plus the beach is in a remote part of town and staying there would mean being in the boonies for our entire trip.
But we could take taxis.
Taking taxis everywhere would be really expensive.
Tell me that we'll at least be in the vicinity of good shopping areas.
It might be a bit of a hike to the shops but it won't be too onerous to walk.
Read my lips.
I don't want to walk everywhere.
Maybe we can rent a car or hire a driver.
Are you out of your mind?
This is supposed to be a budget vacation, not a luxury trip.
I'm not made of money, you know.
And I didn't know you were such a cheapskate.
Our thanks to Dr. Lucy Say for all of her wonderful scripts, including this one.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational Development.
