Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1058, Preventing Binge Drinking.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1058.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com.
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I think you might enjoy.
This episode is a dialogue about people who drink too much.
Too much alcohol, that is.
Let's get started.
They're at it again.
Those college kids next door are having another kegger.
That's what we get for buying a house this close to a college.
College students will have keggers and they'll binge drink.
It's a rite of passage.
It's dangerous to their health and a menace to the neighborhood, and I'm going to do something about it.
There's nothing we can do.
If it gets out of hand, we can call the cops, but let's not overreact.
I'm not overreacting.
They're college students, so I'm going to teach them about the dangers of binged drinking.
I'm going to wait on the sidewalk and pass out flyers as people arrive.
This flyer lists the many health reasons they should moderate their drinking.
It's for their own good.
And you think college students are going to give you the time of day?
I have a feeling we'll see the cops tonight.
You think the party will get out of hand?
No, I think they'll be here to arrest the crazy lady waylaying people outside of their house.
Our dialogue begins with Danielle saying to Nabil, they're at it again.
To be at something again means to be doing something again, especially when we are referring to something that we don't like.
If you hear your neighbors arguing with each other, you might say they're at it again.
They're arguing again.
They're doing something you don't like again.
In this case, the problem is not people arguing, but college students drinking alcohol.
Danielle says, those college students next door, meaning next to the house where we live, are having another kegger.
A kegger, K-E-G-G-E-R, is a party that has a lot of people and a lot of beer.
The beer comes in a big barrel, a big container called a keg, K-E-G.
So it's very popular, especially among college students, to have parties where someone brings a big keg, a big barrel basically, of beer.
These parties are called keggers.
Remember, in the U.S., The drinking age is 21 years old.
However, this doesn't stop people under 21 from drinking, especially at parties such as keggers.
Nabil says, That's what we get means...
That is the logical negative consequence of something.
If someone says to you you put on 20 pounds, you've gained 20 pounds.
That's what you get for eating all of that chocolate.
The idea is that the logical consequence of eating all of that chocolate is that you gain weight.
The logical consequence of moving into a house that is close to a college or university is that you get student parties.
College students, Nabil continues, will have keggers and they'll binge drink.
It's a rite of passage.
To binge, B-I-N-G-E, on something means to consume a lot of it.
To binge drink would be to drink a lot of alcohol in a short amount of time.
To binge watch would be to watch a lot of television in a short amount of time.
That expression, to binge watch, has become popular in the last few years to refer to people who like to watch all of the episodes of a certain television series in a short amount of time, say over a single weekend.
RITE of passage.
P-A-S-S-A-G-E refers to an event or an activity that marks or indicates your movement or transition from one stage to another.
A rite of passage would be something that everyone goes through at a certain age that indicates that they are growing older or that they are changing.
Nabil is saying that having keggers is a rite of passage for college students.
It's something that all college students do.
Danielle says.
However, it's dangerous to their health and a menace to the neighborhood, and I'm going to do something about it.
Danielle says that the binge drinking of her college neighbors is a menace M-E-N-A-C-E to the neighborhood.
A menace is something that is dangerous, scary, or threatening.
There was an old television show called Dennis the Menace.
Dennis was a young child who was always getting into trouble.
Usually however, menace has a little more negative meaning than just the trouble that a young boy would get into.
When you say something is menacing, you mean that it is threatening you in a very dangerous way.
Danielle thinks that the binge drinking of her college neighbors is a menace to the neighborhood.
And she's going to do something about it.
Meaning she's going to somehow try to stop it or change it.
Nabil says there's nothing we can do.
If it gets out of hand, we can call the cops, but let's not overreact.
When something gets out of hand, H-A-N-D, it gets out of control.
It becomes too wild for anyone to control it and to limit the damage it might cause.
If the party gets out of control, Nabil says...
They can call the cops.
The cops, C-O-P-S, are the police.
The word cop is used informally to refer to a police officer.
Nabil says, however, To overreact, O-V-E-R, R-E-A-C-T, means to react to something too strongly, to act as if something is more important than it really is, especially when you are reacting in a negative way.
If your wife tells you that you need to wash the dishes tonight after dinner and you start yelling and screaming about how you're too busy, that would be overreacting.
That would be reacting in a negative way, that the situation doesn't require or doesn't seem appropriate for.
Danielle says, I'm not overreacting.
They're college students, so I'm going to teach them about the dangers of binge drinking.
Nabil says, what are you going to do?
Danielle says, I'm going to wait on the sidewalk and pass out flyers as people arrive.
The sidewalk is a narrow area along the side of the road or the street where people walk up and down instead of walking in the street.
Danielle is going to stand on the sidewalk near the house and pass out flyers.
To pass out is a two-word phrasal verb.
That here means to give to people, especially people who are walking by, to give them pieces of paper.
A flyer.
F-L-Y-E-R is a piece of paper that has information on it, usually about some political cause, but sometimes just about information that the person passing it out thinks you should know.
Danielle's flyer is going to list many health reasons because of which students should moderate their drinking.
To moderate M-O-D-E-R-A-T-E here means to control the amount of something so that it isn't too high, it isn't too much, or it isn't too little or too low.
Danielle wants the students to moderate their drinking, meaning she doesn't want them to stop drinking.
She wants them to stop drinking too much.
She says, it's for their own good.
The expression for your own good means it's for your own benefit.
We often use this expression when you are telling someone to do something or to not do something.
When the person doesn't agree with you that it's a good thing or a bad thing to do, you think it's good for them.
The person doesn't agree with you.
That would be a case where we would use this expression, it's for your own good.
Parents, for example, use this expression with their children when the children say don't want to brush their teeth or eat their vegetables.
They may say to the child, it's for your own good.
You will benefit from this.
It is a good thing for you, even if you don't understand that.
Nabil says, and you think college students are going to give you the time of day?
The expression to give someone the time of day.
It doesn't mean to tell someone the time right now.
It means to pay attention to someone, to give someone the respect or courtesy that you might expect.
If you don't give someone the time of day, you're not interested in talking to that person.
You're not even interested in listening to that person.
Nabil thinks that these college students will just ignore Danielle standing on the sidewalk passing out her flyers.
Danielle says, I won't let them pass until they agree to drink responsibly.
The verb to pass, P-A-S-S, here means to move forward responsibly.
And to go around something that is in your way.
If you are walking down the street and I stand right in front of you and I hold my arms out so that you cannot go by me, I would not be allowing you to pass.
If I allow you to pass, I move out of the way so you can continue moving forward.
You can continue walking.
Danielle says she's not going to let these students pass, meaning she's not going to let them go into the house until they agree to drink responsibly.
To drink responsibly is to avoid drinking too much alcohol, to avoid drinking too much alcohol.
Nabil says, I have a feeling we'll see the cops tonight.
I have a feeling here means I predict, I expect.
Danielle says, do you think the party will get out of hand?
Nabil says no, I think they'll be here to arrest the crazy lady waylaying people outside of their house.
Nabil is referring, of course, to Danielle herself.
He's saying the cops, the police will show up because Danielle is trying to stop people from getting into the house.
To waylay W-A-Y-L-A-Y.
One word is to prevent someone from doing something, to stop someone, to interrupt someone.
That's what Danielle is thinking about doing with these binge-drinking college students.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
They're at it again.
Those college kids next door are having another kegger.
That's what we get for buying a house this close to a college.
College students will have keggers and they'll binge drink.
It's a rite of passage.
It's dangerous to their health and a menace to the neighborhood, and I'm going to do something about it.
There's nothing we can do.
If it gets out of hand, we can call the cops, but let's not overreact.
I'm not overreacting.
They're college students, so I'm going to teach them about the dangers of binge drinking.
What are you going to do?
I'm going to wait on the sidewalk and pass out flyers as people arrive.
This flyer lists the many health reasons they should moderate their drinking.
It's for their own good.
And you think college students are going to give you the time of day?
I won't let them pass unless they agree to drink responsibly.
I have a feeling we'll see the cops tonight.
You think the party will get out of hand?
No, I think they'll be here to arrest the crazy lady waylaying people outside of their house.
Our scripts are not a menace to your English.
They are, we hope, a great benefit to it.
Thanks to our script writer, Dr. Lucy Say, for her work.
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.
