Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1069, Disinheriting a Child.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1069.
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 Vince and Alana about what happens with a child one of your children who does something that makes you angry.
We'll find out what Vince's solution is in a moment.
Let's get started.
That's it.
I've had it with Daniel defying me at every turn.
I want him to follow in my footsteps and study law, but he wants to be an artist.
He dates girls I don't approve of.
But this, this is beyond the bounds of what I'll tolerate.
I know you're upset, but don't do anything rash.
I'm sure Daniel didn't mean what he said.
I'm sure you don't mean that.
You both spoke in anger.
I'm sure a cooling off period of a few days will change his mind.
It'll be too late.
I'm cutting him out of my will tomorrow.
I have other descendants who'll appreciate inheriting my money and property.
But Daniel is your rightful heir.
He's your only child.
Then he should have known how his hateful words would hurt me.
What did he say exactly?
He said he has become a San Francisco Giants fan.
A Giants fan!
That's it?
That's it!
He's wounded me to the core.
Vince begins by saying to Alana, that's it.
When someone says that's it, they mean this is the final action that I am going to put up with or tolerate.
We say it when we're angry and frustrated.
Vince is angry and frustrated.
He says...
I've had it with Daniel defying me at every turn.
When we say we've had it with someone or something, we mean that we are tired of it.
We are frustrated by something.
We no longer will tolerate it or put up with it.
Vince is tired of Daniel defying him at every turn.
To defy D-E-F-Y someone means to refuse to obey someone, to say no when someone tells you to do something.
That's what Daniel is doing.
He's defying Vince at every turn.
The expression at every turn means frequently repeatedly, every time the possibility arises, every time the situation arises.
Daniel is taking the opportunity of saying no to Vince.
Vince says no.
I want him to follow in my footsteps and study law, but he wants to be an artist.
Follow in someone's footsteps.
F-O-O-T-S-T-E-P-S means to do what another person has done, especially the same kind of job or profession that another person has.
So, for example, if your father was a teacher and you decide to become a teacher, we might say that you have followed in your father's footsteps.
My father was a teacher.
I became a teacher.
So I, in fact, followed in my father's footsteps.
Your footsteps literally are the places where you put your foot down on the ground.
If you walk in an area that has very soft dirt or mud, you will leave footprints.
Just like your fingers leave fingerprints when you touch something, footprints come from your footsteps, the places where your foot touches the ground.
Vince wants Daniel to become a lawyer, to study law.
But Daniel wants to be an artist.
Vince says that Daniel dates girls I don't approve of.
To date a girl would be to go out on a date, a romantic meeting with a girl or a boy.
I don't approve of is an expression we use to mean I don't think is a good idea.
So, like I suppose a lot of sons, Daniel is going out on dates, getting romantically involved with women.
That Vince doesn't approve of, that his father doesn't approve of.
This never really happened to me.
In fact, when I would come home with a girlfriend, my parents would always ask me why the girl was going out with me.
They would tell the girl, hey, you can find somebody better than this guy, right?
So I had the opposite problem.
Vince, getting back to our story, has a problem with his son Daniel, and He says this is beyond the bounds of what I'll tolerate.
So clearly, Daniel has done something that Vince doesn't like.
He says it's beyond the bounds, B-O-U-N-D-S, of what he'll tolerate.
If we say something is beyond the bounds, we mean it's gone past what you think is acceptable.
It has gone past the limits of something.
Alana says, I know you're upset, but don't do anything rash.
To do something rash.
R-A-S-H is to do something in a hurry quickly, but without thinking of what might happen, the bad consequences of what might happen.
We use this word, especially when someone makes a quick decision about something, in anger or because he's frustrated without really thinking about it carefully and clearly.
Alana says Daniel has said something to Vince that Vince doesn't like.
Alana is saying that he probably didn't mean it, meaning he said it but he didn't really believe it.
Vince disagrees.
He says To disown D-I-S-O-W-N someone is to refuse to help or support one of your children, your son or your daughter.
You say, I'm not going to have any relationship with that person.
I'm not going to help them.
I'm not going to support them.
It is as if that person were no longer your child.
That's to disown someone.
To disinherit D-I-S-I-N-H-E-R-I-T means that you are not going to give anything to that person any money or any property when you die.
Normally, when your parents die, the money or possessions that they have would legally become yours, at least unless they wrote out a special document called a will W-I-L-L that specifies where their money and property should go after their deaths.
So, for a parent to disinherit a child is, of course, a very serious thing.
The The child will not get any of their money or property when the parent dies.
Alana tries to calm Vince down.
She says, To speak in anger means to say something when you're mad.
And often when we speak in anger, we say things that we don't really mean.
We say things to hurt another person or to get another person angry.
Alana says...
To cool off means to become calm and relaxed after you have been angry and upset.
A cooling off period would be time when two people agree basically not to communicate with each other or talk to each other, so both of them can calm down.
Vince says it'll be too late.
I'm cutting him out of my will tomorrow.
We already explained what a will is.
It's a legal document that specifies where or to whom your money goes when you die.
To cut someone out of your will means to say this person was going to get some money, but now he's not.
You're eliminating that person from your will.
You're no longer giving that person any money or property.
Vince says, I have other descendants who will appreciate inheriting my money and property.
Your descendants D-E-S-C-E-N, D-A-N-T-S are People who are related to you, but usually younger than you.
Your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren.
Those people would be your descendants.
To inherit, I-N-H-E-R-I-T, means to get money from someone who has died.
Vince is saying that he has other people who are related to him who will appreciate his money and property when he dies.
So he's saying that other people will be thankful and grateful for getting his money, unlike Daniel.
Alana says, however, Daniel is your rightful heir.
Your heir, H-E-I-R, is a person who receives your money or property when you die.
Usually we talk about an heir when referring to children the children that you have.
Your rightful R-I-G-H-T-F-U-L heir is the person who should receive the money.
It is the person who, by custom, tradition, or law, gets your money and property when you die.
So in the United States, for example, if you die and you don't Leave a will, that is, you don't make a legal agreement or write out a legal document specifying where your money and property should go when you die
Your rightful heirs are your children, if you have children, or your spouse, your husband or wife, if you're married.
What if you're not married and have no children?
Well, then the money goes to your closest relative, perhaps a brother or a cousin or a nephew.
If you're writing out a will and you don't know whom you should give your money to, you should just put my name in there Jeffrey McQuillan of Los Angeles, California.
I'd be happy to take your money and property when you die.
Which I hope is not soon, of course.
Well, not too soon.
Alana reminds Vince that Daniel is his only child.
Vince replies, Then he should have known how his hateful words would hurt me.
Alana says, what did he say exactly?
Meaning, what were the words that Daniel used that made Vince so angry?
Vince says, he said he has become a San Francisco Giants fan.
A Giants fan, he says in frustration.
The San Francisco Giants are a professional baseball team, as often happens in sports.
Different teams become rivals, meaning they compete against each other, and have a Several different professional baseball teams, including the San Francisco Giants and my favorite team, which is the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sometimes, two teams in particular are enemies of each other even more than they are of other teams, and that's the case with the Giants and the Dodgers.
Vince is saying that his son has become a San Francisco Giants fan.
And we can guess that Vince is a Dodger fan.
Alana is surprised that Vince is so angry about this.
She says, that's it?
Meaning, that's the only thing he did to make you mad and to make you want to disown him?
Vince says, shocked, that's it?
He's wounded me to the core.
The phrase to the core, C-O-R-E, means completely and entirely.
To wound W-O-U-N-D someone is to hurt someone, either physically or, as is the case in our dialogue, psychologically or emotionally.
Vince is saying that his son has really hurt him by becoming a fan of the San Francisco Giants.
And frankly, I can understand what Vince is talking about here.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
That's it.
I've had it with Daniel Define Me at every turn.
I want him to follow in my footsteps and study law, but he wants to be an artist.
He dates girls I don't approve of.
But this, this is beyond the bounds of what I'll tolerate.
I know you're upset, but don't do anything rash.
I'm sure Daniel didn't mean what he said.
Oh, he meant it.
That's it.
I'm disowning and disinheriting him.
I'm sure you don't mean that.
You both spoke in anger.
I'm sure a cooling-off period of a few days will change his mind.
It'll be too late.
I'm cutting him out of my will tomorrow.
I have other descendants who'll appreciate inheriting my money and property.
But Daniel is your rightful heir.
He's your only child.
Then he should have known how his hateful words would hurt me.
What did he say exactly?
He said he has become a San Francisco Giants fan.
A Giants fan!
That's it?
That's it!
He's wounded me to the core.
There's nothing I don't approve of in the scripts of our wonderful scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2015 by the Center for Educational Development.
