Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1,125, Serving Alcoholic Drinks.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 1,125.
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 Bethany and Nathan about giving someone something alcoholic to drink.
Let's get started.
While you were in the bathroom, the other guys left.
The night is young.
Let me get you a refill.
No, I really shouldn't have another drink.
I had a neat drink after dinner and I'm still feeling the effects.
I'm a lightweight and I'm not normally a drinker.
What's the harm?
Have one for the road.
I'll serve this one straight up. and with a twist of lemon.
It's my specialty.
I could also mix you a cocktail, if you prefer.
Consider it a nightcap.
No, I really shouldn't.
All right, I'll just top off that drink in your hand.
No, it's late.
I'm tired, and I have to go.
I prefer that to the alternative.
Bethany starts the dialogue by saying Nathan replies While you were in the bathroom, the other guys left the other people who were here.
Remember that the word guy G-U-Y in American English can mean a man, a male, but it can also just mean a group of men and women or boys and girls, I suppose.
Bethany says, in that case, I should go too.
It's getting late.
Bethany is saying that she should go home because it is getting late and everyone else has left also.
But Nathan doesn't want her to go.
He says, the night is young.
That expression the night is young is used when you don't want to go home after going to a party or doing something else.
It's used to encourage someone else to stay out later with you to perhaps go to a bar or go dancing.
The night is young.
It means it's early in the evening.
We wouldn't say this during the day, of course.
It would have to be after, say, 6 o'clock p.m.
Bethany wants to go home, but Nathan wants her to stay.
He says, let me get you a refill.
The verb to refill R-E-F-I-L-L means to put more liquid in someone's glass and In this case, to serve someone.
Another alcoholic drink.
The noun refill refers to that liquid which goes into your glass.
Bethany says, no, I really shouldn't have another drink.
I had a neat drink after dinner and I'm still feeling the effects.
This phrase or term, a neat, N-E-A-T, drink, is one used mostly by what we would call bartenders, people who work behind a bar serving you alcohol in a bar or a pub.
A neat drink is a drink that is only made of one kind of alcohol.
It's not mixed with anything.
It's not mixed with water or juice or ice or anything else.
So, for example, if you wanted...
Just whiskey.
You could get the bartender to give you a small glass of whiskey.
If it were a neat drink, it wouldn't have any ice in it.
Now I don't go to bars very much anymore and, to be honest, I had never heard of this term neat drink before today.
There's a similar term that I think most Americans would be familiar with, which is straight up.
A drink served straight up is also one in which there's no ice or other liquids in.
However, the bartender makes the drink cold first by putting ice into it and then taking it out, basically.
So that's the difference between a neat drink and a drink straight up.
Bethany says she had a neat drink after dinner, and she's still feeling the effects.
She says, I'm a lightweight drinker.
And I'm not normally a drinker.
If someone says they're a lightweight, L-I-G-H-T, W-E-I-G-H-T, one word, He means he can't drink very much alcohol without it affecting him, that even a little bit of alcohol will make him a little dizzy or will get him what we would call drunk, D-R-U-N-K, which is when you've drunken so much alcohol, you begin to lose your ability to function normally.
Bethany says she is a lightweight and not normally a drinker.
That is a person who drinks a lot of alcohol, such as beer or wine or whiskey or vodka or whatever one likes to drink.
Nathan says, what's the harm?
What bad could happen from doing it?
He says, have one for the road.
That expression, one for the road, refers to one last drink before you leave.
That's not, of course, a very good idea to be drinking if you are going to have to drive afterwards.
I guess if you're taking a taxi, it's okay.
Nathan wants to give Bethany one for the road.
He says, I'll serve this one straight up and with a twist of lemon.
Remember we said straight up, means that the drink has just one kind of alcohol, but is made cold, first by putting ice in it and then taking the ice out.
I'm not quite sure why you would have a drink straight up with a twist of lemon if there were a twist of lemon.
It wouldn't be a drink straight up, I don't think.
But then again, I don't drink very much.
Well, what is a twist, T-W-I-S-T, of lemon?
A twist of lemon is a small amount of the fruit lemon that is squeezed into the drink.
Often they will put the little piece of lemon, the little what we would call slice S-L-I-C-E of lemon into the drink, after it has been squeezed into the drink.
Nathan says, it's my specialty.
Your specialty is what you are very good at doing.
He continues, A cocktail, C-O-C-K-T-A-I-L, is a drink that contains two or more ingredients.
It could be two different kinds of alcohol.
It could be alcohol in water or alcohol in juice or alcohol in soda.
To mix means to combine these two ingredients together, the two kinds of alcohol or the two kinds of liquid that are in the drink.
Nathan says, consider it a nightcap.
A nightcap N-I-G-H-T-C-A-P is an alcoholic drink that you drink right before going to bed to help you fall asleep.
Bethany says, no, I really shouldn't.
This is a very polite way of telling someone that you don't want to do what that person wants you to do.
Bethany doesn't want to have another drink.
Nathan keeps insisting.
So Bethany says, no, I really shouldn't.
Nathan finally says, all right, I'll just top off that drink in your hand.
To top off is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to put more liquid into your glass of the same type when you haven't finished drinking what's already in your glass.
So, for example, if you have a cocktail of i don't know whiskey and soda, someone says let me top off your drink.
The person is offering to put more whiskey and soda into your glass until your glass is full again.
Bethany however, says no, it's late, I'm tired and I have to go.
So she's very direct now with Nathan, telling Nathan, no, she doesn't want to have another drink.
But Nathan says, don't rush off.
To rush R-U-S-H off is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to leave suddenly or to leave in a hurry, to leave quickly.
Nathan says, you wouldn't want to get a reputation for being a spoil sport, would you?
A reputation here refers to how other people perceive you, what you are known for.
You can have a good reputation or you can have a bad reputation.
A spoilsport, S-P-O-I-L-S-P-O-R-T, one word, is a person who ruins other people's fun, who behaves in a way that makes something less enjoyable than it should be.
If you're at a party and everyone wants to play a game and you say, oh, no, I don't want to play.
Someone may call you a spoilsport.
You are spoiling or ruining the game or the situation for everyone else.
Nathan is telling Bethany that if she leaves now, she'll get the reputation for being a spoilsport.
Bethany, however, says, I prefer that to the alternative.
An alternative.
A-L-T-E-R-N-A-T-I-V-E is another possibility, another option, another thing you can do if one thing doesn't work or is not successful.
Here.
What Bethany means is that she would rather have the reputation for being a spoil sport than being the kind of person who keeps drinking as the night goes on.
At least I think that's what she means.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Where is everybody?
While you were in the bathroom, the other guys left.
In that case, I should go too.
It's getting late.
The night is young.
Let me get you a refill.
No, I really shouldn't have another drink.
I had a neat drink after dinner, and I'm still feeling the effects.
I'm a lightweight, and I'm not normally a drinker.
What's the harm?
Have one for the road.
I'll serve this one straight up and with a twist of lemon.
It's my specialty.
I could also mix you a cocktail if you prefer.
Consider it a nightcap.
No, I really shouldn't.
All right.
I'll just top off that drink in your hand.
No, it's late.
I'm tired, and I have to go.
Don't rush off.
You wouldn't want to get a reputation for being a spoil sport, would you?
I prefer that to the alternative.
Dr Lucy Say has the reputation for being one of the best, if not the best, scriptwriter on the internet.
Thank you, Lucy.
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 2015 by the Center for Educational Development.
