Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1,214, Experiencing Dread.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1,214.
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 about dread, of not wanting to do something because of a fear of what might happen.
Let's get started.
There's no rush.
I'm thinking of postponing until tomorrow.
Why?
I feel a sense of foreboding.
I have a sneaking suspicion that things aren't going to go well.
Under the circumstances, I can understand your reluctance but it's like ripping off a bandage.
It's best done quickly.
I have a feeling that things are going to go very, very wrong.
And the longer I can put it off, the better.
Next week is your girlfriend's birthday.
You don't want to break up with her on her birthday, do you?
No, that would be cruel.
Maybe I should hold off until after next week.
She's got a temper.
When I told her that I couldn't join her on a visit to her parents' house last weekend, she went ballistic and I have dents in my car door to show for it.
I expect this to be much, much worse.
Ah, I see.
I never liked the idea of breaking up with someone remotely, but it might be called for in this case.
Brianna asks Victor, are you still here?
I thought you left ages ago.
Ages, A-G-E-S, ago, A-G-O, means here a long time ago.
Victor says, there's no rush.
Meaning, there's no hurry, there's no reason for me to leave right away or immediately.
In fact, Victor says, I'm thinking of postponing until tomorrow.
To postpone, P-O-S-T-P-O-N-E, means to do something later.
Not to do it now.
Another verb here we could use is to delay.
D-E-L-A-Y.
Brianna asks Victor why he's thinking of postponing until tomorrow.
Victor says, I feel a sense of foreboding.
Foreboding, F-O-R-E B-O-D I-N-G is not a common word in English conversation.
It means an anxious feeling that something bad will happen.
You have a sense, a feeling, an emotion that something bad will happen in the future.
Victor says, I have a sneaking suspicion that that things aren't going to go well.
A sneaking S-N-E-A-K-I-N-G suspicion S-U-S-P-I-C-I-O-N is a belief that something bad will happen.
It's very similar to this idea of foreboding.
The word foreboding is usually used when something really bad is going to happen, something perhaps even evil.
Sneaking suspicion is usually used in a less serious situation, where you know something is bad or you know something is Not good.
May happen, but it's not going to be something terrible.
Sometimes we use this expression sneaking suspicion, when you think another person is hiding something from you or you think that something is going on that shouldn't be going on.
I have a sneaking suspicion that Bill isn't really sick today.
He decided to go to the beach with his girlfriend.
That's why he's not here at work.
That would be an example of using that expression when there isn't something horrible that is happening or going to happen.
Brianna says under the circumstances, I can understand your reluctance, but it's like ripping off a bandage.
It's best done quickly.
Reluctance, R-E-L-U-C-T-A-N-C-E, is a hesitation or unwillingness to do something.
You're not sure you really want to do it.
You sort of wait and stop and think, hmm, should I really do this?
That's a reluctance, an unwillingness to do something.
Brianna can understand Victor's reluctance.
But, she says, it's like ripping off a bandage.
B-A-N-D-A-G-E.
A bandage is something you put on your skin when you cut yourself.
You put it over the cut.
To rip off a bandage is to take it off your skin quickly.
Of course, you take off a bandage quickly so that it doesn't hurt as much, or you get the pain over in a very short period of time.
That's what Brianna is suggesting that Victor do.
Obviously, Victor is thinking about something that he doesn't want to do that will be painful.
And that's why it's best to do it quickly, Brianna says.
Victor disagrees.
He says, I'm not sure about that.
I have a feeling meaning, I think or I believe something that things are going to go very, very wrong.
For something to go very, very wrong is for bad things to happen as a result of whatever you're going to do or whatever someone else is going to do.
Victor believes the longer I can put it off the better.
The two-word phrasal verb to put something off means the same as to postpone or to delay.
To do something later, usually because you don't want to do it now.
Brianna says, next week is your girlfriend's birthday.
You don't want to break up with her on her birthday, do you?
Now we learn what Victor is worried about.
He wants to break up with his girlfriend.
To break up with someone is to end a romantic relationship with someone, usually someone that you are not married to, yet someone you are dating.
We would say.
Victor says no, he doesn't want to break up with his girlfriend on her birthday.
That would be cruel, C-R-U-E-L.
Cruel is very mean, very inconsiderate, we might say.
Cruel is actually more than inconsiderate.
It's something that really hurts another person.
Victor says, maybe I should hold off until after next week.
To hold off is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to wait to do something later.
It's similar to delay or to postpone.
Brianna says you're really dreading breaking up with her, aren't you?
To dread D-R-E-A-D means to not want to do something because you are worried or afraid about what might happen.
You know you may not do very well on it.
You're fearful about what will happen.
Brianna thinks that Victor is dreading breaking up with his girlfriend.
Victor apparently is dreading breaking up with her in part because he says she has a temper.
Victor says she's got a temper.
She's got a temper means the same as she has a temper.
To have a temper, T-E-M-P-E-R, means to lose control of your emotions easily.
To be someone who often gets upset and angry.
We often think of a young child as having a temper if the child gets angry easily.
But adults also have a temper.
Someone who easily gets upset at things or starts yelling at other people because something goes wrong is someone who has a temper.
Victor says, She went ballistic.
Victor told his girlfriend that he could not go with her when she was going to visit her parents last weekend.
When this happened, Victor says the girlfriend went ballistic b-a-l-l-i-s-t-i-c.
The phrasal verb to go ballistic means to become extremely angry and to lose control of your emotions, to start shouting and screaming, for example.
Victor says he has dents in his car door to show for it.
A dent D-E-N-T is a small section of something that has been pushed in, that is no longer flat or smooth.
If you have a car and someone hits your car, the side of your car especially, you will probably get a dent in the side of your car.
The metal will go in.
There will be what we call an indentation.
Well, it's obvious that Victor's girlfriend got so angry at him that she hit his car and caused a dent.
That's what happens when she goes ballistic, I guess.
This is what Victor has to show for it.
The expression to show for it means to have as a result of something else happening.
He says I expect this to be much, much worse, meaning if he breaks up with her, she will get even more angry.
Brianna says, ah, I see, meaning yes, I understand.
I never liked the idea of breaking up with someone remotely, but it might be called for in this case.
To do something remotely, R-E-M-O-T-E-L-Y, is to do it from a distance.
Many people now work remotely.
They don't go into their office.
They stay at home and work on their computer and use the internet to communicate with other people.
That's working remotely.
Brianna is suggesting perhaps that Victor break up with his girlfriend remotely.
Maybe send her a text message.
Or tweet her.
Or put something on his Facebook page.
Like, now I'm single.
In any case, Brianna thinks that breaking up with the girlfriend remotely might be called for in this case.
To be called for means to be appropriate, to be necessary or required in this particular situation.
I have to say, I never had a difficult breakup with my girlfriends.
Usually they broke up with me, so I didn't have to worry about it too much until after it happened.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Are you still here?
I thought you left ages ago.
There's no rush.
I'm thinking of postponing until tomorrow, why i feel a sense of foreboding.
I have a sneaking suspicion that things aren't going to go well under the circumstances.
I can understand your reluctance, but it's like ripping off a bandage it's best done quickly.
I'm not sure about that.
I have a feeling that things are going to go very, very wrong, and the longer I can put it off the better.
No, that would be cruel.
Maybe I should hold off until after next week.
She's got a temper.
When I told her that I couldn't join her on a visit to her parents' house last weekend, she went ballistic and I have dents in my car door to show for it.
I expect this to be much, much worse.
Ah, I see.
I never liked the idea of breaking up with someone remotely, but it might be called for in this case.
Never postpone listening to our ESL podcast episodes.
You'll want to listen to the wonderful scripts by our wonderful script writer, Dr Lucy Say, as soon as you can.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks 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 2016 by the Center for Educational Development.
