Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1,287, Using Adapters and Converters.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1,287.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
This episode is a dialogue between Ben and Nicola about being able to plug in or use your electronic devices when you're in another country or when you're traveling.
Let's get started.
Wait, don't plug that into the socket.
You'll fry that old hairdryer.
I can't anyway.
This plug has two prongs, and that socket is designed for three prongs.
That's why I brought these adapters and this combination converter and transformer.
Our devices will either not work or be ruined if we try plugging them directly into those sockets.
You'd still need an adapter.
Whatever.
Okay, I've put them both on.
Now, can I dry my hair?
You can't use that hair dryer because the cord is frayed.
If you turn it on, it may short-circuit and then blow a fuse.
We'd be without electricity.
Good thing I brought mine.
Let me just check that the outlet is grounded.
Yeah, I think it's safe for you to use this one.
I won't get electrocuted.
You won't even get a little singed.
Our dialogue begins with Ben saying to Nicola, wait, meaning stop what you are doing.
He then says, don't plug that into the socket.
The phrasal verb to plug P-L-U-G in something or to plug something in, and we can also use into I-N-T-O with this verb, means to put something, the wire that is connected to an electronic device, into what is called a socket.
Technically, you're not putting the wires into the socket.
You're putting something the wires are connected to called a plug, P-L-U-G.
So plug is both a noun describing that object that is at the end of an electrical wire and a verb meaning to put that object into a socket.
S-O-C-K-E-T.
A socket, sometimes called a wall socket, is that thing in the wall that has electricity running to it.
You put or plug something into the socket in order to get electricity to your TV or radio or phone charger or whatever it happens to be.
So, Ben is telling Nikola not to plug something into a socket.
He then says, you'll fry that old hair dryer.
The verb to fry F-R-Y here means to destroy something or ruin something, especially an electronic device, because of an inappropriate or improper amount of electricity used with it.
Americans who travel to Europe, for example, have to be careful, because most European countries use a different system of electricity.
Here in the United States we use 110 volts, and in many countries in Europe they use 220 volts.
Well, some older electronic devices don't work on both systems.
My electric toothbrush, for example, got fried when I plugged it in once when I was visiting Europe several years ago.
It wasn't one that you could use with the different voltage that was used in that country.
So that's what we mean by to fry something.
It means the electronic device stops working because it has the wrong amount of electricity or type going through it.
A hair, H-A-I-R, dryer, D-R-Y-E-R, does what it says it does.
It dries your hair.
I used to have a hair dryer.
Nicola says, I can't anyway, meaning I can't plug in to this socket.
She says, this plug has two prongs, and that socket is designed for three prongs.
A prong P-R-O-N-G is one of those short pieces of metal that comes out of a plug that is used to connect the plug to the socket.
In the United States, most sockets accept plugs that have two short, flat pieces of metal.
In many other countries, the prongs are round.
And therefore, if you want to plug something say, from the United States into another socket in another country, you need what's called an adapter.
And that's what Ben talks about in the very next sentence here.
He says, that's why I brought these adapters.
An adapter A-D-A-P-T-E-R is any small device that connects two things together that use different systems of connectors.
So, for example, you may have a phone that uses one kind of connector on one end of the electric cord used to charge the phone and a different connector on the other end.
If you need to connect two things together that have different connectors, you need an adapter.
For electronic devices.
You may need something that not only helps with the two different systems of prongs but also with the actual type of or amount of electricity.
Then refers to a combination converter and transformer.
A converter is anything that changes the electrical current, such as from AC or alternating current to DC or direct current.
A transformer is something that changes the amount of voltage of the electric current from say 220, which is used commonly in Europe, to 110, which is used for US and Canadian electronic devices, and other countries as well, of course.
Nowadays, many electronic devices have their own converters and or transformers built in, so that you don't need a separate one, but older ones often do need converters and or transformers.
Ben continues our devices will either not work or will be ruined, that is, will be destroyed, if we try plugging them directly into those outlets.
An outlet O-U-T-L-E-T.
Here means the same thing as a wall socket.
Nikola says, I should have bought a travel hair dryer with dual voltage.
Dual, D-U-A-L, means two or two types.
So dual voltage means is something that works on both 110 and 220 volt electrical systems.
Ben says.
However, you'd still need an adapter, meaning even if the hairdryer was one that had dual voltage, you still wouldn't be able to plug it into the socket because the prongs wouldn't fit into a different socket.
You would need an adapter for that, to convert it from say, a US style plug to one that would work in different countries.
Nikola says whatever, meaning, okay, I don't want to talk about that anymore.
She says, I've put them both on, meaning she has put the plug into an adapter and a transformer.
Now can I dry my hair, she asks.
Ben says, you can't use that hair dryer because the cord is frayed, F-R-A-Y-E-D.
If something is frayed, it is coming apart.
We especially use that for rope or wire.
That has been used so much that it is starting to come apart.
You can see the inside of the cord where the wire itself is.
Whatever is around that wire is starting to fray or to come apart.
Notice that Ben says the cord, C-O-R-D, is frayed.
The cord is what goes between your electronic device and the socket.
It's what the plug is connected to.
The cord has the wires in it that connect your device to the socket.
Ben says, if you turn it on, meaning if you turn that hairdryer on, it may short circuit and then blow a fuse.
To short circuit C-I-R-C-U-I-T is when the electrical current is starts to increase rapidly due to a problem with your wires, with your cord, or perhaps with the device itself.
This can cause a fire and or damage your electrical device.
A short circuit can also cause you to blow a fuse, F-U-S-E.
To blow a fuse means that there is too much power running and the electrical system shuts down.
It stops.
One of the safety devices that houses and buildings have are what are called fuses F-U-S-E-S, or nowadays, much more commonly, circuit breakers.
What happens is that the electrical power stops going to a certain part of the house or building, when too much power is being drawn, when too much power is going through the wires.
In most modern buildings and houses, there are what are called circuit breakers.
There's just a little switch that you have to turn back on.
In the old days, including in the house I grew up in many years ago, we had what were called fuses.
Inside of the fuse, which was basically a little cylinder, a little round tube, there was a wire that itself would break apart when too much power was going through it.
In any case, Ben says that if Nikola had a short circuit, they would end up being without electricity.
Nicola says, what am I supposed to do then?
Ben says, good thing I brought mine, meaning he brought his own hairdryer.
Let me just check, let me just see if that the outlet is grounded, G-R-O-U-N-D-E-D.
To be grounded means that there is an electrical wire that runs or goes from the plug to the ground so that it can take away any extra electrical charges in the case of a large amount of electricity going through the wire, such as a short circuit or possibly a lightning strike, when a large amount of electricity is running through the air and eventually the wire during a bad storm.
Ben says, yeah, I think it's safe for you to use this one.
Nicholas says, I won't get electrocuted.
To be electrocuted E-L-E-C-T-R-O-C-U-T-E-D means to be hurt or even killed by having electricity go through your body.
This can happen accidentally, of course.
In some places, they kill people by electrocuting them when they have committed some sort of crime.
Ben says you won't even get a little singed, S-I-N-G-E-D.
To be singed means to be burnt a little bit.
If you have long hair and are close to a fire, your hair might start to burn.
If you put it out quickly, it would get a little singed.
It would get burnt, but not completely.
I fortunately don't have to worry about that.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Wait!
Don't plug that into the socket.
You'll fry that old hair dryer.
I can't anyway.
This plug has two prongs and that socket is designed for three prongs.
That's why I brought these adapters and this combination converter and transformer.
Our devices will either not work or be ruined if we try plugging them directly into those outlets.
I should have bought a travel hair dryer with dual voltage.
You'd still need an adapter.
Whatever.
Okay, I've put them both on.
Now can I dry my hair?
You can't use that hair dryer because the cord is frayed.
If you turn it on, it may short circuit and then blow a fuse.
We'd be without electricity.
What am I supposed to do then?
Good thing I brought mine.
Let me just check that the outlet is grounded.
Yeah, I think it's safe for you to use this one.
I won't get electrocuted?
You won't even get a little singed.
Our dialogues are very powerful.
But don't worry, you won't get electrocuted, thanks to the wonderful grounding of our script writer, Dr Lucy Say.
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.
