Welcome to a new episode of English Vocabulary Booster.
My name is Lara and I'm a SALSA-certified English teacher.
Learning new vocabulary usually takes a long time, but we'll do it in a way that's easy, quick and efficient.
In every episode, we'll learn how to use five new English words or expressions, so that you too can start speaking like a native.
So let's get learning.
Hello you guys.
What's going on?
I hope you're having a great week.
I was just in italy.
Last week i went to visit my family.
I was really lucky i i could go now with all the travel restrictions, but i was able to go so.
And i ate so much you guys have no idea.
My mom cooked the whole time, literally.
Anywho, let's talk about today's episode.
Today, we're going to talk about unexpected events.
Hey, Lucy.
Hey, Jen.
What's up?
I was just getting ready to go to the restaurant.
Are you ready yet?
Actually, Lucy, I'm going to have to take a rain check tonight.
What?
Why?
It's just something came up and I can't come.
Why?
What happened?
Are you okay?
Yeah, it's just my cousin from Chicago, Melissa.
She called me out of the blue and she said she was flying here tonight.
I'm actually with her on the other line.
Are you serious?
Just like that?
Yeah, I guess she made a snap decision.
And she'll be spending the night here.
What a bummer.
Well, alright then.
I'll talk to you later, okay?
Okay, bye!
Paul?
Baby?
I think she believed me.
Okay, so should I come to your place or do you want to- Jen?
Jen, it's still me, Lucy.
I think you've got the wrong number.
Lucy, you called me.
Unbelievable.
All right, so I think we can all agree that Jen is not exactly a great friend.
All right, let's take a look at expression number one, take a rain check.
I'm going to have to take a rain check tonight.
When you tell someone you have to take a rain check, are you accepting an invitation or are you declining it?
You are declining an invitation if you say, hey, listen, I'm sorry, I have to take a rain check.
That means that you can't go.
And if you take a rain check, what do you imply?
That you will never accept an invitation again or that you will, but another time.
If you say that you have to take a rain check, you're kind of saying hey listen, I can't today, but let's do this some other time.
So that's not too bad.
Is telling someone you have to take a rain check rude or polite?
Well, obviously, canceling plans with other people is not great.
But if you have to, using the expression, I have to take a rain check is pretty polite.
It's a pretty polite way to let someone know that you can't accept an offer.
When was the last time you took a rain check and why?
I think it was like a couple of weeks ago.
I had made plans to go to the beach with my boyfriend and some of his friends.
But then I started to not feel great.
And so I told him that I had to take a rain check and that I will just join them another time.
Expression number two, something comes up.
It's just something came up and I can't come.
When you have a plan but something comes up, what happens?
You can't go or you can't go but later or you will be early.
Usually, when you say that something comes up, it means that you have plans with someone, but you can't go anymore.
Or you can go, but you're probably going to be late.
And if something comes up, do you expect it?
No.
When you say that something has come up, that means it was totally unexpected.
And it's a great way, it's a great expression to use, because you can still let someone know that you have had a problem, but you're not saying what exactly happened.
So you can kind of maintain your privacy and, But you know, warn the other person that you can't go or that you will be late.
When was the last time you were late or didn't go somewhere because something came up?
It was actually last week.
I had made plans to meet up with my friend Tom and his girlfriend.
But something came up and we couldn't meet up.
And that something was actually my trip to Italy, which was totally unexpected.
So I just texted him and said, hey, listen, something came up.
We can't meet this weekend, but we can do the following weekend.
Expression number three, out of the blue.
She called me out of the blue.
If something happens out of the blue, do you expect it to happen?
Well, no, because today we're talking about unexpected events.
If something happens out of the blue, you do not expect it to happen at all.
It's a total surprise.
When was the last time someone contacted you out of the blue?
It was again, I think, last week or two weeks ago, and this guy who I used to be kind of friends with When I was maybe 15 or something.
He messaged me on Facebook but we hadn't talked at all for, I think, 20 years or something, almost 20 years.
And yeah, he just messaged me out of the blue because he was interested in some English classes.
So yeah, that was funny.
Expression number four, snap decision.
Yeah, I guess she made a snap decision.
If you make a snap decision, how long do you think about it before making it?
If you make a snap decision, you make it super quickly.
You don't spend a long time thinking about it or thinking about the pros, the cons, none of that.
Do you often make snap decisions?
Yes.
Yes, I think I do.
I make a lot of snap decisions.
I don't like spending a lot of time thinking about the consequences of my decisions, which I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm pretty impulsive.
So, for example, if I go to the restaurant, I make a lot of snap decisions in terms of okay, I want to eat this and this and this.
If I go shopping, it's the same.
Yeah, I definitely make a lot of snap decisions.
Expression number five, bummer.
What a bummer.
When do you use the expression bummer?
When responding to good news or bad news.
You use the expression bummer or it's a bummer or what a bummer when responding to bad news.
If you think something is a bummer, you're definitely disappointed.
And if you think something is a bummer, how bad is the news?
Really bad or just a little bit?
If you think something is a bummer, the news is not really bad.
Imagine you have a friend that comes up to you and says, Hey, you know what?
My dog died.
And you say, Ooh, that's a bummer.
No, don't do that.
That's terrible.
Because you only say something is a bummer when it's not so important.
Yeah, you're disappointed, but...
Yeah, it's no big deal, okay?
So careful when you use it.
So what could be an example of a bummer for you?
For me, I think, for example, going to the ice cream place and not finding any flavors that I like.
That could be a bummer.
It's also impossible because I like every ice cream flavor in the world.
No, but really –
So that's an example.
Or maybe you want to watch a movie you think you're going to like and then you realize that you don't like it.
Well, that's a bummer because it's a disappointment, but it's not that big of a disappointment.
I remember at this one time I went to see my favorite band live.
They're called Whitesnake.
And unfortunately, they didn't perform a lot of my favorite songs.
So that was a bummer.
So you get it.
It's a minor disappointment, we could say.
And that is it for today.
And remember, if you want to access the transcript, as well as lots of other resources, visit enboocom.
That is E-N-B-O-O-O dot com.
Have a great day.
