Hello and welcome to the English Like A Native podcast. My name is Anna and you're listening to week 27, day 2 of Your English Five A Day, the second season.
With this series, I am on a mission to expand your vocabulary and increase your confidence so that you can feel more like yourself when communicating in English.
With every episode that we release, which is every day of the working week from Monday to Friday, I give you five items of new vocabulary.
And even if it's not new, revisiting old vocabulary is a good way to bring it to the front of your mind so that you may decide to use it in a conversation today.
And if you'd like to access all of the vocabulary that we've ever covered, then you can by accessing the Vocabulary Vault, a database that I keep updated for you so that you can just relax and listen.
I'll leave a link for the Vocabulary Vault in the show notes.
But now let's begin today's episode as we always do with a snapshot.
My flatmate was caught red -handed taking things from a job lot of second -hand phones we were meant to sell online.
He claimed he was just being opportunistic.
But the detritus of opened packaging and missing charges told another story.
I never expected to have trust issues with someone I lived with.
OK, let's begin with the idiom catch someone red -handed.
To catch someone Someone red -handed.
Catch, C -A -T -C -H. Someone red -handed, R -E -D hyphen H -A -N -D -E -D.
To catch someone red -handed is to find them or discover them in the act of doing something wrong or illegal.
For example, he was caught red -handed trying to cheat on the test. Have you ever been caught red -handed?
I was caught red -handed when I snuck out of the house as a child.
I'd been grounded and told I wasn't allowed to leave, but I had money burning a hole in my pocket and I was desperate to go to the shop to buy some sweets with it.
And so rather than following the rules, I snuck out.
And unfortunately, the door was locked behind me.
So I thought I'd left it slightly ajar so I could sneak back in.
But it was shut. And so when I came back.
Even though I did my very best to crawl down the garden path so I wouldn't be seen through the window, I found the front door locked.
So I had to knock and ask to be let back in.
So I was caught red -handed.
Now I'd love to know your stories of being caught red -handed.
What were you doing and how were you caught?
What happened? Did you get into trouble?
Next, we have the adjective opportunistic.
Opportunistic. We spell this O -P -P -O -R -T -U -N -I -S -T -I -C.
Opportunistic. If you are opportunistic, then you take advantage of situations for your own benefit, often without thinking about fairness.
So you see an opportunity and you go for it, regardless of whether it's good or bad for others.
You just think about yourself.
Here's an example. The thief was opportunistic, grabbing the wallet when no one was looking.
Next, we have the noun job lot.
Job lot, two words, job, J -O -B, lot, L -O -T.
A job lot is a group of items sold or bought together, usually cheaply.
So, for example, if I am selling Lego figures.
Rather than selling them individually, I have hundreds.
So I don't want to take photographs of each individual Lego figure.
I want to just sell them as a job lot.
I will advertise 100 Lego figures for a reduced price, for a price that makes it worthwhile for a buyer who is willing to sell them separately.
Or a collector perhaps.
So, I'd sell a job lot.
Here's another example.
They cleared the warehouse by offering job lots of furniture.
Next, we have the noun detritus.
Detritus. Quite an unusual noun.
We spell this d -e -t -r -i -t -u -s.
detritus. Detritus is waste or debris left behind after something is used, broken or finished.
Detritus. Here's an example.
After the party, the floor was covered in detritus.
Cups, streamers and crumbs.
Last but not least, we have the noun flatmate.
Flatmate. We spell this f -l -a -t -m -a -t -e, flatmate.
You'll notice I'm dropping that middle t at the end of flat.
Here it's easier to say it without the middle t, flatmate, flatmate.
A flatmate, as you may have guessed, is a person who shares a flat or an apartment with others.
Do you have or have Have you ever had a flatmate?
When I moved to London, I was unable to afford a flat on my own, so I moved in with other people.
They were my flatmates.
Here's an example sentence.
Living with a flatmate can save you money.
All right, that's our five, so let's do a quick recap.
We started with the idiom catch someone red -handed, which is to find or discover someone in the act of doing something wrong or illegal to catch them red -handed.
We had the adjective opportunistic, which is taking advantage of a situation for your own benefit without thinking thinking about fairness.
Opportunistic. We had the noun job lot, which is a group of items sold or bought together, usually at a better price.
We had the noun detritus, which means waste or debris left behind after something's used, broken or finished.
Detritus. We had the the noun flatmate, which is a person who shares a flat or apartment with others.
A flatmate. OK, let's do this now for pronunciation purposes.
Please repeat after me.
Catch someone red -handed Catch someone red -handed opportunistic opportunistic opportunistic jaw blot jaw blot detritus detritus flatmate flatmate fantastic it's time to test your memory if I'm selling Pokemon cards and I've got quite a few Pokemon cards so rather than selling them individually I'm going to sell them as one big big batch and I'll sell them cheaper because I'm selling them together.
What noun would we give to this group, this batch of Pokemon cards?
It's a job lot. Fantastic.
And if you're someone who takes advantage of situations for your own benefit and you don't care about fairness, how would you describe yourself?
What adjective would you use?
opportunistic very good now if you find your partner in the fridge in the middle of the night snaffling the dessert that you made especially for an event that's coming up and they're eating it and you've found them doing it you know it's wrong they know it's wrong and you found them them.
You've discovered them.
What idiom could we use?
What have you done?
You've caught your partner red -handed.
OK. What's the noun that means waste or debris left behind after something is used, broken or finished?
Detritus. Very good.
And finally, if you share a place that you live with somebody, what are they called if it's an apartment that you live in?
What are they? A flatmate.
Yes. And this is specifically for somebody that you're not intimately involved with.
So it's not a boyfriend and a girlfriend isn't a flatmate.
They are your partner, your your boyfriend or girlfriend, you live together.
A flatmate is someone you're not intimately involved with and they're living with you.
So someone who would ordinarily be a stranger or maybe just a friend and you're living together.
A flatmate. Let's now revisit the snapshot.
My flatmate was caught red -handed taking things from a job lot of second -hand phones we were meant to sell online.
He claimed he was just being opportunistic.
But the detritus of opened packaging and missing chargers told another story.
I never expected to have trust issues with someone I lived with.
OK, let's now see if we can spot this vocabulary once again as we go into story time.
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Helena stared at the empty space on her bookshelf where her vintage camera had been sitting just yesterday.
Her heart sank as she realised it was definitely gone.
This was the third item that had mysteriously disappeared from their shared flat in the past month.
Maybe I put it somewhere else, she muttered to herself.
But deep down, she knew better.
First her expensive headphones had vanished, then her silver bracelet, now the camera her grandfather had given her.
She walked into the kitchen where dirty plates and food wrappers lay scattered across the counter like detritus from a hurricane.
Her flatmate, Jake, was never the tidiest person, but lately he seemed even more careless than usual.
Helena began washing up, her mind racing with suspicious thoughts.
Jake had been been acting strangely recently.
He'd started going out more often, always carrying a large rucksack.
When she asked where he was going, he gave vague answers about meeting friends or running errands.
Last week, she'd seen him counting a thick pile of £20 notes at the kitchen table.
When she'd asked about it, he quickly stuffed the money into his pocket and mumbled something about his part -time job paying him in cash.
The puzzle pieces were starting to fit together in Helena's mind.
She remembered Jake mentioning how easy it was to sell things online these days.
People will buy anything, he'd said with a laugh.
You can get rid of a whole job lot of stuff in one afternoon if you price it right.
Helena felt sick. Was her own flatmate stealing from her?
The thought seemed impossible, but the evidence was building up like a mountain she couldn't ignore.
That evening, Helena pretended to go to bed early, but left her bedroom door slightly open.
She lay in the darkness, listening carefully to every sound in the flat.
Around midnight, she heard Jake's door creak open.
Footsteps moved quietly down the hallway towards her room.
Her heart pounded as she watched through the crack in her door.
Jake appeared with a small torch, moving slowly and carefully.
He was being incredibly opportunistic, thinking she was fast asleep and wouldn't notice his midnight activities.
Helena held her breath as Jake entered her room and began looking through her belongings.
She watched in horror as he picked up her jewellery box and started examining her rings.
This was her chance to catch him red -handed.
What exactly do you think you're doing?
Helena suddenly switched on her bedside lamp.
Jake jumped backwards, dropping the jewellery box with a loud crash.
His face went pale as he realised he'd been caught in the act.
fact. Halina, I... I was just...
He stammered, but no believable explanation came out of his mouth.
Just what? Stealing my things to sell online?
Halina stood up, anger flooding through her body.
I trusted you, Jake.
We're supposed to be friends.
The room fell silent, except for the sound of Jake's heavy breathing.
Finally, the truth was about to come out.
And that brings us to the end of today's episode.
I do hope that you enjoyed it and found it useful.
form. If you did, then please keep us in mind when your friends ask if you know of any good podcasts for learning English.
Remember to recommend the English Like a Native podcast. Until tomorrow, take very good care and goodbye.
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