Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 338, Refusing an Invitation.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 338.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com.
Take a look at our ESL podcast store, which contains business and daily English courses we think you'll be interested in.
In this episode we're going to hear a dialogue between June and Roberto about an invitation that they have received from someone and how they are going to say no to that invitation.
Some good vocabulary here on refusing a request or refusing an invitation.
Let's get started.
Yes, I did.
I'm going to send my regrets.
How about you?
I'm trying to find an excuse not to attend without Kelly taking offense.
Couldn't you just tell her that you have another engagement that night?
I used that little white lie last time I turned down one of her invitations.
I have to think of something else.
How about telling her that you have to take care of a sick relative?
That one always works for me.
I've used that one too.
I told her that I was looking after my mother the last time she invited me to dinner.
How about if you tell her you're on a special assignment at work and you have to work night and day to get it done?
That's a little far-fetched, don't you think?
I work as a store clerk.
You've got a point there.
What are you going to tell Kelly when you decline her invitation?
I'm going to extend an apology and just say that I can't make it.
That's it?
I'd never thought of just saying no.
You know the old acronym KISS.
Keep it simple, stupid.
You're right.
Hey, who are you calling stupid?
Our dialogue begins with June saying to Roberto, Did you get an invitation to Kelly's party?
An invitation is either a written or spoken something someone says to you request to attend or to go to a certain event or to do something with someone else.
I got an invitation from my friend to go to see a movie in Hollywood with many famous actors.
And I said, I'm too busy.
I received this invitation, this request to do something, to go somewhere.
Roberto says to June, yes, I did get the invitation.
I'm going to send my regrets.
To send one's regrets means to say very nicely, very politely, that you are unable to do something that you were invited to do.
So your friend invites you to go to his daughter's fifth birthday party and you don't really want to or have time to go.
You can send your regrets.
You can politely tell them that you are not going to go.
June says, An excuse is a reason for not doing something.
To attend means to go to the event, to participate in the event.
So June is trying to think of a reason, a good reason, why she can't go to this party.
June says, I want to think of an excuse or find an excuse without Kelly taking offense.
To take offense means the same as to be offended.
It means to become angry and upset because what someone else has said to you.
I take offense at your remark about people who live in Los Angeles.
They're not all stupid.
I take offense.
I'm angry.
I get upset.
Well, some of them are stupid, but...
Not everyone.
Roberto says, couldn't you just tell her that you have another engagement that night?
This is also a good excuse.
You tell someone I have another engagement.
Here, engagement is another appointment, another obligation that you have to do, something that you have to do with another person.
It's a vague excuse.
That is, it's not a specific excuse.
You're just saying, no, I have another engagement.
I have something else I'm doing that night.
June says that she used that little white lie the last time she turned down one of Kelly's invitations.
A white lie is considered a small or unimportant lie.
It's still a lie.
It is not the truth.
But it's considered not very serious, not very important.
We often say either white lie or little white lie.
June used the little white lie about having another engagement last time When she turned down Kelly's invitation.
To turn down means to decline.
It's a two-word phrasal verb meaning to say no to someone's invitation.
I'm sorry, I have to turn down your invitation to come over to your house and help you paint it.
I'm very sorry.
I have to decline.
Why?
Because I don't like you.
No, I have another engagement.
Roberto says, how about telling Kelly that you have to take care of a sick relative?
A relative is someone who is part of your family, a person who is related to you by blood, meaning your brother, your sister, your father, your cousin, or by marriage, your brother-in-law, your sister-in-law, your mother-in-law, and so forth.
So Roberto is suggesting to June that she tell another little white lie and say that she has to take care of a sick family member.
The word relative actually has a couple of different meanings.
You know what to do.
Go to our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Roberto says June says I told her that I was looking after my mother the last time she invited me to dinner.
To look after someone is another two-word phrasal verb meaning to take care of someone or something.
Will you look after my children while I go to the beach and get a suntan?
You're asking someone else to take care of your children.
Roberto says how about if you tell her you're on a special assignment at work and you have to work night and day to get it done?
How about means?
Why don't you tell her you're on a special assignment, a special project, a special task that you need to work day and night on?
To work day and night means to work a long time, 24 hours a day.
June says, that's a little far-fetched.
To say something is far-fetched, F-E-T-C-H-E-D, means it is difficult to believe.
It is too strange to believe, too exaggerated.
Someone says oh, yesterday I was walking down the street and I saw a person from Mars, a Martian, riding his bike to work.
You might say hmm, that's a little far-fetched, a little too difficult to believe that a Martian would be riding a bike.
They would be taking a car, clearly.
Roberto says, you've got a point there.
The expression you've got a point there means you believe the other person is correct or you believe the other person has a good idea.
June says, what are you going to tell Kelly when you decline her invitation?
To decline means to say no, to turn down.
Roberto says, I'm going to extend an apology and just say that I can't make it.
The expression to extend an apology means that you are going to say you are sorry about something or sorry for something.
I extended him an apology after I punched him in the face.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I meant to punch the other person in the face.
That's to extend an apology.
June says, that's it?
I'd never thought of just saying no.
She's saying, oh, I don't have to come up with an excuse.
Roberto says, you know that old acronym, KISS, K-I-S-S.
Keep it simple, stupid.
An acronym, A-C-R-O-N-Y-M, is a word where each letter is the first letter of another word.
For example, ASAP.
I need this ASAP.
That means as soon as possible.
Sometimes acronyms are pronounced with each letter spoken.
Sometimes they're pronounced as a word.
So you may hear someone say, I need this ASAP.
ASAP.
ASAP.
In this case, kiss is pronounced like the word kiss.
A kiss is when you touch your lips to someone else.
But here, kiss is an acronym.
It means keep it simple, meaning don't be complicated.
Don't be complex.
Keep it simple, stupid, meaning, well, you're not very smart if you try to make it complicated.
June says, you're right.
Then she says, hey, who are you calling stupid?
Realizing that Roberto is calling her stupid.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Did you get an invitation to Kelly's party?
Yes, I did I'm going to send my regrets How about you?
I'm trying to find an excuse not to attend without Kelly taking offense.
Couldn't you just tell her that you have another engagement that night?
I used that little white lie last time I turned down one of her invitations.
I have to think of something else.
How about telling her that you have to take care of a sick relative?
That one always works for me I've used that one too.
I told her that I was looking after my mother the last time she invited me to dinner.
How about if you tell her that you're on a special assignment at work and you have to work night and day to get it done?
That's a little far-fetched, don't you think?
I work as a store clerk.
You've got a point there.
What are you going to tell Kelly when you decline her invitation?
I'm going to extend an apology and just say that I can't make it.
That's it?
I never thought of just saying no.
You know the old acronym, K-I-S-S.
Keep it simple, stupid.
You're right.
Hey, who are you calling stupid?
The script for this episode was written by the always polite Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2008.
