Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 341, An Annoying Cell Phone User.
This is ESL podcast episode 341.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development Transcription by CastingWords, which contains additional business and daily English courses you might be interested in.
This episode is called An Annoying Cell Phone User.
Someone who is annoying is someone who bothers you, someone who is causing problems for you.
It's a dialogue between Carl and Stephanie, who are sitting at a restaurant and someone in the table next to them starts talking on their cell phone.
Let's get started.
I'm sorry, say that again?
I couldn't hear you over that guy at the next table shouting into his cell phone.
That guy is so rude.
We're trying to have a leisurely conversation over a cup of coffee and we have to outshout some inconsiderate jerk.
Do you think he realizes what a nuisance he is?
I bet he doesn't.
People don't seem to have any idea of cell phone etiquette.
Cell phones should be banned from restaurants, don't you think?
I completely agree.
I don't need to know the intimate details of other people's lives.
I sometimes wish I had a cell phone jammer.
Like the other day I was at the movie theater and the woman sitting in front of me answers her cell phone and has a conversation during the movie.
I would have kicked up a fuss or at least shushed her.
I tried to shush her, but she pretended not to hear me.
I wish... Hold on one second.
Hello?
Oh, hi.
Manny.
Hello.
Yes, this is Stephanie.
Oh, hi, Leah.
Oh, sure.
I can talk.
Our dialogue begins with Carl saying, I'm sorry, say that again.
He's talking to Stephanie, and he didn't hear what Stephanie said.
So he says, I'm sorry, could you say that again?
Could you repeat that?
I couldn't hear you over that guy at the next table shouting into his cell phone.
The expression to hear someone over someone else means that you are able to hear a sound when there is another noise or sound that is interfering, that is very loud and preventing you from hearing.
So if you are standing next to a very loud fan that's making a lot of noise and someone across the room says something to you and you can't hear them because the noise of the fan is too loud, you could say I can't hear you over this fan.
I can't hear what you are saying because the noise of the fan is interfering.
Well, Carl can't hear what Stephanie is saying because there is a man that guy at a table next to them who is shouting into his cell phone.
To shout means to speak very loudly, to yell, we might say.
He's shouting into his cell phone.
Stephanie says, that guy is so rude.
To be rude means to be impolite, not to be polite, to do things that are not nice to other people.
Stephanie says we're trying to have a leisurely conversation over a cup of coffee and we have to out-shout some inconsiderate jerk.
Stephanie says, we are trying to have a leisurely conversation.
Leisurely means relaxed, comfortable.
It's an adverb to describe doing something with a very relaxed manner, not rushed, enjoyable.
So we're trying to have this enjoyable conversation over a cup of coffee meaning while we are drinking a cup of coffee but they have to out-shout some inconsiderate jerk.
To out-shout someone means to yell more loudly, to shout more loudly or speak more loudly than another person because he's talking so loudly on his cell phone in the restaurant.
They have to out-shout this inconsiderate jerk.
To be inconsiderate is the opposite of to be considerate.
To be considerate means to be nice.
So to be inconsiderate means not to be nice.
Not to think about how your words or actions will affect other people.
To be impolite is to be inconsiderate.
A jerk.
J-E-R-K is an informal insult describing someone who you don't like, who's doing something very bad that is bothering you.
It's not something you would want to call your boss, for example, if you wanted to keep your job.
Carl says, do you think he realizes what a nuisance he is?
In other words, does this man talking on the cell phone know, does he realize what a nuisance he is?
A nuisance.
N-U-I-S-A-N-C-E is something that is annoying, something that is causing problems for other people.
That would be a nuisance.
It could be a thing.
It usually is.
That old car sitting in front of his house is a nuisance.
It's taking up space.
Here we're saying that the man is being a nuisance.
People don't seem to have any idea of cell phone etiquette.
Cell phone or mobile phone etiquette. are the ways that you should behave politely.
In this case, using a cell phone.
The word etiquette means manners.
It's the way that you behave.
For example, if you sit down to dinner, you don't eat with your hands, at least in American culture.
Usually that would be considered improper, not proper, not correct etiquette.
So Stephanie is saying this man doesn't understand cell phone etiquette.
Cell phones should be banned from restaurants, don't you think?
To ban, B-A-N something, is to forbid it, to prohibit it.
Not allow something.
She's saying that cell phones should be banned.
They should be forbidden.
They should be prohibited.
Not allowed.
The word ban has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for more explanations.
There are some places in the US where the government is trying to ban cell phones.
If you read our cultural note in today's learning guide, we talk about some of these efforts and how things are changing in American culture.
Many people, myself included, really dislike when people are talking on a cell phone in a restaurant when you are trying to eat.
My favorite is when people are eating and talking on the cell phone at the same time.
This is not proper etiquette for eating or for talking on a cell phone, in my opinion.
Well, back to our story.
Carl says, I completely agree that we should ban cell phones from restaurants.
I, of course, agree with Carl.
He says, Details are the specifics of something.
Intimate details are very personal information that other people don't usually know about you or you don't tell other people.
Carl is saying that he doesn't need to know the intimate details of other people's lives details he would learn by listening to their cell phone conversation.
I sometimes wish I had a cell phone jammer, he says.
A jammer.
J-A-M-M-E-R is a machine, it's a device that that blocks certain electronic radio signals.
In this case, it would block cell phone signals from reaching the phones in a certain area.
These are illegal in the United States, but some people are buying them and using them to stop people from talking on cell phones near them.
I don't have one myself.
They're illegal to use, but I certainly wish I had one sometimes.
Carl tells the story of how he was at the movie theater and there was a woman sitting in front of him who answered her cell phone and started having a conversation during the movie.
She didn't get up and leave the theater.
She just talked and interfered with other people who were trying to watch the movie.
Stephanie says To kick up a fuss F-U-S-S means to say something to let other people know you are angry or unhappy.
To complain about something that is wrong.
She kicked up a fuss about how much the mechanic charged her to fix her car.
She complained about it.
To shush S-H-U-S-H means to tell someone else to be quiet, to stop talking, usually by making this sound.
That's to shush.
It's not something that you should do again in most situations unless it's a very informal one.
It's considered a little rude by some people.
Carl said, I tried to shush her, but she pretended not to hear me.
She pretended.
She acted as if she hadn't heard him.
Then he says, I wish, and we hear Carl's cell phone ringing.
He says, hold on one second.
He's saying to Stephanie, please wait a minute.
We use this expression hold on hold on a minute, hold on a second to interrupt a conversation briefly so you can do something else later quickly and then get back to talking to someone.
This is especially common if you have a phone that rings and you answer it and you were talking to another person.
You might say, could you hold on a second so I can answer my cell phone?
Carl, of course, who was complaining about people talking on cell phones in the restaurant, answers his cell phone in the restaurant.
He doesn't seem to get up.
Stephanie's cell phone rings a few seconds later, and she answers it as well.
So Carl and Stephanie are two people who I would certainly not want to be next to in a restaurant.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I'm sorry, say that again?
I couldn't hear you over that guy at the next table shouting into his cell phone.
That guy is so rude.
We're trying to have a leisurely conversation over a cup of coffee and we have to outshout some inconsiderate jerk.
Do you think he realizes what a nuisance he is?
I bet he doesn't.
People don't seem to have any idea of cell phone etiquette.
Cell phones should be banned from restaurants, don't you think?
I completely agree.
I don't need to know the intimate details of other people's lives.
I sometimes wish I had a cell phone jammer.
Like the other day I was at the movie theater and the woman sitting in front of me answers her cell phone and has a conversation during the movie.
I would have kicked up a fuss or at least shushed her.
I tried to shush her, but she pretended not to hear me.
I wish Hold on one second.
Hello?
Oh, hi, Manny.
Hello?
Yes, this is Stephanie.
Oh, hi, Leah.
Oh, sure.
I can talk.
The script for this episode was written by the not-annoying Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
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.
