Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 454, Hailing and Taking a Taxi.
This is English as a Second Language podcast number 454.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Go now to our website at eslpod.com and download a learning guide for this episode.
You can follow along with the transcript of everything we say and also have a list of vocabulary words, cultural notes, comprehension questions and some additional definitions not found on the audio portion of this episode.
This episode is called Hailing and Taking a Taxi.
To hail a taxi means to stop a taxi, to get a taxi's attention so that the car will stop.
This episode is going to be using some very typical vocabulary that you might use if you take a taxi in the US.
Let's get started.
My company sent me on my first business trip and I was supposed to travel around the city in taxis.
Having never ridden in a taxi before I had problems from start to finish.
First, I had trouble hailing a cab.
I didn't realize that when the taxi's light is off that the cabbie is off duty.
No wonder they took no notice of me.
Then a cab did pull over and I told him where I wanted to go.
He said though that he wouldn't take me because he wouldn't be able to get a return fare.
I was looking around for a taxi stand when another cab pulled over.
But my troubles didn't stop there.
Where to?
I'd like to go to the Hamilton building downtown.
There's a flat rate, isn't there?
No, we don't have flat rates.
But a flat rate to downtown is required by law, isn't it?
Do you want to go downtown or not?
I've already started the meter.
Where are your posted rates?
We don't have any.
The first mile is $3.50 and each quarter mile is $2.00.
That doesn't sound right to me.
I think I'll try another cab.
Suit yourself.
I remembered what my co-worker told me.
She said to steer clear of private cabs like this one.
The cabbies don't have licenses and some of them will really take you for a ride and not the kind you want.
This episode is about Ignacio, who is on a business trip.
He says my company sent me on my first business trip and I was supposed to travel around the city in taxis.
He was supposed to.
It was recommended or ordered that he do that.
He has to travel around in taxis, which is the plural for taxi or taxi cab or cab.
All of those words mean the same thing.
It's a car that you basically pay the driver to take you to where you want to go.
He says The expression from start to finish is a common one, to mean the entire time, for the entire time that I was doing something.
For example, the professor walked into class and spent an entire hour yelling at his class from start to finish, the entire time.
He says, As we said before, to hail H-A-I-L a cab or a taxi, or a taxi cab means to get their attention, often by waving your hand, so that they will stop for you.
This is very common in some cities, such as New York City where, if you are in what they call in New York City, the city Manhattan, the main island where the businesses are mostly in New York City you can stand at the corner or stand in the street and wave your hand to get a taxi cab to stop for you.
Here in Los Angeles, that is not common.
Taxis are not as common here in LA.
In fact, in most places, you cannot hail a cab.
You have to go to what's called a cab stand, which we'll talk about in a minute.
Back to our story.
He says that he had trouble hailing a cab.
He didn't realize that when the taxi's light is off, that the cabbie is off duty.
The taxi cars have lights usually on the top of the car.
If the light is on, that means that the taxi is available.
They can stop and pick you up.
If the light is off, that means that they are already occupied and they will not stop.
Well Ignacio, since he doesn't have much experience with taxis and apparently has never seen a movie with a taxi, didn't realize that the taxi's light is off and And he was trying to hail the cabs.
He says, the cabbie, when the light is off, is off duty.
The cabbie is the same as the taxi cab driver.
Cabbie is the person who drives the cab or the taxi.
To be off duty means to be not working or working.
Ignacio then says, No wonder they took no notice of me.
To take notice of someone means to realize that they are there, to acknowledge them, to show or indicate that you see them.
But because the taxicabs were either busy or off-duty, they took no notice of Ignacio.
They didn't stop.
Then, he says, a cab did pull over, and I told him where I wanted to go.
To pull over is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to have a car or a truck stop at the side of the road.
To stop the car and usually park it on the side of the road, at least temporarily.
So one of the cabs did pull over, did stop.
He said, though.
He said however, that he wouldn't take me because he wouldn't be able to get a return fare.
A fare F-A-R-E when we're talking about taxis is a person who is paying for the taxi, and So the taxi cab driver has a fare, meaning they have a customer.
In this case, return fare means that the taxi cab driver will go to a certain place.
Then they'll turn around and come back.
If they have someone with them that they pick up on the way back, that would be a return fare.
Some taxis don't want to go to certain places because there aren't very many people there and they won't have anyone paying them to drive back to the main part of the city.
I was looking around for a taxi stand, Ignacio says, when another cab pulled over.
A taxi stand is a place, often by a hotel or a busy public area, where there are taxis that are parked one behind another, usually several taxis and you can go there and get a taxi.
Here in los angeles, for example, when you come out of the airport, There are several taxi stands where there are several taxis waiting for people who want a ride, who need a ride.
That's a taxi stand.
Here in Los Angeles you can get a taxi by going to a taxi stand or by calling a taxi company to come to your house or business.
It is not normally possible to hail a taxi in Los Angeles.
Well, Ignacio was still having some problems.
The cabbie asks him, where to, meaning, where do you want to go?
Ignacio says, I'd like to go to the Hamilton building downtown.
There's a flat rate, isn't there?
A flat rate is a single fixed price.
Rate is the same as price here.
So a fixed rate is one price that you pay, that everyone pays, usually from a certain area of town to another area of town.
Again, using Los Angeles as an example here.
If you arrive at the airport and you want to go to a hotel in the downtown area, there's a flat rate.
No matter which hotel you go to, some may be closer than others, you will be charged the same fare.
Notice that fair here means the same amount of money.
It can mean both the person who's paying the money and the money you receive.
Well, the cabbie says, no, we don't have flat rates.
Ignacio says, but a flat rate to downtown is required by law, isn't it?
He's saying that the taxi cab driver must allow him to pay only the flat rate.
The cabbie, however, says, do you want to go downtown or not?
Meaning I'm not going to charge you the flat rate and if you don't want to pay more, I'm going to leave.
The cabbie says, I've already started the meter.
The meter in a taxi is a little machine that tells you how far or how long you've traveled, and in most cities the amount that you pay depends on how far you go.
The meter tells you how far you've gone or how long you've been in the car.
Ignacio then asks the cabbie, where are your posted rates?
Every city has laws that determine how much a taxi cab driver can charge per mile or per half mile or quarter mile.
And these are supposed to be rates that you can find inside the taxi cab, in the car.
The cabbie says, however, we don't have any.
The first mile is $3.50 and And each quarter mile is two dollars.
Ignacio says, That doesn't sound right to me.
Meaning, that is wrong.
That's too much.
I think I'll try another cab.
He very wisely, very intelligently says.
First intelligent thing Ignacio has done.
The cabbie says, Suit yourself.
Meaning, Do whatever you want.
The expression suit yourself means you do whatever you want.
I'm not going to bother you or be bothered by you.
Usually we use this expression when you don't agree with what the person is doing and you are telling them to go ahead and do it, but you think they're wrong.
Basically,
Ignacio says that his co-worker someone he works with had warned him to steer clear of private cabs.
To steer S-T-E-E-R.
Clear of something or someone means to avoid, to not go near, to not get involved with.
He should steer clear of private cabs, cabs that do not have licenses, official permission from the city to operate as a taxi cab driver.
They really will take you for a ride, he says.
They will really take you for a ride. means they will really steal your money.
To take someone for a ride usually means, in this case, to steal their money or to charge more money than they should to cheat them.
It can also mean simply to get into a car and drive somewhere, but that's the double meaning that Ignacio is using here.
He says they will really take you for a ride, and not the kind you want, meaning not an actual ride, but using the meaning of the expression to take your money.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
First, I had trouble hailing a cab.
I didn't realize that when the taxi's light is off that the cabbie is off duty.
No wonder they took no notice of me.
Then a cab did pull over, and I told him where I wanted to go.
He said, though, that he wouldn't take me because he wouldn't be able to get a return fare.
I was looking around for a taxi stand when another cab pulled over.
But my troubles didn't stop there.
Where to?
I'd like to go to the Hamilton Building downtown.
There's a flat rate, isn't there?
No, we don't have flat rates.
But a flat rate to downtown is required by law, isn't it?
Do you want to go downtown or not?
I've already started the meter.
Where are your posted rates?
We don't have any.
The first mile is $3.50, and each quarter mile is $2.
That doesn't sound right to me.
I think I'll try another cab.
Suit yourself.
I remembered what my co-worker told me.
She said to steer clear of private cabs, like this one.
The cabbies don't have licenses and some of them will really take you for a ride, and not the kind you want.
The script for this episode was written by someone who will never take you for a ride, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
