Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 471.
Trying to get off the phone.
This is English as a Second Language podcast number 471.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
This episode has a learning guide.
You can find it on our website at eslpod.com.
The Learning Guide will help you improve your English even faster by giving you some additional definitions, cultural notes, sample sentences and a complete transcript of this episode.
This episode is a telephone conversation between Aaron and Curran.
It's all about... trying to get off the phone, trying to end a telephone conversation.
Let's get started.
So I told Joey that I had no intention of letting him use my car again.
Can you believe the nerve of that guy after what he did?
That's terrible, but I'm going to have to let you go.
I have an appointment.
But I didn't tell you what else he said.
He said that running over my cat was just an accident.
That's bull.
He said I should be thankful that he took Fifi to a veterinarian.
Yeah, I can see why you're mad.
I think I have a call on the other line.
Well, I'm glad you agree with me.
I said to him that Fifi may be as good as new now, but that is no thanks to him.
He's never liked Fifi, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was gunning for her when he ran her over.
He should count himself lucky he's getting off scot-free for trying to kill my cat.
I said, Sorry to have to cut this short, but I really have to get going.
Oh, sure, but just let me tell you what I plan to do if he asks me again.
I really want to hear all about it, but...
But nature calls.
Oh, okay.
Call me back.
I haven't even told you what Sam told me about Ben yesterday.
It's a real shocker.
Uh, right.
I can't wait to hear all about it.
We're in the middle of a conversation between Aaron and Curran.
Aaron says, so I told Joey that I had no intention of letting him use my car again.
Intention is a plan to do something, what you plan on doing.
Erin said she had no intention meaning she wasn't going to let Joey use her car again.
She says can you believe the nerve of that guy after what he did?
The expression the nerve especially.
Can you believe the nerve or that guy has a lot of nerve means your willingness or ability to do something that is inappropriate disrespectful, something that will make someone else angry, something that is not right.
That guy has a lot of nerve, meaning he is doing something wrong and he knows it and it is bothering me.
Aaron says can you believe the nerve of that guy of Joey, meaning he's doing something that he shouldn't be doing by asking her to use her car again?
Curran says, that's terrible.
But I'm going to have to let you go.
To let someone go means in this case to end a phone call or a personal conversation.
The idea is that you are going to let the other person continue with what they were doing or what they need to do.
Although the real intention, the real reason is so that you can go back and do what you want to do.
So when someone says, I'll let you go, often they mean, I need to go.
But it's a polite way of saying, I don't want to take up any more of your time.
There's a couple of different meanings of this expression, so take a look at the learning guide for some more explanations.
Curran says, Erin, however, doesn't want to stop talking.
She says, He, Joey, said that running over my cat was just an accident.
To run over means that your car goes over something.
If you run over a cat, you're probably going to kill it. unless it's a very strong cat.
Aaron says that's bull, speaking of what Joey said.
Bull here means something that is not true, something that is a lie.
It's actually a short form for another expression which is vulgar, a bad expression, that begins with the letter S and ends with the letter T.
This is an informal expression.
You wouldn't want to use this in your work environment.
When you say that's bull or bull, that's an informal way to express that you know that this is wrong.
Aaron says, Joey said I should be thankful that he took Fifi to a veterinarian.
Fifi is Aaron's cat.
A veterinarian is a doctor who takes care of animals, such as dogs and cats.
Curran says, yeah, I can see why you're mad.
I understand why you are angry.
I think I have a call on the other line.
To have a call on the other line means you have another call, another phone call that you receive while you are talking to someone else.
You may have two phones, or you may have phones with the service that allows another person to call and to let you know by a small beep that you hear when you're talking to someone else.
Curran, of course, is looking for an excuse to end the conversation.
That's why he says, I think I have a call on the other line.
Of course, we know that's probably Bull.
Aaron says, well, I'm glad you agree with me.
And of course, she continues talking.
She says, I said to Joey that Fifi may be as good as new now, but that is no thanks to him.
The expression to be as good as new means that something has been damaged or injured, but now it is just like it were new, just as if nothing had happened to it.
So Fifi apparently is alive.
I thought for sure she would die when the car ran over her, but she's a strong cat.
Aaron says, though, that Fifi is okay, no thanks to Joey.
No thanks to someone is an informal expression used to emphasize that that person didn't do anything to help, that it is not because of what the other person did.
That person was not responsible for what happened.
Aaron says he's never liked Fifi and I wouldn't be surprised if he was gunning for her when he ran her over.
To gun for someone or something, especially if you're in a car, means to go faster, to increase your speed so that you can hit someone.
This, of course, is very dangerous.
You don't want to do this with a human being.
You could hurt them or even kill them.
Joey, however, I guess doesn't like Fifi.
I can understand why.
And he is gunning for her, tries to kill her with the car.
Or at least that's what Aaron thinks.
She says he should count himself lucky he's getting off scot-free for trying to kill my cat.
The expression to count yourself lucky means to realize or recognize that you have had very good luck, that you are fortunate.
This often is used when something almost bad happens to someone or someone does something wrong and they're not being punished for it.
They should count themselves lucky.
Joey should count himself lucky that he's getting off scot-free.
This expression.
To get off scot-free means not to be punished for something that you have done wrong, not to be criticized for something that you have done wrong.
We usually use this expression when it is clear or obvious that the person is guilty but, for whatever reason, does not get punished.
For example, does not go to jail if they commit a crime, do something against the law.
Curran does not want to continue talking to Aaron, so finally he says Sorry to have to cut this short, but I really have to get going.
Curran is trying to be very polite at the beginning, but as time passes he is more and more direct with Aaron.
He's still being polite, but he's trying to be more insistent, more forceful.
He says, sorry to have to cut this short.
To cut something short means to end something before it has finished, usually because you don't have any more time.
Curran is saying he has to cut this telephone conversation short.
He has to end it.
He really has to get going.
When you say, I have to get going, you mean I have to leave, I have to go away, I have to depart.
Aaron says, oh sure, but just let me tell you what I plan to do if he asks me again.
Aaron will still not stop talking.
Curran then uses another excuse.
He says, I really want to hear all about it, but nature calls.
The expression nature calls is an informal one.
Used to mean that you have to go to the bathroom so that you cannot stay any longer.
You cannot talk any longer.
Nature calls.
Aaron says, okay, call me back.
I haven't even told you what Sam told me about Ben yesterday.
It's a real shocker.
A shocker is something that is very surprising, very unexpected.
Curran says, uh, right.
I can't wait to hear all about it.
Of course, he doesn't want to hear all about it, but he's being polite.
Now let's listen to the dialogue this time at a normal speed.
So I told Joey that I had no intention of letting him use my car again.
Can you believe the nerve of that guy after what he did?
That's terrible, but I'm going to have to let you go.
I have an appointment.
But I didn't tell you what else he said.
He said that running over my cat was just an accident.
That's bull.
He said I should be thankful that he took Fifi to the veterinarian.
Yeah, I can see why you're mad.
I think I have a call on the other line.
Well, I'm glad you agree with me.
I said to him that Fifi may be as good as new now, but that is no thanks to him.
He's never liked Fifi, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was gunning for her when he ran her over.
He should count himself lucky he's getting off scot-free for trying to kill my cat.
I said, Sorry to have to cut this short, but I really have to get going.
Oh, sure, but just let me tell you what I plan to do if he asks me again.
I really want to hear all about it, but nature calls.
Oh, okay.
Call me back.
I haven't even told you what Sam told me about Ben yesterday.
It's a real shocker.
Right.
I can't wait to hear all about it.
We count ourselves lucky to have Lucy Say as our script writer for this episode.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcasts.
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.
