Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 490, Eating Spoiled Food.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 490.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
Go there to download a learning guide for this episode that contains all of our vocabulary definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions, comprehension questions, cultural notes, what else?
Oh, and a complete transcript of this episode.
This episode is called Eating Spoiled Food.
Spoiled food is food that is no longer good to eat.
We'll listen to a dialogue between Ryan and Corey, using a lot of vocabulary that you might see or hear, describing spoiled food.
Let's get started.
I'm happy to do it.
First, though, let's see what you have in your fridge.
I have tons of food in there.
What is that?
It looks moldy.
Oh, that's cheese.
I'm sure it's still good if we just cut off the moldy parts.
Okay, but look at the best if used by date.
This expired three months ago.
What about this?
That's hamburger.
Maybe you could make some spaghetti with meatballs.
Not with this rotten meat.
It's definitely gone bad.
Can't you tell by the discoloration?
Meat isn't supposed to be gray.
I guess you're right.
I bet this milk isn't any good either, is it?
Nope.
It's gone sour, and you might as well throw out this bread, too.
It's stale.
Isn't there anything you can use in this kitchen?
Well, this oil is rancid, this butter looks tainted, the vegetables are wilted and even your canned goods are rusted.
You do have a lot of food in your kitchen, but it's been here a long, long time.
I don't like things to go to waste.
I guess not.
I'm still willing to make you dinner, but we'll have to do some shopping.
My cooking isn't the best, but I don't usually give people food poisoning and I don't want to start now.
Okay, okay.
Give me a list and I'll go to the market.
And while you're there, I'll see what I can do about getting rid of all of this hazardous waste.
Brian begins our dialogue by saying, It's really nice of you to make dinner for me.
It's been a long time since I've had a home-cooked meal.
A home-cooked meal would be, of course, one that you make yourself in your house.
Corey says, I'm happy to do it.
First, though, let's see what you have in your fridge.
So Corey is over at Ryan's apartment or house and she is agreeing to cook lunch a meal for him.
So she looks inside of his fridge.
Fridge is short for refrigerator.
It's a box that keeps cold, where you store or put your food.
Ryan says i have tons of food in there.
Notice we say tons of food.
It's very common for informal English to use this idea of tons, meaning a lot.
A ton, of course, is 2,000 pounds, but here it just means a lot of food.
Corey then asks, what is that?
It looks moldy.
Moldy M-O-L-D-Y comes from the word mold which are small green plants really that grow on things, usually because they are old or wet, especially food.
Ryan says, oh, that's cheese.
I'm sure it's still good if we just cut off the moldy parts.
Tori says, okay, but look at the best if used by date.
Most food, especially fresh food that you would put in your refrigerator, for example, has a date on it after which you shouldn't probably eat it.
That's what Corrie means by the best if used by date, meaning this food should be used by a certain date.
This expired three months ago, she says.
To expire means something has passed its time.
It is no longer able to be used.
In this case, it's for food that is too old to be eaten.
It's no longer good.
Then Corey says, what about this?
Pointing to something else.
Ryan says, that's hamburger.
Maybe you could make some spaghetti with meatballs.
Corey says, not with this rotten meat.
Rotten R-O-T-T-E-N comes from the verb to rot R-O-T, which means to spoil, to decay, so that you can't use it anymore.
Rotten meat would be meat that is no longer good to eat because it is too old.
Corey says that the hamburger has definitely gone bad.
To go bad means to become rotten, to become spoiled, to become so that you can no longer eat it.
To go has, of course, hundreds of meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for just a few more of those.
Corey then says, can't you tell by the discoloration?
Meat isn't supposed to be gray.
Discoloration is when something changes its color, usually to indicate that there is a problem or that it has gone bad.
Ryan says, I guess you're right.
I bet this milk isn't any good either, is it?
Corey says nope, an informal way of saying no.
Nope, N-O-P-E.
It's gone sour.
To be sour means to have spoiled, to have an unpleasant taste or smell, especially if we are talking about milk or something made from milk.
Corey says, you might as well throw out this bread too.
It's stale.
The expression you might as well is used to suggest that someone do something or to indicate what you should do.
Stale, S-T-A-L-E, is the opposite of fresh.
When we're talking about bread, stale bread would be dry and old.
Fresh bread would be soft and moist.
Ryan then says, isn't there anything you can use in this kitchen?
Meaning, isn't any of my food any good?
This is the problem if you walk into my kitchen.
I don't have a lot that you could eat.
Corey says, well, this oil is rancid.
This butter looks tainted.
The vegetables are wilted.
And even your canned goods are rusted.
There are several words there that we use to describe particular kinds of food or things that you eat that go bad.
Let's start with the first one about the oil.
Corey says this oil, such as vegetable oil or olive oil, is rancid.
We use rancid R-A-N-C-I-D specifically to talk about oil or fat or food that has fat in it, that goes bad, that spoils.
It usually will have a bad smell and a bad taste.
Corey also says that the butter looks tainted.
You can also use the adjective rancid when talking about butter.
But Cora here is saying that the butter is tainted.
Here she means that it is not safe to eat.
It is perhaps something that could even hurt you.
She says the vegetables are wilted.
Wilted is when a vegetable that is normally wilted stiff and crisp that is it normally is sort of hard, becomes very soft and the leaves of it are weak.
For example, if you have lettuce, which is a green food that you use in salads, if the lettuce is put in the heat, the leaves of the lettuce, the pieces of lettuce will wilt.
So she says the vegetables are wilted, meaning they are no longer fresh.
She also says that Ryan's canned goods are rusted.
Canned means it is food that you buy in a can that you then open up.
Canned goods could include things like tomato sauce or corn.
Many different kinds of food can be purchased in a can.
But these canned goods, these canned foods, are rusted.
The actual can is made of metal.
And the metal, if it is very old, can turn brown, creating something we call rust.
Well, you don't want to eat canned food that comes from the cans that are rusted.
There could be something there that could make you sick.
Corey says, you do have a lot of food in your kitchen.
But it's been here a long, long time.
Ryan says, The expression to go to waste means that you don't use it.
Not using something that you paid money for.
But of course, if you wait too long, well, the food will no longer be able to be eaten.
Corey says, I guess not, meaning I guess you don't like to waste things.
That's obvious by the fact that he didn't throw anything away.
Corey says, I'm still willing to make your dinner, but we'll have to do some shopping.
My cooking isn't the best, but I don't usually give people food poisoning.
Food poisoning is when you get very sick because of something that you have eaten.
I had food poisoning about 10 years ago where I had to go to the hospital because I was so sick.
I won't tell you where I ate, although the restaurant is still here in Los Angeles.
So if you come to Los Angeles, I'll tell you which restaurant you should not eat at.
Anyway, Corey says that she needs to buy some new food so that she can prepare the meal.
Some fresh food.
Ryan says okay okay, give me a list and I'll go to the market, the place where they sell, in this case, food.
Corey says and while you're there, I'll see what I can do about getting rid of all of this hazardous waste.
To get rid of means to throw out.
The term hazardous waste is usually one that we apply to chemicals that are very dangerous.
Corey is making a joke here.
She's saying that the food is so old and so spoiled that it is like a hazardous waste.
Hazardous comes from the word hazard, meaning something that could cause you harm, something that is dangerous.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I have tons of food in there.
What is that?
It looks moldy.
Oh, that's cheese.
I'm sure it's still good if we just cut off the moldy parts.
Okay, but look at the best I've used by date.
This expired three months ago.
What about this?
That's hamburger.
Maybe you could make some spaghetti with meatballs.
Not with this rotten meat.
It's definitely gone bad.
Can't you tell by the discoloration?
Meat isn't supposed to be gray.
I guess you're right.
I bet this milk isn't any good either, is it?
Nope.
It's gone sour.
And you might as well throw out this bread, too.
It's stale.
Isn't there anything you can use in this kitchen?
Well, this oil is rancid, this butter looks tainted, the vegetables are wilted and even your canned goods are rusted.
You do have a lot of food in your kitchen, but it's been here a long, long time.
I don't like things to go to waste.
I guess not.
I'm still willing to make you dinner, but we'll have to do some shopping.
My cooking isn't the best, but I don't usually give people food poisoning and I don't want to start now.
Okay, okay.
Give me a list and I'll go to the market.
And while you're there, I'll see what I can do about getting rid of all this hazardous waste.
The script for this episode is so good you can eat it.
It's by our very own script cook, 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.
