Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 538, Finding the Perfect Gift.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 538.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McWillen, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is called Finding the Perfect Gift.
It's a dialogue between Faye and Pablo about someone who's looking to find a gift.
Let's get started.
Help!
I still need to buy a gift for my mother, and I can't seem to think of the perfect present.
Something that'll really knock her socks off.
Why don't you just get her a gift certificate or a gift card?
That way, she can pick out her own gift.
Oh, she would hate that.
She would think that I didn't put any thought into buying her a present at all, while I've been racking my brain to think of something she'll like.
Maybe I should buy her a car.
Now, don't get carried away.
You get like this every year.
I know you want to please your mother, but remember, it's the thought that counts.
I wish that were true.
If I get her the wrong gift, I'm afraid she'll be disappointed or worse.
She'll hold it against me for the rest of my life.
How can I not?
You know my mother.
Yes, I do.
And I have one piece of advice for you.
Buy her a gift she can return.
Faye says to Pablo, Help!
A gift and a present are the same thing.
It's something that you give another person.
A gift is something that you don't expect the other person to give you anything in exchange for.
You're not asking the other person to give you any money.
Gifts and presents are always free, although it has become popular in the last few years on television to talk about how people could get a free gift.
But all gifts, all presents are, by definition, free.
Faye says I can't seem to think of the perfect present, something that will really knock her socks off.
To knock someone's socks off is an informal expression, meaning to impress someone very much.
To do something that surprises someone, but in a good way, in an unexpected way.
A gift certificate is a piece of paper that you buy at a store, that you give to someone, and it allows that person to go to that store and use it to buy things.
A gift card is similar, except it looks like a little credit card and you are able to give that to someone and they can buy whatever they want.
Pablo says that way, meaning by doing that, by buying her a gift card, She can pick out her own gift.
To pick out is a phrasal verb meaning to choose, to select, to decide which of something you want.
Some people don't like that.
In fact, Faye says, oh, her mother would hate that.
She would think that I didn't put any thought into buying her a present at all.
To put thought into something means to think about something carefully, to think of all the options, to think of what that person's opinion would be, what their likes and dislikes are, and to choose something carefully just for that person.
A gift card or a gift certificate means that you really haven't thought about it at all and you just picked a store and you gave them a gift card for it.
Many people don't like gift cards and gift certificates, but they're very popular.
Faye says, I've been racking my brain to think of something she'll like.
To rack R-A-C-K your brain means to spend a lot of time thinking about something, especially something that's very difficult, a problem that's very difficult to solve.
In this case, the problem is which gift Faye should buy her mother.
Maybe I should buy her a car, she says.
Pablo says, To get carried away means to do too much of something, to take something to an extreme.
We might also say to go overboard.
To get carried away means to do too much of something.
The verb carry, however, has many different meanings.
You Know Where to Look, our learning guide, where you can find additional explanations.
Pablo says, you get like this every year, meaning you get into this way of thinking every year.
I know you want to please your mother, but remember, it's the thought that counts.
To please someone means to make someone happy, someone you like, someone that you are trying to satisfy.
Please has a couple of different meanings.
However, once again, take a look at the learning guide for some more explanations.
Pablo says, it's the thought that counts.
This is an expression, a phrase we have.
That means, even if the person doesn't like the gift, they will appreciate the thought that went behind it, the fact that you tried to find something good for them.
It's the thought that counts.
Fay says, I wish that were true, meaning that's not true for my mother.
If I get her the wrong gift, I'm afraid she'll be disappointed.
To be disappointed means you're unhappy because someone didn't do what you expected or something didn't result in the way that you wanted it to.
Faye says, worse, she'll hold it against me for the rest of my life.
To hold something against someone is another phrasal verb meaning not to forgive someone for something that happened.
To continue to be angry at someone for something that happened in the past.
Faye thinks that her mother will be mad at her for the rest of her life, which could be a very long time.
Pablo says, To boggle, B-O-G-G-L-E, someone's mind, means to confuse someone.
To do something that is very surprising, very confusing, very difficult for another person to understand.
It means that you're really confused about something.
You're really surprised about something.
Why my brother decided to leave his job boggles my mind.
I'm completely confused by it.
Usually, we use this expression when we somehow disapprove or disagree with whatever the outcome or result was.
Pablo says it boggles his mind how Faye works herself up like this every year.
To work yourself up means to get very worried about something or to get very angry about something.
If your girlfriend decides to end your relationship, your friend might say don't get worked up about it.
Don't get worried about it.
Don't get angry about it.
There are other fish in the sea is an expression we would use in that case.
There are other fish in the sea, in the ocean, meaning there are other women out there that you can find to be your girlfriend.
Maybe.
Faith says, how can I not, meaning how can I not work myself up?
You know my mother.
Pablo says, yes, I do.
And I have one piece of advice for you.
A piece of advice is one thing that you are recommending to someone.
Buy her a gift she can return.
To return here means to take something back to the store where you bought it so that you can get something else, or they will give you the money that was paid for the gift.
We actually have what are called gift receipts which are popular, I'm sure, in other places.
These are receipts that the store will give a person.
It doesn't have the amount of the purchase, the amount that you paid, but it allows the person to bring it back to a store to exchange it for something else.
Of course, once they bring it back, then they'll know how much it was, so...
It's kind of a silly practice really, but that is what a gift receipt is when you are going to return something.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Help!
I still need to buy a gift for my mother, and I can't seem to think of the perfect present, something that'll really knock her socks off.
Why don't you just get her a gift certificate or a gift card?
That way she can pick out her own gift.
Oh, she would hate that.
She would think that I didn't put any thought into buying her a present at all, while I've been racking my brain to think of something she'll like.
Maybe I should buy her a car.
Now don't get carried away.
You get like this every year.
I know you want to please your mother, but remember, it's the thought that counts.
It boggles my mind how you can work yourself up like this every year.
Yes, I do, and I have one piece of advice for you.
Buy her a gift she can return.
If this script knocked your socks off, you can thank Dr. Lucy Say, who did such a great job.
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.
