Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 962, Recovering After a Setback.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 962.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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On this episode we're going to hear a dialogue between Carl and Shelley about someone who's had some bad luck and is trying to recover.
Let's get started.
Come on, let's go.
I have $500 burning a hole in my pocket.
Where are we going?
We're going to the track.
I have a tip on a sure thing for one of this afternoon's races.
This is exactly what I need after last week's setback.
You mean after losing all of your money last week?
Right.
But all I need to do is to get that monkey off my back and then I'll have a reversal of fortune.
Maybe what happened last week is really a sign of things to come.
Maybe it was the start of a losing streak.
Don't jinx me with that kind of negativity.
Does that mean what I think it means?
Yes, that's right.
I'm plunking down all $500 on that race.
I can't lose.
But what if...
Don't say another word.
When I win and get back in my stride, you can say, congratulations.
Carl begins our dialogue by saying, come on, let's go.
I have $500 burning a hole in my pocket.
Come on means let's move, let's leave.
In this case, let's go.
Carl and Shelly are going somewhere.
It seems as though they're going to gamble, to try to win money by doing some sort of gambling.
Carl says he has $500 burning a hole in his pocket to...
Have money burning a hole H-O-L-E in your pocket.
P-O-C-K-E-T means to have some money that you want to spend, and spend quickly, especially if it's cash, if it's paper money or coins.
Literally, Your pocket is where you keep your keys and your money in your pants.
Most pairs of pants have at least two pockets, one on each side.
You'll often have pockets in the back of the pants to put a wallet, for example.
At least most men's pants have a pocket in the back.
To burn a hole in your pocket would mean that the money in your pocket would fall out.
It would fall out through the hole that was burned by the money.
It's just an expression that we use when we have some money and we really want to go out and spend it.
Often spend it on things that aren't very important or things that are just for fun.
Shelley says, where are we going?
Carl says, we're going to the track.
The track T-R-A-C-K here means the racetrack, a place where horses or dogs run around a oval-shaped path.
You could also have a track for runners.
In the Olympics, for example, there are races that go around a track.
It's like a large circle, but in the shape of an oval.
Carl wants to go to the racetrack to bet money so he can win more money.
Carl says, I have a tip on a sure thing for one of this afternoon's races.
A tip.
T-I-P here means some secret information that was given him that would give him some advantage in, in this case, winning money at the racetrack.
Perhaps somebody who knows the horse or knows the person riding the horse.
We call that person a jockey. gave this information to Carl.
A sure thing is something you know will definitely happen.
It's guaranteed.
It doesn't involve any risk.
It will 100% for certain happen.
Carl thinks that this horse or dog, we're not sure which, will definitely win the race.
And so by betting on that horse or dog, Carl is sure that he will win.
Races are competitions.
In this case, a race with different animals.
Carl says, this is exactly what I need after last week's setback.
A setback S-E-T-B-A-C-K is when you're having good luck or things are going well for you and then suddenly something bad happens.
Something happens that delays or slows your progress. but you know it's only temporary.
You're not worried about it.
A setback is a small, typically temporary problem that you think will go away and in the very near future you will continue to be successful.
That term is also sometimes used when someone is sick, especially in a hospital or with some illness or disease that lasts a long time.
Someone may be getting better and then they have a setback they stop getting better, they get a little worse.
Shelly says you mean after losing all of your money.
Last week, Carl's setback was that he lost all of his money, at least all of the money he was gambling.
Carl says right meaning yes, but all I need to do is get that monkey off my back and then I'll have a reversal of fortune.
The expression to have a monkey M-O-N-K-E-Y on your back means that you have a serious problem that lasts a long time and is very difficult to resolve or solve.
To have a monkey on your back is to have a problem that lasts for a long time.
It has been with you for a long time.
Carl says that he has a monkey on his back, and so he wants to get the monkey off his back.
To have a monkey on your back is to have a problem.
To get a monkey off your back is to get rid of the problem.
Carl says if this happens, if he can get rid of this, bad luck.
Basically he'll have a reversal of fortune.
Fortune, F-O-R-T-U-N-E, means something very good, often a lot of money.
We talk about someone making a fortune in the stock market.
We mean this person made a lot of money in the stock market.
A reversal R-E-V-E-R-S-A-L is when something changes.
Something changes completely, so that instead of winning you are losing, or instead of losing you are winning.
That would be a reversal.
A reversal of fortune would be a change in your luck.
Suddenly, things are going well for you instead of poorly for you.
Carl thinks his luck is going to change.
He says, winning big meaning winning a lot of money.
This afternoon will be the start of a new winning streak.
A streak, S-T-R-E-A-K, is a series of things that happen one after the other.
To have a winning streak means to be winning each and every competition that you enter.
If a baseball team has a winning streak...
They are winning every game, maybe five games in a row, R-O-W, we would say.
When something happens consecutively, one after the other, we use the expression in a row.
So a winning streak might be winning five games in a row or ten games in a row.
Carl thinks that if he wins big this afternoon, he will be starting a new winning streak.
Shelley says maybe what happened last week is really a sign of things to come.
The expression a sign S-I-G-N of things to come means that what has happened in the past will be the same thing that will happen in the future.
It will give you an idea about what will happen in the future.
The fact that Carl lost in the past, according to Shelley, may be a sign of things to come.
That he will continue losing, not that he will have a reversal of fortune.
Shelley says maybe it was the start of a losing streak.
Just as you can win several games in a row or several competitions...
So you can lose several games or competitions in a row.
And that's what Shelley is saying here.
Carl says, don't jinx me with that kind of negativity.
To jinx J-I-N-X someone means to bring bad luck to someone to do something or say something that will cause problems for other people.
People who are superstitious or who believe in bad luck, worry about Other people jinxing their projects somehow, causing them to have bad luck by something that they say, usually something negative.
And that's why Carl says, don't jinx me with that kind of negativity.
Negativity is the idea of being pessimistic, of thinking that things will go poorly in the future.
Carl says.
I've always believed that when you meet with a setback, when you have some difficulty, come back with all you've got, meaning you should respond with all of your energy, with full effort.
Shelly says, does that mean what I think it means?
Carl says, yes, that's right.
I'm plunking down all $500 on that race.
To plunk, P-L-U-N-K, down means to spend a lot of money on something.
I'm going to plunk down $500 on a new iPad.
Well, I'm not, but that's an example.
I'm going to plunk down $1,000 to buy my beautiful wife a new ring.
I'm not going to do that either.
Carl says, I can't lose.
Shelly says, but what if, and then Carl interrupts her.
Carl says, don't say another word.
When I win and get back in my stride, you can say congratulations.
To get back into your stride.
S-T-R-I-D-E means to return to doing something well and, after a period of not doing it well, to start having success after you've had several failures.
Carl thinks he's going to win at the racetrack today and doesn't want Shelly to bring him any bad luck.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Where are we going?
You mean after losing all of your money last week?
Right, but all I need to do is to get that monkey off my back, and then I'll have a reversal of fortune.
Winning big this afternoon will be the start of a new winning streak.
Don't jinx me with that kind of negativity.
I've always believed that when you meet with a setback, come back with all you've got.
Does that mean what I think it means?
Yes, that's right.
I'm plunking down all $500 on that race.
I can't lose.
But what if... Don't say another word.
When I win and get back in my stride, you can say congratulations.
If there's a sure thing for improving your English, it's the scripts by our wonderful script writer, Dr Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2013 by the Center for Educational Development.
