Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 995, Proper Behavior at a Formal Event.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 995.
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 talk about how you should act, how you should behave, at a formal event.
Let's get started.
Ha ha!
Did you hear what I said?
Funny, right?
Behave yourself.
This is a serious and solemn occasion, not a time for levity.
Loosen up.
We have to endure two hours of this ceremony.
It's indecent the way you're behaving.
Don't you have any sense of decorum?
Lighten up.
You're such a stick in the mud.
There's nothing unseemly about cracking a few jokes when everybody here is taking themselves too seriously.
Your problem is that you have no sense of dignity.
Don't you realize that your stupid jokes cheapen the occasion?
You're a disgrace.
Don't get all huffy.
Alright, if you won't join in, I'll try to be serious.
That's better.
I would seriously like a drink.
Bartender!
Rodney begins our dialogue by laughing, which we normally write as ha-h-a.
Rodney says, Did you hear what I said?
Funny, right?
Meaning...
Samantha is not happy.
She says to Rodney When you tell someone to behave B-E-H-A-V-E himself or herself, You're telling them to act in a way that would not bother other people, to act in a way that is what we would call socially acceptable.
So if you're at a funeral, you're not going to be going around laughing.
If you're at a wedding, you're not going to go around crying.
Those are not socially acceptable behaviors in those situations.
You may also say this to a young child who's yelling or doing something that he shouldn't be doing.
You may say to the child, behave yourself.
My mother used to say that to me a lot.
Samantha continues, this is a serious and solemn occasion, not a time for levity.
Solem, S-O-L-E-M-N means serious respectful, something that would describe a formal occasion about something that was very serious.
Samantha says this is not a time for levity, L-E-V-I-T-Y.
Levity is the opposite of solemn.
Levity is related to humor, of making jokes about things.
Rodney doesn't agree with Samantha.
He says, loosen up.
This phrase, loosen, L-O-O-S-E-N, up, means be relaxed.
Don't be so serious.
He says we have to endure two hours of this ceremony.
To endure, E-N-D-U-R-E, means to tolerate or put up with something that is difficult or unpleasant.
To suffer through something patiently.
You can endure a difficult time in your life.
You could endure watching a terrible movie for two hours with your wife because you love her and you told her that you would go and watch the movie with her.
Just an example.
Rodney is talking about having to endure two hours of this ceremony.
We're not quite sure what the ceremony is for.
Samantha says, it's indecent the way you're behaving.
Indecent, I-N-D-E-C-E-N-T, is the opposite of decent.
Decent would be proper, correct, something that is socially acceptable.
Indecent would be something that is not correct, not appropriate for the situation.
Indecent also has the meaning of being perhaps sexually inappropriate in a situation.
Maybe telling jokes, for example, that are not appropriate.
Samantha says, don't you have any sense of decorum?
Decorum D-E-C-O-R-U-M refers to behavior that is considered socially acceptable, especially in formal situations, informal circumstances.
Samantha is asking Rodney if he has any sense of decorum meaning.
Does he really even understand what it means to behave properly in a situation such as this?
Once again, Rodney disagrees with Samantha's opinion.
He says to her something similar that he said just a minute ago.
Lighten up.
Lighten up. is the same as loosen up.
It means, again, to stop being so serious, stop being so sad, perhaps.
He says, you're such a stick in the mud.
The phrase stick in the mud refers to someone who isn't very adventurous, someone who is dull, someone who is boring.
Rodney continues Unseemly.
U-N-S-E-E-M-L-Y again refers to behavior that is not appropriate for a certain setting, a certain situation, especially a formal one.
Rodney says that he's cracking a few jokes.
To crack, C-R-A-C-K, a joke, is to tell a joke, to say something that is funny.
Rodney says everybody here, wherever they are, is taking themselves too seriously.
To take yourself too seriously is to worry too much about how you appear to other people and to think that what you say and what you think are very important to everyone else.
To take yourself too seriously is to think that you are more important to other people than you really are.
Samantha is once again criticizing Rodney. saying he has no sense of dignity, D-I-G-N-I-T-Y.
Dignity refers to having a serious manner, causing other people to look at you with respect.
She continues, don't you realize that your stupid jokes cheapen the occasion?
You're a disgrace.
To cheapen C-H-E-A-P-E-N is to lower the quality of something, to cause something to be seen as worse than it really is.
To cheapen the occasion would be to take a formal or serious situation and make it less serious but also less respected.
Samantha says to Rodney, you're a disgrace.
If you call someone a disgrace D-I-S-G-R-A-C-E, you're saying that they are very bad, because they have done something bad or unacceptable and you no longer respect them.
You no longer think well of them.
Rodney says, isn't all that interested in Samantha's opinion.
He says, don't get all huffy.
To be huffy, H-U-F-F-Y, is to be annoyed, to be bothered, to be irritated.
We would describe someone as being huffy or in a huff, when we don't think they have a good reason to be angry and upset.
It's a criticism of someone to say something like, don't get all huffy.
All right, Rodney says, if you won't join in, I'll try to be serious.
Meaning, if you don't want to have fun with me, I'll try to be serious.
Samantha says that's better.
She's happy.
Then Rodney says, I would seriously like a drink.
Bartender.
And then Samantha groans.
She makes a sound that indicates that she's really unhappy.
Rodney says he's going to be serious, but then he makes a joke and says I would seriously like a drink.
Here, he's using the word serious to mean very much or really.
He's not being serious in the sense of being solemn or respectful.
He's using the adverb seriously to mean really.
Then he calls for the bartender, which is the person whose job it is to mix and serve you alcoholic drinks at a bar, or perhaps at some formal reception or ceremony where they have alcohol.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Did you hear what I said?
Funny, right?
Behave yourself.
This is a serious and solemn occasion, not a time for levity.
Loosen up.
We have to endure two hours of this ceremony.
It's indecent the way you're behaving.
Don't you have any sense of decorum?
Lighten up.
You're such a stick in the mud.
There's nothing unseemly about cracking a few jokes when everybody here is taking themselves too seriously.
Your problem is that you have no sense of dignity.
Don't you realize that your stupid jokes cheapen the occasion?
You're a disgrace.
Don't get all huffy.
All right, if you won't join in, I'll try to be serious.
That's better.
I would seriously like a drink.
Bartender!
Our scriptwriter is no stick in the mud.
She's the wonderful, witty Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcasts.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2014 by the Center for Educational Development.
