Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number one thousand and five.
Complimenting your host.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode one thousand five.
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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This episode is a dialogue between Anton and Jenny about saying nice things to a person who invites you over to their house for some party or event.
The person we would call the host.
Let's get started.
Jenny, you've outdone yourself.
This is quite a spread.
Thank you.
I'm glad you approve.
Approve?
I think everything on this table looks exquisite and mouthwatering.
That's nice of you to say.
I wanted everything to be perfect.
You've surpassed all expectations.
If this food tastes even half as good as it looks, you'll wow every guest.
I'm only just beginning.
Because you're a vision in that dress.
Oh, it's nothing special.
Of course it's special, but you could wear a sack and look ravishing.
Okay, now I know you're buttering me up.
What gives?
Nothing, nothing at all.
If you say so.
Where's the camera you borrowed from me for your trip?
Did you bring it?
Ah, the camera.
Did I mention how much I admire that necklace you're wearing?
The title of this episode is Complimenting Your Host.
To compliment, C-O-M-P-L-I-M-E-N-T, means to say nice things about someone.
Oh, those are very beautiful shoes you have on, or that's a really nice haircut.
Those are compliments.
When you say something nice about someone, or someone's house or someone's car or something that person owns.
You might even compliment someone's children.
What a very smart young son you have.
A host.
H-O-S-T is a person who has some party or some event and is responsible for running the event and usually talking to people and welcoming them to this party or event.
You could also have a host just for a dinner at your house.
You may have five or six of your friends over.
You would be the host of the party or the host of the dinner.
The host isn't always the person who organizes the event, but for a dinner or a small party it typically would be.
Technically, the host is the person who is there to greet people as they come in, to talk to them, to make them feel welcome.
We use the word host also in talking about television, radio or podcasting.
The person who is running the program, the person who is in front of the microphone, we might say, or in front of the camera, he or she is the host of the program.
Anton begins the dialogue by saying to Jenny, you've outdone yourself.
This is quite a spread.
To outdo yourself means to do better than anyone expected you to do, to do better even than you expected to do.
Anton says, this is quite a spread, S-P-R-E-A-D.
A spread is when you have a lot of food placed on a table.
To say it's quite a spread means there's a lot of food or a lot of very good food there.
Jenny says, thank you.
I'm glad you approve.
I'm glad you think so.
Anton says, approve?
I think everything on this table looks exquisite and mouthwatering.
These are both adjectives we might use to describe good food.
The first is exquisite, E-X-Q-U-I-S-I-T-E.
Something that is exquisite, is something that is very refined, something that is perhaps, when not talking about food, at least elegant.
Here, it means it tastes really, really good.
Similarly, the term mouthwatering refers to something that tastes very good.
It's very appetizing.
Exquisite is a more general adjective that can be used in lots of different circumstances.
Mouthwatering, however, refers specifically to food.
Jenny says, that's nice of you to say.
I wanted everything to be perfect.
Anton says, you've surpassed all expectations.
To surpass, S-U-R-P-A-S-S, means to go beyond something.
To surpass all expectations means to do better than anyone expected you to do.
It's quite similar to the we had earlier to outdo yourself.
Anton says if this food tastes even half as good as it looks, you'll wow every guest.
Anton is saying that the food looks wonderful.
If it tastes as good as it looks or even half as good as it looks, you'll wow every guest.
To wow, W-O-W, is an informal verb meaning to really impress or surprise someone.
We're going to wow our clients.
We're going to make them think this is wonderful.
Wow is also what we would call an interjection.
When we see something very surprising, whether it's good or bad, we'll often say, wow.
I once brought my computer in to be fixed.
And the person looking at it was looking at the computer.
And about every 30 seconds or so, she said, wow.
Wow.
Wow, now that's not what you want someone who's fixing your computer to say, because she's very surprised at something, and if the computer is broken, it means she's surprised at something that's very bad and that's not the kind of thing you want to hear.
But while is often used in a positive way to mean that you are surprised at a good thing, here it's definitely used as a verb to mean make a positive impression on people.
Jenny says, if you don't stop complimenting me, I won't be able to stop blushing.
To blush B-L-U-S-H means for your cheeks, your face, to become pink or red, because you're embarrassed.
That's the idea of blushing.
You blush when someone says something you find embarrassing.
Some people, when you compliment them a lot, may blush.
They may blush because they think you are being too kind, too nice perhaps.
Anton says, I'm only just beginning.
Because you're a vision in that dress.
Now Anton goes from complimenting her food to complimenting her.
He says, you're a vision in that dress.
If you describe someone as a vision, you're describing them as a beautiful person.
Someone who has a wonderful appearance, we might say.
Jenny says, oh, this is nothing special.
Anton says, disagreeing with her.
Of course it's special, but you could wear a sack and look ravishing.
A sack, S-A-C-K, is like a bag that you would carry something in, made of paper or perhaps cloth.
Anton is saying here that even if Jenny was just wearing something ugly, something that isn't even clothing, like a sack, she would still look ravishing.
Ravishing, R-A-V-I-S-H-I-N-G means very beautiful.
It's often used to describe a woman who is very beautiful, very attractive.
Jenny says, OK, now I know you're buttering me up.
To butter B-U-T-T-E-R.
Someone up is a phrasal verb meaning to say nice things to someone because you want that person to do something for you.
Jenny thinks Anton is buttering her up because he wants something from her.
So she asks him, what gives?
This is an informal phrase we use when you want to know what is really happening.
When someone doesn't seem to be straightforward with you.
When someone doesn't seem to be direct with you.
You may say, what gives?
What's really going on here?
Anton says, nothing, nothing at all.
You're so suspicious.
To be suspicious, S-U-S-P-I-C-I-O-U-S, means to be distrustful, to not believe or not trust someone.
Anton says, I'm just giving you my candid opinion.
Candid, C-A-N-D-I-D, means truthful, honest, not deceptive.
There was a television show on for many years called Candid Camera.
There, candid referred more to not prepared, not posed.
Candid camera was actually a secret camera that they would put somewhere.
And then the person who was the host of the show would do something crazy, or have people do something crazy and then see how people reacted.
Candid, when used in talking about photographs, means that you're not stopping and looking at the camera and trying to look a certain way.
It's when someone takes photographs of people who are not often aware that someone is taking a photograph of them.
That would be a candid.
Here, however, it means really honest.
When we talk about giving our candid opinion...
We're talking about giving our honest opinion.
Jenny says, if you say so, she doesn't really believe Anton.
Where's the camera you borrowed from me for your trip?
Did you bring it?
Now we learn that Anton had borrowed a camera from Jenny and maybe something happened to the camera and Anton doesn't have it anymore.
That's what Jenny thinks.
Anton says, ah, the camera.
Then he changes the subject.
Did I mention how much I admire that necklace you're wearing?
To admire A-D-M-I-R-E means to really like something, to really approve of something, to think that it's great.
Anton admires her necklace, the thing she's wearing around her neck, the piece of jewelry she's wearing around her neck.
He, of course, is trying to change the subject because Jenny is probably right.
Something happened to the camera.
And that's why Anton is being so nice to Jenny.
So Jenny won't be mad at him for losing or perhaps damaging her camera.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Jenny, you've outdone yourself.
This is quite a spread.
Thank you.
I'm glad you approve.
Approve?
I think everything on this table looks exquisite and mouth-watering.
That's nice of you to say.
I wanted everything to be perfect.
You've surpassed all expectations.
If this food tastes even half as good as it looks, you'll wow every guest.
I'm only just beginning, because you're a vision in that dress.
Of course it's special, but you could wear a sack and look ravishing.
Okay, now I know you're buttering me up.
What gives?
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
You're so suspicious.
I'm just giving you my candid opinion.
If you say so.
Where's the camera you borrowed from me for your trip?
Did you bring it?
Ah, the camera.
Did I mention how much I admire that necklace you're wearing?
Her wonderful scripts surpass all expectations.
I speak, of course, of our scriptwriter, 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 Podcast.
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
