Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1098, Riding in a Limousine.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 1098.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com.
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This episode is a dialogue between Theo and Mandy about riding in a very big, luxurious car called a limousine.
Let's get started.
Hey, get down from there.
You shouldn't be sticking your head out of the sunroof.
I just wanted to get some air.
This stretched limo is amazing.
Well, I thought I'd rent one and take you to the prom in style.
This is the height of luxury.
You've really outdone yourself.
Thanks, but maybe we should be careful not to spill drinks on the seats.
Everybody drinks and parties in the back of a limo.
Why else would they have a wet bar?
Well, we shouldn't be drinking out of it.
We could get into trouble.
The chauffeur doesn't know what we're doing back here.
The partition is up and it's soundproof.
But he could hear us on the intercom system.
Let's just relax and enjoy the ride.
You can do that, but I'm going to blast the music and have some fun.
This isn't a party bus.
No, but it could be a party limo.
You're brilliant.
Let's go pick up a few of my friends.
We'll turn this into a great party.
We'll get there, but first we're going to have a pre-party in our own party limo.
What a great idea!
Me and my big mouth.
This episode is all about a limousine l-i-m-o-u-s-i-n-e.
A limousine is a big car, often a car that has six, eight or even more doors on it, that is used for special events or for very special people.
It's a big car.
It's what we might call a luxury car.
You can often put six, eight, perhaps ten or more people in a limousine, depending on how big it is.
Mandy begins our dialogue by shouting, or something like that.
Theo says, hey, get down from there.
We tell someone to get down from somewhere when they have climbed up or gotten on top of something that they shouldn't be on or, in this case, that they are standing up when they should not be standing up.
Theo says to Mandy, you shouldn't be sticking your head out of the sunroof.
To stick S-T-I-C-K your head out of something is to put your head through some sort of opening, usually a window.
But here...
Mandy is sticking her head out of a sunroof, S-U-N-R-O-O-F.
The roof of a car is the top of the car.
We use that same word, roof, to describe the top of a house or a building.
A roof is on the outside of a house or a building or in this case a car.
The inside top of a room inside of a house or a building is called the ceiling, C-E-I-L-I-N-G.
We're talking in this dialogue about a sunroof.
A sunroof is basically a door that is at the top of the car, cut into the roof, that you can open and stick your head out of.
Now there's also another similar concept that is actually more popular in cars today, called a moon roof.
A moon roof is a window at the top of the car, cut into the top of the car.
You can't stick your head out of it, but you can see out of it.
Moonroofs usually have covers on them, so you can open or close the cover depending on whether you want light or not inside of the car, coming from the top, of course.
Mandy says, I just want to get some air.
People use that expression, to get some air, means to go outside and breathe in fresh air.
You can do that in most places, except here in Los Angeles, where the air is so polluted.
You're probably better off staying inside.
Mandy continues, this stretch limo is amazing.
Limo, L-I-M-O, is short for limousine.
A stretch, S-T-R-E-T-C-H, limo is a very long limousine.
Now, limousines are very long cars anyway, but a stretch limo is a really long limousine.
You've probably seen one or at least seen one in the movies.
Some people get a limousine for their wedding day and they like to ride in the limousine before the wedding or, I guess, after the wedding.
Really I don't know.
I didn't have a limousine for my wedding.
I had a bicycle.
Yeah, my wife and I, after we got married, we got on a bicycle you know one of those bicycles for two and then we pedaled away, we rode to the party, to the reception.
Really, Mandy is in a stretch limo and she thinks it's amazing.
Theo says well I thought I'd rent one and take you to the prom in style.
Now we learn exactly why Mandy and Theo are in a limo.
They're going to something called the prom, P-R-O-M.
The prom is a formal dance party that is popular in many American high schools, and it has been for many years.
It's usually during the spring season of the school year and is primarily for the students who are in their senior or last year the graduating students we might call them.
Prom is one of the few occasions where high school students get dressed up very nicely and it's considered a big party night for couples To go to the prom is considered sort of part of one's high school experience in the United States.
Not everyone goes to the prom.
I didn't go to the prom.
Why?
Well, I didn't have a girlfriend.
Sad, I know.
In our dialogue, Theo wants to take Mandy to the prom in style.
In style means in a fashionable, popular way, often one that costs a lot of money.
If you say I'm going to do something in style, you mean you are going to do it in a way that other people will admire.
Perhaps
And that also might cost you a little money.
Some children of richer parents will get a stretch limo or a limo for their prom night.
Mandy says this is the height of luxury.
The height H-E-I-G-H-T of something is luxury, an extreme example of something or the strongest example of something.
It could also refer to the biggest amount of something.
Luxury L-U-X-U-R-Y is something that is very comfortable often again, something that costs a lot of money.
So the height of luxury would be the most luxurious situation you could imagine.
Mandy says to Theo, you've really outdone yourself.
To outdo, O-U-T-D-O, one word, yourself, is to do something better than anyone thought you could do.
To do something better than you have done it before.
We might also define this verb as to surpass expectations.
Theo says, thanks, but maybe we should be careful not to spill drinks on the seats.
To spill, S-P-I-L-L, means to accidentally cause a liquid to leave its container.
So, for example, if you have a and you move your hand or arm too quickly, the water might spill out of the glass.
It might come out of the glass.
Theo is warning Mandy not to spill drinks on the seats of the car.
Mandy says everybody drinks and parties in the back of a limo.
Why else would they have a wet bar?
A wet bar is usually a small counter, a small piece of furniture that has a small sink in it, used to mix alcoholic drinks.
Now remember, these kids are in high school and of course they shouldn't be drinking legally if they are in high school.
Theo says well, we shouldn't be drinking out of it, meaning we shouldn't be taking drinks out of this wet bar.
Mandy says, the chauffeur doesn't know what we're doing back here.
The partition is up and it's soundproof.
The chauffeur C-H-A-U-F-F-E-U-R is the person whose job it is to drive the car, in this case, to drive the limousine.
The partition P-A-R-T-I-T-I-O-N is the The thing that divides the place where the driver is and those in the other part of the limousine, in the back part of the limousine.
A partition is anything that divides a room or a space into two different sections.
The partition is up, Mandy says, meaning that there is something like a wall between where the chauffeur is, the driver is and where they are sitting, so the driver can't see them.
Mandy also says that this particular partition is soundproof, S-O-U-N-D-P-R-O-O-F.
If something is soundproof, you can't hear what's on the other side of it.
Theo says, but he could hear us on the intercom system.
An intercom I-N-T-E-R-C-O-M system is a system that allows you to talk to people in another room of a house or a building, and usually one that is at a distance from where you are.
The house where I grew up had an intercom system.
It was three stories or three levels.
And my parents wanted to be able to yell at us I mean, talk to us when we were on the top floor in our bedroom.
So they put in an intercom system, which also allowed them to listen to us through the intercom.
And that's what Theo is talking about here.
He's saying the chauffeur could listen to them talking through the intercom system in the limousine.
He says, let's just relax and enjoy the ride.
Mandy says, you can do that, but I'm going to blast the music and have some fun.
To blast, B-L-A-S-T, music means to play it very loudly, as teenagers sometimes do.
Theo reminds Mandy that this isn't a party bus.
A party bus would be a large bus, a large vehicle that has been modified so that people can have a party in it as it is moving from one place to another.
This has become popular, I guess recently, at least here in Los Angeles people have these big buses that they use for parties.
Seems kinda strange to me.
But then again, many things here in Los Angeles seem strange to me.
Mandy says no, This isn't a party bus, but it could be a party limo.
Then she says, you're brilliant, meaning you're very intelligent.
Let's go pick up a few of my friends, meaning let's go to my friends' houses and get them to come in to the car or ride in the car with us.
We'll turn this into a great party, Mandy says.
Theo says, what about the prom?
Meaning, aren't we going to go to the prom?
Mandy says, we'll get there, but first we're going to have a pre-party in our own party limo.
A pre-party would, I guess, be a party that happens before the main party.
What a great idea, Mandy says.
Theo ends the dialogue by saying This is a phrase we use when you regret what you have said, when you wish that you had not said something that you had said.
The reason you regret it or feel badly about saying it is because another person took you seriously and actually did what you said instead, or what you suggested, even though that wasn't really what you had in mind or wasn't what you intended.
It could also be used when you say something that gets you in trouble, something that you shouldn't have said.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Hey, get down from there.
You shouldn't be sticking your head out of the sunroof.
I just wanted to get some air.
This stretched limo is amazing.
Well, I thought I'd rent one and take you to the prom in style.
This is the height of luxury.
You've really outdone yourself.
Thanks, but maybe we should be careful not to spill drinks on the seats.
Everybody drinks and parties in the back of a limo.
Why else would they have a wet bar?
Well, we shouldn't be drinking out of it.
We could get into trouble.
The chauffeur doesn't know what we're doing back here.
The partition is up and it's soundproof.
But he could hear us on the intercom system.
Let's just relax and enjoy the ride.
You can do that, but I'm going to blast the music and have some fun.
This isn't a party bus.
No, but it could be a party limo.
You're brilliant.
Let's go pick up a few of my friends.
We'll turn this into a great party.
What about the prom?
We'll get there, but first we're going to have a pre-party in our own party limo.
What a great idea.
Me and my big mouth.
Here at ESL Podcast, we think our scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Say, is brilliant.
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 2015 by the Center for Educational Development.
