Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1105.
Dressing appropriately for an event.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1105.
I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan.
Coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California, USA.
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This episode is a dialogue between Patricia and Reno about wearing the right clothes for a certain occasion or event.
Let's get started.
Hey, look at you.
You're all decked out.
What's the occasion?
I'm going to the Ortegas' party.
Aren't you?
Yeah, but I'm not getting all dolled up for it.
I think the dress is casual.
But I'd rather not be overdressed.
Okay, then what are you wearing?
I'm going to dress up these jeans with a chic blouse.
And then I'm going to accessorize with this necklace as a statement piece.
That's a nice outfit, but it's more appropriate for a casual event, not a party.
But that's what I'm trying to tell you.
This is not a formal affair.
Do what you like, but I'm not going to risk being inappropriately dressed for one of the Ortegas' parties.
I don't want to be blacklisted and not be invited in the future.
Their parties are legendary, with the best food, the best booze.
Oh, you're right.
What was I thinking?
Patricia begins our dialogue by saying to Renaud, Hey, look at you.
You're all decked out.
To be decked D-E-C-K-E-D out means to be wearing very nice clothing, to be dressed up.
If you're a girl, it might mean to be wearing makeup and having your hair done a certain way, perhaps wearing certain jewelry.
Normally, to be decked out means to be dressed for a formal event, a formal occasion.
In fact, Patricia asks Reno, what's the occasion?
Meaning, what is the big event?
What is the thing that you are dressed up for?
Reno says, I'm going to the Ortega's party.
Aren't you?
Patricia says, yeah, but I'm not getting all dolled up for it.
To get dolled, D-O-L-L-E-D, up for something means to get dressed up formally.
Usually, however, we use this particular expression when we are referring to a girl or a woman.
A man would not describe himself as getting all dolled up.
Although I'm not sure the exact origin of this expression, the word doll used to be used informally to refer to a woman, particularly a good-looking woman.
Patricia is not going to get all dolled up for this party at the Ortega's.
She says, I think the dress is casual.
Dress D-R-E-S-S here doesn't refer to a particular kind of clothing that a girl or a woman would typically wear.
It refers to a style of clothing, the kind of clothing that you would wear to a certain event or that would be worn by a certain group of people.
So when Patricia says the dress is casual, she means that the way people will be dressing for this particular event will be casual.
Casual, C-A-S-U-A-L, here is the opposite of formal.
In other words, it means informal, not formal.
If you dress casually to an event, you are not going to wear your best clothes.
You probably won't wear a tie if you're a man or a very nice dress if you're a woman.
Patricia thinks the majority of the people anyway going to this party are not going to be dressed formally but rather casually.
Renault says, I heard that it's going to be an upscale affair, and I don't want to be underdressed.
Renault has a different idea about this party.
He says that he thinks it's going to be an upscale U-P-S-C-A-L-E affair.
A-F-F-A-I-R scale affair would be a very nice party or event, one for which people would dress very formally.
People might also use this expression and upscale affair to describe an event where there's nice food and drinks, where it takes place in a very nice room, such as at a hotel.
Renault doesn't want to be underdressed for this upscale affair.
To be underdressed means to be dressed less formally than the people around you.
So if you go to a wedding and you're wearing shorts and a t-shirt and everyone else is wearing a suit and a tie or a nice dress, you would be underdressed.
You would not be dressed as formally as everyone else.
The opposite of being underdressed is what Patricia says in the very next sentence, which is overdressed.
To be overdressed means to say, go to the beach where everyone else is wearing a swimsuit, dressed as though you were going to a wedding, in a suit and tie, say.
Patricia says, but I'd rather not be overdressed.
She prefers not to dress too formally than to be dressed not formally enough.
Renaud says, okay, then what are you wearing?
What clothing are you going to put on?
Patricia says, I'm going to dress up these jeans with a chic blouse.
The two-word phrasal verb to dress up can mean a couple of different things.
Here it means to wear a certain piece of clothing that would normally be considered casual and make it look more formal, perhaps by combining it with something nicer.
So, for example, a pair of blue jeans would normally be considered casual, casual dress, but if you wanted to dress it up, you might wear a very nice shirt with it or something else that would make it look a little more formal.
That's the meaning of to dress up here.
To dress someone up would mean to put clothing on someone, usually to make them look like someone else.
In that particular meaning of the phrasal verb.
We would usually follow it with as
I'm going to dress up as a clown, meaning I'm going to put on clothing that would make me look like a clown.
Some people think I look like a clown even without putting on special clothing.
But Patricia isn't going to dress up as a clown.
She's going to dress up her jeans with a chic blouse.
A blouse, B-L-O-U-S-E, is a shirt that a woman wears.
The adjective chic C-H-I-C means fashionable or stylish, something that makes it look appealing, in this case a little more formal.
Patricia says, and then I'm going to accessorize with this necklace as a statement piece.
To accessorize, A-C-C-E-S-S-O-R-I-Z-E, means to wear other things such as jewelry with your clothing to improve the appearance to make it look better than it would otherwise accessories include clothing handbags purses scarves belts other things that people wear or use with their clothing to improve their appearance patricia is going to accessorize with a necklace She calls the necklace a statement piece.
A statement piece is usually a very large, unusual piece of jewelry or other accessory that typically a woman would wear.
As something to improve her look, her appearance, a statement piece often draws a lot of attention.
It attracts your eye when you look at it.
Renault says that he thinks what Patricia is wearing is a nice outfit.
An outfit.
O-U-T-F-I-T here refers to a set of clothing things that are worn together at the same time.
A woman's outfit might include a blouse and a skirt and a belt, perhaps a scarf around her neck.
That would all be part of her outfit.
Renault thinks that Patricia's outfit is nice, but he says it's more appropriate for a casual event, not a party.
Patricia says, but that's what I'm trying to tell you.
This, meaning this party, is not a formal affair.
Renaud says do what you like, but I'm not going to risk being inappropriately dressed for one of the Ortega's parties.
He's saying that he's going to dress the way he wants and he's going to ignore Patricia's advice.
He continues, I don't want to be blacklisted and not be invited in the future.
To be blacklisted B-L-A-C-K-L-I-S-T-E-D is to be considered no longer welcome at a certain place or to be ineligible to not be able to get a certain job even.
It's as if your name were put on a list of people who will no longer be invited to a certain kind of event.
That's what Renault is afraid of.
He says the Ortega's parties are legendary, with the best food, the best booze.
Legendary, in this case, means very well-known in a positive way, admired or respected.
Booze, B-O-O-Z-E, refers to alcohol.
It's an informal term for alcohol or what we also call liquor, L-I-Q-U-O-R.
Patricia says, oh, you're right.
What was I thinking?
What was I thinking is a phrase used to show that you were wrong, that you had the completely wrong idea about something.
Apparently, Patricia realizes that she is wrong and agrees with Renaud, or at least that's the way it seems.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Hey, look at you.
You're all decked out.
What's the occasion?
I'm going to the Ortegas' party.
Aren't you?
Yeah, but I'm not getting all dolled up for it.
I think the dress is casual.
I heard that it's going to be an upscale affair, and I don't want to be underdressed.
But I'd rather not be overdressed.
Okay, then what are you wearing?
I'm going to dress up these jeans with a chic blouse, and then I'm going to accessorize with this necklace as a statement piece.
That's a nice outfit, but it's more appropriate for a casual event, not a party.
But that's what I'm trying to tell you.
This is not a formal affair.
Do what you like, but I'm not going to risk being inappropriately dressed for one of the Ortegas' parties.
I don't want to be blacklisted and not be invited in the future.
Their parties are legendary, with the best food, the best booze.
Oh, you're right.
What was I thinking?
Her skills as a scriptwriter are legendary.
I speak, of course, of the wonderful Dr. Lucy Saye.
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.
