Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1181, Making a Comeback.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1181.
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 Eileen and Dex about someone who was popular a long time ago who wants to be popular again.
Let's get started.
The guys in the band are planning a reunion.
It's time for our comeback.
It will be the stuff of legends.
Aren't you afraid of being called has-beens after all these years?
Bite your tongue.
There is a groundswell of support for this reunion and we're not going to disappoint the fans groundswell.
Are you referring to that local news article about one-hit wonders, asking where are they now?
There was a lot of good response to my quote about our possible reunion.
After a 20-year hiatus, I think fans are ready for more music from us.
It should lead to a tour.
Stop being such a killjoy.
This reunion could lead to an entire new generation of fans.
Or you could become the laughingstock of the music world.
Okay, that's enough.
You're officially out of the band.
I didn't know I was in the band.
I had considered making you a backup singer, but I can't deal with your negativity.
You've had your chance.
The title of this episode is Making a Comeback, C-O-M-E-B-A-C-K.
A comeback is usually when a famous person, someone in sports or entertainment, becomes popular after many years of no longer being popular.
So they're popular and then they're not popular and then they become popular again.
Some old actors and singers try to make a comeback.
They try to become popular again after 10, 15, or 20 years of not being popular.
You see this a lot in music.
And that's the topic of today's dialogue.
Eileen says to Dex...
What are you doing with all that band equipment?
Band is a group of musicians who perform together.
Guitars drums, speakers.
Those are things that might be part of the band equipment that Eileen is talking about.
Deck says the guys, meaning probably the men, in the band are planning a reunion.
A reunion R-E-U-N-I-O-N is an event that is for people who used to be related in some way to get back together again and have a party or have some sort of celebration.
The members of Dex's band are planning a reunion.
He says it's time for our comeback.
It will be the stuff of legends.
The expression stuff S-T-U-F-F of legends, L-E-G-E-N-D-S means that it is going to be very famous, something that is well known, something that will be popular, that many people will be talking about.
Eileen says...
Aren't you afraid of being called has-beens after all these years?
The term has-been refers to someone who used to be popular and successful, but is no longer popular.
But this person continues to talk about it.
You can find lots of has-been actors here in Los Angeles.
The term has-been is definitely an insulting one.
It is used to refer to someone who isn't famous anymore, but was once famous.
It could also refer to someone who was once good at something, but is no longer good at that thing.
Dex responds to Eileen, bite your tongue.
This expression to bite your tongue, T-O-N-G-U-E, means be silent, be quiet.
Don't say what you want to say right now.
There is a groundswell of support for this.
Reunion Deck says and we're not going to disappoint the fans.
A groundswell G-R-O-U-N-D-S-W-E-L-L is an increase in something, especially in public opinion when people start liking something.
Usually, this happens very quickly.
A fan, F-A-N, is someone who likes a particular person or thing.
It could be a celebrity, it could be a movie, it could be a sports team, it could be even a particular kind of food.
I'm a fan of shrimp.
That means I really like shrimp.
Or I'm a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
I really like that baseball team.
Eileen, however, doubts that Dex is correct about this groundswell.
She says, groundswell?
Are you referring to that local news article about one-hit wonders?
Asking, where are they now?
A one-hit wonder.
W-O-N-D-E-R is a person or a group that had one popular song and then nothing else.
The person or group only had one popular song that everybody knows and everybody can sing, but that was it.
That was the only hit, the only success they had.
That's a one-hit wonder.
Eileen says there was an article in the newspaper or perhaps the internet website about One Hit Wonders, asking what these people or what these groups are doing now.
Dex says there was a lot of good response to my quote about our possible reunion.
So apparently, Dex was interviewed for this article and there is something that he said in the article.
That's what he means by my quote, Q-U-O-T-E.
After a 20-year hiatus, I think fans are ready for more music from us.
A hiatus, H-I-A-T-U-S, is a break, a pause, often a very long pause in some activity.
In this case, a 20-year break.
It should lead to a tour, Dex says.
He's referring to this reunion concert that they are planning on giving.
A tour, T-O-U-R, is when a musician or a band travels from city to city giving performances.
Eileen says resurrecting your music career might be harder than you guys think.
To resurrect, R-E-S-U-R-R-E-C-T, refers to bringing something or someone back to life.
More generally, it means to try to make something popular that was once popular in the past but is no longer so.
Dex says, stop being such a killjoy.
A killjoy.
K-I-L-L-J-O-Y is a person who makes it difficult for other people to enjoy something, who makes it difficult for other people to have fun, perhaps by making negative comments.
Eileen doubts that Dex and his band will be able to make a comeback.
But Dex says stop being such a killjoy.
This reunion could lead to an entire new generation of fans, meaning a whole new group of younger people who will like their music.
Eileen says, A laughingstock, L-A-U-G-H-I-N-G-S-T-O-C-K, one word, is a person that other people make fun of, that other people laugh at, usually because that person is doing something embarrassing or stupid that other people laugh at.
Eileen thinks that Dex and his band will be the laughingstock of the music world, meaning everyone else who is involved in making and selling music.
Dex says, okay, that's enough.
You're officially out of the band, meaning you will not be a member of the band.
Eileen says, I didn't know I was in the band.
Dex responds, I had considered making you a backup singer, but I can't deal with your negativity.
A backup singer is someone who provides help for the lead or main singer in a band.
You still see this in some musical groups.
They'll usually be two people, maybe more, who are standing in the back, who are also singing the song, helping the main singer of the song, the person we would call the lead L-E-A-D singer of the band.
Dex says he had considered making Eileen a backup singer, but he can't deal with her negativity.
N-E-G-A-T-I-V-I-T-Y.
Negativity is the same as being pessimistic, having negative thoughts and feelings about something, or talking in a negative way, always criticizing, always complaining or always seeing the bad side of things.
Eileen somewhat jokingly says, Oh, poor me.
I'll never find stardom.
Stardom S-T-A-R-D-O-M refers to having your name and your work known by lots of different people, being a star being famous.
Dex, however, says to her, you've had your chance.
You've had your chance.
As a phrase we use to tell someone that he or she has lost a good opportunity by not taking advantage of it during a certain period of time.
Eileen doesn't really feel sorry.
She doesn't really think she was going to be a star.
But Dex is mad at her and says well, you've had your chance, meaning you could have been famous, but because of your negativity you won't.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
What are you doing with all that band equipment?
The guys in the band are planning a reunion.
It's time for our comeback.
It will be the stuff of legends.
Aren't you afraid of being called has-beens after all these years?
Bite your tongue.
There is a groundswell of support for this reunion, and we're not going to disappoint the fans.
There was a lot of good response to my quote about our possible reunion.
After a 20-year hiatus, I think fans are ready for more music from us.
It should lead to a tour.
Resurrecting your music career might be harder than you guys think.
Stop being such a killjoy.
This reunion could lead to an entire new generation of fans.
Or you could become the laughingstock of the music world.
Okay, that's enough.
You're officially out of the band.
I didn't know I was in the band.
I had considered making you a backup singer, but I can't deal with your negativity.
Oh, poor me.
I'll never find stardom.
You've had your chance.
The scripts by our wonderful scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Say, are definitely the stuff of legends.
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.
