Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1205.
Bragging about success with women.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1205.
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 about being successful, romantically, with women.
Something I know nothing about.
Let's get started.
I'd love to get a date with Jessica.
She's so hot.
You mean you want to add another notch to your bedpost.
I've been around the block, but there's nothing wrong with sowing a few wild oats.
That's all part of being young and carefree.
Hmm.
Maybe you shouldn't be telling me about your conquests.
Why not?
It's no secret that I've got game.
Chicks dig me.
Last week alone, I... Really?
I think I'll take a pass on the play-by-play.
See that woman over there?
Watch me put the moves on her.
No thanks.
I'm leaving.
Wait.
Are you going to put in a good word for me with Jessica?
You know that she's a good friend of mine, right?
Of course I do.
That's why I'm asking you.
I thought she might like a man with experience.
In that case, what are you doing Saturday?
Our dialogue begins with Jonah saying to Becca, I'd love to get a date with Jessica.
A date is a romantic appointment going to a movie or having dinner with someone you are romantically interested in.
Jonah thinks that Jessica is hot, meaning she's attractive in a sexual way.
Becca says, you mean you want to add another notch to your bedpost.
To add a notch, N-O-T-C-H, to something is to make a mark, usually in a piece of wood.
The idea usually is that you are making the notch to mark or to count the number of times you've done something.
If you are making a notch in your bed post, which is part of your bed, you are symbolically, if not actually, trying to count the number of romantic partners you've had.
Becca says that Jonah isn't really interested in Jessica as a person, but rather as a sexual object.
Jonah says The expression to say you've been around the block B-L-O-C-K means you've had a lot of experience doing something.
Jonah says there's nothing wrong with sowing a few wild oats, O-A-T-S.
This expression to sow, S-O-W, wild oats, is actually a very old one going back at least 500 years.
It refers nowadays in general to a young man sowing, wasting his life doing things that aren't very productive, like drinking and, more specifically, having sexual experiences with different women.
Depending on the context, it could be used to describe a young man who is wasting his life drinking and partying and, more specifically, on sexual adventures.
Jonah says that's all part of being young and carefree.
To be carefree C-A-R-E-F-R-E-E means not to have any worries or concerns, to be free of cares without any concerns.
If you believe that sowing a few wild oats means that you will be carefree, you may be among the 50 of Americans who will at some point have a sexually transmitted disease in your lifetime.
So congratulations.
A sexually transmitted disease is a disease you get from having sex with someone else who has that disease.
But Jonah believes he will be carefree.
Becca says hmm, maybe you shouldn't be telling me about your conquests C-O-N-Q-U-E-S-T-S.
A conquest is a victory or success.
In this case, it refers to having sexual relations.
Jonah says, why not?
It's no secret I've got game.
The expression I've got game is used to show that a person is very good at something.
It is sometimes used, especially among men who think that they are very attractive to other women and are able to have many romantic relationships with women, or to have those easily because women are attracted to them.
In fact, that's what Jonah says in the next sentence.
He says, The word chick, C-H-I-C-K, is an informal word for a female, especially a young female.
It is considered somewhat of a sexist term.
You probably do not want to use it in your own conversation.
It's also somewhat of an older term that isn't as common now as it was maybe 30 years ago.
Similarly with the expression to dig someone.
To dig, D-I-G, someone means that you are attracted romantically to that person.
Jonah seems to think that women are attracted to him.
That's why he says, chicks, dig me.
Last week alone, he begins to tell Becca something, but Becca interrupts him.
She says, really, I think I'll take a pass on the play by play.
To take a pass, PASS, on something is to choose not to do something or not to receive something.
Someone may offer you I don't know a piece of pie and you are trying to lose weight.
So you say I think I'll take a pass on the piece of pie but, thank you, you are declining to have it.
You are choosing not to have it.
Becca wants to take a pass on the play by play.
Play by play is a detailed description of what happens or, in this case, of what happened.
Play by play is a phrase that comes from the world of sports.
When you are watching or listening to a sporting event, the person who is announcing the game, who is talking about the game, will usually tell you exactly what is happening.
This is especially true if you are listening on the radio.
In order to understand what is happening in the game, the person who is announcing the game gives you the play-by-play exactly what is happening at every moment in the game.
Jonah says, see that woman over there?
Watch me put the moves on her.
To put the moves M-O-V-E-S on a person means to flirt with that person to try to get that person interested in you romantically.
Becca says, no thanks, I'm leaving.
Jonah says, wait, are you going to put in a good word for me with Jessica?
To put in a good word for someone is to recommend someone to someone else or to say something good about someone.
This is often used when someone is say, applying for a job or wanting to get a promotion, or simply wants another person to like him.
You may ask your friend to put in a good word for you with a woman that he knows, so that that woman will be interested in you.
It probably won't work, but you can try.
Becca says, you know that she's a good friend of mine, right?
Becca is reminding Jonah that Jessica is one of her friends.
Jonah says, of course I do.
That's why I'm asking you.
Becca says, and you thought I'd set her up with a player?
To set someone up here means to arrange for someone to have a romantic date with another person.
When I first moved to Southern California...
I had a student in one of my classes that I was teaching who I later became friends with.
And she had a woman that she knew, who was single, who was looking to date, who was looking to find a romantic partner.
And so she set me up with her friend.
She got the two of us together and we went out and had dinner and went dancing, I think.
It wasn't really a good match.
She didn't like me that much.
I didn't like her that much.
So things kind of ended.
My friend was nice enough to set me up on a date, we might say, with this other woman.
I think that's the only time I've ever been set up on a date.
Those kinds of arrangements are often very successful.
My mother and father met by being set up on a date by their friends.
Becca doesn't want to set up her friend Jessica on a date with Jonah.
Because Jonah is a player, P-L-A-Y-E-R.
A player in this context is a man who dates a lot of women mostly because he wants to have sexual relations with them, not because he's interested in them for any long-term romantic relationship, such as getting married.
Jonah says, I thought she might like a man with experience.
Becca says, however, forget it, meaning she's not going to help him.
Jonah then says, in that case, what are you doing Saturday?
Now Jonah is asking Becca for a date today.
And we don't hear Becca's response, we just hear the sound of the door slamming.
To slam, S-L-A-M, here refers to a door that is being closed very loudly.
The idea, of course, is that Becca is saying no to Jonah by leaving Jonah.
When a woman slams the door on you, you know she's probably not very happy.
At least, that's my experience anyway.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
You mean you want to add another notch to your bedpost?
I've been around the block, but there's nothing wrong with sowing a few wild oats.
That's all part of being young and carefree.
Hmm.
Maybe you shouldn't be telling me about your conquest.
Why not?
It's no secret that I've got game.
Chicks dig me.
Last week alone, I... Really?
I think I'll take a pass on the play-by-play.
See that woman over there?
Watch me put the moves on her.
No thanks.
I'm leaving.
Wait!
Are you going to put in a good word for me with Jessica?
You know that she's a good friend of mine, right?
Of course I do.
That's why I'm asking you.
And you thought I'd set her up with a player?
I thought she might like a man with experience.
Forget it.
In that case, what are you doing Saturday?
We all dig the wonderful scripts by our wonderful scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Say.
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 2016 by the Center for Educational Development.
