Welcome to a new episode of English Vocabulary Booster.
My name is Lara and I'm a SALSA-certified English teacher.
Learning new vocabulary usually takes a long time, but we'll do it in a way that's easy, quick and efficient.
In every episode, we'll learn how to use five new English words or expressions, so that you too can start speaking like a native.
So let's get learning!
Hello, everybody.
How are you?
So it's been super long?
Probably not for you, because you get to hear my voice every what two weeks.
But I haven't recorded an episode in a really long time because I, you know, I'm traveling right now.
So we're moving a lot.
We're moving every week.
So every week it's a new house.
I never know what the acoustics are going to be.
And last week, when I was supposed to record a couple episodes, I was just staying at a place that didn't basically have a second room.
So I was in this giant room.
So it was either the bathroom or or the kitchen.
And in both cases, like both rooms were super noisy.
So I was just like, okay, I'm going to wait for a better house.
And I finally got one.
So I'm in bed and recording from my bedroom.
So let's get going.
And today we're going to talk about lying.
Hey, dude, I'm so glad I ran into you.
I'm going to a club opening tonight.
Wanna join us?
Well, I'd sort of made plans to meet with Kara.
I was actually on my way to pick her up, but I guess I could always make up an excuse and go with you guys.
Wait, you're gonna lie to her?
Oh, come on.
It's just a white lie.
She's not gonna care even if she finds out, which she won't.
Um, I'm just gonna call her and tell her, okay?
Hey, babe.
Hey, boo.
What's up?
So, um, it's just, I'm not, I'm not feeling too good.
I think I'd rather stay home tonight.
Is, is that okay?
Um, um, okay.
Yeah, of course.
Are you gonna be fine?
Yeah, yeah.
I'm, I guess I'll just stay home and watch a movie.
Hopefully go to bed early.
Okay, boo.
Well, I'll call you tomorrow, okay?
All right.
Bye.
All right.
I'm in.
Now, make sure you don't tell anybody about this.
My lips are sealed, man.
All right.
The club's right over there.
Ready?
Wait.
Is that... Isn't that your girlfriend?
The one in the line?
Kara?
What the...
What the heck are you doing here?
What am I doing here?
What are you doing here?
No, don't change the subject.
I thought you were going to stay home and watch a movie.
I can't believe you would lie to my face like that.
Me?
What about you?
You said you were sick.
You're just a big fat liar.
Well, look who's talking.
So let's begin and let's look at expression number one, make up an excuse.
I guess I can always make up an excuse.
If you make up an excuse, do you invent an excuse or do you use a real one?
If you make up an excuse, that means that you invent an excuse.
So you use an excuse that's not real.
So you're basically telling a lie.
And why would you need to make up an excuse?
Well, if you want to get out of an uncomfortable situation, you don't want to do something that you don't want to hurt maybe the other person's feelings you could make up an excuse in order not to sound too.
I would say rude, you know.
So you want to leave a party or you yeah, it's mostly like you want to get out of, like I said, a situation and you don't want to tell the other person why.
So you would just come up with something else.
You would make up an excuse.
Have you ever had to make up an excuse to get out of a situation?
I have multiple times because I…
You know, I'm not a very social person I think by this point.
And also I don't like to hurt other people's feelings.
So I remember this one time I had been invited by this guy to a show in Valencia and some of his friends were going to be there and it was just going to be like a.
It was a someone's gig, so it was a.
It was a show.
This musician was was playing and I went with the best intentions, thinking I was going to have a great time.
And then I got there, there was a little bit of chitchat, then there was a show.
And even like during, like right at the beginning, it was so uncomfortable.
I felt so awkward.
I just, and it really, I think it really depends on the people that are around me.
There's just some people that I vibe better with and others with who I don't.
So after the show, I thought, okay, this is it.
We can all go home.
But no, they were planning on hanging out even after the show.
And I was just like oh my gosh, I cannot stand, you know, Another hour with you know, in this situation,
And so I think, if I remember correctly, I think I told them that I had to meet someone else, which they probably figured out it was an excuse.
But yeah, I did make up an excuse to get out of that. place.
And yeah, I felt really bad, but I just, I knew that I couldn't handle another five minutes there.
Expression number two, white lie.
Oh, come on.
It's just a white lie.
Is a white lie a lie that has big consequences or small consequences?
A white lie is a small lie that generally doesn't have big consequences.
So if it does have any consequences at all, they're usually pretty small.
Are white lies usually told to protect someone's feelings or to hurt someone's feelings?
White lies, and I think the term white lie comes from the fact that they're innocent.
You know and white is the color that we associate with this idea of innocence are told to protect someone's feelings.
So Somebody asks you if what they're wearing looks good on them.
It looks terrible, but you still tell them, oh yeah, no, it looks great.
And that would be a white lie because it has virtually no consequences or very small consequences.
And you're only telling this lie to protect someone's, the other person's feelings.
Do you think it's okay to tell white lies?
I think it would be better to... not tell lies at all, okay?
I'm a big believer in telling the truth, being honest, but I think that there are some people that cannot handle the truth.
And in that case I think it's better just to keep the peace, to tell maybe a white lie, just to make sure that you know there's not a big reaction on their part.
So yes, it would be better if we could live in a world where we don't lie.
But you know, telling a white lie every now and then it's not a big deal.
Expression number three, my lips are sealed.
My lips are sealed, man.
If you say your lips are sealed, does that mean you intend on revealing a secret or not?
No, if you say your lips are sealed, that means that you are not going to tell anybody that secret.
So somebody tells you a secret, they tell you not to tell anybody and you reassure them by saying don't worry, my lips are sealed.
I'm not going to say a thing.
Have you ever told someone my lips are sealed and then revealed the secret?
I don't think so.
I think I'm really good at keeping secrets.
I mean, I will tell, I'm a very open person.
So if you tell me something, I will tell somebody else just because I like talking.
But if you tell me, Lara, please don't say this to anybody.
And I guarantee you, I tell you, you know my lips are sealed.
I'm not going to tell anybody, then I won't.
I'm very good in that way at keeping secrets.
Just make sure you tell me that it's a secret.
Otherwise, I'm going to tell somebody.
Expression number four, lie to someone's face.
I can't believe you would lie to my face like that.
If you lie to someone's face, do you lie directly to them or to someone else?
Well, you've probably guessed that if you lie to someone's face, that means that you lie directly to them.
You look them in the eye and you lie to them.
And if you lie to someone's face, do you try to hide the fact that you're lying?
No, A.
The expression to lie to someone's face really implies that you are super confident, while lying to the point where you can just have a conversation with this person.
You keep lying to them.
You don't show any remorse.
You don't show any regret.
You're just it looks like you might be telling the truth because you're so confident.
And yeah, and not a lot of people can lie to someone's face, you know, because then Some people might get anxious or they might start showing that they're lying.
But if you're a good liar, you can easily lie to someone's face without any problems at all.
Have you ever lied to someone's face?
I am pretty sure that when I was a teenager, I lied to my mom's face a bunch of times.
I just went through the space where I didn't care, you know, whether I was lying or telling the truth.
I just wanted to do whatever I wanted to do.
And that meant lying sometimes because my mom was pretty protective.
And so...
Yeah, I remember lying to her face all the time telling her I would go to a place, and then going to a different place, telling her I wasn't wearing any makeup, and then putting all makeup in the elevator before going to school.
But I think, I guess all teenagers do that.
But I gotta say, I think I am a really bad liar.
I think People can tell right away that I'm lying.
So that's probably why I don't lie a lot.
Expression number five, a big fat liar.
You said you were sick.
You're just a big fat liar.
Is big fat liar an insult you would tell someone who is very bad at lying or someone who lies a lot?
If you tell someone they're a big fat liar, you do that because you think they lie a lot.
Do you know anybody who's a big fat liar?
So I think that up until a couple years ago, I would have said, no, I don't know any big fat liars.
But two years ago, things changed.
I made friends with one of my coworkers.
We were very, very close.
She was probably my best friend that year.
And I really thought this was going to be a very healthy friendship, you know, moving forward.
But so a year went by.
And I remember that year when we were talking, there were a couple instances that made me go hmm, is this person like –.
Is she okay?
Because I remember this.
One time she mentioned the fact that she had a very close friend and that she had lied to her.
And it wasn't like a, you know, a white lie or a small lie.
No, she lied. had told this person that she had moved to London and that she was living there.
And apparently she was trying to keep up with this lie.
She was sending postcards or letters as if she was in London.
So I was, I remember that one time thinking, okay, this is not normal.
And I remember telling her, just please don't do this to me.
If you don't want to hang out or something, just tell me, you know?
And I really thought our friendship would be different.
But after the school year ended, we met I think once.
And then we were trying to meet one last time because then I was going to leave Spain for a while.
So we wanted to meet up one last time.
And I remember just texting with her and her making all these sorts of excuses.
And it was obvious that they were lies and that she didn't – for some reason, she didn't want to meet up with me.
And I know she struggled with social anxiety, which is something that I totally get.
So I would have completely understood if she had been like listen, Lara I really – don't feel like meeting up.
I would have been totally fine.
Like I would still be friends with her.
But because she kept lying to me, I stopped replying to her messages.
And I never spoke to her again, which is a shame, because I loved her.
But I just I cannot be friends with a liar.
And I hate to admit the fact that I didn't see it sooner.
And that is it for today.
And remember, if you want to access the transcript, as well as lots of other resources, visit enboocom.
That is E-N-B-O-O-O dot com.
Have a great day.
