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!
Hey there and welcome.
So this is a special episode because usually I don't write the episode based on the time of year.
But you know, Halloween was approaching, so I thought, you know what, let's just do one on Halloween.
It could be fun.
Before we begin with the story, let me tell you that I have added a highlight to my Instagram profile.
So if you head over to my Instagram account and boo dot official and you click on the podcast highlight, you're gonna be able to access some tips on how to best use the podcast.
Obviously, I want to make sure that you know that you can learn these expressions and never forget them.
So I've shared with you some tips that I think could be really useful.
So yeah, head over to my Instagram to check it out and let me know what you think.
And if you have a different method and you use the podcast in a different way, then let me know, because I'd be really curious.
Okay, so let's begin and we're going to talk about Halloween.
I can't believe it's finally Halloween.
Hey, want to do something fun?
No, Roger.
I just want to go trick-or-treating.
Oh, come on.
That stuff's for kids.
Let's go pay a visit to my neighbor.
He never hands out candy.
Last year, me and my friends tee-peed and egged his whole house.
We should do it again.
And it just so happens I've got some toilet paper and eggs with me.
What do you say?
I think we should teach him a lesson.
I don't know, Roger.
That man's really creepy.
He never comes out during the day.
He hardly ever talks to anybody.
There's got to be something wrong with him.
Oh, come on.
It's Halloween.
Let's have some fun.
Look, his house is just over there.
It looks like there's a light on, so he must be home.
Hey, look.
This year he's decorated his yard.
And pretty well too.
Look at all of that.
Yeah, it's kind of spooky actually.
Oh my gosh, look at that coffin.
It looks so real.
Do you want to go open it and see what's inside?
No, no way.
I want to leave.
So Mary is too scared.
Fine, I'll open it.
Boo!
Boo!
The vampire!
Kids, all year preparing for this moment.
Maybe next year I should be a mummy.
So who's excited for Halloween?
I know I am.
I don't have any big plans, obviously, with the pandemic and everything.
But I think, you know, if you do have a costume, it's still fun to dress up.
So if you do dress up and you want to tag me and show me your costume, I'd be really curious to see what you dress up as.
All right, let's begin with expression number one, teepee.
Last year, me and my friends teepeed and egged his whole house.
So teepee in this case is a verb.
If you've teepeed someone's house, what did you cover the house with?
Strips of tissues or strips of toilet paper?
Teepee. stands for toilet paper.
So if you've TP'd someone's house, that means you've covered it with strips of toilet paper.
And now, why would you TP someone's house?
Well, it's pretty common.
I don't want to say it's common because I'm hoping it's not common.
But some kids do it on Halloween just to prank other people.
So especially as a punishment for neighbors that don't hand out candy, that don't give out candy. uh some people can do because it's it's pretty annoying to have toilet paper obviously all over your yard or all over your house so it's it's a form of punishment and vandalism as well what would you do if someone tped your house uh obviously i would get really mad so yeah i would i guess i would get mad i'd Don't think there could be anything that I could do.
So I would just try to clean it up and collect all the toilet paper that's all over my house.
I don't know.
I guess I'd be really frustrated.
Expression number two, egg.
Last year, me and my friends teepeed and egged his whole house.
So again, egg in this case is a verb.
If you egg someone's house, do you throw eggs at it or do you leave eggs by the front door?
No, you do not leave eggs by the front door as if they were a present.
You throw eggs at someone's house, usually at the door or the windows.
And why would you egg someone's house?
Well, same thing as, you know, with TPing someone's house.
Maybe you're mad at them.
I'm not suggesting this, you guys.
Don't.
Just because your neighbor is not very friendly, that doesn't mean that you should go egg his house.
But sometimes you're going to see that in movies, where on Halloween, kids carry around eggs and they for some reason decide to egg other people's houses.
And which do you think it's worse, having your house egged or teepeed?
That's a difficult one to answer.
I think maybe having my house teepeed isn't as bad because at least it's not dirty.
It's like it's kind of messy and obviously it's really hard to clean up, but at least it's not gross.
You know, it's not disgusting because eggs when they break and it just gets messy.
So yeah, i guess i, if i had to choose, i would go with having my house tp'd expression number three creepy that man's really creepy.
If someone is creepy, do they make you feel comfortable or uncomfortable?
If someone is creepy, they make you feel uncomfortable and kind of scared as well.
So you definitely don't feel at ease.
And if someone is creepy, can you say exactly what it is that makes you scared and uncomfortable?
No, and this is really important because it's really – the word creepy means that you feel uncomfortable and you feel scared, but you don't know exactly what it is about that person that makes you feel that way.
It's more of a feeling of uncertainty, kind of like –
I feel like this person, you know, I shouldn't trust this person.
I'm scared.
Okay, I'm scared, like literally scared.
What else can be creepy?
A person can be creepy if they make us uncomfortable and scared.
But also, a place can be creepy, like a graveyard.
Because, you know, you kind of get that feeling of, yeah, I'm not totally comfortable.
I'm a little scared.
I don't know exactly what it is that's making me uncomfortable.
It's not like, boo, oh, that was creepy.
No, that was scary because I know what made me scared.
Creepy is different.
And...
So yeah, and also a situation, you know, just you can describe a situation as creepy.
Can you think of someone you thought was creepy?
I haven't met many creepy people.
I guess a few.
But the most recent person that I've that I met, that was creepy was, Or at least I thought he was creepy.
Obviously, it wasn't objectively creepy.
At least I think so.
It was this guy that I met at the language exchange.
And he seemed fine at first.
But then he kept texting me a lot.
And he knew I had a boyfriend.
So...
You know, I just felt really uncomfortable and there was just, it wasn't just that.
There was something about his persistence.
He's.
You know, he wouldn't leave me alone, even when I asked him to leave me alone because So, when he didn't listen to me, when I asked him to please not text me and just leave me my space, that's when I thought okay, this is creepy.
This is not normal.
There's something that doesn't make me feel comfortable when I'm with this person or when this person texts me.
And so I decided to not talk to him again.
Expression number four, spooky.
Yeah, this is kind of spooky actually.
If a place or situation is spooky, does it make you feel scared or relaxed?
If a situation or place is spooky, it makes you feel scared.
And what do you associate something spooky with?
Ghosts and other supernatural things.
Or ghosts, regular scary things like spiders or a strange person.
So again, here's the difference between spooky and creepy.
Creepy can be used in any situation for both ghosts as well as, you know, people or situations.
Spooky, when you say the word spooky, you connect it with ghosts and other supernatural things.
That's why it's used mostly on Halloween parties.
Um, but it's, it's kind of said in a, in a fun way or a spooky, it's like, Ooh, spooky.
Um, it's not seriously scary.
Just a little like, Ooh, Oh, that's a scary.
Um, okay.
Just a little bit in a, in a fun way.
What are some spooky decorations you could decorate your house with?
I don't really decorate my house for Halloween.
I know a lot of people do.
And some spooky decorations that are really cool would be like skeletons, like life-size skeletons.
Those are really cool.
Or even webs, like cobwebs, like spider webs, the fake ones.
What else is pretty spooky?
I guess these two things.
And then, yeah, like fake ghosts and stuff.
So all of those are pretty spooky.
Expression number five, coffin.
Look at that coffin.
It looks so real.
What can you usually find in a coffin?
Someone who is alive or dead.
Hopefully, it's someone who is dead.
In a coffin, you find a corpse, someone who is dead.
What are coffins usually made out of?
They are usually made out of wood and they go in the ground once the person is buried.
What creatures do we usually associate coffins with?
I'm talking about not real people.
So it would be Dracula.
Vampires in general.
They are usually the creatures that we associate coffins with.
Do you have any coffins around?
I'm just kidding.
I'm not going to ask you any personal questions about coffins, so no worries.
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.
