Thursday, October 23, 2008

#864 South Pacific, Old Man, Inappropriate Comment


Show 864 Thursday 23 October
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.


Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

Today we’re studying a video clip from a musical called South Pacific.

South Pacific was first performed in 1949 and it was based on an American book called Tales of the South Pacific.

I’ve never seen the musical or read the book, but I’ve heard of it before and I think it’s pretty famous.

In fact in Wikipedia it says this: South Pacific is generally considered to be one of the greatest musicals in history. I don’t know if that’s true. But anyway, I think it’s pretty well known.

Watching this clip made me really miss living in a city actually – I used to really love going to the theatre. And if you’re studying English and you get a chance to go and see a play or a show - then I definitely recommend it. Even if you can’t understand all of the language or follow the story completely … I’m sure you’ll find it’s an interesting experience and you might even really enjoy it.

Actually being in a play is a really good way to study too. When I was studying French at university I joined the French club and I decided to act in one of the plays … partly just because it was fun and also as a way to study, because you have to memorize the lines so I found it a very a good way to study.

Anyway, I thought I’d talk about some of the language in this scene.

Something has happened – I don’t know what because I’ve never seen the play – but something has happened and one guy is asking another guy about it. And he says: this little stunt cost the navy six hundred thousand dollars!

And then the other guy starts laughing and he says: I was just thinking about my uncle. Remember my uncle I was telling you about. He used to tell my old man I'd never be worth a dime. Ha ha ha! Imagine me: six hundred thousand dollars.

Old man is an informal word for father. This is another random anecdote, but I still remember the first time I ever head that term. I was a kid and our neighbour came over and he was looking for my dad and he said something like: “Where’s your old man?” And I was really shocked and I said “What are you talking about? He’s not old”. And he just looked at me like “Okaaaaay”. And then later someone explained to me that it was just an expression and he wasn’t actually insulting my dad.

Back to the scene, one of the guys says: Why did you do this? What in the world would make a man do a thing like this?

In the world is part of an idiom: how in the world, why in the world, what in the world etc.

(informal) used to emphasize something and to show that you are surprised or annoyed

It’s the same as the hell or heck or on earth.

Then the guy gives his explanation and at the end of his explanation he says: if you get the picture.

Get the picture is another idiom.

(spoken) to understand a situation, especially one that somebody is describing to you.

If you get the picture is the same as saying if you know what I mean.



The Acadia Report
Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada

with Keri McCullum, Senior RA, Dennis House

What’s so great about Denis?

Um, everything, no I’m just kidding. Ah, it’s really close to meal hall and the sub and academic buildings and everything. It just takes two seconds to get everywhere. And the spirit’s really good and the community … everyone’s doors are open and you can just go talk to anyone anytime. It’s good.

What does your job as Senior RA involve?

Um, making programs for everyone and just making sure like the house is safe and that people are following the rules and everything. Yeah.

How long have you lived in Denis?

Ah, this is my second year. Yeah I was an RA here last year and so, yeah.



STICK NEWS

Kia Ora in Stick News today a New Zealand golfer is in trouble for making an inappropriate comment at Auckland International Airport.

Danny Lee is an 18-year-old golfer. Yesterday he left New Zealand to fly to a golf championship.
Apparently, at the airport he made an inappropriate comment about the contents of his bag.
The chief executive of New Zealand Golf confirmed the incident had taken place and said it was still being dealt with. He said “it was a throwaway comment, but it was said in the wrong place.”

And that was Stick News for Thursday the 23rd of October.
Kia Ora.




Word of the Day

Today’s word is throwaway.

Throwaway is an adjective which is used to describe a line, remark or comment.

something you say quickly without careful thought, sometimes in order to be funny



conversations with sarah
#536 Why did you do this?

* Watch this scene here.
* I've never seen this play and I don't know where this scene is from ... or what they are talking about ...

Step 1: Repeat x’s lines.
Step 2: Read x’s lines and talk to Luther Billis.

x Harbison here tells me this little stunt cost the navy six hundred thousand dollars!

Luther Billis Six hundred thousand dollars. Ha ha ha.

x Billis, what are you so happy about?

Luther Billis Well sir, I was just thinking about my uncle. Remember my uncle I was telling you about. He used to tell my old man I'd never be worth a dime. Ha ha ha! Imagine me: six hundred thousand dollars.

x Billis! Why did you do this? What in the world would make a man do a thing like this?

Luther Billis Well sir, a fella gets to feeling held down. He's got to take a little trip to pick up a few souvenirs. You just got to kind'a horn in on the situation. If you get the picture.



notes

dime (N. Amer) a ten-cent coin / (informal) a small amount of money

fella noun (spoken) an informal way of referring to a man

hold sb down phrasal verb to prevent somebody from having their freedom or rights

horn in on

horn in (on someone/something)
to interrupt or try to become involved when you are not welcome.
George worried that his brother would try to horn in on the company's success.

horn in on

Intrude, join without being invited.
For example, She has a rude way of horning in on our conversations.
This expression alludes to an ox or bull pushing in with its horns. [c. 1900]



links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada
Study English at Acadia University
Residence Halls at Acadia University

music

show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace

The Acadia Report start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Concerto
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Wolfgang S.
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: Dynamite
from: Belgrade, Serbia, Former Yugoslavia
artist site
MySpace

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Antony Raijekov
album: See U
track: Be Brave (feat. Norine Braun)
from: Sofia, Bulgaria
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

#863 Jobs, Open Education, Virtual Strip Search, Vast, Black Bath


Show 863 Wednesday 22 October
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.


Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

I was just watching a video and, in the video, an English teacher mentioned a common mistake that students make in Japan.

When you ask people: What did you do yesterday?
They sometimes answer: I went to my part-time job.

As the teacher was saying, it’s more natural to say: I worked.

In Japanese, people often use a different word if it’s a full-time job or a part-time job – but when you’re speaking English, it’s usually just a job or work. You don’t have to specify your particular employment contract unless it’s relevant to the conversation.

So, for example, if you’re both full-time university students, speaking English in class, then you definitely don’t need to say part-time job because it’s pretty obvious that it’s a part-time job because you’re both students.

Here are some examples using work or job – these all could be about part-time jobs.

Yesterday, I was on my way to work when I realized I’d forgotten my phone. Are you coming tonight? No, I can’t. I have to work. I’m so broke. I really need to find a job.



click here

The site I recommend today is called: www.capetowndeclaration.org.

This is a declaration about open education that was written in September 2007. I think it’s quite long and not especially well written – but I agree with the sentiment, which is to try and encourage people to create and use open educational resources.
The Daily English Show is an open educational resource, or an OER, which I had no idea until I went to iSummit, because I’d never heard of that term, but anyway that’s been our philosophy from the start and of course The Daily English Show is created thanks to other open resources – not just educational, but music, photography, software. So I decided to sign the declaration and it might be something you’re interested in checking out.



STICK NEWS

Kia Ora in Stick News today the European Union plans to authorize a virtual strip search in airports in Europe.

Some airports already use body scanners which allow airport staff to see an outline of passengers’ bodies beneath their clothes. The machines were introduced at an airport in Amsterdam last year and officials there said they had few complaints from passengers. The EU is now planning to authorize the machine. But CNN reported some people have concerns about passengers’ privacy. One member of the EU assembly said many travelers will consider the scanners an enormous intrusion on their personal privacy. "There may be some benefit in having body scanners in our airports, but they should be a last resort and a substitution for a strip search, not a random sample of innocent holiday-makers," he said.

And that was Stick News for Wednesday 22nd of October.
Kia Ora.





Word of the Day

Today’s word is vast.

extremely large in area, size, amount etc.
syn: huge.

This is the second sentence of the Cape Town Open Education Declaration.

Educators worldwide are developing a vast pool of educational resources on the Internet, open and free for all to use.

And here’s an example for the word vast that I found online.

I found an article called:
Why The Vast Majority Of Investment Professionals Are Not Trustworthy



conversations with sarah
#535 That was so nice

Step 1: Repeat Nuko’s lines.
Step 2: Read Nuko’s lines and talk to Sarah.

Sarah Ahh, that was so nice.

Nuko Yeah, it was great. Did you go in all the baths?

Sarah All of them except the black one.

Nuko The black one?

Sarah The one with black water. Wasn’t there one with black water on the men’s side?

Nuko Oh yeah, that’s right, there was. Why didn’t you go in that one?

Sarah It looked scary, like there might be snakes swimming in the bottom.

Nuko What are you talking about? Like there’d be snakes in the bath …

Sarah Yeah, I know but still … it looked scary. The one with bubbles was awesome. And those little private tubs outside, they were cool. And I love the hole in the roof – it’s so nice lying in a hot bath and looking at the sky.



note:

Today's conversation is about an onsen that I went to in Sapporo last weekend. It was really nice - I recommend it if you're in Sapporo and feel like a bath. If you look at the photos on this page you can see the little tubs and the hole in the roof that I mentioned.



links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace

click here start
artist: #NarNaoud#
album: Green Vision
track: Oriental Standing
from: Gironde, France
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Wolfgang S.
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: Dynamite
from: Belgrade, Serbia, Former Yugoslavia
artist site
MySpace

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Antony Raijekov
album: See U
track: Be Brave (feat. Norine Braun)
from: Sofia, Bulgaria
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.