Cheer Up

Hello English learners! Welcome back to another lesson here atEnglishPod! My name is Marco.

And my name is Catherine. Hello everyone! Today, Marco, what are we talking about?

Well, today we are, um, not really in the best mood.

Mm.

Yeah.

I know what you mean.

We’re kind of sad; we’re kind of, um, nervous; we’re… we’re not feeling very well. Yeah, it’s… it’s a cloudy day, maybe that’s why.

With the blues.

With the blues. So, yeah, that’s what we’re talking about today. We’re gonna have a lot of different descriptive words to express, uh, maybe feeling sad or maybe you’re angry or you’re nervous or something like that.

Mm, okay, well, this is a very useful lesson. Hopefully you’re not feeling this way, but if have to talk about someone who is, we’ve got a lot of words for you, but first we’re gonna preview a couple in today’s “vocabulary preview”. Voice: Vocabulary preview.

Alright, so today on vocabulary preview we’re gonna look at two words. And, uh, the first one is a way of saying that you feel sad, so, basically, I’m feeling down.

Okay, down. You might have heard this before, because it’s the opposite of the word up.

Exactly.

So you’re not feeling up, happy looking up, you’re feeling down.

Uhu.

This is another word for sad like Marco said.

Or you can also say “I’m… I’m a bit down today”, right?

Yeah, “I’m a bit down today” or “you look really down”…

Uhu.

Are you okay?

Yeah, so you look sad, are you…

Uhu.

Is everything okay? So down. So now another feeling or a way that a person is feeling. Maybe that person is grouchy.

Would you please stop talking so loud, Marco?

Hehe. I think, uh, you…

No, I’m… I… I’m seriously.

Don’t be grouchy, Catherine, geez.

Hehe. No, so grouchy is… is a way someone acts usually when they’re in a bad mood.

Right, so it’s not like really angry, you’re not angry, but, uh, you’re not very happy either.

And you’re not very nice to people.

Uhu.

So there is a very famous TV character called Oscar the Grouch on Sesames Street. Look for him on YouTube or Youku.

Hehe.

And, uh, he’s very, very good, uh, for learning about this feelinggrouchy, because he’s a grouchy guy.

Yeah, he’s always angry or not… never happy, basically.

Right, he’s complaining about something. So that word again isgrouchy.

Alright, so after taking a look at these two words, we’re ready now to listen to our dialogue for the first time. Let’s see what this dialogue is about, if maybe they’re grouchy or maybe just sad.

Fine.

Alright, so two girls talking about guys. I guess guys have a bad temper sometimes, right?

I think anyone can have a bad temper, but we’re talking today about one of, uh… the boyfriend on one of these girls who has a very bad temper and has been very grouchy recently.

Uhu, and that’s why she’s feeling a bit down.

Uhu.

So let’s take a look at those words now in “language takeaway”. Voice: Language takeaway.

Alright, so in today’s language takeaway we’ve got some wonderful words for you; words that, uh, are very good for describing stress or having anxiety. And the first of these words is… is something you hear all the time especially with young people.

Right, somebody is stressed out.

My gosh, Marco, I’m so stressed out! I have ten homework assignments to do and soft… softball practice and my mom wants me to help cook dinner tonight.

Hehe. Wow, you really are stressed out.

I am str… oh, well, I don’t have any homework and I don’t live with my mom.

Hehe.

But, uh, being stressed out is usually something you feel when you have too much stuff to do.

Uhu. So maybe you can be stressed out because, uh, of school like in your case. Or maybe at work you have a lot of things to do or a project to finish.

Uhu.

Right?

Exactly, and I just wanna point out here that you that can say “I’m stressed” or “I’m feeling stressed”, but, uh, commonly in spoken English, so when you’re talking to your friends…

Uhu.

You hear this much more often stressed out.

Stressed out; he’s really stressed out lately.

Uhu.

Alright. So we’re stressed out or another word that kind of means the same is, uh, this is nerve wracking.

Nerve wracking. So nerves are those things in our body that help us feel things, right?

Uhu.

And so something that wracks our nerves makes us very, verytense, very anxious, very uncomfortable.

Okay, so it makes you very nervous.

Right, so there’re some movies that are nerve wracking, for example, suspense movies like Hitchcock’s movies like Psycho, or, uh, the Birds.

Or like horror like maybe Saw. Hehe.

Uh, ouh, nerve wracking. Also some people think that roller-coasters are nerve wracking.

Uhu.

They’re very, very, uh, anxious when they ride roller-coasters.

Right, so let’s listen to a couple of more examples of… different situations where we can use this phrase nerve racking. Voice: Example one.

I think being a doctor is one of the most nerve wracking jobs in the world. Voice: Example two.

Skydiving is one of the most nerve wracking experiences of my life! I almost had a hurt attack! Voice: Example three.

The final match between Brazil and Italy was incredibly nerve wracking.

And there’s another way to describe this feeling. Again, it’s a little bit different, but very, very similar. We can say someone is feeling on edge.

On edge. So this person was feeling on edge, uh, but what does that mean exactly? You’re like at the edge?

Why do you have to ask so many questions?

Hehe.

Okay, listen, this is basic, okay, Marco?

Alright, alright.

Are you…

Jeez, you’re…

Are you mocking me?

On edge today.

Yeah, alright, so…

Wow.

Someone who is on edge is easily anger, right? So it’s very easy to make this person upset or angry.

Uhu.

Someone who just quit smoking might be on edge.

Mm.

That means it’s very, very easy to get them to be upset.

Wow, so, yeah, you are on edge, right?

Exactly, he’s on edge or… he seems on edge, doesn’t he?

Uhu, okay, very good. Wow, these are three words that we’ve just looked at are really interesting and very, very useful. I guess you can describe many different situations or a person that’s going through these feelings, right?

Absolutely, I think there is a thousand ways to describe being nervous or anxious or upset, so maybe we should take… take another listen to today’s dialogue and figure out how exactly we use these words and when we come back, we’re talking about some other phrases that are useful. DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (slow)

Alright, great, so now that we’re back, we can start with, uh, a couple of different phrases now on “fluency builder”. Voice: Fluency builder.

Alright, so, Marco, here’s the big question: what makes you lose your temper?

Hm, I think what makes me lose my temper very, very easily…

Uhu.

Is, uh, like a dirty house or like a dirty room.

Really?

Yeah.

You’re a neat freak.

Not really neat freak, but like if it’s not at least semi-clean, you know, it really… it really bothered… bothers me.

Okay, so this great phrase “lose your temper” or “lose one’s temper” is… is a phrase we use in English to describe getting angry.

Uhu.

Alright, so maybe you’re okay; you’re a little frustrated about something, but someone does something like throws all their clothes on the floor and Marco here says…

Hehe.

Uh! Ugh! That’s it! I’m tired of this, you’re always throwing your clothes on the floor…

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And that’s… that’s an example of Marco losing his temper.

What about you? What makes you lose your temper?

You hear this? [knock-knock-knock]

What is that? Ouh, drilling? Construction? Hammering?

When people… when people tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap or when they like stamp their feet-feet-feet…

Uh.

Or when they…

Like when they’re nervous.

When they make noise, yeah.

Uh.

So slowly it’s like “okay, fine calm down, it’s okay”, “okay, no, seriously, stop it, seriously”… and then all of a sudden “puh” – I just can’t stand it anymore.

Hehe. You explode.

Exactly, so…

Alright, so that what’s… so that’s what makes you lose your temper. I’ll be sure to keeping my eye out for that and not tap my pen.

Keep… please don’t.

Alright.

Hehe.

Alright, so, okay, you lose your temper and now, uh, there’re situations sometimes where you need to brush someone off.

Alright, or when you get brushed off.

Wow.

And that’s not very good feeling.

Yeah.

But, uh, this phrase, “to brush someone off”, you’ve heard the word brush before…

Right.

It’s the word that we use to… to, you know, brush your hair or brush your…

Your teeth.

Teeth, exactly. When you brush someone off, it’s like saying that you’re ignoring them.

Yeah, so you ignore them or you basically tell them to go away very suddenly sometimes or very directly.

Exactly, and so to brush someone off is to avoid their company and so a lot of times when people are angry, they like to be alone, so they brush you off.

Uhu.

So I could say: “Hey! Did you wanna go see that movie tonight?

Oh, no, I can’t. I, uh, have to do something tonight.

And then Marco walks away while we’re talking.

Hehe.

He’s brushing me off.

Hehe.

He’s ignoring me.

Yeah. So it happens. And also maybe some people can make up excuses and that’s also brushing someone off, right?

Right, exactly. So “to brush someone off” or “he brushed me off; doesn’t feel good”.

Hehe. Alright, and, well, all of these… all of these bad feelings: brushing somebody off, maybe you feel stressed out. In the end you always need of good friend to cheer you up, right? And that’s what this dialogue is all about.

Exactly, and so friends are actually the people that do that the best or family, I think. And, uh, well, we can break this phrase down, because, uh, most of it’s pretty clear, but cheer…

Uhu.

Maybe a new word for some of our listeners.

Yeah, maybe we’ve heard of the term cheerleader, you know, like “give me an A, give me a B”.

A! B!

Hehe. So cheer.

Or “Cheers!

Or people cheering. Or “cheers” when the beer.

Clink-clink.

Yeah.

So cheer is like happiness.

Uhu.

So someone who can cheer you up is someone who makes you happy.

Happy.

Remember that down we had earlier – “I’m feeling down”.

Uhu.

We’re trying to cheer someone up.

Up.

We’re trying to make them go up and be happy.

Exactly, so you wanna cheer up your friends. Or maybe if you’re feeling a bit down, a family member will try and cheer you up.

Do you need someone to cheer you up, Marco?

Yes, I do. Hehe.

Yeah, let’s go have a drink and… eat some popcorn and be cheered up.

That’s what cheers me up or chocolate always cheers me up.

Uh, oh, I know that there’s some ???.

Alright, so we’ve taken a look at a lot of great, but the last sentence of the dialogue is maybe a little bit strange, right? When she says you are something else you know that.

Uh, something what? Like a…

Is she an alien?

Monkey?

Is she a monkey? What does she mean when she says you are something else?

That’s a great question. Well, this is might be a little bit hard to understand at first, but she’s saying “I can’t believe you”.

Uhu.

She’s like “you… there’s no one like you, you are really something else, you know that”.

Uhu.

So it’s kind of like a joke. But, uh, what she’s saying is I can’tbelieve you; you just wanna go on and encourage me to find another boy.

Hehe.

You’re su… you’re unbelievable.

So it could be… is it on a positive note? Or can it both positive and negative?

Well, here we’ve got two friends who are using it, so it’s a positive note, but she is kind of making fun of her saying I can’t believe you.

Uhu.

Uh, but it can be…

Negative like if you’re f…

It can be more negative.

Fighting with her boyfriend and… and her boyfriend cheats on her and she’s like “oh, you’re really something else, you know that?”

You are something else! You know that? It’s like there’s no comparison; you are the worst.

Yeah, exactly.

So, yeah, it really depends on how this is used and what the tone of voice is…

Uhu.

So how someone says it. Uh, but in this case, I think it’s, uh, kind of a joke… joke, but, uh, it’s… it’s a positive…

Right.

Meaning.

Very interesting, it’s very spoken English as you say, because all the words that we see they all are pretty simple, but the context or… the connotation, the meaning is very, very different from the actual words, right?

Exactly, uhu.

Alright, so let’s listen to this dialogue for the last time and then we’ll come back and talk a little bit more.

So, Catherine, are you a grouchy person? Are you happy? Do you have a bad temper?

Uh, these are, well, very interesting questions, Marco. Thank you for asking. Now the first… the first one am I grouchy? No, not very. Only before 9 a.m.

Hm, you’re not a morning person.

Not a morning person, so I’m very grouchy in the morning, but, uh… I’m generally pretty good about losing my temper. It doesn’t happen very often.

Oh, really?

Um, but I do get frustrated with things like tapping or when people eat with their mouth open.

Oh, yeah, that’s terrible.

Puh-puh.

I hate that as well.

Yeah, I can’t stand it.

Or I really don’t like when people bite their nails.

Ooh, yeah.

It’s kind of, uh… it also makes me lose my temper. I don’t know it more than makes me lose my temper, it’s kind of annoying, right? So…

It is annoying, so what makes you really lose your temper? Well, say, what makes you blow your top?

Uh…

Think about a volcano.

Really grinds my gears.

Yeah.

Um, I would say the worst is, uh, when somebody lies to me.

Oh, man.

Like straight to my face, like I know they’re lying, I know you’re lying and they still just lie straight at me.

I agree, so what’s something that really cheers you up? Because we talked about like going out with a friend maybe helps you… helps you cheer up, but is there one thing’s some kind of a remedy?

I’m actually… I like to go shopping when I’m feeling ???

Really?

Yeah. I mean I won’t buy anything like clothes or anything like that. Usually I’ll get maybe something for somebody else or for the house or something like that. It’s very strange.

Helps you like clear your mind.

Yeah, it’s just like, uh, walking around and spending a little bit of money, I don’t know, it’s kind of a good remedy.

Yeah, I think so.

What about you? What you… what cheers you up?

I kind of like to organize things.

Really?

Yep, so if I’m really angry or really upset about something, I’ll, um, alphabetize all of my books. Hehe.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, so A to Z. Hehe.

Hehe. Wow, see? Everyone has different remedies, so come to our website englishpod.com, tell us what makes you angry, what makes you lose your temper? Or what really cheers you up, what makes you happy?

Or who cheers you up? So tell us who is someone you like to talk when you’re upset? And how do they cheer you up?

Alright, we’ll see you guys there and also if you have questions, comments, suggestions, you can also leave them there in our comments section.

Please do that, so that’s all for today… Good bye everyone!

Bye! ***