Go to Listening Activity | Idioms Quiz | Gap-fill Exercise
Script
Karen: Hey, Alex
[Door slams in her face.]
Karen: Ah, Alex. Let me in. Come on.
Alex: What do you want?
Karen: Are you interested in going on a blind date this weekend?
Alex: Oh no. I’m not going through that again. You can just nip that idea in the bud. No way. Forget it. Absolutely not!
Karen: Hey, no need to be sore and sensitive about that still. Gee.
Alex: Sensitive?
Karen: Uh-huh. [Hmph.} Well, if you REALLY want to get something off your chest, then say it. [Okay.] Go ahead. I hate it when you just beat around the bush.
Alex: Okay. Do you want the truth? [Yeah!] Do you remember that girl you said had a crush on me? [Yeah, Trisha.] Well, after hearing that, I was on cloud nine after the first date, thinking that this was the one, but then, she stood me up on the second date. I mean she led me on and then dumped me after that for some guy with a Harley motorcycle named Dirk.
Karen: Oh, Dirk Angel. [Whatever. !] Come on. It wasn’t THAT bad.
Alex: Not that bad!? Women always say that men don’t show their true colors until they get serious, but women do the same thing.
Karen: Hey, MEN can be real jerks, too, buddy boy. [Ahh.] I mean, they promise you the moon, they make you think they’re Mr. Right [Now . . .], and just when you think you’ve found the one [Well . . .], they drop you like a rock when something new comes along. [Ahh.] Women shouldn’t hafta put up with that kind of stuff.
Alex: Yeah, Yeah, but I think it goes BOTH ways in dating and marriage. You hafta be completely honest in a relationship, right? [Yeah.] And communicate openly before you decide to tie the knot, AND you can’t give someone the cold shoulder and expect things to be all rosy. If you hurt someone’s feelings, then you hafta work hard to make up.
Karen: AND there hasta be a certain amount of give-and-take.
Alex: Of course. Anyway, uh, yeah. Anyway, uh, what’s the girl’s name?
Karen: Ah, so you ARE interested . . .
Alex: Well, not really, but since you mentioned it . . .
* hafta is used with the third person (he, she, they).
Vocabulary and Sample Sentences
- blind date: a date with a stranger– You hafta be really brave to go on a blind date.
- nip something in the bud: stop something from starting in the first place– You’d better just nip that plan in the bud because I’m not going out on any more blind dates.
- gee (interjection): used to express annoyance, disgust, or surprise– Gee! I didn’t know she felt that way.
- get something off your chest: talk about something that has been bothering you– Look. We really hafta talk tonight. There’s something I hafta get off my chest, and it can’t wait until tomorrow.
- beat around the bush: avoid talking about something directly– Stop beating around the bush and tell me how you feel. You hafta tell me exactly how you feel if you want me to understand you.
- have a crush on: romantic love, used especially for young people– She has a crush on my brother, but the feelings aren’t mutal, and he hasta tell her how he feels.
- be on cloud nine: extreme happiness; also “seventh heaven”– She was on cloud nine after he proposed to her.
- stand up: not meeting someone you promise to do so– I can’t believe stood me up on the first date!
- lead on: make someone think something is true when it is not– You shouldn’t lead her on if you really aren’t interested in her. You just hafta be honest.
- dump: end a romantic relationship, often without care– She dumped the guy when she found out he was dating someone else.
- jerk: a person who does stupid or annoying things– You really hafta end this relationship with this guy. He’s a jerk because he only thinks of himself.
- show true colors: reveal your true self– People often don’t show true colors until they get married.
- promise the moon: make big promises that might be impossible to doIn life, you hafta be realistic and not promise the moon when there is no way to make something happen.
- Mr. Right: the perfect partner– You’re not going to find Mr. Right at the library.
- find the one: find the right person to date or marry– She thought she had found the one at the party last week, but she soon realized he wasn’t her type.
- put up with: endure something or someone without complaint– Putting up with problems in a relationship isn’t something you want to deal with over the long term. Instead, you hafta learn to resolve problems; no relationship is problem-free.
- give the cold shoulder: pay no attention to, snub– If you give him the cold shoulder for no reason, he definately won’t ask you out again.
- tie the knot: get married– My wife and I tied the knot on her birthday on a beach in Hawaii. What a great way to get married!
- rosy: hopeful, optimistic– There hasta be a way to get it through her head that life isn’t all rosy 24-hours-a-day.
- make up: become friendly with someone again after having problems– When you have problems in a relationship, you sometimes just hafta swallow your pridge, apologize, and make up. It usually matters little who was at fault.
- give-and-take: a state where people work together in allowing each other to do things they want– Allowing some give-and-take is crucial to a healthy relationship .