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Asking for a Date

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 233: Asking for a Date.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 233. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com. You can find there a complete Learning Guide for this episode. This is a ten page - eight to ten page guide that includes all of the vocabulary words, definitions, sample sentences for each of the vocabulary words we talk about, cultural notes, additional information about some words we don’t talk about on the podcast and a complete transcript of this episode.

Our episode is called “Asking for a Date.” Let’s go!

[Start of story]

I admit it. I’m a player. I work in an office where there are a lot of attractive women. Take Debra, for example. I heard that she just broke up with her boyfriend last week so I decided to ask her out.

Liam: Hi, Debra. How’s it going?

Debra: Okay, I guess. How about you?

Liam: I’m doing okay. You know, I’m going to an art show this Saturday. Would you like to come with me?

Debra: Geez, I’m pretty busy this weekend.

Liam: That’s too bad. How about going for a drink after work today?

Debra: Well, I don’t know…

Liam: Come on. It’ll be fun and we can try that new place down the street.

Debra: I guess that’ll be okay, but just a drink, right?

Liam: That’s all and I promise I won’t even try to buy you dinner.

Debra: [laughs] Okay, then. I’ll see you after work.

I ask women out wherever I see them, even ones I’ve never met before. At a restaurant, if I see a woman eating by herself, I usually say: “I just hate eating alone. Do you mind if I join you?” The other day, I saw a woman at the grocery store and tried my luck.

Liam: Hi.

Monica: Hi.

Liam: I’ve just moved to this area and was wondering if you could recommend a good restaurant around here.

Monica: That depends on what kind of food you like. There’s a good Italian restaurant on Elm Street, or there’s a good Thai place on Lyndon Avenue.

Liam: Which one do you prefer?

Monica: I like them both, but I’d probably go for the Italian place.

Liam: In that case, would you like to join me for dinner sometime?

Monica: I’m not sure. I don’t even know you.

Liam: You’re right, but you seem really nice and I’d like to get to know you better. What do you say?

Monica: Well, maybe. Here’s my number. Call me and we’ll talk about it.

Liam: I’ll do that. I’m looking forward to talking with you again.

It’s as easy as that. I don’t try to be a player. All it takes is a little charm and a little flattery, and women will find you irresistible.

[End of story]

Our dialogue in this episode is all about dating, and we have a man, Liam and two different women, Debra and Monica. We watch Liam try to get dates with these different women.

Liam begins by saying, “I admit it. I’m a player.” To admit, “admit,” something means to say something is true even if you don’t want to say it. It’s like confessing something. Well, what Liam is confessing here is that he’s “a player.” Player, “player,” is an informal expression or informal word that means a man who dates a lot of women, usually at the same time, often without the other women knowing that you are dating more than one woman. So, Liam says he’s “a player,” just like me!

He says, “I work in an office where there are a lot of attractive women.” Attractive, “attractive,” means pretty or good looking. He says, “Take Debra, for example,” meaning let’s start talking about Debra as an example. He says, “I heard that she just broke up with her boyfriend.” To break up with someone means to end a romantic relationship - to stop a romantic relationship. This happens here in Hollywood, here in Los Angeles, all the time among celebrities and stars. So, to break up with someone means to end your relationship.

Liam then starts talking to Debra, he says, “Hi, Debra. How’s it going?” She says, “Okay.” What about you - “How about you?” Liam says he’s “doing okay.” He says he’s “going to an art show” on Saturday. An art show would be a show looking at pictures or paintings. Of course, Liam is trying to impress Debra make Debra think that he is a very cultured person.

He asks Debra if she would like to come with him, and Debra says, “Geez, I’m pretty busy this weekend.” This is what the women always used to tell me when I asked them out on a date! The expression geez, “geez,” is one we use to express surprise, or perhaps confusion. Well, Debra is perhaps a little surprised and she says that she’s “busy this weekend.”

Then Liam, who, of course as a player, tries to get women to date him, goes on to say, “That’s too bad. How about going for a drink after work today?” To go for a drink means to go have an alcoholic beverage or a soda, maybe a beer, with someone in a bar. And Debra says, “Well, I don’t know,” and Liam starts to try to convince her; he says, “Oh, come on. It’ll be fun and we can try that new place down the street.”

Debra finally says, “I guess that’ll be okay, but just a drink, right,” meaning they’re just going to have a drink, more or less as friends, nothing serious.

Liam, lying of course, says, “That’s all and I promise I won’t even try to buy you dinner.” To buy someone dinner - for a man to buy a woman dinner is usually a sign that he wants to date that woman.

Liam goes on to talk about how asks women out - he asks them to go on a date with him. To ask someone out is to ask them to go on a date. He says he asks them out whenever he sees them, even ones he’s “never met before.” He then goes on to say that when he’s at a restaurant and he sees “a woman eating by herself,” he’ll say to her, “Do you mind if I join you,” meaning is it okay that I sit down with you - will it bother you?

He says, “The other day,” meaning in a recent day - recently, “I saw a woman at the grocery store and I tried my luck.” To try your luck at something is to do something even if you know it may not be successful - even if you know it may not work. To try your luck - you hope you are successful.

Liam, of course, begins by simply saying, “Hi” to this woman. The woman, Monica, says, “Hi,” and then he, again, probably lying - probably not telling the truth - says, “ I’ve just moved to this area” - I’ve just moved to this part of the city “and was wondering if you could recommend a good restaurant around here.” Of course, what Liam is doing here, as all men know, is trying to start a conversation and trying to find an excuse to talk to this woman.

Monica says, “That depends on what kind of food you like.” The expression that depends on, means that is determined by or that would be influenced by someone or something else. So, she’s saying here, well, there may be good restaurants, but it depends on the restaurant - the kind of restaurant that you like.

She then says, “There’s a good Italian restaurant,” and there’s also “a good Thai place.” Thai, “Thai,” refers to Thailand - the country - and Thai food is very popular in many large cities, like Los Angeles

Liam says, “Which one do you prefer?” Which one do you like? And Monica says, “I like them both, but I’d probably go for the Italian place.” To go for, here, means to choose or to select. It also has other meanings, this expression, to go for. If you look at the Learning Guide, you will see some additional meanings for this expression, but here it means to select.

Liam, says, “In that case, would you like to join me for dinner sometime?” Liam is what we would call very smooth. To be smooth, “smooth,” if you’re a man means that you have a certain talent about getting women to go on dates with you, or to say the right thing so they will go on a date with you.

Monica says, “I’m not sure. I don’t even know you.” Remember, they’re at a grocery store. Liam says, “You’re right, but you seem really nice and I’d like to get to know you better,” meaning I’d like to find out more about you. “What do you say?” What do you say here means what do you think - what is your decision? Monica says, “Well, maybe. Here’s my number. Call me and we’ll talk about it.” Here’s my number means here is my telephone number.

Liam says, “I’ll do that. I’m looking forward to talking to you again.” He ends the story by saying that “It’s as easy as that,” meaning it’s very simple; you just have to do what he did. He says he doesn’t “try to be a player. All it takes,” he says all that is necessary - all that you need - “All it takes is a little charm and a little flattery, and the women will find you irresistible.”

A little charm, “charm,” means the power to attract other people - to make them feel comfortable. If we say about a person, “He’s very charming,” we mean that other people like him - he has a good way of relating to other people - talking to other people. Flattery, “flattery,” are words that you use - things that you say to someone else to compliment them - to make them feel good about themselves.

What Liam is saying here is that if you have a little charm, and if you can give women some flattery, they “will find you irresistible.” To be irresistible means that it is impossible for them to say no - for someone to deny. If a person is irresistible, you mean that the women will have to say yes because they can’t say no.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a native rate of speech.

[Start of story]

I admit it. I’m a player. I work in an office where there are a lot of attractive women. Take Debra, for example. I heard that she just broke up with her boyfriend last week so I decided to ask her out.

Liam: Hi, Debra. How’s it going?

Debra: Okay, I guess. How about you?

Liam: I’m doing okay. You know, I’m going to an art show this Saturday. Would you like to come with me?

Debra: Geez, I’m pretty busy this weekend.

Liam: That’s too bad. How about going for a drink after work today?

Debra: Well, I don’t know…

Liam: Come on. It’ll be fun and we can try that new place down the street.

Debra: I guess that’ll be okay, but just a drink, right?

Liam: That’s all and I promise I won’t even try to buy you dinner.

Debra: [laughs] Okay, then. I’ll see you after work.

I ask women out wherever I see them, even ones I’ve never met before. At a restaurant, if I see a woman eating by herself, I usually say: “I just hate eating alone. Do you mind if I join you?” The other day, I saw a woman at the grocery store and tried my luck.

Liam: Hi.

Monica: Hi.

Liam: I’ve just moved to this area and was wondering if you could recommend a good restaurant around here.

Monica: That depends on what kind of food you like. There’s a good Italian restaurant on Elm Street, and there’s a good Thai place on Lyndon Avenue.

Liam: Which one do you prefer?

Monica: I like them both, but I’d probably go for the Italian place.

Liam: In that case, would you like to join me for dinner sometime?

Monica: I’m not sure. I don’t even know you.

Liam: You’re right, but you seem really nice and I’d like to get to know you better. What do you say?

Monica: Well, maybe. Here’s my number. Call me and we’ll talk about it.

Liam: I’ll do that. I’m looking forward to talking with you again.

It’s as easy as that. I don’t even try to be a player. All it takes is a little charm and a little flattery, and women will find you irresistible.

[End of story]

The script for today’s dialogue was written by Dr. Lucy Tse.

That’s all we have time for. From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan.

Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse, hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan. This podcast is copyright 2006.