یک عشق قدیمی

An Old Love

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 299: An Old Love.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 299. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com. You can download a Learning Guide for this episode; you can also take a look at our special premium courses for business and personal English on our ESL Podcast Store.

This episode is called “An Old Love,” someone who was your boyfriend or girlfriend many years ago. It’s a dialogue between Juan and Naomi about an old love. Let’s get started.

[start of story]

Juan: You’ll never guess who I got an email from yesterday.

Naomi: Who?

Juan: Diana Shultz.

Naomi: Weren’t you two an item back in high school? So, you got an email from an old flame. Very interesting.

Juan: Well, that’s ancient history. We lost touch after we went off to college.

Naomi: What did she say in her email?

Juan: She said she was going to be in town next month and wanted to know if I wanted to get together for dinner.

Naomi: Are you going to go?

Juan: I don’t know. Her email came out of the blue.

Naomi: Aren’t you dying of curiosity? I know I would be. Maybe she still has feelings for you.

Juan: Stop it! It’s just dinner, and I’m sure she just wants to catch up on old times, nothing more.

Naomi: I wouldn’t be so sure. You’ll go, right?

Juan: I might as well. If I make an excuse, she might think I’m trying to avoid her.

Naomi: Good. Go and then tell me all about it afterwards. You know I have no social life, so I live vicariously through you.

Juan: Stop making things up. You date more than anyone I know. Okay, I’m going, so stop pestering me.

Naomi: All right, but I can’t wait to hear all about it!

[end of story]

Our dialogue begins with Juan saying to Naomi, “You’ll never guess who I got an email from yesterday.” “You’ll never guess” means it’s very difficult for you to think of the answer.

Naomi says, “Who?” And Juan says, “Diana Shultz.” Naomi says, “Weren’t you two an item back in high school?” The expression “an item” has a couple of different meanings. Here, it means a romantic couple – a romantic pair. You could say that “These two people are an item,” it means they are dating each other – they are romantically involved with each other. For example: “Did you hear that Jeff McQuillan and Jennifer Aniston are now an item?” Just an example, of course, Jennifer and I are no longer dating!

Naomi continues, “So, you got an email from an old flame.” An “old flame” is someone that you used to have a romantic relationship with, an ex-boyfriend or an ex-girlfriend. Jennifer Aniston is, for me, an “old flame,” for example.

Juan responds by saying, “that’s ancient history.” “Ancient history,” in this informal context, means something that happened very long ago and is no longer important – is no longer relevant. “Ancient history” usually refers to the history, for example, of the Greeks or the Romans in the western world, but here, when we use it in this way, we’re just saying, “That’s old news” – that is no longer true; it was a long time ago.

Juan says that he and his old flame, Diana Shultz, lost touch after they went off to college. To “lose touch” is when you no longer communicate with someone; someone you used to talk to, but then after several months or years you stopped talking to each other. That is to “lose touch.” Notice that Juan says that he and his girlfriend “went off to college.” They went to college, but “went off” means they were just starting. They were in high school, they graduated high school, and then they “went off to college” – they began going to college.

Naomi says, “What did she say in her email?” And Juan says that Diana is “going to be in town (in that city where Juan lives) next month,” and wants to know if he (Juan) wants to get together for dinner (to have dinner).

Naomi says, “Are you going to go?” And Juan says, “I don’t know. Her email came out of the blue.” Something that is “out of the blue” means it was unexpected. You didn’t realize or think it would happen, and it happens very quickly, very suddenly; it was “out of the blue.” For some additional definitions of this expression take a look at the Learning Guide for this episode.

Naomi says, “Aren’t you dying of curiosity?” To be “dying of curiosity” means you are very anxious to know something; you are very impatient to know something; you really want to know. Some people are “dying of curiosity” about what happened to Harry Potter at the end of the last novel. I won’t tell you, of course, because I don’t know!

Naomi says are “you dying of curiosity,” meaning “Aren’t you very curious, Juan, about what Naomi wants to talk about?” Naomi says, “Maybe she still has feelings for you.” To “have feelings” for someone is to still be romantically interested in that person, to want to start a romantic relationship with them.

Juan then interrupts her and says, “Stop it! It’s just dinner,” meaning they are only going out for dinner, it is nothing more serious than that. He says, “I’m sure she just wants to catch up on old times.” To “catch up on old times” means to talk to someone about things that happened in the past, someone that you haven’t talked with for a very long time. So, you see a friend you haven’t seen in 10 years, and then you “catch up on old times” – you talk about things that have happened in the last 10 years and so forth.

Naomi says, “I wouldn’t be so sure. You’ll go, right?” meaning I’m not sure if it’s just to catch up on old times, Diana might have other interests. Juan says, “I might as well,” meaning I might as well go. When someone says you “might as well,” they mean there’s no reason not to do something – there’s no objection that you have to doing it. For example: “Even though you don’t have a lot of experience, you might as well apply for the job” – there’s no reason not to, even though you may not get the job. It won’t hurt, “you might as well.” Juan continues, “If I make an excuse, she might think I’m trying to avoid her.” To “make an excuse” means to give someone a reason for doing something or not doing something. Usually the idea is that what you are saying isn’t actually true. “He’s just making excuses” would mean he’s not telling the truth – he’s lying, he’s giving reasons that aren’t really true. That’s how it is often used.

Juan says that Diana might think that he’s trying to avoid her. To “avoid” someone means to try to not be near someone – to try to stay away from someone. Naomi says, “Good. Go and then tell me all about it afterwards,” meaning later – after the date is over. “You know I have no social life, so I live vicariously through you.” A “social life” would be participating in activities with other people – spending time with other people who are your friends. To “live vicariously (vicariously) through someone” means to listen to someone talk about his or her life and imagine that those things are happening to you because you don’t have an interesting life. Perhaps this is one reason why news about famous people is so interesting to so many people. They “live vicariously through them,” meaning they don’t have an interesting life perhaps, so they imagine that the things happening to someone else are also happening to them.

Juan finally says, “Stop making things up,” meaning stop inventing things – stop imagining things. “You date more than anyone I know” – you date more people than anyone I know. “Okay,” Juan says, “I’m going, so stop pestering me.” To “pester” (pester) someone means to bother someone – to annoy someone. To do things that make the other person feel very frustrated or that makes them angry; that’s to “pester.” Parents may say that sometimes about their children: “Stop pestering me” – stop bothering me about wanting a new toy or wanting to go to Disneyland.

I’ll stop pestering you now, and have us listen to the dialogue at a normal speed.

[start of story]

Juan: You’ll never guess who I got an email from yesterday.

Naomi: Who?

Juan: Diana Shultz.

Naomi: Weren’t you two an item back in high school? So, you got an email from an old flame. Very interesting.

Juan: Well, that’s ancient history. We lost touch after we went off to college.

Naomi: What did she say in her email?

Juan: She said she was going to be in town next month and wanted to know if I wanted to get together for dinner.

Naomi: Are you going to go?

Juan: I don’t know. Her email came out of the blue.

Naomi: Aren’t you dying of curiosity? I know I would be. Maybe she still has feelings for you.

Juan: Stop it! It’s just dinner, and I’m sure she just wants to catch up on old times, nothing more.

Naomi: I wouldn’t be so sure. You’ll go, right?

Juan: I might as well. If I make an excuse, she might think I’m trying to avoid her.

Naomi: Good. Go and then tell me all about it afterwards. You know I have no social life, so I live vicariously through you.

Juan: Stop making things up. You date more than anyone I know. Okay, I’m going, so stop pestering me.

Naomi: All right, but I can’t wait to hear all about it!

[end of story]

The script for this podcast was written by Dr. Lucy Tse.

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 2007.