تایتانیک

Titanic

The 1997 film “Titanic” is one of the most successful and iconic movies ever produced.

It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social classes who fall in love abroad the ship during its ill-fated [disastrous] voyage.

It is absolutely full of vocabulary you can use to sound more sophisticated and polite.

For this lesson, we’ve chosen two scenes.

In the first one , Jack joins the first-class passengers for dinner after having rescued Rose.

Having a completely different philosophy about life , the lack of compatibility between him and the rest of the dinner guests becomes strikingly obvious and make for a very interesting and somewhat humorous conversation.

Then, in perhaps the most iconic scene from the film, Jack and Rose share a moment on the front of the ship.

Unfortunately , we cannot include the full two scenes here on Youtube.

You can enjoy the lesson without watching the original clips.

However, I recommend that you watch them first by clicking at the top, then come back here for the lesson.

If you’re ready , then let’s climb abroad the Titanic!

Learn with the clip

scene A

Tell us of the accommodation in steerage , Mr.Dawson.

I hear they’re quite good on this ship.

Jack here has been momentarily invited to share dinner in the first class.

Perhaps , you could join us for dinner tomorrow evening.

He comes from the steerage , which in a passenger ship, is the part of a ship providing the cheapest accommodation for passengers.

In the past, this is where immigrants would sleep when travelling to a far away place.

When we say accommodations , we mean a place for someone to stay temporarily.

For example, when you’re in another city, you might need to find accommodations to stay the night.

On the Titanic , the passenger’s accommodations are the room where he or she stayed.

The price for the holiday includes flights and accommodations.

The University provides free accommodations for first- year students.

Then, the woman says “ I hear they’re quite good “.

When we say “ I hear “, we’re basically saying “I know about something because someone has told me about it,” and we use it to introduce a subject that we want to talk about with someone.

So, Barney, I hear you and Nora had a fun time at laser tag.

I don’t know where you heard that. It was a disaster.

This is different from the common expression “ I hear you “, which means “ I understand what you’re saying.”

Like I said, we will not be back until late.

I hear you, Mrs. Dunphy.

You can trust me.

Jack answers the questions about the state of the steerage in the following way.

The best I’ve seen, ma’am.

Hardly any rats.

Ma’am is short for Madame and is a word we use to address a woman in a polite and respectful way.

Go back and turn the heaters on in our rooms.

I’d like a cup of tea when I return.

Yes , ma’am.

Hardly any rats, means almost no rats, or very few rats.

there was hardly any traffic.

This is a comical response which gives us an idea of what you could expect in the steerage area of a ship.

For example, rats wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary.

He was of some assistance to my fiance’e last night.

We’re going to analyze this utterance from a Connect Speech point of view.

Try saying this utterance :

Did you say it like this?

He was of some assistance.

If you didn’t , you probably put stress on the words WAS and OF , resulting in…

He was of some assistance .

These are structure words, meaning you don’t put stress on them.

Another feature you might have missed is the linking between WAS and OF.

…wa-zuv-some

…wa-zuv-some assistance

Another reminder is that the F in of is actually pronounced V.

If you pronounce it as an F, you will say OFF.

Amy, I was off by a factor of 10,000.

In the following two examples, OF is linked with the S consonant from the word before.

month-suv-my life and gla-suv-milk

I put 10 months of my life into this place.

You want a glass of milk or something to wash that down with?

It turns out that Mr.Dawson is quite a fine artist.

He was kind enough to show me some of his work today.

We use this phrase ,to be kind enough to do something, to express our gratitude for an action someone did.

We only say this in formal situations.

He was kind enough to hold the door open for us.

In the following example, we hear this phrase used together with other similar polite, sophisticated vocabulary, like the words ma’am, as we’ve seen, and pardon me, which equals to “excuse me”.

excuse me.

Two champagnes, please, sir.

Pardon me, young man.

Would you be kind enough to order me a whiskey sour?

Yes, ma’am, I can.

Rose and I differ somewhat in our definition of fine art.

Not to impugn your work, sir.

Somewhat means “to some degree.”

For example, you could say that the Titanic is a large ship and this is a small one.

Then, this one would be a somewhat big ship, meaning not as small as this one, but not as big as the Titanic.

You seem somewhat familiar. Have I threatened you before?

I make a point of avoiding familiarity with pirates.

Not to impugn your work, sir.

Impugn means to criticize ( a person’s character, intentions, etc.) by suggesting that someone is not honest and should not be trusted.

This is not a very common word outside of formal settings nowadays.

You swore she’d go free!

Don’t dare impugn me honor, boy!

I agreed she’d go free, but it was you who failed to specify when or where.

And where exactly do you live, Mr. Dawson?

Well, right now, my address is the RMS Titanic.

After that, I’m on God’s good humor.

Here he means that he doesn’t have anything planned after being on the ship.

This is not a fixed expression, but rather a creative way he uses to say that he’s at peace with letting circumstances (or God) direct where his life goes.

And how is it you have means to travel?

I work my way from place to place.

You know, tramp steamers and such.

If you have the means to do something, you have the financial resources to do something.

In other words, you have the money for it.

I don’t have the means to travel right now, but I’m going to start saving up.

A tramp steamer is a type of ship.

He uses an interesting term when he says he’s worked on tramp steamers and such.

Here, and such means “and similar things”.

It is also common nowadays to hear and whatnot.

Uh, I got to go back to work defending our nation against terrorists and whatnot.

Take care of yourself, buddy.

But I won my ticket on Titanic here at a lucky hand at poker.

A very lucky hand.

In the context of card games, your hand is the group of cards that you’ve received or you get dealt.

To deal cards means to distribute the cards among the players.

Later in the scene, Jack uses this expression.

You never know what hand you’re gonna get dealt next.

In this case, he is speaking metaphorically to say that in life sometimes you have luck and sometimes you don’t.

He did win his ticket to the Titanic on a bet by playing poker.

I’m sorry! You’re not gonna see your mom for a long time.

Cause we’re going to America.

Full house, boys!

Now, say:

…at a lucky hand at poker.

Did you say it like Leo?

…at a lucky hand at poker.

But I won my ticket on Titanic here at a lucky hand at poker.

At, like all propositions, most of the time, is reduced to its weak form.

Listen carefully:

I’ll meet you tomorrow at 10 at the office.

In Leo’s phrase , AT is followed by A, which is another word which you need to articulate with very little or no emphasis at all.

So, you say it like this:

a-duh lucky hand.

What are you doing at a high school dance?

Narrator: This came at a bad time for George Sr.

One day at a time, Penny.

One day at a time.

All life is a game of luck.

A real man makes his own luck, Archie.

Right, Dawson?

To make one’s own luck means to rely on one’s skill, ability, and perseverance to capitalize on opportunity, rather than relying solely on luck itself.

She’s a successful business woman who’s made her own luck.

And you find that sort of rootless existence appealing, do you?

Literally, roots are the part of a plant that grows underground.

Figuratively speaking, a person’s roots are his home, work, relationships, etc.

We can use the phrase to put down roots, which means to do the things necessary for a stable life( getting married, buying a house, having children…).

But Jack’s life is different as he doesn’t seem to have (nor want) a place to call home, so that’s why the woman says he has a rootless existence.

Of course , she’s being very rude here.

Appealing means pleasing or attractive, having qualities that people like.

If you find something appealing or something is appealing to you, it means that you like that thing.

Her singing is very appealing to me.

I find her singing very appealing.

Yes, ma’am, I do.

I mean, I’ve got everything I need right here with me.

I got air in my lungs and a few blank sheets of paper.

Jack is saying here his needs to be happy are very simple: He just needs oxygen and paper to draw (as he is an artist)

Jack I want you to draw me like one of your French girls.

Wearing this.

Alright.

Wearing only this.

I love waking up in the morning not knowing what’s gonna happen or… who I’m gonna meet… or where I’m gonna wind up.

Wind up means to arrive or end up in a specified state, situation, or place without planning it.

The past form of this phrasal verb is wound up.

Psychological speaking , it’s perfectly normal to wind up with someone like your parents.

Thanks to my mom, I’ll probably wind up with someone who loves my brother more than me.

Can you think of an example where you could apply this phrasal verb to something that happened in your own life?

I didn’t expect to move to Barcelona. i just wound up here after teaching English in Galicia, Spain.

Just the other night I was sleeping under a bridge, and now here I am on the grandest ship in the world having champagne with you fine people.

I’ll take some more of that.

Grand is an adjective that means impressive, especially because of size, importance, etc.

This is perhaps why the famous canyon in Arizona is named the Grand Canyon.

At the time of its existence the Titanic was said to be the grandest ship in history.

I figure life is a gift and I don’t intend on wasting it.

To intend on (doing something) is to plan or want to do something.

This is the verb form of the phrase “to have the intention of (doing something)”

You can say intend ON doing something or TO do something.

And then I intend to return here to marry you.

I intend to free my father.

I hope you’re here to see it.

I can’t let you do that either.

You learn to take life as it comes at you.

Here you go, Cal.

To make each day count.

If you take something as it comes, you deal with it in the moment, rather than planning for it.

This is, again, another way in which he expresses that he’s happy to accept life as it is.

To make something count means to ensure that the maximum benefit is obtained.

You’ll only have one opportunity to impress the interviewer, so you better make it count.

If you make each day count, you live each day to the fullest.

Learn with the clip

Scene B

I changed my mind.

This is a very common expression that we use to say we have changed our decision, plan, or opinion about something.

Hey, Mike?

Yeah?

I changed my mind. I don’t wanna do this.

Then, as Jack instructs Rose on what to do, he says:

Now hold on to the railing.

Keep your eyes closed. Don’t peek.

I’m not.

Hold on. Hold on.

To peek to is to look at something briefly or to look at someone or something secretly, especially from a hidden place.

Jack here simply doesn’t want her to open her eyes just at that moment.

Did you fly on an airplane today?

Yes, I did.

No peeking.

Did we eat pot roast for dinner tonight?

Yes.

Then, although the phrases hold on to and hold on look similar, they mean different things.

When you hold on to something, you make your hold or grip tighter so that you do not drop it or do not fall.

As they’re on the edge of the ship, she needs to hold on to the railing so she doesn’t fall.

On the other hand, hold on, by itself, is simply a phrasal verb that means “wait”.

Hold on, I will help you once I get off of the phone.

Also, don’t forget that you can TEST your English by watching the clip a final time WITHOUT subtitles