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Drunk Driving Vocabulary Lesson

Hello and welcome to the vocabulary lesson for the conversation “Drunk Driving.” In this conversation, Joe and I are just talking about different friends or different people that we’ve known that have gotten into trouble for drinking and driving.

Okay, let’s begin.

Joe first says… He exhales first.

Exhale just means he breathes out.

So he says, “I just saw John at the store.” And I say, “Well what happened? You sound kind of bummed.”

Bummed meaning you sound kind of sad.

Joe says, “Well, he told me that Melissa just got busted again for drunk driving.” Busted. Now this is an idiom that means basically to get into trouble. So Melissa just got in trouble again for drunk driving. Busted. An example of busted would be: Todd got busted for driving too fast because he was driving 120 miles per hour. Busted.

And then I say, “Oh, no.” And Joe says, “Yeah…” And I say, “That’s terrible.” I mean that’s really bad. Or it’s horrible. It’s really bad.

Joe says, “that’s her second offense in the last year.”

Second offense meaning, that’s the second time she’s been arrested. Or that’s the second time she’s gotten into trouble.

And I say, ”Jeez.”

Like, wow… I can’t believe that.

And Joe says, “I mean, she just… I think that she just got finished with the court case from the last time when she got busted. And that was like, she got busted like ten months ago. She doesn’t even have a license.”

Okay so he’s saying, she just got finished with the court case from the last time. She’s already been arrested. Or she’s gotten into trouble with the police two times already for drinking and driving. When you get in trouble for drinking and driving, the police will take you and put you in jail. And then you have to go to court. So that’s what he’s talking about. She just finished with her court case. Court being where you go and someone called a judge will listen to what happened. And he decides if you’ll have to go back to jail. Or stay in jail a longer time. Or you have to pay money. Or whatever he decides. A judge will decide what happens in court. So Joe is talking about, Melissa just finished going to court for her second time. She just got in trouble for her second time ten months ago. She doesn’t even have a license. License being what you get…

It’s a card. You have to take a written and a driving test in order to get this card to be able to drive. So she doesn’t even have this card. She doesn’t have this license.

And I say, “Oh my god!”

Like, what? That’s crazy. I don’t believe that.

Joe says, “Yeah, I mean the first time she got…” And he stops. And then I say, “What was she thinking?”

Like, I can’t believe she would be driving without her license. Without this card. That’s just not good. That, by itself… If she got pulled over by the police and she doesn’t have her license, she doesn’t have this card to be able to drive, she gets into a lot of trouble just for that. But here she doesn’t even have the license. Plus she’s been drinking. So two things wrong, right there.

So I say, “What was she thinking?” And then Joe goes on to say, “busted…” So he was saying, yeah… I mean the first time she got busted.

“I have no idea. I mean, the first time she got busted she was, uh, she had been out drinking with some friends, y’know, at a party. And, uh, y’know, they had advised her…” Or they had told her.

“not to drive because she had been drinking a bit too much.”

So she’d been drinking a little too much.

“But, y’know, she was like, ‘No, no, I’m fine.’ So she was on her way home and, uh, y’know, she was dr-, uh, driving a little erratically.”

So she was driving all over the road in other words. She wasn’t driving straight.

“And, uh, y’know a cop saw her and y’know, pulled her over and smelled that she had alcohol on her breath. So, um, yeah, so that’s how she got busted the first time. But this time, she’s really lucky.

She actually wrecked this time.”

So he’s saying, she actually had an accident this time. Driving her car she actually had an accident. She actually hit something. Okay, have no idea… That’s an idiom meaning no idea. I don’t know what he’s saying is… I don’t know. I have no idea. An example of have no idea: I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I finished high school. Have or had no idea. So he’s saying, I have no idea what she was thinking.

Why she was driving with no license after she’d already been in trouble two times for drinking and driving. So she’d been busted, or she had gotten in trouble. Here she is out drinking with friends. She’s at a party. Her friends are telling her not to drive. They’re saying it’s not a good idea. They’re advising her not to drive because she had been drinking a bit too much. She’d been drinking too much. And Melissa is saying, no, no, I’m fine. I can do it. She was on her way home. So she was driving home and she’s driving a little erratically. She’s driving all over the road and a cop saw her. Or a policeman saw her and pulled her over.

Pulled her over is an idiom meaning to be stopped by the police while driving. So an example of this would be: Kim was pulled over when she was driving to work because she did not stop at the stop sign. Pulled her over. So the police, the cop, or the policeman sees her driving all over the road. And he pulls her over, makes her stop and smells that she has alcohol on her breath. So he can smell when she’s breathing out.

He can smell the alcohol, whatever she’d been drinking, beer, liquor, wine, whatever. So Joe goes on to say, yeah, so that’s how she got busted the first time. That’s how she got in trouble the first time. But this time she’s really lucky. She actually wrecked this time. So he’s saying she’s really lucky. It’s a good thing she hit her car into something this time.

And I say, “Yeah.”

Agreeing with him.

And then Joe says, “And, uh…” And then I go on to say, “Yeah, she is lucky.” And Joe says, “I mean, but she’s lucky that no one got hurt.” And I say, “Right.”

As in yeah, correct, I agree. It is lucky. It’s good that nobody got hurt.

Joe says, “She wa-, she actually didn’t get hurt. She didn’t hit anybody, thank goodness, and uh…” So he’s saying, she hit something. Her car hit something but she didn’t hit anybody else. Not another car.

And he’s saying thank goodness. So that’s good.

Then I say, “Well how serious was the accident?”

Or I’m saying how bad was the accident? You know, accident being her in her car hitting something.

And Joe says, “Um, well she, uh, she was apparently driving and, uh, a little too fast and, uh, y’know… She was obviously drunk. She lost control of the car and, y’know, that was it. Y’know, it’s totaled also.”

Totaled meaning the car is finished. She’s not going to be able to drive it any more. It’s… She ruined it to where it just can’t be driven anymore.

So then he goes on to say, “She hit into a, um, a telephone pole but thank goodness she didn’t hit it head-on. Y’know, she just like lost control and skidded into it.”

So he’s telling me… When I say how bad was the accident? You know, how bad when she hit her car into something? How bad was it? And he’s saying well, she was driving, she was driving a little too fast. She was obviously drunk. She was pretty drunk. She lost control of the car. So she couldn’t control the car anymore. She basically wasn’t able to really drive the car anymore. And that was it. So he’s saying, that’s when she hit the telephone pole. She totaled her car. She can’t drive her car anymore. It’s beyond being able to be driven because she hit it. She went into a telephone pole. Telephone pole is something usually made out of wood. It’s tall and it connects telephone wires. So obviously not for cell phones but for regular phones. Like a house phone. Wires are connected from pole to pole, from wooden pole to wooden pole. So she hit her car into one of these. But thank goodness or it’s a good thing she didn’t hit it head-on. Hit it head-on or hit head-on is an idiom meaning to hit something with the head or front first. Hit it head-on. An example of this would be: When John drove over some ice, he lost control of his car and then hit a deer head-on. So what Joe is saying is, it’s a good thing she didn’t hit head-on into the telephone pole. So she didn’t hit it from the front first. Then he goes on to say, you know, she just like lost control and skidded into it.

So she lost control of the car. She wasn’t able to keep control of the car. Or to basically drive it anymore.

And she skidded into the telephone pole. Skid means usually if someone loses control of their car, they’ll put the brakes on. And then if you put the brakes on too hard or too fast, sometimes you can skid. Which means you don’t come to a stop. The car might then go to the side. So that’s what happened here. And that’s why she didn’t hit head-on or front first into the telephone pole.

So then I say, “God, I just had this image of her wrapping it around the telephone pole.” Wrapping it around. That’s an idiom meaning crashed into badly. Wrapping it around. An example of that would be: When John drove over some ice, he lost control of his car and then wrapped it around a mailbox.

So I’m saying, oh my god. I just had this image or I just had this picture of Melissa wrapping her car around the telephone pole. Crashing her car pretty badly into the telephone pole.

And then Joe says, “Yeah, well, check this out.”

Or, listen to this, is what’s he’s saying.

“Jeff said he saw her out at the bar last night doing shots about an hour before she drove. He didn’t even…” And he kind of stops.

So what he’s saying here is, listen to this. Jeff saw Melissa out at the bar last night and she was doing shots.

Shots means… Doing shots means you have a little glass and you put something in it really strongly to drink.

Like liquor or something. And you just drink it really fast. So it gets you drunk pretty quickly. So this friend, Jeff, saw her at the bar doing these shots. These drinks of liquor. Like an hour before she left. Liquor meaning alcohol, strong alcohol. So yeah…

Joe says, “He didn’t even…” And then I say, “Oh, that’s smart.”

Now, I’m not saying really that I think Melissa is smart. I am saying the opposite actually. Like oh, that’s smart as in that’s not really a good idea.

And Joe says, “He didn’t even think she was driving, because h-, he knows she doesn’t have a-, a license.”

So this friend, Jeff… Seeing her doing these shots. Doing these really strong alcohol drinks right before she’s going to drive home. He didn’t think she was driving because he knows she doesn’t even have a license. She doesn’t have a card to drive a car.

So again I say, “Yeah, that’s really smart.”

And once again, I’m not saying I really think Melissa is smart. I’m saying this… It’s actually kind of confusing, but I’m saying the opposite. I’m saying that’s not a good idea. That’s not smart. It’s the way that I say it though.

And then Joe says, “Yeah, I just, oh my god, I just don’t even know what to say. I mean…” So he’s saying, I just… I can’t believe it. I don’t even know what to think about this.

And I say, “Well, this makes me think of Matthew. Fairly recently, I can’t remember if it was his second or third offense with drunk driving, but he was out at a bar one night. Left with a friend and was driving drunk. Rear-ended a car. Y’know I guess the car in front had come to a stop and he just plowed right into ‘em. And luckily he was okay. His friend was okay. But there were three people in the car, the car that was ahead of ‘em. And I think two out of the three people actually got injured.” So I’m talking about my friend Matthew. And saying, fairly recently as in not so long ago. And I say, I can’t remember if it was his second or third offense. So I can’t remember if it was his second or third time for getting in trouble for drinking and driving. But he was out at a bar one night. Left with a friend. So he left the bar with his friend and he was driving drunk. He rear-ended a car. So rear-ended meaning, he hit something from behind or from the back end. Rear-ended. An example of this would be: Omar’s car was damaged because he was not careful when he was driving. He rear-ended the car in front of him. Damaged meaning when he hit his car into the car in front of him, oh how should I say that… He did some things when he hit the car. It messed up his car and the car in front of him. Rear-ended. So then I go on to say, yeah, you know, I guess the car in front… So this car in front of Matthew had come to a stop. It had stopped. And Matthew being drunk and not paying attention just plowed right into them. So he just drove directly into them. And luckily he was okay. And his friend was okay. But there were three people in the car that was ahead of them.

Or I say being ahead of ‘em. ‘Em being short for them. And I think two out of the three people actually got injured. So I’m saying, yeah. I think two out of the three people actually got hurt.

And Joe says, “Ugh.”

Like, god. I don’t believe that.

Then I say, “So, like I said, I don’t remember if this was his second or third offense.”

So I don’t remember if this was his second or third time getting in trouble.

“But, uh, yeah, since, since he had had a run-in with the law prior to that he got, uh, thrown in jail for a year.”

So I’m saying, I don’t remember if this was the second or third time that he got in trouble. But since the second or third time he had had a run-in with the law prior to that. So before that. Run-in with the law meaning an encounter with the police. Or getting in trouble with the police. Run-in with the law. An example of that would be: Matthew had a run-in with the law after he tried to rob a bank. Run-in with the law. So since he had had a run-in with the law or problems with the police before, he got thrown in jail for a year.

Thrown in jail. Meaning he got put in jail. Thrown in jail. An example of that would be: Gene was thrown in jail because he did not pay his taxes. Thrown in jail.

Then Joe says, “Oh, I’m not surprised. I mean, you… If, if you’ve already had one offense before, I think like it’s automatic that you’re gonna do jail time.”

So what he’s saying, yeah. I’m not surprised that Matthew got thrown in jail. If you already have one offense, or if you’ve already been in trouble one time…

“I think it’s like automatic…”

So he’s saying in this situation… Automatic means no doubt about it.

“you’re gonna do jail time.”

Gonna being short for going. You’re going to do jail time. Or you’re going to go to jail.

And then I say, “Yeah. And he…” And Joe goes on to say, “I mean it just depends on how much.

Because, y’know, the laws vary from state to state, y’know. And Melissa actually got busted for drunk driving when she was like 20 years old when she lived in Texas. Before she moved here.” So Joe is just saying, it just depends. Or it’s not certain. It’s not for sure how much time you will have to go to jail because he’s saying, the laws vary from state to state. The laws are different from each state. And he’s saying Melissa actually got busted for drunk driving when she was 20 years old and this was when she was living in Texas before she moved here, to San Francisco.

So I say, “Oh god.” And Joe says, “You think that she would have, uh, y’know, learned something from that, y’know, first event.”

So he’s saying, you would think she would have learned her lesson from the first time she got in trouble for drinking and driving. So that being her first event.

And I say, “Right, right.” And Joe says, “My god.”

Like, again… Like what was she thinking?

And I say, “Well, I’m surprised they didn’t just throw away the key with Matthew. I mean he was trashed.”

So I’m saying, I’m surprised they didn’t just throw away the key. Throw away meaning, or throw away means to make someone go to jail for a long time. So I’m saying, yeah. I’m surprised they didn’t make him go to jail for a long time. I mean he was trashed. Trashed meaning he was really drunk. An example of throw away the key would be: If you hurt someone when driving drunk, they will throw away the key. Throw away the key.

Joe says, “Yeah.”

Like he’s agreeing with me.

And I say, “Not only that, but, I mean, y’know the fact tha-, that he was so drunk, this was his second or third drunk driving offense and he actually injured people. He’s lucky he didn’t kill someone.” So I’m saying, yeah. I’m surprised they didn’t make him go to jail for a long time because he was so drunk.

This was his second or third time getting in trouble for drinking and driving. And he hurt people. He injured people. He’s lucky he didn’t kill someone.

Joe says, “Yeah, I mean you don’t want that on your conscience.”

Or he’s saying you don’t want that on your mind.

And I say, “No!”

Like agreeing with him. Yeah, no, you don’t want that on your mind. Or to be there on your mind for a long time, on your conscience.

Joe says, “My gosh. Well Melissa, um, I think that, uh, uh, Jeff told me that, uh, or John said that Jeff told him that, uh… She spoke with a lawyer. And, uh, y’know unlike last time, um, last time she was hoping her lawyer was gonna get her off. And it, it didn’t happen because her blood alcohol level was too high. But there’s no way she’s gettin’ off this time. I mean…” Okay so he’s saying, my gosh. Like, my god. Wow. Showing emotion. Melissa… Jeff was telling Joe… Or, he corrects himself. John said that Jeff had told him that Melissa talked… She spoke… She talked with a lawyer. A lawyer here is just someone you pay money to and they will help you get out of trouble. So Melissa talked with a lawyer and Joe was saying, unlike last time… So last time… She was hoping her lawyer was gonna get her off. Gonna is slang for going to. So the last time she was hoping her lawyer was going to get her off. Get her off is an idiom meaning get her out of trouble. Get her out of trouble with the police. Get her off. An example of this would be: Jane got a good lawyer because she was caught stealing.

She hopes he can get her off. Get her off. But it didn’t happen with the lawyer because her blood alcohol level was too high. So in other words, she had too much alcohol in her blood. And he goes on to say, but there’s no way she’s getting’ off this time. I mean… He’s saying yeah. She’s just done too many things wrong this time. Too many bad things. She was driving without her license and now this is like the second or third time she’s been caught drinking and driving. So there’s no way she’s gettin’ off. Gettin’ is short for getting. You won’t see this in written English but you’ll hear it in conversations.

So then I say, “No.”

Agreeing, yeah, no way. She’s not getting off.

And Joe says, “she wrecked a car. And the cops came while she was still at the car. So…” He’s saying, so she had an accident. She wrecked her car. She drove into the telephone pole and the cops, or the police, they came while she was still at the car.

And I say, “Oh!” And he says, “they could obviously see…”

Or they could definitely see.

“y’know… They gave her a breathalyzer, but, uh…”

So a breathalyzer is something the police will do if they think you’ve been drinking when you’re driving. You have to breathe into this plastic piece to see how much alcohol is in your blood.

And then I say, “They’re gonna throw the book at her.”

Gonna, again being slang for going. They’re going to throw the book at her. Throw the book. That’s an idiom meaning to make someone go to jail for a long time. Throw the book. It’s the same as throw away the key. An example of that would be: If you hurt someone when driving drunk, they will throw the book at you.

Throw the book.

Then Joe goes on to say, “Oh yeah, she’s, she’s gonna… I mean she’s got, she’s looking at three to six months. She’s definitely, uh, gonna get put away for three to six months. Yeah, because that’s the law, here. So…”

So he’s saying, she’s looking at three to six months. In other words, she’s probably going to have to go to jail for three to six months. She’s definitely going to get put away. Get put away means to get put in jail. So she’s going to get put in jail for three to six months. Get put away. An example of that is: The man who tried to rob a bank got put away for two years. Get put away.

And then I say, “Right. If not longer.”

So I’m saying, yeah. She’s gonna get probably put away for three to six months if not even longer than three to six months.

And Joe says, “Well, I, I don’t know how it works. I mean, I guess sometimes they let you take these alcohol diversion classes and, uh…”

Alcohol diversion classes are just classes that you can take if you get in trouble for drinking and driving. You can take these classes and it will… Sometimes they make you, or I shouldn’t say make you. Sometimes you don’t have to go to jail then. Or it can make the time you go to jail less. I’m not sure exactly how it works but, yeah. Those are alcohol diversion classes.

And then I say, “Oh, to lessen the time.”

In other words, if you go to jail, it will make your time less, like I was just saying.

And Joe says, “Yeah.”

So, this concludes the vocabulary lesson for the conversation “Drunk Driving.” Alright, as always, listen to this a few times in a relaxed way. And of course, only if you need to. Basically you want to have a good understanding of the vocabulary. And then when you’re ready, go to the mini-story.

Until next time. See you later.