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Las Vegas Part 1 Vocabulary Lesson

Hello and welcome to the vocabulary lesson for the conversation “Las Vegas Part 1.” In this conversation Joe and his best friend Jaeson are talking together. They are first talking about Gina, Jaeson’s wife, being in Las Vegas to help her sister with her new baby. Gina is from Las Vegas. She lived there when she was a child until she got older. Jaeson moved to Las Vegas to go to college. That’s when they met. They now live in San Francisco. After Jaeson talks about Gina being in Las Vegas, the conversation changes to Joe and Jaeson talking about Las Vegas.

So, let’s begin with the conversation.

Jaeson first says, “Yeah, so I got, uh, the next few weeks. I’ll just be, uh, just be me and the cat at the house.”

When he starts off saying yeah, yeah is just slang or casual or informal for yes. The next few weeks. The next few weeks, few meaning three or more. The next few weeks.

Then Joe says, “Oh that’s right. Gina went to, uh, Vegas with the kids, right?” Vegas is just short for Las Vegas.

And then Jaeson says, “Yeah, yeah, she’s gonna be helpin’ her sister out.” Gonna is just short for going to. And helpin’ is short for helping.

And Jaeson goes on to say, “Uh, her sister just had, uh, her baby…” And Joe says, “Oh that’s great.” And Jaeson says, “and, and her husband had to go back to work after, after a week. So she’s down there helpin’ out.”

Down there helpin’ out. What Jaeson is talking about is Gina, his wife, is helping out. Helpin’ again… short for helping. She’s helping out her sister with her new baby. He says down there. Down there meaning Vegas. Las Vegas is southeast of San Francisco. So that’s why he says she’s down there. It also could just be filler or not really needed. Just kind of put in there. Just kind of said but not needed. But here it does mean that it is down. It’s south…. southeast from San Francisco.

So then Joe says, “So did she have a boy or a girl?” And Jaeson says, “Had a boy, he’s named Luke.

He’s…” And Joe says, “Oh nice.” And Jaeson goes on to say, “he’s…yeah, he’s awesome.” Awesome means great. Awesome. An example of awesome would be: I had an awesome time at the concert.

Jaeson goes on to say, “He’s really cool.”

Cool means calm…. very good. Cool. An example of cool would be: Tim is a cool guy. I really like him a lot.

Cool.

And then Jaeson says, “He looks like a cute kid.” Then Joe says, “That’s great you got to meet him when you were just there.” And Jaeson says, “Yeah, yeah, he’s, he’s such a mellow kid. He’s really awesome. And, uh…”

Mellow kid. Mellow kid means a calm child. Kid is kind of a slang word for child and mellow means calm. So a calm child. An example of mellow kid would be: John is a mellow kid. He never cries. Mellow kid.

And then Joe says, “Nice.” And Jaeson says, “Yeah, she had him there at the house all by herself, too.”

She had him there at the house all by herself. What he’s saying here is Gina’s sister gave birth to her son by herself. Had him there all at the house, all by herself. Or I’m sorry, had him there at the house all by herself.

And Joe says, “Oh wow.”

Oh, wow just meaning, oh my gosh. I don’t believe that.

And Jaeson says, “Without the midwives or doctor or anything.”

Now a midwife, or midwives if there are more than one…. That is a person or people who help a woman to have her baby. Midwife or midwives. An example of that would be: Sara was very happy that you had a midwife deliver her baby. Midwives or midwife.

And then Joe says, “Oh yeah, Gina told me that she went into labor before the midwife could even arrive.”

Went into labor. Now went into labor means to begin to have the baby. For example: Jenny went into labor after being pregnant for nine months. Went into labor.

And Jaeson laughing says, “Yeah…” And Joe says, “Oh my gosh.”

Like, I just can’t believe that.

And Jaeson says, “it was pretty crazy.”

Pretty crazy here means difficult to believe. Pretty meaning very…. Very difficult to believe. An example of pretty crazy would be: It was pretty crazy that Seth finished college in two years. Pretty crazy.

And then Joe goes on to say, “Yeah, oh man.”

Oh man meaning, oh my gosh. Oh wow.

And then Joe says, “You know, it, uh, thinking about you living in Vegas is really, it’s really weird.

Because you just don’t seem like the, the type of person who would live in Vegas, y’know?” It’s really weird. Weird means strange. Then, when he says the type of person…. Type of person means the kind of person. And then at the end when he says y’know…. Y’know is short for you know. It’s just put together.

And Jaeson says, “Yeah, y’know, it’s kind of a blue collar town….” Kind of means sort of. Sort of a blue collar town. For example: Kory gets kind of angry when his favorite football team loses. Kind of. Kind of a blue collar town. Sort of a blue collar town. Blue collar town. Now that means the people in the town have jobs that do not need a college degree. So they are not very educated. Blue collar town. An example of blue collar town would be: I grew up in a blue collar town. Many of the people did not finish high school and they worked at factories. Blue collar town.

And then Jaeson goes on to say, “y’know, kinda’ cutthroat.”

Kinda’. This is just short for kind of. Kinda’. An example of kinda’ would be: John gets kinda’ angry when his favorite football team loses. Kinda. So he’s saying, kinda’ cutthroat. Las Vegas is kinda’ cutthroat.

Cutthroat means a person who does not care about other people. Or, it’s to only care about yourself.

Cutthroat. For example: Lewis is cutthroat when he plays poker. Cutthroat.

And then Jaeson goes on to say, “Y’know, a lot of competition between all the different casinos and stuff.”

Casinos. These are places where people go to gamble. In Las Vegas a casino usually has a hotel. Casino.

An example of casino, or casinos, more than one, is: Tim loves to go to casinos because he likes to gamble.

Casinos.

And then Jaeson goes on to say, “And y’know, if you’re a gambler, y’know, I guess it’s pretty cool, uh…”

Gambler. A gambler is someone who plays a game for money or to win money. So to gamble means to play a game to win money. A person who gambles is called a gambler. For example: Stuart is a gambler. He loves to go to casinos. Gambler.

And then Joe goes on to say, “Man, that is just, that’s a city that doesn’t sleep.” A city that doesn’t sleep. What that means is a city where everything is open until very late. Or where places are open all day and all night. A city that doesn’t sleep. For example: When someone says that Las Vegas is a city that doesn’t sleep, they mean the casinos, restaurants, bars, and other places are open all night long.

They do not close at night. A city that doesn’t sleep.

And then Jaeson says, “Yeah, y’know, like the casinos are open twenty-four seven. Y’know, you can…”

Twenty-four seven. What this means is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They don’t close. For example of twenty-four seven: Some restaurants in New York are open twenty-four seven. Twenty-four seven.

So then Joe says, “So are restaurants, right?” And Jaeson says, “yeah you can go out to eat anytime of day, y’know. It’s, it kinda’ grows on you after a while….”

It kinda’ grows on you after a while. First of all, kinda’ is short for kind of. So it kind of grows on you after a while. It grows on you after a while. Or it grows on you means, you begin to like it. It grows on you. For example: I did not like broccoli at first when I was younger but it began to grow on me after eating it every day. It grows on you. After a while. After a while just means after some time passes. An example of after a while would be: I felt great when I started the hike. But then after a while my legs began to hurt. After a while.

And then Jaeson goes on to say, “the 24 hour-ness of it.”

24 hour-ness. This is describing everything being open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 24 hour-ness.

And then Joe says, “Yeah, I mean, it, y’know…. Y’know what, what I always thought was weird, too, is when I go into some of those casinos, it’s not just a casino. It’s not as though all you see are slot machines and, uh, tables where they’re playing cards or craps or whatever.” What he’s talking about here is slot machines and playing cards or craps. These are games played to win money.

Then he goes on to say, “They have all these, like, other things….” Now like here is just used as filler. You don’t even have to say that but in conversational English a lot of times we do use the word like. If you take it away a lot of times, you’ll see that the sentence will still make sense. So here you don’t even need it. But we put it in anyway.

So he says, “Yeah, they have all these things, like, other things, y’know, that are under the same roof as the casino.”

Under the same roof. This means in the same building. It can also mean in the same house. For example: I went to a casino in Las Vegas that had restaurants, a hotel and a café all under the same roof. Under the same roof.

And then Jaeson says, “Oh yeah, yeah, yes shopping malls and stuff.” And Joe says, “Yeah.” And Jaeson says, “Well, well, you saw The Paris, right?”

The Paris. This is short for The Paris Las Vegas, which is the name of a hotel in Las Vegas. An example of The Paris would be: The first time I went to Las Vegas, I stayed at The Paris. The Paris.

And Joe says, “Dude….”

Dude is a slang word usually used when speaking to a guy, but not always. It could be when you’re speaking to a girl, also. Dude.

So he says, “Dude, when I was at The Paris Las Vegas, that was the first time I had been to that casino, y’know…. When we were, uh, in Vegas a couple of weeks ago for your son’s baptism…” A couple of weeks. Couple meaning two, or about two weeks. Baptism. Baptism means a religious ceremony for a child. An example of baptism would be: Joe and I went to Las Vegas for a child’s baptism.

Baptism.

And Jaeson says, “Yeah, sure.” And Joe says, “and, uh, I look up at the ceiling and it’s all painted light blue like a sky. And they also have, like, clouds painted there. I mean it totally threw me off.” So, totally here means completely. It completely threw me off, or it threw me off. What that means is, it confused me. It completely confused me or it totally confused me. An example of it threw me off is: The questions on my last math test really threw me off. I did not expect it to be so difficult. It threw me off.

And Joe goes on to say, “I thought I was outside for a second.” And Jaeson laughs and says, “Yeah.” And Joe says, “It was so weird!” And Jaeson says, “Yeah, it’s, it is pretty crazy the way they make it look like you’re outside. And, y’know, they have like plants and trees in there and…” And Joe says, “Yeah, that was another thing that made me feel like I was outside.” And Jaeson laughs and says, “Yeah, that’s great. Yeah, Vegas is a lot of fun. Y’know, I’m not much of a gambler myself.

But, uh, y’know, every once in a while….”

Or sometimes, is what he is saying. Once in a while means sometimes.

“y’know, play some craps or, or play some blackjack or something.”

Blackjack is just another game played to win money.

And Joe says, “Yeah.” And Jaeson says, “I like sports, too.” And Joe says, “You know what I like to do is, uh…. I’m not a gambler either, you know that. But, uh, what I like to do is to like just sit at one of the slot machines and, uh, play like, like play nickel slots. Right?

Slot machines. This is a game played to win money. Nickel slots are a kind of slot machine. So it just costs a nickel to play them. Or five cents to play.

And Jaeson says, “Oh yeah, you cannot lose too much that way.”

What he’s saying here…. You cannot lose too much, is that you cannot lose too much money.

And then Joe says, “Yeah, exactly, and then, you, you just put them in. You pull the, uh, you don’t, you don’t play too many times too fast, y’know. So you don’t lose all your money.” Now what Joe is saying here is in these slot machines, you put a nickel… one nickel or a five cent coin in at a time - into these machines - and then you just pull a handle down. So it’s kind of a slow game and because it’s slow you’re not able to lose a lot of money.

And then Jaeson says, “Yeah.” And Joe says, “But, uh, y’know, I’d just do it. Because then the waitresses come over and, y’know, they’ll serve you drinks on the house as long as you’re playing.” On the house. What this means is for free. So when something is given to you or served to you on the house, it means that you don’t have to pay for it. For example: The waiter spilled a drink on Natalie so he gave her dinner on the house. On the house.

And Jaeson says, “Oh yeah, yeah, y’know, you get your drinks comped if you’re gamblin’. Or, y’know, shoot, if you’re a high roller, then you get everything comped.” Comped. What this means is given for free. Same as on the house. So for example: The waiter spilled a drink on Natalie so he comped her dinner. Comped. Now shoot is used here, when Jaeson says, “shoot, if you’re a high roller, then you can get everything comped.” Shoot is just a filler word. It doesn’t even have to be in there. It’s just kind of put in but doesn’t really mean anything. High roller. A high roller is someone who gambles a lot. For example: Robert is a real high roller. Last year he won $100,000.00 at the casino. High roller.

And then Jaeson goes on to say, “You get the room comped, you get your drinks, you get free meals, uh, the whole nine yards.

So he’s saying you get the room comped. You get your room for free. You get your drinks for free. You get your meals for free. The whole nine yards. Whole nine yards means everything. For example: John and Mary had a party. They had food, drinks, music, the whole nine yards. Whole nine yards.

Okay, this concludes the vocabulary lesson for the conversation “Las Vegas Part 1.” Now, if you need to, go back and listen to this vocabulary lesson a few times, always making sure you do it in a relaxed way. Just until you have an understanding, a basic understanding of the vocabulary. And then when you feel ready, go to the mini-story.

Alright, see you next time. Goodbye.