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The Wedding Vocabulary Lesson

Hi and welcome to the vocabulary lesson for the conversation “The Wedding.” In this conversation Joe is speaking with one of our friends named Will. They are speaking about Will’s wedding.

Okay, let’s begin with the conversation.

Joe first says, “Hey, Will, how’s it goin’?”

How’s it going, or how’s it goin’. This is short for how is it going. So you wouldn’t see how’s it goin’ in written English, but you would definitely hear how’s it goin’ in conversational English. It also means how are you.

Will says, “Hey, what’s goin’ on?”

What’s goin’ on. This is short for what is going on. And that’s what you would see in written English, but in conversational English you would hear what’s goin’ on. It also means what are you doing.

Then Will says, “Not a lot.”

Now this is kind of funny. Because this would have been an answer that Joe would have given to Will when Will said, hey Joe what’s goin’ on. And then Will says not a lot. So really that would have been an answer Joe would have said. Not a lot. But, for some reason, I don’t really know why, Will says not a lot. Okay moving along.

Then Joe says, “Man, I don’t, you know what, now that I see you right here.” Or now that I see you here.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you in probably…”

Or in about.

“like six weeks.” And Will says, “Yeah.”

Just agreeing with Joe.

And Joe says, “Where you been hidin’?

Now, where you been hidin’. The way that you would see this in written English would be where have you been hiding? But, Joe just speaking normal conversation, he’s making it shorter. Where you been hidin’?

And what this means is not… it’s not really asking Will if he’s been hiding from Joe. But it’s saying. Or Joe is saying this like, I haven’t seen you in a long time. So if someone says where have you been hiding, they’re just saying it when they haven’t seen that person in a long time. Where you been hidin’.

For example: I had not seen my friend Susan in a long time. So when I saw her I said, “Hey, where you been hiding’?”

And then Will answers, “I don’t know, long time no see though.” Long time no see. This means it has been a long time since we have seen each other. For example: I had not seen my friend Susan in a long time. So when I saw her I said, “Long time no see.”

And Joe laughs and says, “Yeah.” Then Will says, “How, how have you been?” So he’s saying how have you been doing? How is everything?

And Joe says, “Yeah, I’m doin’ really well.”

Doin’, just being short for doing.

And Joe says, “I, I don’t th-.you know what, I haven’t seen you since your wedding.” Now a wedding. This is a marriage ceremony. Or it’s when two people get married.

And Will says, “I know. I know, I want to, uh, I want to tell you all about it. I can’t believe you didn’t make it.”

You didn’t make it. What Will is saying here is you were not able to be there. I can’t believe you were not able to be there. You didn’t make it. An example of this would be: It’s too bad you didn’t make it to my party.

We all had a lot of fun. You didn’t make it.

And Joe says, “Yeah, you know what, I told you the only reason I didn’t make it is because my uncle was getting married back east.”

What Joe is talking about here. Back east is the eastern side of America. So he has family that lives on the eastern side of America. That’s where his uncle was getting married, in a state on the eastern side.

And Joe goes on to say, “So, y’know, I was gone the entire week.” Or he’s saying, I was gone the whole week. All of the week.

And then Joe says, “But I was super bummed about it.”

Super bummed. This means to be very upset. So Joe is saying he was super bummed or he was very upset to not make it to Will’s wedding. Super bummed. For example: I was super bummed to miss your party. I wish I could have gone. Super bummed.

And then Will says, “Well you missed a good one.”

So, a good one. He’s talking about his wedding. You missed a good wedding. You missed a good one.

And Joe says, “Yeah, yeah, I know. I mean…”

Or Joe is saying, what I’m trying to say is.

“I was bummed that I couldn’t be there with all our friends. And, y’know, I’d never had a chance…” Or I’d never had an opportunity.

“to meet Isabelle’s family. So, y’know, I’m really bummed that I missed that, too.” Isabelle. This is Will’s wife.

And Will says, “Yeah, yeah, it was really nice having everybody out here from Spain.” When he says out here, he’s talking about in San Francisco. So Isabelle, his wife, is from Spain. Her family, or some of her family, came from Spain to San Francisco for the wedding.

And Joe says, “Yeah.”

So he’s just agreeing with Will. Yeah being slang or casual or informal for yes.

And then Will says, “And, we had a good time.” And Joe says, “How long had you, how long were you and Isabelle together…”

Or dating, is what that means.

“before you guys got married?”

Now guys. A lot of times it means men or boys. But it can also mean a mix of men and women or boys and girls. So what guys means here, what Joe is saying, how long had you and Isabelle been dating or been together before you guys got married… He’s saying before you both, before you guys, before you both got married.

And Will says, “Two years.” And then Joe says, “Wow, oh my god.” Like, I don’t believe it.

“time flies.”

Time flies. This means to be surprised about how much time has gone by. An example of time flies would be: Time flies when you are having fun. Time flies.

And then Will says, “Yeah.”

Just agreeing with Joe.

And Joe says, “I remember that, y’know, when she first, uh, answered the ad you had for a roommate, so.”

What Joe is talking about here is I remember, Will, when you put an advertisement in the newspaper needing a roommate. Or needing someone to live with you to help pay the rent. I remember when you put this advertisement in the newspaper. And then Isabelle saw the advertisement and called you.

And then Will just laughs. And Joe says, “you guys broke the golden rule.” So what he’s saying is you both, you guys, you both broke, or you ignored or didn’t pay attention to the golden rule. Golden rule. This means the most important thing about something. The golden rule. An example of golden rule would be: Joe believes that the golden rule of life is to treat people as you would like them to treat you. The golden rule.

And then Joe goes on to say, “y’know, as far as roommates go, which is don’t sleep with your roommates when they move in.”

Sleep with. This means to have s@x with. Sleep with. So he’s saying you broke this rule. This rule that you’re not supposed to have s@x with your roommate or roommates when they move in.

And Will says, “That’s right.” And Joe just laughs and says, “But it’s all worked out.” It’s all worked out. This means it ended well. It’s all worked out. For example: Even though I lost my job it all worked out because I found another job. It’s all worked out.

And Will says, “It was worth it. It was worth it this time.”

It was worth it. What Will is saying is he’s glad to have done something. Or you say this in general when you are glad to have done something. It was worth it. For example: I did not enjoy going to school when I was younger but it was worth it in the end because I learned a lot. It was worth it.

And then Joe says, “Yeah, it’s all worked out. So I’m glad…” Or I’m happy.

“to see that, y’know.” And Will says, “Absolutely.”

What he is saying here is definitely or for sure. He’s agreeing with Joe.

And Joe says, “Yeah. So, uh, y’know, you’ll have to give me some details on.” Or what Joe is saying is you’ll have to tell me about.

“y’know, I, I haven’t seen any of the pictures or anything, I don’t, maybe you didn’t get them back yet from the photographer.”

A photographer is a person who takes pictures.

And Will says, “Well I can’t wait to.”

Or what he is saying is I would like to, uh, show you the pictures, of course, but, uh, yeah, do you have a second?” So Will is asking, do you have some time? Do you have a second?

And then Will says, “I’ll tell you about the wedding.” And Joe says, “Yeah, yeah, totally.” And what Joe is saying here is, yes. Yes, sure. I do have time.

And then Joe says, “I wanna hear about it.”

Or I want to. Wanna is short for want to.

And then Will says, “Alright.”

Or okay.

“well, we had kind of a, uh, do-it-yourself wedding.”

Do-it-yourself. This means doing something without paying others to help. So Will and Isabelle did everything or most of the things themselves for the wedding, probably to save money. For example: They had a do-it-yourself dinner party. They cooked all of the food themselves. Do-it-yourself.

And then Will goes on to say, “We, um, got married at, uh, City Hall which was easy.” Now City Hall. This is a government building.

And then Will goes on to say, “And then we had our real ceremony…” Or our real wedding.

“at Stern Grove.”

Stern Grove is a place in San Francisco that has a lot of trees. It’s really pretty there. So he’s saying that’s where the real wedding was. The legal part or the government part was at City Hall, the government building.

But the real ceremony, the real wedding with our friends and family was at Stern Grove.

And then Will goes on to say, “You know where that is?” And Joe says, “Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, right on 19th.”

So he’s saying oh yes. It’s on 19th Street.

And Will says, “Here in San Francisco.” And Joe says, “Yeah.” And Will says, “Underneath the redwood trees.”

So there are a lot of redwood trees in Stern Grove. Redwood trees are actually. They’re a reddish color and they can get really big. So at this place, Stern Grove, there’s a lot of these really big red looking trees.

And he’s saying yeah, we got married underneath these redwood trees. Under the redwood trees.

And Joe says, “Oh, it must have been beautiful.” And Will says, “It was very nice.” And then Joe says, “Did the weather cooperate?”

So what Joe is asking here is, was the weather nice? An example of did the weather cooperate would be: We hoped that the weather would cooperate for the party we planned to have in the park. We did not want it to rain. Did the weather cooperate, or in this example, hoped that the weather would cooperate.

And then Will says, “Actually we, uh, had a really beautiful day which is very unusual…” Or he’s saying it’s not common or not normal.

“for summertime in, uh, San Francisco.” And Joe says, “Yeah.” Just agreeing with him.

And Will says, “As you well know.”

So Will is saying as you already know. You already know the weather is not good normally in the summertime in San Francisco.

And Joe says, “Totally.”

So what Joe is saying is, yeah. I know. I know what you’re saying. I agree with you.

And then Will says, “We were planning on fog…”

Fog is just low clouds. San Francsico has a lot of fog in the summer as well as other times of the year, which can make the weather cool or a little cold.

So Will says, “We were planning on fog but we had really nice weather.” And Joe says, “Oh that’s great. So everyone made it in okay?”

Made it in. What Joe is saying is, everyone arrived okay? An example would be: My parents’ flight made it in late. Made it in.

And Joe says, “Because I know that, uh, her family had a long way to come.” Remember her family was coming from Spain.

And Will says, “Yeah. They, uh, they all made it. Her mom and dad, uh, their friend, uh, her brother and sister, of course, and, uh, her best friend from Spain came to represent all her, all her friends…” Represent. What Will is saying here is that Isabelle’s best friend came from Spain and since her other friends could not come, the best friend was coming for all of them. She was coming in their place. She was coming for all of the friends.

And then Will goes on to say, “we’re gonna go there.”

Gonna being short for going to.

“we’re gonna go there, uh, soon and we’re gonna see her, uh, family and friends, y’know, th-, who couldn’t make it. But it was nice to have a group of her family and friends here in San Francisco for the wedding

And Joe says, “Oh that’s great. How, what, where is she from in Spain?” And Will says, “Um, she’s from Bilbao.” And Joe says, “Oh yeah, y’know, she told me that before but I can’t say that, y’know, I could recall…”

Or I could remember.

“the actual town ‘cause I’d never heard of it before.”

‘Cause is short for because.

And then Will says, “Yeah, it’s actually a very large city. Uh, it’s an industrial city.” Industrial meaning it has a lot of factories.

And then Will says, “And it’s, uh, got uh, a new museum so it’s become more famous.” Or more well-known.

And then Will says, “But, uh, it’s been there a long time. And it’s a big city. But it’s not one of the most, um, uh, known cities in Spain perhaps.”

Or he’s saying it’s not one of the best known cities in Spain maybe.

And Joe says, “Yeah.”

Agreeing with him.

And then Will says, “like Madrid and Barcelona.”

Madrid and Barcelona. These are cities in Spain that are more famous or more known than Bilbao.

And then Joe says, “Yeah.” And Will says, “So, uh, yeah. But they were all there and, uh, her brother, uh, read a medieval Spanish love poem.” Now medieval. This is a time period from long ago. So he read a Spanish love poem from a time long ago.

And then Will goes on to say, “uh. And, uh, that was really nice. And, uh, parts of our wedding were in Spanish, uh, for the people, um, you know our friends here who, uh, um, speak Spanish and also, uh, y’know, for her friends and family from Spain, yeah.” And then Joe says, “Sure, yeah that’s great.

I know that you’ve been trying to learn a lot of Spanish lately.” And Will says, “Yes I have, yes I have.well, y’know, I learned a lot of Spanish when I was in Chile but I’m learning a lot more with her now.” And Joe says, “Oh that’s great. Yeah, because the only way you’re gonna really.” Gonna being short for going to.

“the only way you’re gonna really, uh, y’know, get more fluent in it is to use it pretty much every day.” So, get more fluent.

This is just being able to speak better or to speak more in a language, in this situation, Spanish. So get more fluent in it is to use it pretty much every day. Pretty much. Here pretty just means very. Very much or almost every day. For example: I go to the park pretty much every Saturday. Pretty much.

And then Will says, “Absolutely. Yeah.” And Joe says, “So, uh, I bet her father was happy to see that you made an honest woman of her.”

Made an honest woman of her. What Joe is saying here is, I’m sure her father was happy to see that you got married to her. Made an honest woman of her.

An example of this: Sara and Sam had been living together for two years before they got married. So her dad was glad that he finally made an honest woman of her.

And then Will laughs and says, “I guess, I guess so, yeah.” And Joe says, “I would imagine that, uh, maybe her, was her family pretty traditional…”

So Joe is saying, was her family very traditional?

“and old-fashioned?”

Old-fashioned. This means ideas or things that are from a long time ago. Old-fashioned. For example: Kim’s parents are old-fashioned. They think that a woman should not live with a man until she gets married.

Old-fashioned. Traditional also is basically the same as old-fashioned. Ideas or things from a long time ago.

And then Will says, “Uh, no actually they’re more, um, uh, progressive in a way…” Progressive means able to change thoughts or ideas. So Will is saying yeah they’re more progressive in a way.

“than, uh, Americans are. Americans actually, it seems, uh, are more into the church wedding and everything.”

Into the church wedding. What Will is saying here is Americans want to have a wedding in a church. They’re into. They want. Into the church wedding.

And then Will goes on to say, “We had a, uh, um, we had a very, uh, European wedding. They’re not as, uh, religious as people think. Americans are pretty religious.” Or he’s saying Americans are very religious. Religious just means strong beliefs in a religion, a religion such as Christianity. Christianity is a dominant or it’s probably the main religion in America.

And then Joe says, “That’s true.”

So he’s saying you’re correct. I agree with you.

And then Will says, “Yes. So, uh, they, uh, they loved everything we did…” So when he says they loved he’s saying, they really liked everything we did.

And then Will says, “and, uh, it was a really good time. Yeah.” And Joe says, “That’s great.” And Will says, “Yeah, so, uh, I gotta run.”

I gotta run. Now what Will is saying here is not really that he has to go and run somewhere. He’s saying I have to go or I need to go now. So for example: I gotta run to the store to buy some bread. I need to go to the store to buy some bread. I gotta run.

And then Joe says, “Okay, well, uh, Will let’s get together for drinks sometime soon.” Let’s get together. Joe is saying let’s meet for drinks sometime soon. For example: Karen and I are going to get together for coffee tomorrow morning. Get together.

And then Joe says, “it’s been too long.” And Will says, “Sounds good.” And then Joe says, “Alright.”

Or he’s saying, okay.

“I’ll talk to you soon.” And then Will says, “Alright, ciao.” Now ciao. This is an Italian word for goodbye. Ciao.

And then Joe says, “Bye.”

Okay, that’s the end of the conversation and it’s the end of the vocabulary lesson for the conversation “The Wedding.” So as always, make sure before you go on to the mini-story that you have a basic understanding of the vocabulary. And then when you feel ready, listen to the mini-story next.

Alright. Take care. See you next time, goodbye.