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Ticket On The Train Vocabulary Lesson

Hello and welcome to the vocabulary lesson for the conversation “Ticket on the Train.” In this conversation Joe and I are talking about how I got a ticket one day riding the train here in San Francisco. Now let me first explain that there are two kinds of tickets, two different kinds of tickets. The first is a ticket that you can buy to go to something like a concert or a play. Or a ticket you buy to ride a bus or a plane, airplane, or a train.

That’s the first kind of a ticket. The second kind of a ticket is one that you can get if you do something wrong, which means that you then have to pay money to the government. So in this conversation, both kinds of tickets are talked about. And I just wanted to clarify that before starting with the conversation so that it wouldn’t be too confusing.

Okay, let’s begin with the conversation.

Joe first says, “So, uh, how’s your day goin’?”

Now so, uh, at the beginning of the sentence… These are two words that are just filler. They’re not really needed. They have no meaning in the sentence. And then when he says how’s… How’s is short for how is.

So you won’t really see that in written English but you’ll definitely hear it in conversational English.

“how’s your day goin’?”

Now, goin’… This is short for going. Again you won’t see that in written English but you will hear it in conversational English.

And then I say, “Oh, it could have started off better.”

Now when I start off the sentence by saying oh… Here again, that’s not really needed. It’s just filler. It you take it away from the sentence, the sentence will still make sense.

And then I say, “Actually…”

This is filler also. It’s not really needed.

I go on to say, “I feel like I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Woke up on the wrong side of the bed. This means to feel a little angry at the start of the day or the beginning of the day. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed. For example: I can remember waking up one morning and yelling at Joe for no reason. So I think that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

And then Joe says, “Why, what happened?” And I say, “Well…” And this is just a filler word. It’s not needed.

And I go on to say, “things were going okay. I mean…”

Or what I’m trying to say is that…

“I’d gotten the e-mails done…”

Done, as in finished.

“I’d gotten all the dishes done. Took a shower. Got ready to go. Um, but…” And those are two filler words as well.

And I go on to say, “as usual I was running against the clock…” Now running against the clock… This means to be late. Running against the clock. For example: I always feel like I’m running against the clock when I have to be somewhere early in the morning. Running against the clock.

And then I go on to say, “trying to, uh…”

And uh is just a filler word. It’s not really needed.

And I go on to say, “get down and catch the train on time.” Now get down… What I’m saying here is to go to. To go to the place where I would catch the train. Get down. For example: I was running to get down to the train before I left. Get down. And when I say catch the train… Catch the train on time. Catch the train. What I’m saying here is to get on the train. I’m not really trying to catch it with my hands. I’m just going… I’m trying to get on the train. So catch the train. For example: I usually try to catch the train near my house at 20th and Church Streets. Catch the train.

And Joe says, “Yeah.”

Now yeah is just casual or informal for yes. So he’s just agreeing with me.

And then I say, “So, I got on the train. I go in the back like I usually do because I have a pass.” Now pass here… This is a ticket that allows you to ride the train. Or allows a person to ride the train. So in this situation, me. It’s my pass. I usually buy a pass that will last me for one month. So I buy a ticket and I can ride the train for one month, as many times as I want. So that’s pass. For example: I always try to get a pass so I do not get in trouble for riding the train without paying. Pass.

So I go on to say, “I sit down, we go one stop. We, we’re actually coming up to 18th…” And this is supposed to be 18th Street.

And then I say, “y’know…”

Y’know is short for you know.

And I go on to say, “just the next stop. And I see the, the ticket checkers, for lack of a better word…” Now I’m saying for lack of a better word just because I’m not sure exactly what they’re called, so… They probably have a certain name. But I just say ticket checkers because I’m not sure what that name is. Ticket checkers. These are people who make sure that you paid to ride the train. Ticket checkers. For example: I saw the ticket checkers going up to everyone on the train, making sure they had a ticket or pass. Ticket checkers.

And Joe says, “Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I know who you’re talkin’ about.” And when he says talkin’… This is short for talking.

And I say, “People who are always checking for passes…” And Joe says, “Right.” Or he’s saying correct. He’s just agreeing with me.

And then I say, “they’re on and I thought, okay, great, yeah, I’ve, y’know, I’ve got my pass on me. So one of them comes up to me asking to see my pass. I start looking in my bag for the place that I always keep it, and it’s not there.” And Joe says, “Oh, are you serious?” So he’s saying, oh no, really?

And I say, “So, yeah! I’m looking, looking, thinking, oh where is it? Then suddenly…” Or I’m saying then right away.

“eh, y’know, and this is after, too, I start checking my pants…” Or I start looking in my pants.

“and just racking my brain…”

Now racking my brain. What this means is thinking. Thinking really hard about something. Thinking. For example: I was racking my brain trying to remember the directions to the airport. Racking my brain.

And I go on to say, “tryin’…”

Tryin’ is just short for trying.

“tryin’ to think of where, where my pass could be. Then suddenly it dawned on me…” It dawned on me. This means I recalled or I remembered. It dawned on me. It dawned on me that I forgot to turn off the oven before I left the house today. It dawned on me.

And I go on to say, “it dawned on me that I had left it in the pocket of a pair of pants that I’d worn two days before to work.”

Now pair of pants. We say this whenever we are talking about one pants. We just say a pair, even though pair usually means two. Pair of pants.

And then Joe says, “Oh, and they were still at home, I’m sure.” So he’s talking about my pair of pants that I wore two days earlier. He’s saying they’re probably still at home because I’m wearing a different pair of pants the day this happened.

And I say, “Yes, they were still at home. So, I start explaining…” Or I start telling.

“this to the woman…”

The woman being the ticket checker.

“and, she, um, she whips her clipboard out.”

Now whips her clipboard out. This means she took her clipboard out. A clipboard is something to write on.

And I go on to say, “And I’m like…”

Now like here is just filler. It’s not really needed.

“I’m like, ‘y’know, I just got on.’ And she’s like, ‘oh right here?’ ‘Coz…” And ‘coz is short for because.

“’Coz, y’know, we’d just gotten to 18th Street. And I was like, ‘no, no, no, no…‘” So I’m telling her, no, no, no, no, no.

“’I, I, um, I got on just one stop back at 20th Street. But I always have my pass on me…’” Now on me… That means with me. I always have my pass with me or on me. For example: After I left the house I realized that I did not have my wallet on me.

And then I go to say, “’and that’s why I got on the back. I’ve got money. I can go up and pay right now.’”

I’m saying all of this to the woman but I’m just repeating it to Joe.

And I go on to say, “and she’s like…”

Or what this means is she said. The ticket checker said to me.

“’Oh, just hold on a second…‘”

Or she’s saying wait a minute.

“And she starts writing.” And then Joe says, “Let me guess, I’m gonna…” And gonna is short for going.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that she still gave you the ticket.” Go out on a limb. This means to say something that seems unlikely. To say something that seems like it didn’t really happen. Unlikely. So Joe is actually joking when he says this because he’s pretty sure, or he’s very sure, that she wrote me a ticket. It’s called sarcasm… Him joking with me like this.

And then I say, “Yes. I still got the citation.”

Now citation. This is a ticket that means you have to pay money for doing something wrong. This is the second kind of ticket I explained at the beginning of the vocabulary lesson. An example of citation would be: I got a citation because I did not pay before I got on the train. That’s citation.

And then I go on to say, “So, but, I thought that there still might be hope.” Or what I’m saying is, I thought that there still might be a chance that I wouldn’t get the citation.

And then I say, “So I keep trying to ask her questions, or… And letting her know I can go and pay.

And she’s like…”

Or what I’m saying here is, she said. She’s like, she said. The ticket checker said.

“’Just, just hold on…’”

Now what this means… First of all, just is a filler word. It’s not really needed. But hold on means wait. I can remember when my mom used to pick me up at school and she would honk the horn and then I’d say, “Just hold on.” Or hold on.

And I go on to say, I’m telling Joe, the woman, - the ticket checker - is saying this to me “’let me, let me focus on this’…”

Or she’s saying let me keep doing this.

“’and we’ll talk in a minute when I get done writing.’ So then I start panicking…” I’m telling Joe this. I start panicking. I start getting very worried.

“thinking, oh great…”

Or oh no.

“I am getting it…”

Meaning I know I’m going to get the citation. I am going to get this ticket.

“for sure.” And then I say, “And I remember back to somebody telling me that they’d gotten one, a ticket once…”

Or a citation. That they’d gotten this ticket once.

“before on the train and, um, for not havin’ their pass…” Now havin’ is short for having.

And I go on to say, “and it ended up costing ‘em like 250 bucks…” Now when I say costing ‘em… ‘Em is short for them. And then when I say 250 bucks… Bucks means dollars. It’s just a slang word for dollars. So that’s bucks. For example: The bread cost 2 bucks.

And then Joe says, “Well, I’ve gotten…” And then I say, “And you know with the…” And Joe says, “one of those tickets before. And, and I mean, I recall….” Or he’s saying I remember.

“it cost a pretty penny.”

Now pretty penny. This means a lot of money. A pretty penny. For example: I can remember a plane ticket from San Francisco to Bangkok costing me a pretty penny. Pretty penny.

And then Joe goes on to say, “But I don’t remember it being that much.” And then I say, “Well, eh, this is what I’m thinking it’s gonna cost.”

Gonna is short for going to.

And I go on to say, “And with the money that we’re tryin’ to save for our trip…” Tryin’ is short for trying.

And I go on to say, “I just, I almost started crying, thinkin’…” Now thinkin’ is short for thinking.

“thinkin’ I can’t afford this…”

Or what I’m saying is, I can’t pay this because I don’t have enough money.

And I say, “y’know. So she finishes writing and hands it to me…” Or she gives it to me.

“and it ends up being only 50 bucks.” And Joe says, “Oh, they must have cut down the fine then…” Now cut down. This means to make smaller. Cut down. I can remember when my father cut down the apple tree in the back yard. Cut down. And when he says cut down the fine… fine is an amount of money to be paid for doing something wrong.

So Joe is saying, “Oh, they must have cut down the fine then…” And he goes on to say, “because I remember I paid more than that.” And then I say, “Yeah, she had circled 50 bucks.” So what I’m saying is the woman, the ticket checker, put a circle around $50 that was written on the ticket. It was already printed on the ticket, $50. And she just circled it with her pen.

And then I say, “She’s like…”

Or here, like again means said. She’s like or she said.

“’I’m assuming…’”

Or I’m thinking.

“’this is your first offense.’”

Now first offense… This means the first time you have been in trouble for something. First offense. I can remember when a friend of mine, Chris, got a speeding ticket. But it was only his first offense for speeding.

First offense.

And then I go on to say, “and I was like, ‘yeah, it is.’”

So I’m telling the woman, yeah. It is my first offense.

Then I go on to say to Joe “She’s like…”

Or I’m saying the ticket checker said.

“’Okay, um, it’ll be 50 bucks. Now I did write down here that you do, you claim…’” Claim meaning you say.

“’you claim you have a pass and you just left it in a pair of pants back in your apartment. So what you can do is go here.’ And she’s showing me all this on the ticket. ‘You can go here and contest it.’” Go here. What the ticket checker is telling me is to go to a specific government building called a courthouse.

And when she says contest it… what she’s talking about is I can go and fight it. I can go and tell them, look I did have a pass. I left it in my apartment. I can go there and try to do this so I don’t have to pay the 50 dollars. An example of contest it would be: Eric is going to contest the ticket that he got for speeding in his car. Contest it.

And then I say, “So…” And Joe says, “Pffft.”

Now this is just a noise showing emotion.

And Joe goes on to say, “Yeah..yeah, go down there…”

So he’s saying, go to the courthouse.

“and contest it. That basically means you’re gonna spend, y’know, most of a day sitting in the courtroom…”

Courtroom is a room in the courthouse. The government building I would have to go to to fight the ticket.

And Joe says, “waiting for the case to get called.”

So what he’s saying here is, I would be spending a good part of my day, many hours probably, waiting for the case to get called. Or waiting just to talk to someone about my ticket and not wanting to pay it.

And then Joe says, “And then when it finally does get called, y’know, you gotta…” Gotta is short for you’ve got to.

And Joe says, “try and convince…”

Or you’ve got to try and convince.

“the judge…”

Or make the judge believe. The judge is a person who decides what will happen to someone when they have done something wrong.

And then Joe goes on to say you have to “convince the judge that you actually…” Or you really.

“had a ticket. I mean, it’s a total long shot.”

Now total long shot. This means very unlikely. Total long shot. Very unlikely that something will happen.

For example: My favorite basketball team is not very good. It’s a total long shot that they will win more games than they will lose. Total long shot.

And then Joe goes on to say, “I wouldn’t, I mean…” And I say, “I know.” I’m just agreeing with him.

And Joe says, “I don’t even know, it’s a waste of time.” And then I say, “Yeah, I agree. I was talkin’…”

Talkin’ is short for talking.

“I was talkin’ to somebody here at work about it and they were like, y’know, if you do that you’re gonna be sitting there for a few hours at least…”

Few hours at least. This is saying three or more hours.

Joe says, “Yeah.”

Agreeing with me.

And I say, “and it’s just not worth it.”

So what I’m saying is, it’s not important enough. It’s not important enough to go sit all day. Waste one day to go and try to talk to someone to not have to pay for 50 dollars. And it might not even… I might still end up having to pay.

And then Joe says, “No, I agree.” And then I say, “Yeah, so, I’m tryin’ not to have a chip on my shoulder about it.”

A chip on my shoulder. This means to be angry. A chip on my shoulder. For example: AJ had a chip on his shoulder after getting a ticket for speeding [in his] on his motorcycle. A chip on my shoulder, or in this example, a chip on his shoulder.

And then I say, “I don’t wanna…”

And wanna is short for want to.

“I don’t wanna badmouth them. I know they’re just doin’ their job…” Doin’ is short for doing. Now badmouth… Badmouth means to speak badly about. Badmouth. I can remember growing up my mother would always tell me that it was not nice to badmouth a person. Badmouth.

And then Joe says, “Pffft. Yeah, it’s, it’s…” And I say, “y’know…” And then Joe says, “yeah, I mean it’s water under the bridge at this point…”

So he’s saying it’s water under the bridge now. At this point. Now. Water under the bridge. This means something that has happened and cannot be changed. Water under the bridge. For example: I started to get angry after I got dirt on my white pants. But then I realized that it was just water under the bridge.

And then Joe goes on to say, “so, y’know, don’t…” And I say, “It is.” I’m agreeing. It is water under the bridge.

And Joe says, “get upset about it.”

Upset just means angry or worried. He’s saying don’t get upset about it. Don’t get angry or worried about it.

And I say, “Yeah, I. Bottom line…”

Bottom line means the final thing.

“Bottom line is I’m gonna be havin’…”

Havin’ is short for having to.

“I’m gonna be havin’ to pay 50 bucks, so…” And Joe says, “Yeah, yeah, that sucks.” Sucks here means that’s not good.

And Joe says, “I’m sure that was a great way to start the day, huh?” When he says huh, he’s saying wasn’t it? I’m sure that was a great way to start the day wasn’t it? What Joe means here is… he’s not being serious. He’s joking again. Once again this is called sarcasm. He’s not being serious with me because obviously that’s not a great way to start my day.

And then I say, “Well, to top it off then…”

To top it off. This means in addition to. For example: I can remember two weeks ago my day started off badly. First I woke up late. Then I spilled coffee on my shirt. And to top it off I fell down and ripped my pants. So that’s to top it off.

And I go on to say, “I also realized that the pair of pants that my pass, I left my pass in - the pocket that I left them in - I washed those pants last night.”

Or I cleaned those pants last night.

And Joe laughs. And he says, “Oh, so the pass is probably shredded.” Shredded means torn into little pieces.

And I say, “So, it’s probably shredded, it’s probably done, yep.” Now yep. This is just slang for yes. It’s probably done. What I’m saying here is, it’s probably destroyed. It’s probably done.

And Joe says, “Oh, yeah.”

Now this is the end of the conversation for “Ticket On The Train.” I hope it wasn’t too confusing about the two different kinds of tickets. The one ticket, like I said - that you can buy to go to a concert, some kind of show, to ride on an airplane, to ride on a train, to ride on a bus - that’s one kind of ticket. And then the second kind of ticket is a ticket you get for doing something wrong. So, for example, from this conversation, the ticket checker on the train writing me a ticket because I had not paid to ride the train. I did not have my pass.

Okay, if you need to, go back and listen to this conversation or this lesson again. Just to make sure that you have a basic understanding of the vocabulary. And, as always, make sure that you are doing this in a relaxed way, you’re not getting too worried or stressed if you’re not understanding. And then when you’re ready, go to the mini-story.

Alright, take care, bye bye. See you next time.