درسنامه واژه ها

Big – Vocabulary Lesson

Hi, this is Kristin Dodds, one of the teachers and directors of Learn Real English. Welcome to this month’s vocabulary lesson for the conversation Big. So, as always, I have the text of the conversation here and I’ve made some notes about some words or some groups of words that you may have had difficulty understanding. And I’ll be giving you the meanings for those words as they relate to this conversation.

Okay, so let’s begin. And I always like to talk about three different words that you hear a lot in our conversations. The first one is actually two words combined together, you and know, but what you actually hear is y’know. And you’ll see it in the text as y’know. So when we’re speaking fast sometimes we just say those two words, you and know, we combine them so it becomes one word.

And the next word is yeah. Yeah is a slang word for yes. And another word that you hear often is like. Now like typically means to have positive feelings for someone or something but you can also hear it a lot in our conversations where it, it may not have a meaning. It’s just a filler word. Alright, so let’s begin.

In the very beginning, I say, “When I first moved to San Francisco.” So San Francisco is a city in the state of California which is on the West Coast here in the United States and it’s where Joe and I both live.

And then I say, “Everything is so restricted as far as space.” So restricted means limited. And space refers or means an area.

And then I say, “The aisles were so narrow.” So the aisles: what I’m speaking about, the aisles in a grocery store, these are the walkways between shelves that hold the food items that are being sold in the grocery. So aisles are walkways, walkways between shelves. And narrow: narrow means, in this sentence, not a lot of space between the shelves.

And then I say, “Nobody’s even concerned with being polite.” So concerned here means interested. They’re not interested. And polite means respectful.

Next I say, “Saying excuse me if you bump into them.” So bump into them, what I meant by this was to accidentally push into someone.

And then I say, “Parking here in San Francisco is a huge issue.” So huge issue: this means a very big problem.

Okay, then I say, “Basically, San Francisco, it’s a peninsula.” So peninsula: this is an area of land mostly surrounded by water, mostly surrounded on all sides by water, not all sides, but most of the sides.

And then I say, “I think seven miles by seven miles.” So seven miles is about 11 kilometers.

And then I say, “It’s a small area with a lot of buildings and people crammed into it.” So what I meant by crammed, people being crammed, is many people living in a small area.

And then I say, “Space is a luxury.” So what I meant is that space is very much appreciated but not usually available.

And then AJ says, “It reminds me a bit of living in Japan.” So when he says a bit, it means a little. It reminds him a little of living in Japan.

And then AJ says, “It still stresses me out to be crammed into these tiny spaces.” So tiny: this means very small.

And then AJ says, “It just has a very high population density.” So very high population density: this means a lot of people.

And then AJ says, “I just feel like there are constantly people pushing in public.” So constantly means all the time. And public: public means various places in the community like shops or restaurants.

And then I say, “I don’t remember that from Hiroshima.” So Hiroshima is the name of a city in Japan. And actually, AJ and I lived there for a short time.

And then I say, “Hiroshima’s smaller than Kyoto.” So Kyoto is the name of another city in Japan and this is actually where AJ and his wife, Tomoe, live part of the year.

And then I say, “Whenever I go back to visit my family in Georgia.” So Georgia is a state in the southeastern part of the United States and it’s where I grew up.

And then I say, “My mom loves Walmart.” So Walmart is the name of a store and it’s a chain of stores, meaning that there’s many around the country, and it is known for having cheap prices on the products that they sell.

And then I say, “There’s a massive parking lot.” So massive means very large.

And then I say, “We already have the big box stores.” So what I mean by big box store is a store in a square building that’s very big, really big, and it’s shaped, because it’s in a square building, it’s shaped like a big box. And Walmart is an example of a big box store.

And then I say, “Now they’re even like mega size.” So mega means very, very big.

And then I say, “A typical Walmart has a grocery in it now as well as an auto shop.” So an auto shop: an auto shop does repairs on cars.

And then AJ says, “Banks, branches inside even in a Walmart.” So when he says branches, he’s speaking about a branch of a bank. So a branch of a bank is a smaller version of a bank. So what I mean by that is let’s say a bank, a big bank here in the United States is Bank of America. So they might have branches or small Banks of America in some stores, like a Walmart, for example, or maybe even a big grocery store.

Okay, then AJ says, “Something I still haven’t adjusted to.” So adjusted to means gotten used to.

And then AJ says, “We have lots of land, tons of land.” So when he says tons, tons of land, this means a whole lot of land, lots and lots of land.

And then AJ says, “When I visit my family in Indiana.” So Indiana is the name of a state and it is in the middle part of the United States.

And then I say, “I think it’s a stereotype.” So a stereotype: this is a well-known fixed idea about something, like an image or an idea, so it’s…it’s, yeah, it’s well-known and it’s also a lot of times it’s oversimplified.

And then I say, “It’s typical suburban America.” So typical means usual and suburban is a residential area close to a city. So residential meaning it’s an area where there’s many people living and it’s close to a city so you’ll find a lot of houses and maybe some stores, maybe some groceries, not as many as you might find in a city. It’s more houses. It’s more where people are living, which is that’s considered the suburbs or suburban.

And then I say, “Even a lot of cities other than San Francisco, maybe New York, there’s space.” So New York, this is a city which many people know about. It’s in the state of New York which is in the northeastern part of the United States.

And then I say, “We’ve got the Big Gulp.” Okay, so a gulp is when you swallow, like if, let’s say you’re drinking water and you’re swallowing the water. That’s a gulp. You’re gulping the water, but taking a lot in, you’re taking a lot of the water in so you’re gulping it down. Big Gulp is actually the name of the size of a cup or it’s a size that the company 7-Eleven uses and it’s actually 32 ounces. So they have that name, Big Gulp, printed on the cup. So it’s just a 32-ounce cup that you can get a drink in then. And 7-Eleven is a convenience store and it’s a chain so there’s many 7-Elevens. We used to have a lot in the United States. Now there’s not so many. I’ve seen them in Thailand though so I’m not even sure if it’s an American company or who owns 7-Eleven, but there’s many, many in Thailand, I know that.

And then AJ says, “The food servings are bigger.” So what he’s talking about are in restaurants. You go to a restaurant here in the United States and many times the food servings are really big or the amounts of food that they put on your plate are very…they’re very large amounts.

Okay, then AJ says, “Four or some plus bedrooms and a huge basement.” So when he says four or some plus, what he means is four or more than four bedrooms and a huge basement. So a basement is a floor of a building partly or entirely below ground level.

And then AJ says, “And if they start getting closer then I start getting stressed and start backing up.” So when he says he starts backing up, he’s talking about he starts moving backwards away from the person that’s getting too close to him.

And then AJ says, “Yeah, with the food it’s excessive.” So excessive means too much.

And then AJ says, “The servings are just enormous.” So enormous means a large amount.

And then AJ says, “Some aspects of, like I said the personal space.” So aspects means parts, some parts.

And then AJ says, “But then there are downsides like with the food.” So downsides means negative parts.

Alright, that is the end of our vocabulary lesson for the conversation Big. And I’ll be right back with the commentary.