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Robots – 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 Robots. I have the text here of the conversation and I’ve made some notes about some words or groups of words that you may have had difficulty understanding in this conversation. So I’ll go through and explain those as they relate to this conversation, so they could have another meaning in a different conversation but I’ll explain them for this conversation. So let’s begin.

I always like to start off by explaining three words that you hear quite often in our conversations. One of those is like. So like means to have positive feelings for someone or something but it can also be a filler word which means there is no meaning and a lot of times you’ll hear it used where there is a filler word. There’s just no meaning but it’s said anyway.

And the next word is actually two words combined together, it’s y’know, y’know. So it’s actually you and know combined together. Sometimes when we’re speaking quickly or fast, you know sounds like y’know.

And the third word is yeah. Yeah is a slang word for yes.

Alright, so the title of this conversation Robots, robots are machines that are able to carry out complex, a complex series of actions and these are done automatically, okay?

Now, in the beginning of the conversation, I say, “And I wasn’t even home because I didn’t text you to call me.” So I wanted to explain, when I’m talking about home, AJ had actually called my landline. Y’know, my cell phone, my mobile phone had texted his mobile phone but then I actually have a landline. So that’s what he had called and I wasn’t here at home to receive his call.

Alright, then AJ says, “In the newspaper in San Francisco.” So San Francisco is a city in the state of California. It’s where Joe and I live and AJ and his wife Tomoe spend some time here as well. California is a state on the western coast of the United States.

And then AJ says, “It was front page, this article that Uber, the car…” So Uber: this is the name of a company so AJ actually described it as a car-driving tax service, so Uber is the name of that taxi service.

Alright, then AJ says, “I think it’s Pittsburgh.” So Pittsburgh is a city in the state of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania is in the northeastern part of the United States. That’s where Joe moved here from. He lived there from about, I think, the age of 6th or 7th grade up through college, through university.

And then AJ says, “They’re going to have a human in the car, just as backup.” So backup here, what he’s talking about is they’re going to have a human, an Uber worker, riding in the passenger seat of the car, so in the front but not the driver’s side, the other side, in case something goes wrong. So that’s the backup. They’ll be there in case something happens or goes wrong.

And then I say, “I took Uber the other day to meet you guys at Angkor Borei.” So guy: usually when someone says a guy it means a man. It’s masculine. It means a man or boy. But it can also, when used in the plural, many, so here in the sentence, to meet you guys, it can be both men and women. And Angkor Borei: this is the name of a Cambodian restaurant here in San Francisco. So it’s food from the country of Cambodia.

And then I say, “My driver brought it up, out of the blue.” So brought it up: this means mentioned it. My driver mentioned it or my driver was talking about it. And out of the blue: this is an idiom and it means unexpectedly.

And then I say, “There’s no one in there to control it if it malfunctions or something goes wrong.” So a malfunction is another way of saying something has gone wrong.

And then AJ says, “I know a pilot who told me this.” So a pilot is a person who flies an airplane.

And then I say, “Those are the most critical times.” So critical times: this means times involving skillful judgment.

And then AJ says, “But the rest of the time it’s on autopilot.” So autopilot means the plane is functioning automatically. So in other words, the plane is flying itself.

And then AJ says, “Maybe it’s just a confidence thing.” So confidence means trust. So in this sentence it means actually not fully trusting yet, maybe that that’s why they feel it’s not safe or they’re just not fully trusting it yet.

And then I say, “You’re just cruising along.” So cruising here means flying.

And then I say, “At a certain altitude.” So altitude is height from the ground or from sea level, so it’s how high up from the ground or from sea level.

And then AJ says, “First, it will start with Uber, Lyft, taxis, I bet, and expand from there.” So Lyft is the name of another taxi company and expand means to grow.

Oh, let me go back to the sentence before that. I wanted to explain decade. So “In the next decade we’re going to start seeing it.” So a decade is 10 years.

Okay, then AJ says, “I’m sure in our lifetime, as long as, y’know, knock on wood, we live a nice long life.” So knock on wood is an idiom meaning assuming.

And then AJ says, “I know it’s a little bit like a sci-fi movie, right?” So sci-fi: this is short for science fiction.

And then AJ says, “But this guy anyway, he’s predicting that.” So predicting means saying something that is going to happen before it actually does happen.

And then AJ says, “Humans and computers will basically merge.” So merge means become one.

And then AJ says, “Like cyborgs, basically.” So cyborg is part human, part machine.

And then AJ says, “You got a bad liver?” So a liver: this is an organ inside your body or it’s a part of your body but it’s inside the body.

And then I say, “This new race, it would be like a new race being formed.” So race here in this sentence means, it usually means different types of humans but in this sentence it means half human, half machine.

And then AJ says, “He thinks it will make us immortal.” So immortal means live forever.

And then AJ says, “But there’s something creepy about it.” So creepy means disturbing.

And then AJ says, “A lot of people refute that.” So refute means prove to be wrong. A lot of people prove it to be wrong.

And then AJ says, “You don’t want to go into a field that is going to become completely robotic.” So field means career.

And then AJ says, “As many aspects of life become so technological.” So aspects means parts.

And then AJ says, “People crave more and more of that high touch.” So crave means want.

And then AJ says, “Whereas people who resist it will be eventually gone.” So resist means go against it.

And then I say, “Like futuristic movies where they take over then.” So futuristic movies: these are movies set in the future.

And then AJ says, “If our economy was structured differently.” So structured means organized.

And then AJ says, “If we didn’t have the power elite controlling everything.” So power elite: what he’s talking about here is a small group of people who dominate society. For example, like lawmaking.

And then AJ says, “Be freed to have all this free time to explore in art, in music, astronomy, science.” So astronomy is the study of outer space.

Alright, this completes our vocabulary lesson for the conversation Robots and I’ll be right back with the commentary.