ESL Podcast
Episode No.: #440
Topic: Being a Self-Made Man/Woman
Link:http://www.eslpod.com/website/show_podcast.php?issue_id=6319808
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Episode Scripts & Explanations of the Key Words Taken Down
Edgar: What a crock!
★crock: (informal expression) something is a false or a lie that you shouldn’t believe it.
Ann: What is it?
Edgar: I'm reading an article about successful business people who were self-made men and women. I don't believe a word of it.
★self-made: means you became successful or rich because you work hard, not because you receive help from other people.
Ann: What don't you believe?
Edgar: These people didn't pull themselves up by their bootstraps. They were all born with silver spoons in their mouths.
★pull themselves up by their bootstraps: to become successful because of your own efforts or your own work, especially if you started as a very poor person or an unsuccessful person to get out of this difficult life situation and become rich or successful without the help of anyone else.
★born with silver spoons in their mouths: Edgar was talking about the people in the article that he’s reading who said they are self-made. But Edgar said, “No, they were born with silver spoons in their mouths.” This is an expression to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth means that you were born into a rich family because only rich family could afford a spoon made of silver. Dr. McQuillan said he was not quite sure why it has to be a spoon other than other things. He said perhaps it is because we feed little babies with small spoons and put spoons in their mouths. So to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth means that you were born a very rich person. You come from a rich family. And therefore you weren’t pulling yourself up by your bootstraps if you became successful. (中文: 銜著金湯匙出生。)
Ann: Not all successful people were born into money and privilege.
★born into money and privilege: to be born into money means that you were born into a rich family. Privilege: privilege is something that is special for only a small number of people, for very few people. Very few people can have this. It is often used simply to mean advantage. He has a lot of privileges= He has a lot of advantages coming from a rich family.
Edgar: That's true, but it gets me riled up when people who grew up at the country club claim to have had humble beginnings.
★rile up: to be angry, upset, annoyed.
★country club: here refers to a place where members can participate in sports and social activities. Usually this is a very exclusive club that costs a lot of money to become a member. Country clubs often have golf courses, and require a lot of money if you want to become a member and use the club. In general, when someone says or refers to the country club, they are referring to people who are very rich, people who are living in a very rich manner or a rich way.
★humble beginnings: means that you grew up in a family that did not have a lot of money. Humble here means poor. Beginnings means when your were a child. So to have humble beginnings means that you had a childhood where you lived with a family that was poor or grew up with a family that did not have a lot of money.
Ann: Just because some people were born with a leg up doesn't mean they didn't work hard to get where they are.
★a leg up: here means an advantage, ahead start. Something helps you to do something faster or better. For example, f you are trying to learn French. And you already know Spanish and Italian, you have a leg up on other people who do not know those two Romance languages because Spanish, Italian and French have many similarities, they are similar languages. So to know one language means that you have a leg up on learning the other languages.
Edgar: Where would that hard work have gotten them if they didn't have backers with deep pockets, or if they didn't know people in high places? I know plenty of hard-working people who aren't hobnobbing with the rich and famous.
★backer: a supporter, usually someone who gives you money. For example if I am going to start a new company, I would ask some backers. I would get people who would invest or give me money to help me start my new company.
★deep pockets: means to be very rich, to have a lot of money. A pocket is what we call that part of your pants that you can put money into or keys and so forth. Usually you have two pockets in front and two pockets in back.
★people in high places: means people who are powerful, rich or successful and have a lot of influence. If someone says to you “I know people in high places,” they mean, “I know people who are very important, who have many influence, and therefore could help me.”
★hobnobbing: means to spend time talking with people who have a lot of money or influence. We might also say nowadays to network. Network sounds better than hobnobbing. Hobnobbing has the idea that you are trying to become successful by talking to other people and getting them to help you. To network sounds like you are looking for opportunities to become successful. So hobnobbing is probably considered a little more negatively. Networking is a term we use now in the business world to refer to making contacts, getting to know people who may help us in the future.
Ann: That's true enough. Who needs the rich and famous? I'll take my hard-working man over any of them any day.
Edgar: That's why I married you- a woman with beauty and brains!
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Reflection
In my opinion, ESL Podcast has both strong points and drawbacks. First and the most obvious strength is that it is free to listen and download the episodes from the website. Second, it constantly adds new episodes. Third, the downloads are in mp3 file which makes it compatible in almost any audio players. In addition, all the episodes are categorized according to their contents that make it easy for the users to find the exact kinds of episodes they are interested in.
Despite the strengths, there are also a few drawbacks. One is that the speed of the episodes can be a little bit slow for more advanced listeners, especially the part in which Dr. McQuillan explains the vocabulary. The other drawback, in my opinion, is that Dr. McQuillan spends too much time on explaining the same thing. Take the term "humble beginnings" in this episode for example, he explains it as (1)"meaning that you grew up in a family that did not have a lot of money" and (2)"to have humble beginnings means that you had a childhood where you lived with a family that was poor or grew up with a family that did not have a lot of money." Actually he only has to say either one and the listener would totally understand the meaning.
Link:http://www.eslpod.com/website/show_podcast.php?issue_id=6319808
----------------------------------------------------------
Episode Scripts & Explanations of the Key Words Taken Down
Edgar: What a crock!
★crock: (informal expression) something is a false or a lie that you shouldn’t believe it.
Ann: What is it?
Edgar: I'm reading an article about successful business people who were self-made men and women. I don't believe a word of it.
★self-made: means you became successful or rich because you work hard, not because you receive help from other people.
Ann: What don't you believe?
Edgar: These people didn't pull themselves up by their bootstraps. They were all born with silver spoons in their mouths.
★pull themselves up by their bootstraps: to become successful because of your own efforts or your own work, especially if you started as a very poor person or an unsuccessful person to get out of this difficult life situation and become rich or successful without the help of anyone else.
★born with silver spoons in their mouths: Edgar was talking about the people in the article that he’s reading who said they are self-made. But Edgar said, “No, they were born with silver spoons in their mouths.” This is an expression to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth means that you were born into a rich family because only rich family could afford a spoon made of silver. Dr. McQuillan said he was not quite sure why it has to be a spoon other than other things. He said perhaps it is because we feed little babies with small spoons and put spoons in their mouths. So to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth means that you were born a very rich person. You come from a rich family. And therefore you weren’t pulling yourself up by your bootstraps if you became successful. (中文: 銜著金湯匙出生。)
Ann: Not all successful people were born into money and privilege.
★born into money and privilege: to be born into money means that you were born into a rich family. Privilege: privilege is something that is special for only a small number of people, for very few people. Very few people can have this. It is often used simply to mean advantage. He has a lot of privileges= He has a lot of advantages coming from a rich family.
Edgar: That's true, but it gets me riled up when people who grew up at the country club claim to have had humble beginnings.
★rile up: to be angry, upset, annoyed.
★country club: here refers to a place where members can participate in sports and social activities. Usually this is a very exclusive club that costs a lot of money to become a member. Country clubs often have golf courses, and require a lot of money if you want to become a member and use the club. In general, when someone says or refers to the country club, they are referring to people who are very rich, people who are living in a very rich manner or a rich way.
★humble beginnings: means that you grew up in a family that did not have a lot of money. Humble here means poor. Beginnings means when your were a child. So to have humble beginnings means that you had a childhood where you lived with a family that was poor or grew up with a family that did not have a lot of money.
Ann: Just because some people were born with a leg up doesn't mean they didn't work hard to get where they are.
★a leg up: here means an advantage, ahead start. Something helps you to do something faster or better. For example, f you are trying to learn French. And you already know Spanish and Italian, you have a leg up on other people who do not know those two Romance languages because Spanish, Italian and French have many similarities, they are similar languages. So to know one language means that you have a leg up on learning the other languages.
Edgar: Where would that hard work have gotten them if they didn't have backers with deep pockets, or if they didn't know people in high places? I know plenty of hard-working people who aren't hobnobbing with the rich and famous.
★backer: a supporter, usually someone who gives you money. For example if I am going to start a new company, I would ask some backers. I would get people who would invest or give me money to help me start my new company.
★deep pockets: means to be very rich, to have a lot of money. A pocket is what we call that part of your pants that you can put money into or keys and so forth. Usually you have two pockets in front and two pockets in back.
★people in high places: means people who are powerful, rich or successful and have a lot of influence. If someone says to you “I know people in high places,” they mean, “I know people who are very important, who have many influence, and therefore could help me.”
★hobnobbing: means to spend time talking with people who have a lot of money or influence. We might also say nowadays to network. Network sounds better than hobnobbing. Hobnobbing has the idea that you are trying to become successful by talking to other people and getting them to help you. To network sounds like you are looking for opportunities to become successful. So hobnobbing is probably considered a little more negatively. Networking is a term we use now in the business world to refer to making contacts, getting to know people who may help us in the future.
Ann: That's true enough. Who needs the rich and famous? I'll take my hard-working man over any of them any day.
Edgar: That's why I married you- a woman with beauty and brains!
----------------------------------------------------------
Reflection
In my opinion, ESL Podcast has both strong points and drawbacks. First and the most obvious strength is that it is free to listen and download the episodes from the website. Second, it constantly adds new episodes. Third, the downloads are in mp3 file which makes it compatible in almost any audio players. In addition, all the episodes are categorized according to their contents that make it easy for the users to find the exact kinds of episodes they are interested in.
Despite the strengths, there are also a few drawbacks. One is that the speed of the episodes can be a little bit slow for more advanced listeners, especially the part in which Dr. McQuillan explains the vocabulary. The other drawback, in my opinion, is that Dr. McQuillan spends too much time on explaining the same thing. Take the term "humble beginnings" in this episode for example, he explains it as (1)"meaning that you grew up in a family that did not have a lot of money" and (2)"to have humble beginnings means that you had a childhood where you lived with a family that was poor or grew up with a family that did not have a lot of money." Actually he only has to say either one and the listener would totally understand the meaning.
Overall, I think ESL Podcast is a very good website. I will continue to visit it afterwards.
