📕 Part 1: Being busy

Rory, are you often busy?

I suppose that depends on how you define busy, really. Though I try and do different things every day, and my work schedule is usually packed, so I'd say I was pretty productive.

Why are you busy?

Well, lots of reasons, really. When I'm at a loose end, I feel a bit bored and unproductive, so I like to fill my days with various activities. And since I have a great deal of work to do, I often find myself with a lot on my plate from that.

When are you usually busy?

Oh, wow. Well, it would be easier to say when I'm not, frankly. On weekdays, it's usually classes and sports that take up most of my time. And then at the weekends, I like doing things with my friends, like going out. So it's pretty much constant in this case.

Maria: Are you busier now than when you were a child?

I'm not sure, to be honest. I think so. I remember these long periods of boredom and having nothing to do when I was younger. I don't really have that issue these days. Of course, I'm more self-aware as an adult, so that could just be a matter of perception.

Being busy, dear listeners. First of all, we have some synonyms. As busy as a bee means super busy. So what synonyms can we have, Rory? I'm busy.

I'm overloaded. My schedule is packed. I have a lot on my plate.

Overloaded. My schedule is packed. Packed like a suitcase, full of stuff. I have a lot on my plate. And actually, it's an idiom. Have something on your plate. Have a large amount of important work. Or I've got more than enough on my plate. So I'm super busy. I have a lot of things to do. Also, you can say... Can you say like I'm engaged?

Well, it would be I'm engaged in various activities.

Yeah. I'm always engaged in different activities. Or, for example, I'm up to my ears in work. I'm up to my ears in housework. So I have a lot of housework. I do different things every day. My schedule is usually packed. So my work schedule is packed. My work schedule is full of activities. And I'm pretty productive. Like I do things. I achieve things. I'm super productive. An antonym of being busy could be I'm at a loose end. To be at a loose end - have nothing to do. So when Rory is at a loose end, he has nothing to do. He feels bored. When I'm at a loose end, I feel a bit bored and unproductive. Okay? So when I'm busy, I feel productive. When I'm at a loose end, I have nothing to do. I'm unproductive. So I fill my days with different activities. Fill my days with something. I have a great deal of work to do every day. So I have a lot of work every day. I have a great deal of work to do every day. And you can say I have a lot on my plate. Rory, but like, does it happen every day? So every day you have a lot on your plate. Like, aren't you tired, Rory, from all these activities? When do you relax?

There will be time to relax when I'm dead. No. I don't know. I don't feel like it's particularly tiring, to be honest. Even when I'm a little bit tired, it's not such a big deal, to be honest.

But do you have some days when you just don't do anything at all? You kind of feel like you just all day you like watch TV or play computer games or you know?

Not so much. Maybe on Sundays. Sunday is like a cheat day for me. When I can do what I like and do nothing. But I mean, this last Sunday, I spent it with my partner. And that was a lot. We were walking the dog, and we went out shopping. So we were still doing lots of different things. And it's not necessarily work-related. That's true. And perhaps that's not being busy in the traditional sense, but I still view it as having to do things. But being busy is not necessarily bad. It keeps the mind active.

On weekdays, I'm usually busy. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. So it's usually classes. It's usually my work and sports. And you can say that my work takes up most of my time. A phrasal verb. But on the weekends, I spend time with my friends. I hang out with my family. So yeah, I'm not sure, to be honest. So you can be honest with the examiner and just say so. To be honest, I'm not sure. So when I was a child, I was also busy. Or when I was a child, I had nothing to do most of the time. Or when I was younger, I had some days with nothing to do. I'm more self-aware now.

Well, this is it. When you're a child, you experience everything very much in real time. And you don't have any perspective to draw on. So you might feel that you're bored all the time, even though you're doing a lot of different things at school, for example.

Yeah. And you can say that now I'm more self-aware. So I know and understand myself very well, or better. So I'm busier now than I used to be when I was a child. And dear listener here, be careful. I'm busier than in the past. Not I'm more busy. No, no, no. I'm busier. Like busy, busier. I'm busy now. I was busier when I was a child or vice versa. So I can say that I'm more self-aware as an adult now. And I'm busier. It's crazy. More self-aware, but busier now.

No, it's not. It's due to the pattern of syllables or the number of syllables. Do you want me to give a pronunciation lesson now? Oh, pronunciation. Yes. If it's all... No, let me get this right. Maria is also a highly qualified English teacher, so she will check my work. If it's a small number of syllables, then it's ER. So busy, busier. Two syllables, right? Two syllables, ER. Yeah?

Correct.

Yay. Good. What else could it be? Happy, happier. Two parts.

Easy.

Easier. Hard, harder. But for longer words with more syllables, more individual sounds or sound groupings, then it will be more or less. So more self-aware, more beautiful.

Yay. What about healthy?

Healthier or the healthiest. I should say, though, I have heard native speakers saying more healthy. And I think that's the common pattern in many languages. And I think it's done to emphasise a point because I've done it myself when I was speaking to some colleagues in a different country.

So you can say, like, I'm healthier now or I'm more healthy now, yeah?

Well, you could. And the point would be clear, but I can see a very conservative examiner saying that's not right, even though I have heard native speakers say it. So I think we should stick with our control based on our syllables and make ourselves look good. It would be better to do that. Not more better.

Right, dear listener. Now we are ready for a joke. Roddy, Roddy, Roddy, Rory, are you ready for a joke? Of course you are.

I am, yeah, after that pronunciation lesson, which is the first one we've ever done in the history of the podcast.

Here's the joke, dear listener, for you. I'm really busy getting married.You could say, I'm engaged. Funny, eh? Yeah, and Rory is going to explain the joke now. Rory, go ahead.

Am I? Okay, so like we talked about at the beginning, I'm engaged in something, but also if you're getting married, then you are engaged to a person. So this is a joke about the two different meanings and uses of the word engaged.

Yeah, so I'm engaged, like I got a ring on my finger, right? So I will get married. Here, the joke is, I'm really busy getting married. You could say, I'm engaged. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode. Okay, dear listener. Bye.

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