📕 Part 1: Clothes

This episode's vocabulary

Traumatized (verb) – to be severely shocked and upset in a way that causes lasting emotional pain. → I think I must have been traumatized from the experience when I was younger.

Nip in (phrasal verb) – to go somewhere quickly or for a short time. → These days I just like to nip in, get what I need, and then flee.

Flee (verb) – to escape by running away. → I make sure it fits in the changing rooms and then flee to something much more exciting.

Tank top (noun) – a close-fitting sleeveless top worn by men or women. → I'm in a yoga class, and then I wear vests or tank tops.

Mix and match (verb phrase) – to combine different things in a way that produces a good result. → Black tees are pretty easy to mix and match with different things, isn't it?

Stand out (phrasal verb) – to be very noticeable. → It makes me stand out when I actually get dressed up properly.

Get dressed up (phrasal verb) – to put on formal or special clothes. → It makes me stand out when I actually get dressed up properly.

Make a good impression (phrase) – to cause someone to admire or approve of you. → I'll wear smart clothes to make a good impression at first.

Let your hair down (idiom) – to allow yourself to behave much more freely than usual and enjoy yourself. → I then let my hair down a bit when things are up and running.

Up and running (idiom) – functioning properly or in operation. → I let my hair down a bit when things are up and running.

Shopaholic (noun) – a person who enjoys shopping very much and does it a lot. → You can say, 'I'm a shopaholic' or 'I'm a bit of a shopaholic.'

Try on (phrasal verb) – to put on an item of clothing to see if it fits or suits you. → We try on clothes in a shop, in a changing room.

Questions and Answers

Maria: What kind of clothes do you like to wear?

Rory: It depends on the context to be honest. But normally I'm fine with a T-shirt and jeans. That's not terribly exciting, is it?

Maria: Do you spend a lot of time choosing clothes?

Rory: No, not at all. Actually, I hate shopping for clothes. I think I must have been traumatized from the experience when I was younger and it felt like when we did this, we were trying on clothes forever and it was so boring. So these days I just like to nip in, get what I need, which is pretty basic, make sure it fits in the changing rooms and then flee to something much more exciting.

Maria: Do you like wearing T-shirts?

Rory: Yeah, I think they're all I wear unless I'm in a yoga class, and then I wear vests or tank tops. I think they just go with everything I wear. Although, I only ever have black tees for the most part, so that's pretty easy to mix and match with different things, isn't it? Unless it's something like a formal outfit.

Maria: Do you prefer to wear comfortable, casual clothes or smart clothes?

Rory: I think it would be something casual for the most part and then it makes me stand out when I actually get dressed up properly. When I'm teaching, I'll wear smart clothes to make a good impression at first and then let my hair down a bit when things are up and running, at least in terms of my clothes.

Discussion

Maria: Right, dear listener. Clothes. First of all, how do you pronounce this word? Is it clothes?

Rory: Clothes.

Maria: No, it's not clothes. Clothes. No, don't say that. Don't say that.

Rory: Never say clothes.

Maria: Yeah, we say clothes. Close the door. Open the door, close the door. So it's the same sound, clothes, clothes. My clothes. And, dear listener, clothes are plural. So it's they. It's very strange, this strange English. So my clothes are expensive. My clothes are stylish. Rory, why? Like clothes, why not is? It's clothes are...

Rory: Well, we have a word that we can use with is. So we have clothes for pieces of clothes, for example. But we have clothing. So it could be my clothing is. That's very formal, though.

Maria: Yeah, but you can use clothing.

Rory: You can if you like. I didn't.

Maria: Oh yeah, you didn't. You are natural and super informal. Maybe because you forgot your age.

Rory: My excuse, even though it's not my birthday now, it will be when this episode goes out. So first of all, happy birthday, future me. And second of all, my excuse is I'm just too focused on having a good time for my birthday.

Maria: Clothes. Beautiful clothes, elegant clothes, lovely clothes, cheap, expensive clothes. We can have casual clothes. Like everyday clothes, casual. Or smart clothes, dear listener. Smart clothes, like a suits, formal clothes, smart clothes, for work, usually.

Rory: But if you're like me, and you're fine with a T-shirt and jeans, that's not exactly great vocabulary, but you can spice it up with some grammar and pronunciation by saying, that's not terribly exciting, is it?

Maria: Yeah, so I'm fine with a t-shirt and jeans. I'm fine with a dress.

Rory: I'm not fine with a dress.

Maria: Well, but for ladies, I'm fine with a hoodie and jeans, hoodies. I'm fine with a shirt and jeans. I spend a lot of time choosing clothes, or I don't spend much time choosing clothes. The structure. I spend a lot of time doing something. Rory hates shopping for clothes. We shop for clothes, we shop for gadgets, shop for books. And perhaps he was traumatized in childhood. He has this trauma from childhood. Something happened when he was shopping for clothes in childhood and now he hates it. Or, dear listener, you can say, I love it. I love shopping. Or, dear listener, you can say, I enjoy shopping for clothes. I'm a shopaholic or I'm a bit of a shopaholic, a bit, I'm just a bit of a shopaholic.

Rory: But if you haven't been traumatized, that's a shame, because you can't say I must have been traumatized.

Maria: Logical deduction. Probably I was traumatized. I must have been traumatized in the past. Try on clothes. This is your key phrasal verb of the day for clothes. We try on clothes in a shop, in a changing room, try on clothes. And every time I buy something, I try it on. I know that some men don't try on clothes, they just grab a pair of jeans and off they go.

Rory: Well, because they know their size.

Maria: You kind of, what? So this is something beyond me. I just can't understand it. How do you do this?

Rory: Well, I mean, men only have a range of sizes to choose from which are quite limited, whereas I think it's different for ladies. However, if you're not sure about the size, you can make sure it fits. So, if it fits, the size is okay for you. And if you make sure something happens, you check it happens, or you ensure it happens.

Maria: So I dislike shopping and I just nip in. Nip in means I get in.

Rory: Or pop in.

Maria: Pop in, get what I want, leave.

Rory: Super straightforward.

Maria: Yeah, just like a focused action, dear listener. It's not shopping, it's not the enjoyment of shopping, it just Rory has a focus, he has a task. He's task-oriented. He knows he needs a black t-shirt. He has 10 black T-shirts, but still, he wants a new black t-shirt. So he nips in, takes what he needs and leaves. But you said, I flee.

Rory: Run away.

Maria: Run away from the shop. Yeah. Flee, escape by running away. It's C1, dear listener. So you see, you can say, just okay, I leave. Or, leave is very easy, is fine, but it's easy. Or you can say, I just nip in, get what I want and flee. Right. If you are a lady, you can also do the same just to use the language. Yeah, yeah. I understand that you might enjoy shopping, and we spend two hours in a shop easily. We just walk in and we walk out when it's dark. And okay, how does it happen? Wow, I spent four hours. It's just... Yeah, for some ladies that's absolutely fine. I'm with you, I understand you. Yeah, it's just therapy for us. Shopping is therapy. We enjoy it. It's a process. Wear T-shirts. You can say I'm not fond of T-shirts. I like wearing t-shirts. Or I wear vests. Rory wears vests.

Rory: Which is a vest is like a T-shirt with no arms, basically.

Maria: Light vests or warmer vests. So we are talking about just t-shirts, vests or tank tops.

Rory: Which I think is basically a kind of vest, isn't it?

Maria: Yeah, it looks like a vest. We also have tank tops for women. So just Google images, tank tops. They are usually short ones. So yeah, I prefer to wear tank tops or vests. There we go. specific vocabulary. And you can say that T-shirts are very easy to mix and match with different things. So mix and match. So I wear combine t-shirts with jeans, trousers, skirts, and you can call T-shirts tees. So I can combine tees with different things, or I can mix and match tees with different things. T-shirts, tees. I usually wear black tees or white tees, white t-shirts. Because they're easy to mix and match with other things. I prefer casual clothes or I prefer smart clothes, comfy clothes, like comfortable clothes. But a semi-casual style, not casual, not formal. I prefer formal clothes, casual clothes. And it makes me stand out. So if something stands out, people notice you. You stand out from the crowd. When I get dressed up properly. So dress up. You have a party and you want to dress up. You put on something nice, something more elegant than usual. Sorry, or you put on some formal clothes for special occasions. Ooh, sometimes I do dress up. Sometimes I dress up for parties. I dress up at work. Or you can say, sometimes I wear smart clothes to make a good impression. So if I meet somebody for the first time, I want to make a good impression. So I dress up. But sometimes I let my hair down. Let my hair down. An idiom, dear listener, let my hair down.

Rory: Yeah, it's an old-fashioned idiom. According to Cambridge Online Dictionary, dear listener. Let your hair down, allow yourself to behave much more freely than usual, enjoy yourself, relax.

Maria: So sometimes I put on formal clothes, smart clothes, but at the weekend, I let my hair down and wear casual clothes.

Rory: When things are up and running, which means when things are operational or working like they should. However, we better get up and running to our next episode.

Maria: Thank you very much for listening. Bye.

Rory: No happy birthday for future me.

Maria: Happy birthday, Rory.

Rory: Woo, thank you.

Maria: Yay.