Skip to main content

Transcript

πŸ“• Part 1: Going out

Does Rory really think Scottish town centres resemble a war zone on a Friday night? Find out why our expert is a proud homebody and learn advanced vocabulary to describe your own social life perfectly.

Maria & Rory

Β· 14 min read

This episode’s vocabulary

Homebody

noun β€” a person who likes spending time at home rather than going out with friends or travelling to different places.

Hence

adverb β€” that is the reason or explanation for.

Scarcely

adverb β€” almost not.

Nip

verb β€” to go somewhere quickly or be somewhere for only a short time.

Din

noun β€” a loud, unpleasant confused noise that lasts for a long time..

Venue

noun β€” the place where a public event or meeting happens.

Recreational

adj. β€” connected with ways of enjoying yourself when you are not working.

Resemble

verb β€” to look like or be like someone or something.

Wander

verb β€” to walk around slowly in a relaxed way or without any clear purpose or direction.

Podcast cover
πŸ“• Part 1: Going out
IELTS Speaking for Success
0:00 / 0:00

Questions and answers

Maria

Rory, do you like going out or staying at home?

Rory

To tell the truth I much more of a homebody, to be honest. I rarely like going out to clubs these days because I'm a little bit past it, and I hate loud music and crowds. It's the kind of combination that sort of makes your insides vibrate at the same time they're being crushed out of existence.

Maria

Do you often go out in the evenings?

Rory

Almost never if I am honest. Unless I'm going to the gym and shopping and then walking back. Does that count? I think the last time I was in a club was about a month ago, and it was like being in a time warp. I went in 11 o'clock at night and emerged seven in the morning and I have no idea how I managed to spend eight hours of my life in one place. I don't even spend that much time in bed normally.

Maria

What do you like to do when you go out?

Rory

I like talking to people. Hence why bars and clubs are annoying because you can scarcely hear yourself think. It was easier when I smoked because you could always nip outside and speak to people there. Now I have to sort of yell over the din to make myself heard. I think the last time I was out I just sat and spoke to random people, including the barman, actually.

Maria

Do you prefer going out on your own or with friends?

Rory

Does anybody go out by themselves? I either go out with them or I meet them at whatever venue we picked. And by we I mean they because I'm so old that all the places that I know are closed down years ago, probably.

Maria

Do people in your country go out a lot?

Rory

Well, not at the moment because of the lockdown restrictions. But if we speak more generally about times past, then, yeah, they did. Not just for fun either. People would go out walking, or jogging, or they would take dogs for a walk. If you speak at recreational drinking then it's like a famous thing in Scotland. Some nights the town centres resemble a war zone.

Maria

Scotland!

Rory

Freedom! Drinking!

Maria

Friday lights! Wo hoo! What is this? War? No, it's just Scottish night out. OK. Where do most young people like to go out in your country?

Rory

Well, clubbing was popular. We used to have clubs for everything. Like even certain age groups or fashion tastes. Like you had a rock and sort of, I suppose, grunge nightclubs. And people there would wear black and they would be like gothic people there. And that was cool. Um, and of course, there were times when people would just wander in groups of friends, and I imagine they still do when they can. -

Discussion

Maria

Thank you so much for your answers.

Rory

No problem.

Maria

I have a feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night. Did you used to listen to this song?

Rory

I did. Yeah. That was ridiculous.

Maria

Tonight's gonna be a good, good night. So, going out. What's going on with this going out thing. When I go out, does it mean that I hit the clubs or I can go out, as you said, like to take a dog for a walk or to go jogging?

Rory

Well, it can mean both, really. And when I was answering the questions, I was using both sort of ideas. So when when we were talking, I was using both understandings to choose which things I talked about. But usually for me it means going out to a club or out with friends.

Maria

Yes, dear listener. So when you say going out or I went out, we usually mean a night out. So you meet up your friends for a beer or you do some sensible drinking or you go out in a club, in a restaurant, or you have a night out in a club, in a restaurant. It could be a bar party or something on a rooftop. Also, you can go out just to take your dog for a walk. So you mentioned go out jogging. What else did you say?

Rory

What else did I say?

Maria

Yeah. OK, so, like, take the dogs for a walk.

Rory

That's all basically.

Maria

Go out walking, go out jogging. So basically you go out, you don't stay in. So an antonym is going to be to stay in.

Rory

We're not really into our freedom right now, I'm afraid.

Maria

No, unfortunately.

Rory

Maybe we will be again.

Maria

So, Rory, you used to be a homebody or you are homebody.

Rory

I am a homebody. I like to be at home.

Maria

Oh, meaning yeah, like Rory enjoys being at home, so he's a homebody. Is it the same as being a homey?

Rory

Is it the same thing as being a homey?

Maria

Yeah, I'm a homey.

Rory

No, a homey is like... Isn't that African-American slang for like a friend?

Maria

Really?

Rory

I think so.

Maria

I thought a person who enjoys being at home is a homey.

Rory

No, a homey is a friend, I'm pretty sure. A homebody is someone who stays at home.

Maria

Oh, there we go. Yeah. Homey - US slang for a homeboy. Mainly US slang. Homeboy is... Huh. Well, yeah, not somebody who you always say the boy from your own town.

Rory

Why do you always pick the most racially sensitive topics?

Maria

Anyway.

Rory

Anyway.

Maria

Yeah, moving on. So when Rory hits the clubs so he goes out to clubs, his insides vibrate.

Rory

Yeah. Everybody's insides vibrate when they're standing next to loud music, though. It's not just me.

Maria

And also, I like when you said, like, my insides were crushed out of existence.

Rory

Yeah, but that just means that you're being crushed in a crowd.

Maria

Oh, OK.

Rory

Well, I mean, in this context it is. If you crush something out of existence, then obviously it means that you're being crushed so much that you... It's like you don't exist basically.

Maria

Yeah. And you can say, like, I hate loud music and crowds. I'm a little bit past it. So Rory now is a little bit past it. Which means that...

Rory

I'm old and can't do anything anymore.

Maria

As old as the hills. Yeah. Rory prefers snuggling under a duvet for some good old-fashioned soba. Movie watching or game playing? What do you do at home?

Rory

Sleeping.

Maria

Oh, come on. Stop it, stop it. You stop it.

Rory

I'm so old.

Maria

OK, and when you said it was like being in a time warp. What's a time warp?

Rory

A time warp is just a place where the rules of time don't apply. So like I basically spent eight hours of my life in a club and I have no idea how that happened because it didn't feel like eight hours. Eight hours is a long time. That's longer than most flights, you know, and you're very aware that you're on a flight. But for me, I was like wow, I have no idea... I remember. No, this is the thing. I wasn't even that drunk. I remember everything, but I just don't remember how the hours passed. I have a friend like that. I have a friend. Every time we go to his place, we just spend like days there. And it doesn't seem like days until you like wake up and it's a Sunday morning.

Maria

Nice. Did you do club crawling? Like a pub crawl? You do the club crawling, you move from club to club.

Rory

I think I did when I was a freshman at university. But now, no, I'm too old for that kind of stuff.

Maria

And if you're in a club, you can scarcely hear yourself think. What's scarcely?

Rory

Scarcely.

Maria

OK, once again. So if you're in a club, you can scarcely hear yourself think.

Rory

Yeah. Which is actually quite a nice expression, you can scarcely do something. So here, if you scarcely hear yourself think, it means that you can hardly hear yourself and your thoughts to organize them. But you could also say, like I could scarcely or hardly get a word in edgewise, which is like saying that you can't get a chance to talk. So both of these structures describe ways of speaking or not being able to speak.

Maria

I can scarcely hear myself think. And when you used to smoke, you would nip outside. Nip. Nip outside.

Rory

Yes. If you nip outside, it's like saying just go outside very quickly. For a short period of time.

Maria

Oh, I enjoy being outside for a smoke.

Rory

Well, I mean like it is but I mean, well, it's nice to go outside for a short period of time, especially now the weather is turned to rubbish.

Maria

Again in Moscow, in april.

Rory

Yeah, not for smoking, though. Don't smoke. It's really bad for you.

Maria

Yeah. So nip outside for some fresh air.

Rory

For a breath of fresh air.

Maria

A breath of fresh air. Yeah. So you speak to random people, including the barman. And interesting, like you said, the barman.

Rory

There was only one barman. Well, there were many barmen, but I only spoke to one of them, so. And he was the only one serving us for the whole evening. So it's like a specific barman.

Maria

Nice. When you go out, you pick the venue. You pick meaning you choose. So choose the venue or pick the venue and a venue is a club. It could be a restaurant. Could it be a bar or a pub? Yeah, it could be anything.

Rory

A place where you drink or, well, at least in this concert, in this conception of things, it's a place where you drink. But a venue is usually like a place where something happens or something is going to happen.

Maria

Yeah. If you talk about your favorite restaurant, you can say that's a good venue. So you can go drinking midweek for some drinking promotions off pick nights, you know. Did you do that?

Rory

No. Well, yes. But when I was like 21. I'm 31 now. I mean, let's get real.

Maria

Oh, 31. Wow. And you mentioned recreational drinking. What kind of drinking is that?

Rory

Recreational drinking is just drinking for fun. So it's like you drink in order to get drunk. And then whatever happens, happens. It's not a great way of spending your time. I would not encourage people to do it, but it does happen. So there you have it.

Maria

Yeah, dear listener, be very careful with your recreational drinking. Make sure you don't save up all your drinks during the week and then bam, you drink everything at one go. It could lead to some neurological brain damage. All right? So Rory knows about that. Right, Rory? About neurological brain damage.

Rory

Like, what? Neurological brain damage as opposed to what? ,Neurological foot damage. Those things are the same thing.

Maria

Oh, and when we say, like, OK, I go out or let's go out. We have some nice synonyms, like live it up on Friday nights. Hey, I used to live it up.

Rory

Living the high life, perhaps.

Maria

Living the high life? High life?

Rory

Living the vida loca.

Maria

Oh wow. Living the vida loca. OK, Ricky Martin is on this podcast. Hello Ricky Martin. Let loose. What about let loose? I enjoy letting loose on Friday night.

Rory

I haven't heard all of these different ways to talk about getting drunk in so long.

Maria

Oh, what about let your hair down? Let your hair down.

Rory

All these things mean the same thing to me. It's just another way of saying get drunk. It's like, doesn't sound very mature.

Maria

Yeah. Let's hit the bars, hit the bars, hit the clubs. Let's paint the town red tonight. Yeah, I like that. Paint the town red, like you go out, you drink, you kind of like... Yeah, you go crazy.

Rory

But no one says any of these things anymore. Well, at least like I don't.

Maria

Really?

Rory

I haven't heard them so long. Like they're said. But they're said like ironically.

Maria

Hmm. OK. So better not use them then?

Rory

No, no. You can use them. It's just funny for me.

Maria

Yeah. Because I came across these expressions in articles, I read some articles. Well, I do get prepared for this episodes, you know, dear listener. So I read up some articles on going out. Can you imagine? And they gave all the synonyms for going out like American articles, British articles. Yeah. They tell you what to do before you go out, like plan how to get home, eat, drink water before you go.

Rory

Have a shower.

Maria

Yeah. How to dress up before you go out. Oh, God. So Scottish going out. So when you go out in Scotland on a Friday night, it could resemble a war zone. That's really funny.

Rory

Yes. So if something resembles a war zone, it just looks like there's been a war there. So like, for example, the town centers in Scotland every Sunday morning look like a war zone. They don't really, it's just a way of saying they're a little bit messy. And people that don't like mess say that.

Maria

Yeah, in Moscow some areas resemble a war zone on a Friday night or Saturday night.

Rory

Any day of the week, really.

Maria

It's a war zone here in Moscow. It's April and it's snowing.

Rory

I can't believe it's snowing in April. This is ridiculous.

Maria

Oh God, it's so cold. OK, dear listener, now you're all packed with nice vocab about going out and some nice juicy synonyms. What's the best part of going out, Rory?

Rory

Coming home. Oh my God. I went out on a night out and when I drink a lot, I get really, really hungry. Yeah. So one night I was out with one of my friends and I went to this takeaway place and I should say my friend had anorexia and I was like, I will have a large spicy chicken pizza, and nuggets, and chips, and a burger, and a large coke. And my friend was like, I'll just have a Snickers, please.

Maria

Nice, quality, Rory. Yeah. Pizza, burger, a large coke. Wow. I'm proud of you. Thank you very much for listening. Please share our podcast with all your friends, so they are converted into Scottish "Roryness" and "Marianess". Bye!

Rory

Bye! - Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the β€œbehind the scenes” stuff: Our Instagram:Β bit.ly/instagramswi Our Telegram:Β bit.ly/telegramswi