📕 Part 1: Mirrors

This episode's vocabulary

Raging narcissist (n) – Someone with an extreme and excessive admiration for themselves. → Example: I wouldn't say I'm a raging narcissist, but I do check my appearance before leaving the house.

Presentable (adj) – Looking clean, tidy, and socially acceptable. → Example: It's useful to look in a mirror to check that I'm presentable.

Shatter (v) – To break suddenly and violently into small pieces. → Example: If I put a mirror in my pocket, it would probably shatter.

Full-length (mirror) (adj) – A mirror that is tall enough to show a person's entire body. → Example: I bought a full-length mirror for my house, which is handy if I need to check what my outfits look like.

Go about (something) (phr v) – To begin to do something or deal with something. → Example: I'm not even sure how I would go about decorating my house with mirrors.

Straightforward (adj) – Uncomplicated and easy to do or understand; honest and frank. → Example: I'm more of a straightforward, practical person when it comes to decoration.

By and large (idiom) – In general; on the whole. → Example: I don't really bother with fancier things like mirrors in my home, by and large.

Walk past (phr v) – To go past something or someone without stopping. → Example: If I'm in the bathroom, I'll walk past a mirror and have a look.

A hassle (n) – A situation causing difficulty or trouble. → Example: Having mirrors all over the place is not practical because cleaning them is such a hassle.

Bother with (something) (phr v) – To make the effort to do something. → Example: I don't really bother with fancier things like mirrors in my home.

Vintage (adj) – From the past of high quality, especially something representing the best of its time. → Example: I would love to buy a vintage mirror for my bedroom.

Minimalist (adj) – Characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity. → Example: I would choose a minimalist mirror with a very simple design.

Reflect on (something) (phr v) – To think deeply or carefully about something. → Example: The examiner asked a difficult question, and I said, 'I need to reflect on this.'

Handy (adj) – Useful or convenient. → Example: My full-length mirror is handy if I need to check what my outfits look like.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Rory, do you like looking at yourself in the mirror?

Rory: I wouldn't say so. I'm not a raging narcissist or anything, but I don't mind doing it either. It's useful if I need to check that I'm presentable.

Maria: How often do you do that?

Rory: I've never really thought about it before. Probably once in the morning when I fix my hair after a shower and then maybe if I'm in the bathroom I'll walk past one, and I'll have a look to make sure nothing is out of place. But I don't wear makeup or anything like that. So there's not much need for anything more than just those couple of checks once or twice.

Maria: Do you usually take a mirror with you?

Rory: No, I'm not sure where I'd even keep one. Even if I wanted to, since I don't carry a handbag or a backpack. And even if I put it in my pocket, it would probably shatter or something like that.

Maria: Have you ever bought mirrors?

Rory: I have actually. I bought a full-length one for my house about two years ago after a recommendation from a friend, and it's hanging from the wall in my bedroom, which is handy if I need to check what my outfits look like. I really like that one actually.

Maria: Would you use mirrors to decorate your house?

Rory: I'm not even sure how I would go about that, to be honest. But I'm more of a straightforward, practical person when it comes to decoration. I don't really bother with fancier things like mirrors in my home, by and large.

Discussion

Maria: So, dear listener, you look at yourself in the mirror. Okay? So, I look at myself in the mirror every day, every 10 minutes. I enjoy looking at myself in the mirror. But here Rory says, I'm not a raging narcissist. A narcissist is a person, someone who has too much admiration for themselves. So you love yourself too much. But it's too much, okay? And here raging, so I'm not a horrible narcissist, extreme.

Maria: I don't mind looking at myself in the mirror. Okay, so I'm fine. I check if I look presentable. We use mirrors to check if everything is okay with us, if I look presentable. Presentable means good, I look good, everything is fine. So I make myself presentable with a mirror. And then I go, how often do you look at yourself in the mirror? What kind of question is this?

Rory: Yeah.

Maria: Well, it's not really something you think about. And of course, if you don't, 'I've never really thought about that before' will be a great expression to have. That's good for anything really, if you haven't thought about it. Or I've never counted. Like, how often? One, two, three? I don't know. I've never thought about that. So, once in the morning, or several times in the morning when I do my hair, when I fix my hair, when I have a shower, after I have a shower, I look at myself in the mirror, yeah? If you are a lady, a woman, so when I do my makeup, I use a mirror. I look at the mirror regularly every hour to check my makeup.

Rory: Because I'm a raging narcissist.

Maria: Well, because a woman usually looks in the mirror every hour, I'd say.

Rory: Really?

Maria: Oh, yeah. But well, you see if there is a mirror, we will look, usually, ladies. If we see a mirror, we'll look at ourselves in the mirror. That's like, if you just give me 10 women and they walk along the street and then bam, a mirror, 10 of them will look in the mirror, at themselves. I don't know, is it true for you? Maybe not.

Rory: Maria should have really answered these questions. You know more about mirrors and makeup than I do.

Maria: No, but our listener could be a man, a woman, a girl, we're different, right? So it's okay if you don't enjoy looking at yourself in the mirror. It's okay if you don't have any mirrors. That's, you know, everything's okay. As long as you enjoy it. So, if you are a lady, you can say, I regularly look at myself in the mirror, or I never look at myself in the mirror often, right? Like every hour, once a day, twice a day. Okay? Once a month.

Rory: Maybe not once a month.

Maria: Yeah, but these days lots of people use their phones. So, they may not have a mirror.

Rory: So you could say if my phone counts, then...

Maria: And we check our phones very often. So, if my phone counts, I look at my phone instead of using a mirror. You see, and then, if I walk past one, so you walk past a mirror. So you are, I don't know, in a hotel, in a restaurant, right? And you just oh, a mirror is there. Yeah, if I walk past a mirror, I have a look. I have a look to make sure everything is fine. I don't usually take a mirror with me. Again, if you are a lady, yes, we usually have portable mirrors, or I usually have my makeup with me. So I have a portable mirror.

Rory: And when you do use a mirror, you could check your makeup and fix your hair. That just means putting your hair in place or styling your hair.

Maria: Yeah, you can also say, I have a hand mirror, a small mirror.

Rory: Which you could also use to fix your hair.

Maria: Yeah, yeah, yeah, just everything.

Rory: Oh, what's the opposite of a compact mirror?

Maria: Yeah, yeah, so compact mirror or a hand mirror. That is something that you have in your bag. But if you have a mirror at home, you can call it a makeup mirror, a makeup mirror which is on your table, could be small, could be large, a makeup mirror. Yeah, sometimes with lights. Or magnifying makeup mirror. Right? So it makes your face larger.

Rory: What if it's a very big mirror?

Maria: Right, full body mirror?

Rory: Aha, a full-length mirror.

Maria: A full-length mirror. Sometimes it's called a vanity mirror.

Rory: Is it? Oh, I thought a vanity mirror was something that you sat at and looked at.

Maria: Ah, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, a vanity mirror could be small. Yeah, full-length mirror, vanity mirror, or makeup mirror with lights. Yeah, something small that you have on your table. Compact mirrors in your bag, hand mirrors. I bought a full-length mirror, I bought a vanity mirror for my house, I bought a makeup mirror. I have a mirror hanging from the wall. So there's a mirror on the wall. There's a mirror in my bathroom. And I wouldn't use mirrors to decorate my room or a house. I would use maybe a couple of mirrors, one a full-length mirror in my bedroom, and a mirror in my bathroom. And you can say that when it comes to decoration, I'm a practical person. So having mirrors all over the place is not practical because they get dirty, you have to clean everything. Oof. What a hassle. So I don't bother with mirrors. I don't bother with fancy things. Fancy things like expensive things, beautiful things. Yeah, I just don't bother. Or, you can say yes, I enjoy mirrors.

Rory: Big fan of mirrors.

Maria: Crazy. Yeah, and you can say, I would buy a vintage mirror, if it's vintage, it's very nice. Vintage, it's old and beautiful. Or I would hang a mirror on the wall. So you would put it up the wall.

Rory: Hang it from the wall.

Maria: Yeah, or I would choose a minimalist mirror, just a usual mirror, with minimalist design. Or I would make my mirror look like a window. Or, you can say that I would install a mirror on the wall, like the whole wall is a mirror, a large mirror. And this is done to make the room appear larger. So usually they do it at restaurants to make the room look bigger, they install a mirror wall.

Rory: It's an illusion. Illusion. Yeah. Deception.

Maria: Now, dear listener, you're ready for a joke. I still can't decide if I need a mirror or not. I need to reflect on this. Rory, explain the joke, please.

Rory: Oh, well, obviously you look at your reflection in the mirror, and so it reflects you, but you reflect on something, you think about it as well. So it's another play on words. Oh, God.

Maria: Yeah. So I need to reflect on this. I need to think about this and you see yourself reflected in the mirror. And you know, the examiner asks you, oh, how often do you look at yourself in the mirror? Ooh, I need to reflect on this. And you just look at the examiner, do you get my joke? Yeah, so please do this. This is very good. Thank you very much for listening. We love you. We hug you. We'll get back to you in our next episode.

Rory: Bye.