This episode’s vocabulary
Doze off
phrasal verb — to fall asleep, especially for a short time and not intentionally. → I dozed off during the boring lecture and missed important information.
Knackered
adjective, informal British — extremely tired; exhausted. → After working a 12-hour shift, I was absolutely knackered.
Groggy
adjective — weak and unable to think clearly or walk properly, usually after sleep. → I felt groggy after waking up from an afternoon nap.
Chill out
phrasal verb, informal — to relax and stop being worried or angry. → After a stressful day, I just want to chill out and watch a movie.
Defined
adjective — clearly stated or described; having fixed limits. → She has a defined routine for studying every morning.
Original
adjective — creative or new; different from others. → His ideas for the project weren't very original but they were effective.
In that regard
phrase — concerning that particular aspect or matter. → The weather was terrible but in that regard, we were quite lucky to have umbrellas.
Indolent
adjective, formal — lazy; avoiding activity or work. → He's far from indolent; he works harder than anyone I know.
For hours on end
idiom — continuously for many hours without stopping. → She practiced the piano for hours on end before the competition.
Decompress
verb — to relax and recover from stress or pressure. → I need to decompress after work before starting any household chores.
Power nap
noun — a short sleep, usually 10-20 minutes, that refreshes you. → Taking a power nap in the afternoon helps improve my concentration.
Unwind
verb — to relax and release tension after work or stress. → She likes to unwind by listening to music after a busy day.
Recharge
verb — to rest and regain energy or strength. → I need to recharge my batteries with a good night's sleep.
Downtime
noun — time for relaxation when you are not working. → Everyone needs some downtime to maintain good mental health.
Rejuvenate
verb — to make someone feel or look young and energetic again. → A weekend break at the spa really rejuvenated me.
Questions and answers
How do you feel after taking a nap?
I don't really do that, to be honest, to the extent that I can't even remember the last time I did. It must have been years ago when I dozed off at summer school because I was knackered and I doubt it made me feel much better, to be honest. I remember feeling pretty groggy after doing that sort of thing in the past.
Do you take a nap when you have a rest?
No, usually I just chill out with a book or a video game or something like that. I like having a defined period for sleep and don't get much out of taking naps.
What do you usually do when you are resting?
Other than what I said before, not much really. I'm not very original in that regard. That being said, do I need to be productive and creative when I'm having a break?
How often do you take a rest or take a break?
Well, probably more now than I used to, though I'm far from indolent just yet. I remember working for hours on end when I first started working and I didn't really think much of resting. Nowadays I'm much better at that sort of thing and I think I have a rest in the mid-morning after my initial classes, and then before yoga or climbing in the evenings I like to decompress and read a book then.
Discussion
Taking a nap is a C1 word - a short sleep, especially during the day. We take a nap or we have a nap after lunch. Band eight vocabulary. So you can say that I feel great after taking a nap or I feel even more tired after taking a nap. And you can say that, to be honest, I can't even remember the last time I took a nap. Yay! I was right! Did I say that? Rory never takes naps! You see, Rory, I know you! I know you!
No naps! Any other predictions that came true? Did I mention having a nap at the weekend?
Wait, wait, wait, we'll come to that.
No, we're checking the predictions now!
Ah, okay, okay, when I dozed off at summer school, yay!
But I never said anything about the weekend. That doesn't count. Summer school is like in the week.
No, no, I meant holidays. No, no, no.
No, well, that doesn't count.
I was thinking holidays. I didn't say it out loud.
Uh-huh, sure. And then did I mention being productive? Sort of. Working hours on end. Maybe that's part of being productive.
I guessed it all right.
No, you didn't. You guessed some of it right, but not all of it.
So, dear listener, if you can't remember the last time when you took a nap, you can say it must have been years ago, which means probably it was a long time ago. I don't even remember. So, it must have been, it must have been, it must have been years ago when I took a nap or when I dozed off. Doze off means take a nap or have a nap, just sleep for some time. When I dozed off during holidays or at the weekend, why? Because I was knackered. I was exhausted. I was really tired. I was just like... So I was knackered. But I doubt that it made me feel much better. So, Rory is the same as me, you know, like if I take a nap during the day, I'm done. A zombie wakes up, you know. Seriously. I just, you know, just let me sleep forever then. So I never take a nap during the day. Only if I'm ill and if I sleep all day. Other than that, I feel horrible. No, it's just like after a nap, I'm in a zombie mood, you know, like zombies are coming. Brains, yeah. Rory, it's funny. Why aren't you laughing at my zombie explanation?
Because it's not funny.
Not funny? Well...
Sorry.
Maria turns or you can say like I turn into a zombie after a nap.
I could say that. But I felt groggy.
Groggy. What's that? Groggy.
Feeling like a zombie.
Weak, unable to think clearly or walk correctly. So pretty much, yeah, like you wake up a zombie. You're kind of like, where are my legs? So you can say I usually feel a bit groggy after taking a nap. Can you say dazed? I usually feel quite dazed after a nap.
You might feel quite dazed or lightheaded, I suppose.
Lightheaded. Yeah, because dazed is C2. It's band nine.
Ooh, is it?
Could you use it in a sentence about naps? Dazed.
Oh god, no, I couldn't because usually I associate dazed with being confused and not very, not feeling very well. I prefer groggy. It's connected to being tired and not thinking clearly.
Okay, sorry, dear listener. Don't use dazed in this context, okay? Sorry.
You can, but it's not what I do. I can't think of one. Every time I think of dazed, I just think of dazed and confused, which is a binomial.
After taking an IELTS test, I felt dazed. Confused, unable to think clearly. Or after the accident, I was dazed, like in a shock. Or you can say I was so happy, I was in a daze. You know, after a long walk, I felt dazed. Kind of confused, unable to think clearly. I usually take a nap during the day or at the weekend. Or you can say I usually take a nap before going out. Ladies, we do have our beauty sleep. It's called, you know, to take a nap, to have some beauty sleep before going out. We take a nap, and then we get dressed and do the makeup, and we go out. You can also say, like, have a break or have a rest.
Decompress.
Decompress. Yeah, like, what does it mean to decompress?
It just means to come out of a stressful situation. Technically, it's for when you take the pressure off something, but it can also mean to just come out of a stressful situation as well. De-stress yourself.
To relax. Yeah, I need a week to decompress. You can say that I usually chill out with a book. So, when I have a rest, when I'm resting, I usually chill out with a book. Or I usually read or chill out with a video game. Yeah, Rory's a gamer.
I am not a gamer. I don't really play many video games, like, religiously.
Yes, you are.
How?
How much time do you spend playing video games, Rory? Every day?
How much time do I spend playing video games?
Yes.
I don't know, like, maybe an hour? Like, a day, maybe?
An hour a day.
Well, when you think about what other things I spend my time doing, which is much more, then that's not that much time, is it?
So, if you don't like taking naps, you can say, I like having a defined time for sleep at night. Which means that I have, like, eight hours of sleep every night, and I don't take naps during the day. So, you can say that I don't get much out of taking naps. Or dear listener? I enjoy taking naps. I get a lot. I get a lot of rest out of taking naps. I am not very original in that regard. So, I'm not really creative when it comes to resting. So, I just do boring things like read a book, sleep. No, no, Rory doesn't sleep.
I do sleep. I go to bed at 10 o'clock and I wake up at 6 o'clock.
Every day, 6 o'clock. My goodness gracious.
Almost every day.
Rory's like a robot.
When I do yoga teacher training, I wake up at half past five in the morning. That's fun.
It's painful. I feel pain. Wait, wait, I feel pain. Oh, 5.30.
And then you do three hours of yoga from 6 o'clock until 9 o'clock. It's amazing.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What did I say? That you get up at freaking 5.30?
Not every day. Not every day.
Oh, that's... No, but I did mention 5.30. And exactly 5.30, Rory.
Only when I do teacher training. Only when I do teacher training. Not at exactly 5.30. Like at 2, I have an alarm set for 5.20 and 5.25. So that it's like a precursor alarm.
So, dear listener, you can say I'm productive without naps. When I take a rest or when I take a break or when I have a rest or when I have a break, I usually read. I usually cook. And then Rory used this interesting adjective. Rory, you said something indolent.
Oh, indolent. Everybody knows what that means.
No.
What do you mean you don't know what it means?
Because it's literary. It's used in literature.
Is it literary? No, it's not.
Yes, according to Cambridge Online Dictionary.
It's an adjective. It means you want to avoid activity or working hard. It's like it means you're lazy. You're lazy, I should say.
For example…
What? Like just talking about people being indolent. That just means they're lazy. It's maybe a polite way of saying it.
For example, I'm an indolent creature. I'm an indolent woman. I remember working for hours on end. Working non-stop. Working for hours on end without much resting. In the evenings, I like to decompress and read. So, decompress to relax. So, in the evening, I like to decompress.
I like to decompress with a book.
Oh, yeah, the predictions. So, Rory, I was all correct all the way.
I disagree. I think that you didn't. You weren't right all the way.
Oh, come on.
Feel free to comment on the episode, everybody. Do you think Maria was correct with all of her predictions? Or do you think that she could be better with some of them?
We are ready for a joke.
Is the joke your lack of being able to predict things correctly?
No. What do you call a male cow who is taking a nap? A bulldozer.
Well, that was terrible.
Rory, now you explain the joke. A bull is the word for a male cow, and doze is the word for taking a sleep. So, a dozer would be a person that dozes.
Do you remember we mentioned this phrasal verb? Doze off.
Oh, yes.
So, doze means to fall asleep. And a person who does it, right? Like, teach-teacher. Doze, dozer, right? Here we have a noun, bulldozer. What is a bulldozer?
It's a construction machinery that demolishes or could demolish buildings. A heavy vehicle with a large blade. So, kind of like a piece of machinery. Thank you very much for listening. Hopefully, you had a laugh.
And if you didn't, don't worry about it. Bye!
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