📕 Part 1: Tidiness

This episode's vocabulary

Have a high tolerance for (mess) (phrase) – to be able to accept something unpleasant or difficult, like a messy environment. → I don't have a very high tolerance for mess.

In its proper place (phrase) – in the correct or designated location. → I like everything to be in its proper place.

The be-all and end-all (idiom) – the most important thing. → For me, tidiness is not the be-all and end-all, but it is a preference.

Have a nervous breakdown (idiom) – to become extremely distressed and unable to cope. → I'm not going to have a nervous breakdown if something is slightly out of place.

Out of place (phrase) – not in the correct location. → He felt awkward because his clothes were out of place at the formal event.

Explicitly (adverb) – in a clear and detailed manner, leaving no room for confusion. → I don't remember them explicitly saying, 'this is how you tidy your room.'

General reminders (collocation) – non-specific prompts to do something. → I think it would have been more general reminders than anything else.

Not overly thrilled about (phrase) – a polite way to say you do not like something. → I'm not overly thrilled about being in a messy environment.

A stickler for (tidiness) (noun) – a person who believes a particular type of behaviour is very important and expects others to follow it. → I'm a stickler for tidiness.

Put up with (phrasal verb) – to tolerate or endure something. → I suppose I could put up with it if it wasn't my home.

Clean freak (noun) – a person who is obsessed with cleaning and tidiness. → If you don't clean everything all the time, you can say, 'I'm not a clean freak'.

Grimy (adjective) – covered with or characterized by grime; dirty. → It would have to be very untidy for you to feel grimy.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Are you a tidy person?

Rory: I try my best to be one. I don't have a very high tolerance for mess, and I like everything to be in its proper place. It makes my life a lot easier.

Maria: How important is it for you to keep your room or workplace clean?

Rory: I mean, it's not the be-all and end-all, but I like having things organized and where I can get to them easily when possible. That said, I'm not gonna have a nervous breakdown if something is slightly out of place either. It's just a preference.

Maria: Did your parents teach you to be tidy when you were a child?

Rory: Oh, well, I suppose they must have done. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to do it now. But I don't really remember them sitting me down and explicitly saying something like, this is how you tidy your room. I think it would have been more general reminders than anything else.

Maria: How do you feel when you are in a messy environment?

Rory: Well, I'm not overly thrilled about it, just because I'm usually more of a stickler for tidiness. But I suppose I could put up with it if it wasn't my home because, well, it would be pretty rude to do or say anything otherwise, wouldn't it? You can't just walk into someone's house and say, oh, this is a mess.

Discussion

Maria: Right, dear listener. The question is a bit strange. Are you a clean person? What if I'm not? I say, I'm dirty. I'm disgusting. I'm a mess. Because I'm a mess, right? So now my room is just, oh, my God.

Rory: You could say, it's not a priority for me.

Maria: So, you can say, to be honest, I'm not. It's not my priority, okay? I'm messy.

Rory: Don't say it's not my cup of tea.

Maria: No, no, no, don't do that. Or you can say, you can lie, again, dear listener. Just lie all over the place. I try my best to be one. So, I try my best, I do my best. I'm trying to be a clean person. But we don't repeat.

Rory: And this is a good way to avoid repeating. Yes, exactly, Maria. You were about to say that. Sorry, I interrupted. Keep going.

Maria: No, go ahead.

Rory: No, you go ahead. You're much more interesting.

Maria: Yes, 'one'. You don't want to repeat 'a tidy person'. So when the examiner asks you, are you a tidy person, you say, 'I do my best to be one.' A tidy person. And then you say, I don't like being in a mess. Or I don't have a high tolerance for mess. Or I'm okay if there is a mess in my room. Or I'm quite messy.

Rory: I can deal with it. I can cope.

Maria: I don't mind a mess.

Rory: I can't cope. I need it to be tidy.

Maria: Yes, but if our listener doesn't mind being in a messy environment, what do they say?

Rory: Oh, just, I'm okay with it. I can deal with mess.

Maria: Yes, I can deal with mess.

Rory: I'm psychologically equipped to deal with mess.

Maria: I'm not a tidy person.

Rory: I'm not a clean freak.

Maria: Yes, oh, there we go. I am not a clean freak. A freak is a crazy, a crazy person. So if you don't clean everything, you can say, I'm not a clean freak. Okay. I keep my room, I keep my workspace clean, or it's rather clean. It's not so dirty. It's tidy. Everything is well organized. I have things organized, or I have some things organized, but sometimes it gets messy. It gets dirty, with a lot of empty cups and what do you call rubbish which is food? Leftovers and stuff?

Rory: Food waste.

Maria: Food waste. Yes. I don't have any food waste, but do we have this situation as a creative mess? You know, some artists have all kind of...

Rory: I think that's just called being untidy.

Maria: You so you don't have it in English?

Rory: No, well, we definitely have it. I just think it's an excuse for not being organized.

Maria: Yes, but can I say, oh, I have this creative mess?

Rory: You can if you like. I just don't I wouldn't believe it.

Maria: Yes, but have you heard anyone use it?

Rory: I've heard people say creative people are messy, but I don't know how true that is.

Maria: Yes, you can say, as all artists and genius people, I have a small mess in my room.

Rory: Yes, and the examiner will absolutely believe you, 100%.

Maria: So when you say it's not the be-all and end-all.

Rory: It's the most important thing.

Maria: So it's not the most important thing. It's not...

Rory: the be-all and end-all.

Maria: Yes. Oh, it's an idiom, be-all.

Rory: Is it a B1?

Maria: Ooh, it doesn't say the be-all and end-all.

Rory: And as always, if it doesn't say in the Cambridge dictionary, then that means that it's C2, band nine.

Maria: Yes, band nine, absolutely. So, the be-all and end-all, the most important thing. So, for example, winning is not the be-all and end-all. Or in IELTS, in the IELTS world, getting a nine is not the be-all and end-all. It's not the most important thing in life to get a nine. If you get an eight or a seven, that's good, right? Even 6.5 is good, out of nine. Six is also nice, dear listener. Depends on what you want. So I enjoy, I have things organized. And you can say, I'm not gonna have a nervous breakdown if something is out of place. So if something is messy, if something is out of place, I'm not going to go crazy, a nervous breakdown. Yes, this crisis situation. So sometimes things get out of place. My parents taught me to be tidy. My parents taught me to be clean when I was a child. Rory, seriously, when you were a child, you were clean?

Rory: No, I didn't say that. It was just my parents taught me to do this or this is how they taught me to do it.

Maria: Yes, you can say, I don't remember being told how to be clean. They gave me general reminders. Reminders, they reminded me to clean my room.

Rory: General, gentle reminders conveyed through the power of yelling.

Maria: Exactly. Yes, they yelled at me. They shouted at me like, Rory, Fergus Duncan! Clean your room! Immediately! Oh, Rory, I was horrible. My room was so messy. It was, oh, God, it was like a trash.

Rory: Was it almost uninhabitable?

Maria: Absolutely. It was full of trash. All over the place, and clothes and books and, oh, boy. I was really bad. So I was a rebel. Can you use trash? Trash, there's trash in my room, rubbish.

Rory: I suppose you can if you want to. But most trash goes in the bin.

Maria: Yes. But if it doesn't...

Rory: If it doesn't, then I can't help you. Remind me never to live with you because I would have a nervous breakdown then.

Maria: Yes, how do you feel in a messy environment? A messy environment, for example, a room or a house, you go in there and there is a mess. It's messy. A room, a place, a cafe, I don't know, somewhere, some place. And you say, I'm not overly thrilled about it. That means...

Rory: I don't like it.

Maria: I don't like it. I hate it. So that's a polite version of I hate it. I'm not overly thrilled about it. Or you can say, I'm not happy about it. I'm not thrilled about it. What else? Rory, what other feelings can our listener have?

Rory: I'm not a big fan of it.

Maria: I feel confused, I feel awkward, I feel horrible, I feel...

Rory: Grimy.

Maria: Grimy.

Rory: Grimy is like covered in dirt. You probably, it would have to be very untidy for you to feel grimy.

Maria: Yes, grime is this dirt. Yes, like a grimy face, all right? Or you say, you can say, I feel disgusted, ew, what was that? Disgusting me. So I feel absolutely disgusted. I'm usually a stickler for tidiness.

Rory: That just means I'm someone who tries to be as tidy as possible. Or I focus on tidiness.

Maria: Yes, you can say, I'm a clean freak. Why not? So, a stickler, a person who thinks that a particular type of behavior is very important. So I'm a stickler for detail, I'm a stickler for efficiency, I'm a stickler for tidiness. I can't put up with mess. So I can't tolerate mess. That's a phrasal verb. Or I could put up with some mess, it's okay. I don't mind mess. I could put up with some mess. But not in my home. Right. Okay. Now, what do you call an untidy person? Oh, you can say, I'm quite untidy.

Rory: Messy. Disorganized, maybe. But that could apply to the personality as well as the physical surroundings.

Maria: Messy, untidy.

Rory: My worst nightmare.

Maria: All right, and we're going to wrap it up with a joke.

Rory: Okay.

Maria: So, Rory, there's a question. You don't answer the question, all right? You just wait for the answer. Right. Why did the cleaning lady learn hypnosis? She wanted to do some brainwashing. So, Rory, could you explain the joke?

Rory: No, I don't want to. So a cleaning lady does the cleaning, and hypnosis helps you make people do what you want, which is called brainwashing. And obviously, the cleaning lady does the washing. So she's brainwashing.

Maria: Yes.

Rory: Oh, God.

Maria: Yes. Right. Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you in our next episode, okay?

Rory: Bye.

Maria: Bye. Stay clean, and healthy, and happy. Bye.