📕 Part 1: Wallets

This episode's vocabulary

Slot (noun) - a small, narrow opening for something to be put in.

Convenient (adj.) - suitable for your purposes and needs and causing the least difficulty.

Lug (verb) -  to carry or pull something with effort or difficulty because it is heavy.

Mug (verb) - to attack a person in a public place and steal their money.

Pickpocket (verb) - to steal things out of people's pockets or bags, especially in a crowd.

Hassle (noun) - (a situation causing) difficulty or trouble.

Rummage (verb) - to search for something by moving things around carelessly and looking into, under, and behind them.

Resolve (verb) - to make a decision formally or with determination.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory, do you use a wallet?

R: I used to, but now I have everything I need on my cards and I keep those in the card slots of my phone case actually. That's more convenient and safer than lugging arounda wallet everywhere. Especially in a big city like Moscow, you could be mugged or pickpocketed very easily.

M: Do your friends use wallets?

R: My older ones do, but everyone else I know uses cards or goes contactless these days. I'm

thinking of doing the same at frankly, it's such a hassle rummaging around for notes or cards.

M: Have you ever lost a wallet?

R: Oh, a long time ago I did. I was on holiday. I think I was 17 at the time, all my foreign currency and cards were in there. So that was rather frustrating. And I resolved never to have a wallet again, if I could, well, if I could help it really.

M: Have you ever given the wallet as a gift?

R: Um, I haven't given a wallet as a gift, but I have been given one with a disturbing frequency. Um, I think once a year I get one for Christmas or my birthday. And you have to wonder how many black wallets a man needs actually, but it turns out the answer is 25 or so. I seriously have a lot of wallets that I've never used. So stop buying me wallets.

M: And what do you do with all this wallets? You have 25 wallets people gave you...

R: I have a wallet drawer in my home.

M: He has a wallet drawer...

R: That's like the most middle class thing ever, isn't it? Where's my wallet drawer?

M: Oh, maybe you should give them away?

R: No, because they're gifts. You can't give a gift away. That's rude.

M: But you don't even use them.

R: Yes. So I'm choosing the lesser of two evils and I'm collecting them into my wallet drawer. Do you have a problem with that?

M: No, no problem. Just asking. Do you think you'll ever buy yourself a wallet?

R: If we go back to using sort of cash, which seems very likely we're sort of a cashless society now almost. But if we start using cash again, then yes.

M: Rory, thank you very much for your answers.

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Discussion

M: So, wallet, what is a wallet? So, girls, women, ladies we have purses. A purse is a place where you usually put your money or a purse is a small bag. So a purse. Russian listeners, it does sound like a "пёс", but you say a purse. Right, a wallet is the thingy for men.

R: The thingy, that is the technically correct term, the thingy.

M: Where men usually put their credit cards their money in a wallet. However, so can a woman have a wallet? Have you ever seen a lady with a wallet?

R: Um, no women in where I'm from women have purses. Although that's probably important to point out in America purse is actually a handbag. And I can't remember what the expression for wallet would be or purse for a lady. But anyway, the women have purses and men have wallets generally speaking.

M: But again, dear listener, just think where do you keep your money and usually it's so a wallet for men and a purse for women but again, as a lady I can have a wallet. So the best thing for you to do now is go to Google and type wallets. Have a look at the pictures.

R: However, if you're like me and you find yourself being asked questions about having a wallet and you don't have one, you might... Don't panic. There are things that can be done. For example, you can just say it's a hassle. A hassle is a situation that's quite stressful needlessly so and you can say it's a hassle rummaging around for notes. Rummaging around is a phrasal verb check out our phrasal verbs Podcourse. Rummaging around is a phrasal verb, which means you're looking for something but you can't find it in a small space.

M: So like I don't have a wallet, I have a purse and I usually rummage around my purse to find notes and cards and my diamonds.

R: Is your purse not very organized?

M: What?

R: You rummage around in a place that isn't organized.

M: Oh, my bag. You see? You hear it?

R: That's real by the way. We didn't add that sound.

M: If I want to find keys, oh God, it could take ten minutes.

R: How do you get anything done in your classes or do you keep your work separately from your...

M: No, it's separate. Like bags and classes are two different things. So back to wallets. You do need a wallet. Oh, Rory does not have a wallet, but you keep your cards in the card slots on your phone case.

R: Yes, so a slot is just, it's like a small opening like a first small pocket that you can put something in. You can have a slot for a card and up your card inside and there's just enough space for that.

M: Yeah. And you can also say like, oh, I have a basic everyday wallet with room for cards and cash.

R: Yes.

M: Right? Some wallets can have a surprising amount of storage, so you can talk about storage.

So to store your cards, and also we call them slots for credit cards. Okay guys? So slots in your wallet for credit cards. Also, you can have slip pockets, slip pockets in your wallets.

R: This is all new information for me. I haven't held a wallet in my hand in years.

M: Oh yeah, I was preparing for this episode, Rory, and I did check out some Amazon and wallets. Different kinds of wallets.

R: Well, I was giving real answers because I don't have one so I was helping people not to panic.

M: Yeah, it's okay if you don't have a wallet, but it's okay to know certain words, precise words about wallets. Also, your wallet can have a convenient window for your ID cards. Yeah.

R: Tell us more.

M: Yeah, what... What do people usually keep in their wallets?

R: Well, money, credit cards, but you just pointed out there's a window. It's like a pocket that has a plastic covering so that you can see what's inside of it. People use that for their ID cards. My parents used to use it and many parents do for photos of their children.

M: Some wallets may have a currency pouch that can fit different size bills. A currency pouch. Pouch. I like this word pouch, like a pocket. A kangaroo also has a pouch. Kangaroos have a pouch.

R: But not for money.

M: No, for their babies. Really cute. Rory, you said that it's more convenient and safe not to have a wallet then lugging around a wallet everywhere. Lug, lug around.

R: It's another phrasal verb.

M: What does it mean? Lug around.

R: Lug around just means to carry something clumsily because it's just too big.

M: So I don't want to lug around a wallet everywhere. Especially in the big city where you could be mugged. You could be mugged.

R: Mugged is just when someone threatens to assault you or to do some violence toyou in order to get money.

M: And steal your money. Yeah. Or you could be pickpocketed.

R: Pickpocketed is more covert. And that's when people just take things from your pockets without you realizing.

M: Yeah, and notice the structure where you could be mugged or pickpocketed. And a thief is called a pickpocket or a mugger, right? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And then we have a nice story with Rory having a drawer for wallets keeping 25 different wallets.

R: Because there are different kinds of wallets with made of different things. For example, some of them are made from leather. And there's different kinds of leather. There's a snake's skin leather, crocodile leather, calfskin leather, cowhide I think it's called, right?

M: Yes, it's called the cowhide. So you can say my wallet is made entirely of or from cowhide leather with a classic texture finish. So it's finished like, it's like smooth finish, right, so they cover on top. And it's easy to take cards and bills in and out my wallet. Again. Now if you don't have a wallet, you can imagine you can go to amazon.com and type in wallets and take a look at the style you like and just describe it.

R: Or be prepared to use some of my answers in order to get by.

M: Yeah, yeah, totally. Did you know...

R: Get by, isn't that a phrasal verb?

M: Oh, yes. And we have a phrasal verb course. Okay, anyway. The adverse episode was the previous episode.

R: I know, but I'm addicted now.

M: He's addicted to advertising, dear listener.

R: Vanya told me to advertise., so that's what I'm doing.

M: Okay. It's good that you follow his orders for a change. Did you know that some wallets have this special blocking technology?

R: So I was gonna say yeah,...

M: And they have some smart trackers or some applications. Oh my god. It's amazing. So you can have like a smart wallet connected to your phone, to your brain. What?

R: Yeah. Although more realistically, a lot of wallets, or even if you don't use a traditional wallet, even if your wallet and your phone are kind of together. You can have RFID blocking technology which stops people from stealing your details by using a scanner on your phone, which is really weird. I didn't know this was a thing.

M: It's amazing. So there's this clips, chips...

R: I think it's one of these things though people say it to make it sound smart like RFID blocking technology. I think what it actually is is a small piece of wire that disrupts the signal. It's not terribly impressive when you look at it, probably.

M: it is impressive. Like the examiner in the exam goes like, do you have a wallet? Yes, I have a wallet with RFID blocking technology. And if I misplace this old wallet, it's easily traceable from close, long ranges. And through an app. I can find my wallet through an application in my phone. What do you have, Mr. Examiner? You know, do you have that? So yeah, dear listener, you can do exactly that. And now I'm looking at Amazon and if you want to see and know what kinds of wallets... Oh, he's yawning, Rory is yawning right now.

R: Sorry.

M: Interesting conversation, like interesting topic this wallets. So go to amazon.com put wallets in the menu and then take a look at different wallets and read the description. And Bob's your uncle. You have all the vocabulary you need to talk about wallets. If you're sitting there thinking what to give to Rory for his birthday. You can get him a wallet so it's gonna be 26-th wallet in his wallet drawer.

R: Jesus, no more wallets. Bye!

M: Bye!