📙 Part 2: Describe a journey/travel you were looking forward to but it was delayed

This episode's vocabulary

To delay (verb) - to make something happen at a later time than originally planned or expected.

Accommodation (noun) - a place to stay or live.

To cross your fingers (idiom) - to hope that things will happen in the way that you want them to.

Spectacularly (adverb

) - extremely.

Furious (adj.) - extremely angry.

Disarray (noun) - the state of being confused and having no organization or of being untidy.

Back to back (phrase) - happening one after another, without interruption.

Breathing room (noun) - a period of rest in order to increase strength or give you more time to think about what to do next.

Apoplectic (adj.) - extremely and obviously angry.

Monumentally (adverb) - extremely (usually used when describing something in a negative way).

Questions and Answers

M: Rory, hello.

R: Hello, I'm ready.

M: Give us your story. Rory story. Off you go.

R: Well, this task is almost made for me. Because there was this one time I was heading down south to Mighty Hoopla, which is like this massive Music Festival in London. And my flight got delayed by several hours. To be more exact, the festival itself was in a place called Brockwell Park in the summer of 2023. And I'd planned all my transport and stuff so could get to my accommodation and get changed and then meet my best friend and some other people later on with lots of time to spare. No stress. Originally, I'd been hoping to make it down on the train. But there were some strikes which made that impossible. So I booked some flights with a company called Ryanair, which does these cheap flights between London and Edinburgh. And normally, I wouldn't have done that. But they were the only option. And I just had to cross my fingers and hope that everything turned out okay. But that's not really a great way to live your life because something always goes wrong. And in this case, it went spectacularly badly. The flight was delayed by about three hours, just as we were supposed to be boarding. And I mean, why they left it until the last moment, I have no idea. But people were furious. And I was one of them since it basically threw all of my plans into disarray. And I really wanted to get there in good time and be all ready for my friends and have a nice night. But from that point on, the point of delay, everything pretty much ran back to back with no breathing room. And I had to run around London like a mad person trying to get everything sorted out. Honestly, it was such a hassle. Didn't become obvious until later, but apparently the airline had booked a different plane. But due to certain regulations, the crew had to change and the only available plane was one coming up from Poland of all places. I mean, why they hadn't planned for that effectively is anyone's guess. But it was the reason why it happened at least, so at least there was some explanation. I was quite surprised at how angry I was, to be honest with you. I mean, I've never ever been so apoplectic with rage, I was all speechless at the time. I could hardly believe they so monumentally screwed up all my plans. If I had the chance to do the whole thing over again I'd have found some alternative that didn't mess things up so badly. Hopefully, next year will be a more positive experience.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your story!

R: It's not a story. It's a traumatic event in my life.

Discussion

M: Right, dear listener, so you should choose something, like travel, a journey you really wanted to happen, but it was delayed. The safest option is to go for a flight. Like you booked a holiday, your flight was delayed, and then like, yeah, your plans were ruined. Or imagine that you booked a holiday, and your flight was delayed. Like Rory went for this safest option. About a holiday. So, he started with there was this one time when I was heading down to this festival. So like one time I was heading to Brazil or to Italy, okay? Or to Scotland. So I was going to Scotland, I was heading to Scotland. So Rory talked about Hoopla which is a massive Music Festival in London.

R: It's amazing. Everybody should go.

M: And my flight got delayed. Okay?

R: Or my flight was delayed. Passive voice.

M: I planned all my transports. I booked my hotel. Yeah? I planned everything out so I could get to my accommodation in time. Yeah? I planned everything so I could get to my accommodation, and get changed. So like you change your clothes, and then meet my friends, yeah? But the flight was delayed. So kind of like a classic story, dear listener, yeah? I had been hoping that... So I had been hoping. Past Perfect. Because the story is in the past. So you use Past Simple, Past Continuous or Past Perfect. Here, it's a process in the past. So I had originally been hoping to make it down on the train. Ah, you had to catch the train too?

R: Well, I wanted to catch the train because it was the best route and it would be relaxing and nice. But then there were train strikes. So I couldn't do that, that wasn't an option.

M: So I had originally been hoping to get to town at this time, for example, but the flight was delayed. This made it impossible for me to get to my destination in time, for example. I booked some flights. So I booked a flight with a company called Ryanair. Okay? Or I booked a flight with a company called blah, blah, blah. And Ryanair, we know that they kind of have cheap flights between London and Edinburgh and I think they have cheap flights all over Europe.

R: Have you flown with them before?

M: I think so. Yeah.

R: Normally they're fine. But that time, it was horrible.

M: Yeah. But it's like a common situation, like a very typical situation with Ryanair.

R: Is it?

M: Yeah. Like with all cheap flights, I think it's a typical story. They kind of get cancelled, they get delayed. So I'm not surprised.

R: Well, it's the first time with me.

M: Oh, look at you.

R: Maybe I'm just really lucky.

M: I had to cross my fingers and hope for the best. So if you cross your fingers, you kind of, you cross your fingers literally. And then kind of, oh, please.

R: Please let everything go according to plan. But it did not go according to plan.

M: Some things went wrong. And Rory told us like, things went spectacularly badly.

R: Yeah, things didn't go well.

M: The flight was delayed by three hours.

R: I'm pretty sure it was more than three hours, now that I think about it. But it certainly was three hours, at least.

M: As we were supposed to be boarding. Boarding the plane, the flight was suddenly delayed. Okay? So like, oh, as we were boarding, the flight was delayed.

R: Well, as we were supposed to be boarding. The plan was you're boarding now. And then this delay announcement was made and I was like, why are you announcing it now? When the plane has obviously not landed? Like I don't understand that. That's crazy.

M: Yeah. People were furious. Furious? They were really angry. Since it basically threw all my plans into disarray. To throw my plans into disarray.

R: It's a fixed expression, isn't it? Throw something into disarray? Well, semi-fixed expression.

M: Which means?

R: Just to completely, well, mess up someone's plans, I think is the best way to describe it. And I did talk about messing up and screwing up plans.

M: So this delay messed up my plans. This delay threw my plans into disarray. It messed everything up. Because I really wanted to get there early. Yeah? To meet my friends. But everything went wrong.

R: Yeah.

M: And Rory, our poor Rory, had to run around London like a mad person.

R: There's another expression for this in Scottish but it's too colloquial. And it's also quite rude. So yes, I was running around like a mad person will be enough.

M: Yeah, like Rory was late. He didn't meet his friends. So he had to run around London like a mad person trying to get everything sorted out. So I was trying to sort things out. I was trying to get everything sorted out, to kind of to deal with everything. And here Past Continuous, I was trying. It was such a hassle. Hassle? Like a pain in the neck. Bother. Like annoying things. Yeah? It was such a hassle.

R: And that's part of the fixed expression, a hassle. It's always a hassle. Unless it's a verb, in which case you hustle someone, you bother them.

M: I was quite surprised at how angry I was. So Rory got really angry, dear listener.

R: I was so angry. I don't normally get that angry, but I was like, oh.

M: So you can say I was furious, I was really angry, I was quite surprised at how angry I was. And Rory is quite emotional about this situation. That's why he used inversion. Which is like a formal structure, but here, like to add emphasis and to add more emotions into his story, Rory used this inversion. Rory, could you pronounce this sentence?

R: Never have I been so apoplectic with rage.

M: Wow. You see? So usually we say, I have never been. But here we change the word order, like never have I ever been. Kind of to add emotions. If you feel this structure is difficult for you do not use it. Okay? So never have I been so apoplectic with rage. What does it mean?

R: No. What you do is you don't learn it. You book classes with Rory and you learn how to do it.

M: Yeah, book classes with Rory.

R: Book classes with Rory. You'll find how to do this probably in the description of this episode. Enough advertising. Sorry, Maria. What was the question?

M: Apoplectic. Apoplectic means extremely angry. For example, I was apoplectic with rage, I was apoplectic with fury.

R: I think you're only really ever apoplectic with really angry emotion.

M: Yeah.

R: And it's not just like, I was angry, I was apoplectic with rage. So just imagine me.

M: I can't imagine you being angry.

R: Well, not that angry anyway. But yes, just imagine me standing in an airport lounge, just fists clenched, unable to speak because I'm so angry.

M: Rory was speechless. I was speechless. I was like, oh, so angry. I couldn't talk. This delay monumentally screwed up my plans. So Rory is so emotional about the situation, that he even used a very informal phrasal verb. Screw something up. Usually, we say like mess something up but kind of like even more informally. It screwed up my plans. But you can use this phrasal verb in the speaking test. But it's very informal. It screwed up my plans monumentally, dear listener. So like really badly. Or you can say that this delay messed things up really badly.

R: No, monumentally screwed things up. That's the best way to say it.

M: Yeah, yeah, this delay monumentally screwed things up.

R: Even when I'm thinking about it now, it's like it's done. But I'm still annoyed.

M: Yeah, so annoying. What can you say about the fact that you were looking forward to this journey? Like I was, I was waiting for it. I was dreaming about it. It had been my dream for a long time.

R: I was hyped for my trip.

M: I was very excited. Yeah. Sweet. So, dear listener...

R: Oh, wait, no, there might be one more advanced structure I wanted to ask you about. Because I'm just looking back over the transcript. And I said, why did they leave it until the last moment? I have no idea. Is that an advanced structure also?

M: Yes, super advanced.

R: What is it called?

M: I have no idea.

R: What the structure is called, I have no idea. I think it's a cleft sentence. It's cool.

M: It's a cleft sentence? Okay.

R: So it's like we revert like we reverse the position of the two clauses in the sentence.

M: Yeah, kind of like you ask a question. Like, why did they leave it for the last moment? It's a question. But here, it's not a question, because it's kind of like a sentence. Yeah, like an unusual sentence. So we do not ask a question. Why did they leave it until the last moment? I have no idea. I have no idea why they left it till the last moment. Or kind of like why was the flight was delayed? I have no idea.

R: Another thing that you can do to express your emotions.

M: Hey! Especially if you're super emotional and super angry about the situation.

R: Look at me finding all of this advanced vocabulary for premium listeners. You never get this on the free podcast.

M: I know. Huh? Super grammar. Thank you very much for listening! And we'll get back to you in speaking part three about transport.

R: Bye!

Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff:

Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi

Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi