📙 Part 2: Describe a noisy place you’ve been to

This episode's vocabulary

Can't hear yourself think (idiom) - if you cannot hear yourself think, you cannot give your attention to anything because there is so much noise.

Acquaintance (noun) - a person that you have met but do not know well.

To blast (verb) - to make a very loud and unpleasant noise, or to make something do this.

Booming (adj.) - making a deep and loud hollow sound.

Rumpus (noun) - a lot of noise, especially a loud and confused argument or complaint.

Par for the course (idiom) - what should be expected because of past experience.

Ruckus (noun) - a noisy situation or argument.

To yell (verb) - to shout something or make a loud noise, usually when you are angry, in pain, or excited.

To bellow (verb) - to shout in a loud voice, or (of a cow or large animal) to make a loud, deep sound.

To decompress (verb) - to relax.

To overwhelm (verb) - to cause someone to feel sudden strong emotion.

Racket (noun) - an unpleasant loud continuous noise.

Questions and Answers

R: I don't actually like not being able to hear myself think, so coming up with a place to talk about for this is quite difficult. I suppose the most recent example would be from a few weeks ago, when I was at a massive music festival called Mighty Hoopla in London. When it comes to where it was in greater detail, I think it's in a place called Brockwell Park, which is in Brixton, a suburb of London. I stayed just down the road in Stratham, though, since it was reasonably nearby and relatively cheap. Despite the fact it's a music festival, I actually went there for social reasons. A load of my friends and acquaintances were going there, and a lot of them had encouraged me to go. Some of them I'd never met before, so it was a good opportunity to do that in a nice and festive atmosphere. I think it should be obvious why it was so noisy. I mean, it's a music festival, so blasting speakers booming music, and the general rumpus created by people is just par for the course really. There were a lot of artists who had hits in the naughties and the 90s. So it was a very loud nostalgia trip as well. You could hear the ruckus from quite far off, actually, now I think about it. I mean, I could definitely hear it from about a kilometre away when I was walking there from the apartment that I'd rented. Usually, that would be a problem, because I'm not a fan of loud places, and I quite often had to yell when I was... Well, when I wasn't in the VIP area. Quite often people were bellowing in my ear when we were caught in the crowd. But it wasn't as unpleasant as it would be under normal circumstances, since it really was the only way you could communicate. You couldn't exactly whisper in such a place. Like I said, though, I had VIP tickets, so I could just go to that quieter place when I needed to chill out and decompress. And they had nice champagne there, it was cool. I was actually expecting to feel a bit overwhelmed by it all since I usually prefer quieter places, like I said, but actually, I found myself really enjoying it despite the racket. If I hadn't gone I doubt I'd have had as much fun. I've actually already got tickets for next year.

M: And what did your friends say about this?

R: Oh, they loved it. They've got their tickets ready too now.

Discussion

M: Sweet. So, dear listener, a noisy place could be a concert, a pub, a bar, a restaurant, I don't know, a party, your friends' flat, which was really noisy. A street. Maybe like you went to some festival and it was really noisy in the street. A good example for noisy is "I'm not able to hear myself think". So I can hear myself think, you know? It's so quiet, I can hear my thoughts. So it was so noisy, I couldn't hear my own thoughts. So that's a good one. And Rory started off with "I don't actually like not being able to hear myself think". So this question was quite difficult.

R: It is.

M: Yeah. It's a hard one. Yeah.

R: I like to be in quiet places. I cannot stand loud noise. Although this music festival was absolutely amazing. Everybody should go.

M: Yeah, maybe you enjoyed clubbing or you went to different clubs at some point in your life. So maybe you can remember a club that was particularly noisy. I think any club is quite noisy. So if you're a quiet person, then you can start off exactly like Rory did. So coming up with a place to talk about for this question, it's quite difficult because I dislike noisy places. I was at a massive music festival or I was in a club, I was in a bar, in a pub. And Rory talked about this Hoopla festival in London. When it comes to where it was, so as for where it was, it's in a place called blah, blah, blah. A suburb of London. So somewhere far away from the centre of London.

R: Well, I don't think it was that far away. I can't really remember, to be honest with you, because London is huge. And also, it wasn't the main focus of my trip.

M: Rory went there for social reasons. So a music festival, not for Rory, but like social reasons. To meet up friends and... What? Like...

R: A load of my friends. Yeah.

M: Ah, okay, a load of my friends. So a lot of my friends went there. So lots of my friends there. So a load of my friends meaning many. And acquaintances. Acquaintances? Like not friends, but some people I know. And they encouraged me to go. Some of them had never met me before. Past Perfect. So they encouraged me to go. And some people had never met me before. You see? So this is like before they hadn't met me and then, then they encouraged me to go.

R: And then they did meet me and they encouraged me to never come back.

M: It was a good opportunity to meet in a nice atmosphere in a fricking noisy music festival. Yes, Rory? To talk to new people.

R: I was really surprised how well it went, to be honest with you. I thought I would absolutely hate it. And I was sitting there at one point on the plane down, thinking, I've spent hundreds of pounds on this and I don't really like music festivals. What am I doing? And then I got there and I had a wonderful time from start to finish. It was just, it was so much fun from start to finish with a couple of hiccups in between, but it was really good on the whole.

M: Yeah, a couple of hiccups, like a couple of misfortunes or something was messed up. Like slight hiccups.

R: Yes, I accidentally locked myself out of my apartment. That was fun.

M: Oh, boy. So Rory forgot the keys inside the apartment and he closed the door. So yeah.

R: Oh, it's much worse than that. But I don't want to go into too much detail because everything else was wonderful.

M: It was so noisy. It was a music festival. It was so noisy, blasting speakers. Blasting, speakers, these things that noise comes from.

R: They were huge. They were bigger than a person. They were massive so that everybody could hear.

M: Booming music. And the general rumpus created by people. What is rumpus?

R: That's just like a disturbance, really. A loud disturbance. And it was loud, like it was so loud.

M: A music festival or a musical festival?

R: A music festival.

M: A music festival, yeah. Rumpus, a lot of noise. So this is a very good synonym. Informal synonym, rumpus, a lot of noise, especially a loud and confused argument or complaint. So there was a real rumpus going on in the house. So... But in a really loud way. And at a musical festival, we usually have a lot of rumpus created by people. And you could hear the what? The ruckus?

R: The ruckus. It's just another way of saying the disturbance, like the loud noise.

M: Wow. So we have rumpus. And ruckus. Also a noisy situation or argument. He caused quite a ruckus. Could you give us another example with ruckus?

R: Sure. It was quite a ruckus outside the pub after it closed. Because everybody was drunk.

M: And making noise. I'm not a fan of loud places. So if you don't like loud places, noisy places, like I'm not a fan of loud places. I quite often had to yell. So it was so noisy, Rory had to yell. Kind of like... He wasn't talking, he was yelling.

R: Which I almost never do nowadays.

M: And when I was caught in the crowd, I was caught in the crowd, I had to yell, talk to my friends. It wasn't as unpleasant as it would be under normal circumstances, or you can say it was really unpleasant, or it was okay. Or it was worse than I thought, if it was like really noisy. And what did people do? How did people talk to you? They...

R: They yell, they, well, they yelled and bellowed in my ear, like top of their voice, but they had to.

M: And if a person bellows in your ear, what does the person do?

R: Well, I'm not gonna replicate that now, but imagine shouting as loudly as you possibly can.

M: Yeah, so a bellow is... To bellow is to shout in a loud voice to make a loud deep sound. So for example, like keep quiet, the teacher bellowed across the classroom. So when the teacher kind of like shouts at you, you can say that the teacher bellowed. Or, for example, like cows or large animals or bulls, they also bellow, they make these loud noises. Or also in the army, we could hear the sergeant bellowing orders to soldiers. So you can imagine how people do this in the army.

R: No control over the volume.

M: Yeah, people kept bellowing in my ear, because we were caught in the crowd. It was so noisy, I had to yell. And then I needed to chill out. I went to a quieter place to decompress. So decompress, like to relax, to chill out. You can say that I was a bit overwhelmed by it all. I was overwhelmed by all this noise. It was far too much for me. It was like so noisy. Noisy. What else can we say? It was noisy. It was what?

R: It was crazy. It was mental.

M: It was mental.

R: It was mental.

M: Yeah, but Rory told us like I found myself really enjoying it despite the racket.

R: It was. It was so good. I cannot begin to describe to you how much I enjoyed myself at this place that I never thought... I thought I was absolutely going to hate it.

M: Oh... So racket is not as kind of a sport thing here. But C-2 word, informal. It means unpleasant loud continuous noise.

R: And if it's C-2 that means it's a band nine word.

M: Yeah. Racket. Like they were making such a racket outside that I couldn't get to sleep. For example, like rowdy neighbours or some drunk people, when they fight or they argue, they beat each other up. So they were making such a racket. Or I enjoyed it despite the racket. And then we finish it off with the third conditional, unreal conditional, because the story is in the past. So like if I hadn't gone there. But Rory did go there. So unreal past. If I hadn't gone there, I wouldn't have had so much fun.

R:I wouldn't have had so much fun. It was amazing.

M: But Rory did have fun. I wouldn't have had. The third conditional, dear listener. Rory made it a bit more complicated. If I hadn't gone, I doubt I'd have had as much fun. Rory, could you read it again with nice pronunciation? The whole sentence.

R: Sure. If I hadn't gone I doubt I'd have had as much fun. I've already got tickets for next year.

M: Sweet. So our Rory is planning ahead. He's already bought tickets. You see?

R: I have. It's, honestly, it's pathetic how involved I am with this now. It's so much fun. I've even picked up by outfits.

M: Oh, wow, cool. Right, dear listener, a noisy place. A lot of synonyms for noise. Make sure you understand the differences and the context, how to use them. Okay? And we'll get back to you in speaking part three about noises and noises. All right? Yeah. An interesting topic this... Very specific. Bye!

R: Bye!

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