This episode’s vocabulary
To get along
phrasal verb — if two or more people get along, they like each other and are friendly to each other.
Row
noun — a noisy argument or fight.
To wind up
phrasal verb — if you wind someone up, you deliberately say things that annoy them.
Spectator
noun — a person who watches an activity, especially a sports event, without taking part.
Provocative
adj. — causing an angry reaction, usually intentionally.
Name-calling
noun — the act of insulting someone by calling them rude names.
To shove
verb — to push someone or something forcefully.
Bickering
noun — arguments about things that are not important.
To intervene
verb — to intentionally become involved in a difficult situation in order to improve it or prevent it from getting worse.
Putt an end to sth.
phrase — to make something stop happening or existing.
Fine
adj. — very exact and delicate, or needing to be done, treated, or considered very carefully.
The gist
noun — the most important pieces of information about something, or general information without details.
Doubtless
adverb — used to mean that you are certain that something will happen or is true.
Hindsight
noun — the ability to understand, after something has happened, why or how it was done and how it might have been done better.
Momentary
adj. — for a very short time.
Thrill
noun — lasting a feeling of extreme excitement, usually caused by something pleasant.
Collected
adj. — showing control over your feelings.
Questions and answers
Rory, are you ready?
Yes.
Are you gonna tell us about Scottish people arguing?
We'll get there.
Okay. Off you go.
Well, it's funny because most of my friends get along quite well with each other the vast majority of the time, and really, they only argue for comedic effect. So I suppose I'll just have to make this one up as I go along. Anyway, about two years ago in high school, two of my peers who were constantly at loggerheads decided that they would have yet another row. This time it was about football teams. I'm not really sure who started the whole thing. But they had a habit of winding each other up. so once the ball got rolling, it was hard to stop them. If I'm honest, I'm not really sure why they argued with each other this time, though, at this point, it'd become a kind of sport for spectators to watch and not really do much about. So it went like it always did., making provocative comments, name-calling, pushing and shoving, and, of course, all the usual bickering. I'm also rather sure that it ended the same way with some authority figure intervening and putting an end to all. It was so long ago, I don't really recall all the fine details, but I'm pretty sure that's the gist of it. Like I said, I tend to hang around more mature people these days. And there's a lot less conflict as a result. Doubtless, at the same time, I was joining in with the spectating along with everyone else if we talked about back in the day. But in hindsight, it seems like this was the momentary thrill and as soon as it was done, it was forgotten about by most if not all involved. So yeah, I don't really have much to say about arguments, to be honest with you. Because in terms of high school it was so long ago, I don't really remember the details. And then if I speak about the people that I'm with now, we don't really have arguments, we just have calm, collected discussions, which is how it should be, shouldn't it?
Have you told other people about this?
No, I just told you because I just made it up. -