📙 Part 2: Describe a time when you were stuck in a traffic jam

You should say: when and where it happened, how long you were in the traffic jam, how you passed the time while waiting, and explain how you felt when you were in that traffic jam.

This episode's vocabulary

Jam-full (adj.) - if somewhere is jam-packed, it is so full of people or things that there is no room for any more.

To hop (verb) - pass quickly from one place to another.

To get off (phrasal verb) - to leave a place, usually in order to start a journey.

Tidal (adj.) - relating to or affected by the tide (= the rise and fall of the sea)/

To head out (phrasal verb) - to begin a journey.

Horrendous (adj.) - extremely unpleasant or bad.

To regulate (verb) - to control something, especially by making it work in a particular way.

To call it a day (idiom) - to stop what you are doing because you do not want to do any more or think you have done enough.

To leap (verb) - to make a large jump or sudden movement, usually from one place to another.

Pavement (noun) - a path with a hard surface on one or both sides of a road, that people walk on.

Standstill (noun) - a condition in which all movement or activity has stopped.

To relieve (verb) - to make an unpleasant feeling, such as pain or worry, less strong.

Confines (plural noun) - the outer limits of something.

Ravenous (adj.) - extremely hungry.

To wind up (phrasal verb) - to find yourself in an unexpected and usually unpleasant situation, especially as a result of what you do.

Questions and Answers

R: Oh God, one time I got stuck in traffic in a taxi in the rush hour in Moscow, and that was a complete nightmare. This was about four years ago now, and I just finished up teaching for the day and wanted to hang out with people in the city center. So rather than get the metro, which I knew would be jam-full of people, I had a great idea of hopping in a taxi, and that was a big mistake, even though we got off to a good start as the taxi driver made his way into the center, we came up against this tidal wave of cars. I think it was late spring, so lots of people were heading out of the city for the weekend, and it was just an absolute mess. We must have been stuck there for at least two hours without food or water, which was horrendous, because it was my dinner time, and I really struggled to regulate my emotions when I'm starving. So I tried to distract myself by being on the phone, and that worked up to a point, but there's a limit before you feel like your stomach is collapsing in on itself. I think, in the end, I just called it a day, ended the ride and leapt out into the traffic lanes to make my way over to the pavement and walk to the office. It sounds a bit dangerous, but since the traffic had been drawn to a standstill, there was zero chance of any accidents happening. While I was relieved to escape the confines of that taxi, I still had to deal with the ravenous hunger for a full half hour before I made it to where I was supposed to be. Honestly, after that, I made a real effort to always carry a protein bar or something like that, just in case I wound up in a situation like that again.

M: And do you often get stuck in traffic?

R: No. I actively try and avoid it when I can.

M: Yay! Thank you, Rory, for your story!

Discussion

M: So describe a time when you were stuck in a traffic jam. So you got stuck in traffic, dear listener. So there was a traffic jam. Maybe you were on a bus, in a taxi, you were driving your own car. So I got stuck in traffic. Any other synonyms to get stuck in a traffic jam?

R: Oh, my God. Get caught in traffic?

M: Yeah, I got caught in traffic. And that's all, dear listener, because a traffic jam is just a traffic jam. Yeah. So there is a word like traffic congestion, but it's a more formal phrase, good for essays. Usually, in speaking, we say a traffic jam. You can start it off with one time I got stuck in a taxi in the rush hour. You see? Usually, we have traffic jams in rush hours. And you can say that I got stuck in a taxi or on a bus in the rush hour. In the rush hour. Which was a complete nightmare. Well, usually we're nervous, we are late, so we get stuck in traffic, we are panicking. So yeah.

R: Things go wrong.

M: Normally, it's not a pleasant experience. This was about four years ago. I wanted to hang out with people in the city center. So Rory decided to take a taxi in the evening, which is like no, no, no. You don't do that.

R: You don't do that in any big city. That was such a mistake.

M: Yeah, Rory, I don't know. What were you thinking? So rather than getting the metro, like all smart people do these days, because they know that, come on, it's impossible to get through to anywhere. Oh, the Metro is also full, and Rory used this Metro is jammed full of people.

R: Yes, that just means there's people, a whole load of people in one tight space.

M: Yeah, and usually in the evening, the metro, or all the buses get packed with people. So the Metro is packed. The Metro is full of people. The Metro is jammed full of people, like jam. And Rory had this crazy idea that, oh, that would be great to take a taxi, hey, ooh, a big mistake it was.

R: It wasn't my finest hour, that's for sure.

M: Yeah. So they got off to a good start. So kind of they started it nicely, yeah? So the journey started nicely. The driver made his way into the center somehow. And then, we came up against this tidal wave of cars. Wave? Like in the ocean. Tide is when, like, all this water comes to the coast.

R: So there's a lot of them.

M: Yeah, just we saw lots of cars. Loads of people were heading out of the city for the weekend. Oh, it was Friday. You don't do that.

R: A Friday in spring in a major city. I just didn't think.

M: Yeah. So usually on Friday evening, loads of people, a lot of people head out of the city for the weekend. And it was an absolute mess. So Past Continues, so the story should be in the past, so lots of people were heading out of the city. So it was a complete mess. It was so horrible that Rory was stuck for about two hours without food or water. Oh, my gosh, really? So it wasn't even a business taxi. Oh, with water. They usually have water.

R: It was crazy.

M: Oh, you know what? Like once I had to order a taxi at night, and I wanted to drink so much, and there was like no, there weren't any shops or anything. So I ordered a business taxi because I knew that they would have water.

R: That was a wise idea.

M: Yeah, nice. Smart, huh?

R: All that water, but no bathroom.

M: Oh, yeah. This was horrendous, because it was my dinner time. Aw... Poor Rory was hungry. Ah, not only hungry, he was starving. So he was like, really hungry. I really struggle to regulate my emotions. You see? So Rory was thirsty, hungry, annoyed. It was the end of the day, and people were waiting for him. I tried to distract myself by being on my phone. So this what everybody does. This worked up to a point. So you open an Instagram account, kind of you scroll and scroll and scroll. But it worked up to a point. So it didn't work well...

R: Completely.

M: For a long time.

R: Yes.

M: My stomach was collapsing. Okay? I was starving.

R: Well, it felt like that.

M: Yeah, and then I called it a day. So this is an idiom, and this means that, well, I had to stop. So call it a day is an idiom. C-2, dear listener, band nine proficiency. Call it a day - to stop what you are doing because you do not want to do it anymore. I think you've done enough. So whatever you are doing, you just like you are in a taxi going somewhere. You are, I don't know, during a wedding, you are recording a podcast, and then you kind of... Oh, oh, okay, that's it. I'm calling it a day.

R: I'm calling it today.

M: Yeah, just I stop. Let's call it a day. For example, during a meeting, you are tired, you don't want to do it anymore, and you say, okay, people, let's call it a day. That's it, stop, go home. And also, for example, it could be about major decisions in life, you are living in this country, and then you say, okay, it's time to call it a day, I'm moving to Scotland, next to Rory's house. So I ended the ride. How did you end the ride during the ride?

R: I went on the app and just said, I'm gonna stop the ride. Yeah, I think I talked to the driver as well, and I explained in Russian, I can't stand being here any longer, so can I please leave? And he said, Yes, it's fine. You'll still be charged for it. And I said, yeah, that's okay.

M: Yeah. So I ended the ride and leapt out into the traffic lanes. So Rory got out of the car. So the verb is leap. And if you leap out of the taxi, you just like, just leave the taxi. What are the traffic lanes?

R: They're just the... Imagine a very wide road, there's room for multiple cars to go alongside each other, so they are split into different lanes, so the cars can navigate more easily.

M: Yeah. We call them traffic lanes, like bicycle lanes, special paths for bicycles. We call them lanes, not lines.

R: Not traffic lines, though, traffic lanes.

M: No, no, no. Lanes. So I leapt out of the taxi to make my way over to the pavement. Pavement? Where people, pedestrians, without any cars walk. The traffic was drawn to a standstill. This is another good phrase to use when you speak about traffic jams. So the traffic is drawn. To draw. Drew, drawn. The traffic is drawn to a standstill. So cars do not move. So if you use this phrase, it means that cars stop, like completely, you know, like nothing moves. All right? Could you give us another example with this standstill about traffic?

R: Well, the traffic could be brought to a standstill by an accident, for example, none of it can move.

M: I was relieved to escape the confines of a taxi. Confines is like, usually we use this word about a prison, because confines is a formal word, the limits of something. And Rory was stuck in a taxi, so he was very limited. No water, no food, only the taxi driver and Rory.

R: Poor taxi driver.

M: And I had to deal with that ravenous hunger. So Rory was like super hungry. Ooh... And a super hungry Rory is like a dangerous story. I made my way to the meeting or to the city center.

R: But I walked there. If you make your way, you go somewhere.

M: After that story, Rory made a real effort to always carry a protein bar with him. So something like kind of chocolatey thing with protein. Just in case. You see? How practical.

R: How practical I try to be. There's one more thing, Maria.

M: Yeah, wound up.

R: Yes. Oh, my God, I knew you were gonna say that.

M: Yeah, of course, it's a great phrasal verb. To wind up in a situation like that. So I wouldn't like to wind up in a situation like that again, to end up. And Rory's vocabulary show.

R: Yes. It's the part of the show where I ask Maria questions about the grammar and vocabulary from the episode. So I said this was an extremely difficult situation to be in, but what was the expression I used?

M: It was a complete nightmare.

R: Yes. And then I talked about a lot of cars coming suddenly onto the road. But I didn't use that expression. What was the one I used?

M: We came up against this tidal wave of cars, too many cars.

R: And then I said that it was impossible that there would be any accidents. But I didn't say it was impossible. What did I say?

M: There was zero chance of any accidents.

R: Excellent. And then towards the end, I used a phrasal verb to describe being in a situation that you had not planned to be in.

M: Wind up in a situation like that.

R: Exactly. Wel done, Maria, 100%!

M: Yay! Thank you very much for listening, and we'll get back to you in our next episode. Bye!

R: Bye!

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