📘 Part 3: Parties

This episode's vocabulary

To throw a party (phrase) - to have a party.

To paint the town red (idiom) - to go out and enjoy yourself by drinking alcohol, dancing, laughing with friends, etc.

Introvert (noun) - someone who is shy, quiet, and prefers to spend time alone rather than often being with other people.

To restore (verb) - to return something or someone to an earlier good condition or position.

To let loose someone (idiom) - to allow someone to do what they want in a place.

Under wraps (idiom) - secret.

To hit (verb) - to arrive at a place or position.

Unhinged (adj.) - mentally ill.

To live it up (idiom) - to have an exciting and very enjoyable time with parties, good food and drink, etc.

To blare (verb) - to make an unpleasantly loud noise.

To go out on the town (idiom) - you enjoy yourself by going to a town centre in the evening and spending a long time there visiting several places of entertainment.

Blast (noun) - an exciting or enjoyable experience or event, often a party.

Bond (noun) - a close connection joining two or more people.

To catch up (phrasal verb) - to learn or discuss the latest news.

Questions and Answers

M: What types of parties are popular in your country?

R: Well, I think people will take any opportunity to throw a party that they can. Well, the most common ones are related to live events like birthday parties, or weddings, or graduations and anniversaries. Probably because people love to celebrate how far they've come in life. I don't think that's unique to my country, though.

M: Why do some people dislike going to parties?

R: Well, not everybody wants to paint the town red, do they? I mean, if you're an introvert and don't get a lot of energy from being around people, you might prefer something quieter to restore yourself.

M: What do adults do at parties?

R: Anything like the ones I know, then they really let loose with lots of drinking and songs and wild remarks. It makes sense since people usually have their public face at work and their private face with their friends. Keeping that under wraps for so long just builds up pressure that has to come out eventually.

M: Do you think music and dancing are a must at a party?

R: Music - definitely. Even if it's just for background noise to chill people out. But I think if you don't really, you don't really hit the dance floor at someone's house. I mean, that would be a bit unhinged in terms of behaviour, especially if you only just met people, it's their personal space, not a public stage.

M: How do people celebrate their personal events?

R: I think most of the time, they just live it up with their friends. Some drinks and food, really. There's not much to it. Of course, I am not an event planner. And I imagine there are plenty of people who do more like going out or playing blaring music, but that's not really my thing. So I don't know much about it.

M: How has the way people celebrate parties changed over the years?

R: A lot of people used to go out on the town before the pandemic but it seems that fewer and fewer people my age and younger do it with any regularity. It seems like hitting the tiredness sort of lost its appeal with price rises and changes in Preferences. Most people stay in with their friends now.

M: What do children do at birthday parties?

R: I think they just usually have a blast with lots of friends presents and cake, no? I don't have children, or many friends with them. So I'm not too sure about it. But whenever I hear about it, those are the common things that I hear about.

M: Why do people organize family parties in your country?

R: Well, you always want to celebrate in style with your loved ones. And for many people that means their family and close friends. It's a good opportunity to reinforce social bonds and catch up with news and gossip.

M: What do people usually do if they're disturbed by the neighbour's party?

R: I think that depends on the country that you're in. I mean, for example, in some countries, it's the law that you have to be quiet after a certain time. So they might call the police. And that's just a normal thing for them to do. In other countries, it might just be part of the culture where people are constantly up, so no one's particularly inspired to call the police. They might ask you to quietly keep the noise down. It depends really.