📘 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.

Discussion

M: Hey! Parties! Right, dear listener. So different types of parties in Scotland, in Rory's country. And Rory mentioned what? Birthday parties. Wow. Weddings, because you have a wedding party in Scotland. graduation parties. You graduate from university in Scotland and you have a party. Or anniversaries. Anniversaries are about what?

R: I think usually it's about being married for one year but other people have different kinds of anniversaries.

M: Yeah, like I'm 30 years old. It's my anniversary. Or we've been married for 50 years. That's an anniversary or an anniversary of our podcast. We're going to be what? How old are we going to be next year? Five years old? Five years old. And remember dear listener, we throw a party. Or people throw a party when they can, especially in Scotland. So every day is a party with whiskey in their cornflakes. With bagpipes and kilts and Rory running around. Also, you can talk about karaoke parties. I don't know, Halloween parties, school parties. I don't know, sports parties. Gangster parties. Like special parties, you organize with friends.

R: Gangsta parties?

M: Yeah, gangsta party, you know. Like, we call them theme parties, because there's a certain theme. For example, like a pirate party, and everybody has to dress up like a pirate, or a cocktail party, a barbecue party. A game night party, dear listener, okay? So different parties. Paint the town red is an idiom.

R: Yay.

M: What does it mean?

R: It just means to have a wild time in the town.

M: Paint the town red informal, idiomatic, go out and enjoy yourself by drinking alcohol, dancing, and laughing with friends. So for example, I'm ready to paint the town red with my friends today. So I just go out and do crazy...

R: Today? It's a Thursday.

M: It's, you know, already the weekend. Thursday.

R: No, no.

M: So if a person is an introvert. So an introvert is a person who doesn't like being around other people, so you may not enjoy parties. And then the question is amazing. What do adults do at parties?

R: Yeah, that's not a loaded question at all.

M: What do they do, you know? And Rory said they let loose with lots of drinking. Let loose.

R: That just means loosening up control of your behaviour.

M: Could you give us an example with let loose?

R: Well, what? At parties, I don't really like to let loose. I am more... Well, I'm calmer, I should say, than most.

M: Yeah, but some people do let loose and they go wild and crazy.

R: Well, some people really let loose.

M: Yeah. Or turning to the other question about people disliking parties, you can say like, oh, like not everyone enjoys letting loose.

R: How about you, Maria? Are you a party animal?

M: Well, at some parties yeah. I can be pretty, you know, crazy. Yeah.

R: You were very well-behaved at all of mine.

M: Yeah, yeah. Oh, well... You don't know the dark side of Maria.

R: Moving on.

M: What did you mean, when you said some people have their public face at work?

R: Yeah, so some people have a public face. So that's the one that everybody knows them by. And they have their private face, which is when they're with their friends or with close company, then this is their other side to themselves, where they're more relaxed. But just because you have two of these things does not make one any less valid than the other. It just means that you behave differently in different circumstances. And I think that's true for most people. Unless you're me.

M: Yeah. So adults let loose. They drink a lot. They sing songs, they make wild remarks. So they, when drunk, they say horrible things to each other. Yeah, they may have a fight.

R: Well, it's not about saying horrible things. It could just be about saying funny things.

M: If you're saying that music is a must at a party, well, it's like music is necessary. It's kind of, well, it has to be there. Or, for example, food is a must at a party. So people just chill out, they relax. So nice music is a must for background noise.

R: Yeah, but that's just music that plays in the background.

M: Or some energetic music, so people can hit the dance floor. Hit the dance floor, hit the dance floor... Yeah, hit the dance floor? Dance.

R: In a designated space for dancing.

M: And then comes your favourite word. That would be a bit unhinged.

R: Oh, yeah. Crazy. We talked about this on the podcast. Well, the free version. Unhinged. A little bit crazy in terms of behaviour. So yes, if you're behaving in an unhinged manner, you're not behaving like you should be in the circumstances.

M: Give us another example with this word about people behaving at a party.

R: It's a bit unhinged to show up to a normal birthday party in a fancy dress costume.

M: Why is it unhedged? Just I don't see a problem.

R: If that's not the theme, then you would want to dress in keeping with the wider theme, especially if it's a party that you've been invited to for the first time.

M: Ah, okay, so it's just a regular birthday party and I show up dressed* as a pirate.

R: Yeah.

M: Okay, yeah, that's, that's unhinged.

R: Although, it can work out sometimes. Because when I was in America, this is when I was much younger, about 20 years... No, maybe 22 years ago, I went with my mother to America. We were at a wedding, and we were told to wear yachting casual outfits. And so... Because we were going on a boat, the people that we were with owned a boat, go figure. And instead of wearing like yacht and casual clothes, my mother dressed up as a pirate, which I thought was quite funny. But I don't think the people that own the boat thought it was terribly impressive, but that's their problem, isn't it?

M: Totally their problem. Live it up with your friends.

R: Yeah, but if you're living it up, that just means that you're having a fun time.

M: So people celebrate different events, and they live it up with their friends. So they have fun, they enjoy their life with some drinks and food. Yeah. And some people celebrate their personal events by listening to blaring music.

R: Yes, but that's just very loud music. Loud and obnoxious. Not like Maria and I. We're very not that.

M: Yeah, like unpleasantly loud. So they switch on blaring music, and about changes, you can say people used to do this, but now they have started doing something else. So people used to go out more before the pandemic. But now fewer people go out on this day, so they prefer to stay in. And Rory used a nice expression, like hitting the town. So hit the town.

R: They were two here. Go out on the town and hit the town. But both of them just mean go out and have fun.

M: Yeah, yeah, and people used to go out on the town. So they used to go out, right? But go out on the town, does it mean you go to the centre?

R: Not necessarily. It just means going out in an area that's built up. Usually, it's the city but it could be in the nearest built-up area that has access to bars and things.

M: So you can say like fewer people now enjoy hitting the town. So they prefer to organize their own private events. Most people stay in. So they stay in? They stay at home. And what children? What about children? What do children do at parties?

R: What do children... I love that, like what if you're childless and you don't know? So yes, they have a blast. But having a blast is not just isolated to kids, that could be any group of people having a fun time together. We've used this before in some of our first episodes.

M: So to have a blast, to have a good time with your friends. So they eat cake. They give presents, they enjoy their presents. And these are the common things that children do. But also you can say that children go crazy. So can you say that children usually let loose?

R: I wouldn't say children let loose.

M: No? But what do children do when they go crazy, you know?

R Oh, go nuts, go mental.

M: So children can go nuts. Children can go mental destroying the house?

R: Well, or just go running around like crazy. I don't know what kids do at parties, really. I haven't been to a children's party in forever.

M: They can enjoy some outdoor activities. And if it's a theme party for a child. For example, again, like pirates, and everybody goes in wearing... Like being a pirate. So they do some outdoor activities. They can make some... Make crafts or do crafts?

R: Why not both?

M: Yeah, like crafts, like little things that children make with their hands. So they can paint something. Or they can just run around, and destroy the house. We can have family parties, and people want to have some time with their loved ones. So our loved ones? Our closest family. Close friends and our loved ones. People organize such events to catch up with news and gossip. So to catch up with gossip. Gossip? When we talk about other people we catch up with gossip. So we, oh, okay, what do you know? And what about him and what about her?

R: Tell us what you know about all the other people that are here.

M: Yeah. Your neighbours could have a loud party and you could be disturbed by this party. Well, a typical situation. Yeah, dear listener? It's, I don't know, like Thursday night. Tomorrow, you have to go to work and your neighbours are having a loud birthday party. So you hear blaring music. So what do you do? So you are disturbed, you don't like it. You can call the police. Or you can ask them to keep the noise down. Keep it down. What else do people do?

R: I think that's it. They just complain. Sometimes people call the police but I think that's very rare. Sometimes they join in.

M: They join in. Yeah. So they could join in. They can complain.

R: I think... Oh, my God, I did that one New Year. There were people having a really wild New Year's party. And my best friend and I just wandered in and joined in. We didn't know anybody there.

M: Oh, that's a strategy machine. You see?

R: Yeah. It's not something I recommend you do, just walk into a stranger's house. But it was quite a funny thing to do. This is when we were much younger and much bolder and more unhinged.

M: Dear listener, thank you very much for listening! And we'll get back to you in our next episode. Okay? Bye!

R: Bye!

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