M: Have you ever borrowed books from other people?

R: Yes, as a matter of fact, I've borrowed one from my mum before dropping it off at a mutual friend's place so she could read it next. And I've just taken out, and actually, I regularly take out books on loan from the local library too.

M: Have you ever borrowed money?

R: Oh, not in decades. I really hate the idea of being in any kind of financial debt to anyone, especially a bank, since it feels like they own your soul, even the mortgage was out of the question for me. And I avoid borrowing it from friends, since I think it can actually ruin a friendship as well, which is why I typically don't lend money to others either.

M: Do you like to lend things to others?

R: Provided it's not money, I have no issue with that. My friends are quite responsible people for the most part, and they tend to look after things. And I live with a lodger too, and I like renting a room to him, since I'm grateful for the company, not to mention the income from that.

M: How do you feel when people don't return things they borrowed from you?

R: Well, this is it you see. I'm a very orderly person, so when I loan things out, I expect them to be returned to their rightful place, and I keep track of that. So when people borrowed money from me in the past and they didn't return it when they said they would, it really put me out of sorts. And similarly, for other things, I noticed the hole it leaves in my existence, and that annoys me no end. So I just don't like doing it at all.

M: Right, dear listener, so we usually borrow what from other people? For example, we can borrow shoes or clothes.

R: Oh, I would never borrow shoes from someone. Do you?

M: Yeah. You know, like once I went to this very cold place, like minus 35 and I had to borrow some special shoes. Yeah. Or people borrow board games, video games, some kitchen appliances, like ice cream makers, bread makers, camping equipment. There you go. Travel gear, suitcases, for example, sporting equipment, bicycles, some specialized tools, like some woodworking tools, dear listener. Books. We borrow toys. We borrow musical instruments. Costly electronics, dear listener. Like cameras, drones. Oh, Rory, can I borrow your drone, please?

R: I don't have a drone to borrow.

M: No? Oh, yeah. Interesting. And also, dear listener, you can kind of like ask, like, oh, Rory, like can I borrow your lipstick?

R: I do not have lipstick, but I think this used to be a thing. Maybe it's not a thing now. Did ladies not used to borrow makeup from each other when they were in the bathroom together or something like that?

M: Yeah, all the time. Yeah.

R: They still do?

M: Absolutely. Absolutely, yes. So kind of like you borrow things for a very short time, like you're in the bathroom with your girlfriends, like, oh, can I borrow your lipstick? Okay, you take the lipstick, you put it on, and then you give it back right away. Or, like, uh, you are at home at your friend's house, and then kind of, oh, can I borrow your hair dryer? Hair dryer, you know? Or can I borrow, I don't know, a shirt, or can I borrow your fancy sunglasses? Yeah, or can I borrow, I don't know, shampoo or hand cream? Then you use it right away, and then you give it back. This also is borrowing. And very often we borrow books from other people.

R: From the library.

M: Ooh, we borrow books from a library. So we take out books from the local library. And kind of if you borrow some books from a library, you bring them back. We can also borrow money from our friends. What about a bank? If I go to the bank or I, kind of like, online, is it borrowing or I take out a loan?

R: Well, you you can take out a loan or you can borrow money, but the idea of taking money from somewhere, from a bank, is the same, and there are different kinds of loan. Like a mortgage is one that you would use for really big like purchases and then paying them back over a long period of time. It's usually for houses. But that's not the only thing.

M: Yeah, and Rory hates the idea of being in financial debt. A debt is a situation when you owe money.

R: When you need to loan or pay someone back.

M: Yeah, for example, I take $10,000 from Rory. And now it's my debt. I owe him this money. So I don't like financial debts. We say it debts. And I don't borrow any money from anybody, and I don't lend money to others, to other people, because I think it can ruin a friendship. It can destroy a friendship. The preposition is to, to lend money to others or to other people. And about lending, Rory is okay with lending things to other people, because his friends are quite responsible. So his friends always pay him back, return the money. And Rory lives with a lodger. Who is a lodger?

R: A lodger is someone that pays to live with you, basically. So if it's someone living in property that you own, but you do not live in, then they are a tenant. And if it's someone who lives on your property while you live there, they're a lodger, is my understanding of it. I'm simplifying things.

M: Or a roomer in the American English. A roomer or a lodger. Someone who pays for a place to sleep. So Rory, do you come to your lodge and say it like, give me my money, where's my money? Give me my money, or I throw you out. No? You don't do it? Give me my money.

R: Not with money, no. With other things, yes. I'm quite happy to lend, like physical things, like books or other bits and pieces to people. But when it comes to money, there just seems to be something special about money which, which makes people very stressed out. And that's why I don't like to do it. Other people can. But when I talk about myself...

M: What about your lodger? Does he pay on a regular basis? Like, do you come up to him and say, hey, lodger, give me my money?

R: Oh, right, okay, when we talk about the lodger... No, it's, there's like a regular bank payment that gets made at the end of every month. But then we have a, it's like, when you, when you, when you rent a flat from someone, you have a rental agreement, and when you lodger someone, you have a lodgers agreement. And that's, that like stipulates all the dates and everything.

M: And what do you call people who take money out of people who owe them? Like they're really serious, maybe mafia.

R: What, by force?

M: Yeah.

R: They're loan sharks, but I don't really think that that's a regular issue these days, at least not that I'm aware of.

M: Yeah. So if you kind of like, you take money from some, you know, dodgy people, from some, you know, mafia. So you might meet some loan sharks, like in films, you know, like series people. Come on, you need to pay us back. Unfortunately, some people don't return things they borrowed from other people. And how do we feel about that? Well, we are frustrated, and especially Rory is really upset when somebody doesn't return the things that Rory gave them. Rory is a very orderly person. I'm an orderly person means that you enjoy your order.

R: Yes, I know where everything is in my apartment at any one time. Well, I know where everything that belongs to me is.

M: So when you loan something out, what do you mean?

R: It just means you allow people to borrow it for a period of time.

M: Yeah, like, I give you a loan. I loan things out, and I expect my things to be returned. So I keep track of what I give to people. I keep track of what I lend to people.

R: Some people do that on a spreadsheet. I do it in my head.

M: When people don't return the things I gave them, it really puts me out of sorts. It puts me out of sorts. So this means that, well, you don't like the situation, and you are really upset, unhappy. To be out of sorts is an idiom, to be slightly ill or slightly unhappy. For example, well, I've been feeling tired and out of sorts.

R: But that just means not feeling so great about the situation. Feeling out of sorts can be feeling ill, but it can also just be feeling uneasy about something.

M: Yeah, you can also say that it annoys me no end. It's like it really annoys me. I hate it. It annoys me no end. And I liked it how you put it like I notice the hole it leaves in my existence. So kind of a hole in my life, so they didn't return the money. And kind of, I feel this emptiness, this hole... And it annoys me no end. Beautiful. Right, dear listener, so my suggestion is that you can choose some strange things that people usually borrow. Like, what's the strangest thing that you borrowed? Hmm, let's ask Google.

R: What is the strangest thing I've borrowed? I'm just trying to think.

M: Deodorant, toothbrush.

R: No, you wouldn't borrow someone's toothbrush, that's disgusting.

M: No, yeah, it is, it is, yeah.

R: Do you know? I don't think I've ever... I think I've borrowed someone's pen.

M: Pen? Yeah, but no, no, that's not strange. No, Rory, that's too ordinary.

R: It is for me, if I'm usually organized. I don't know. I honestly, I think it's unusual for most people, but in the context, it makes sense. I borrowed someone's key card once to get access to a building because I'd lost my own. But that's not really weird. That's just like the logical choice in the situation.

M: Can I borrow your car? Just give me your car. Come on. Don't be greedy.

R: Oh, I think one time I borrowed someone's student from a class to demonstrate something.

M: Oh, that's a nice one. You borrowed people to use them.

R: That's something about like teaching. I don't think most people would do that.

M: Rory's vocabulary show.

R: I know. Now it's that time of the episode where I ask Maria to identify some vocabulary or grammar from my answers. This is something that you can do and play along with at home, if you want to, or while you're listening in the car. So the first question was, have you ever borrowed books from others? And I used a phrasal verb, or a phrasal verb and a collocation to talk about borrowing books from a library, but you could also use this for borrowing something from somewhere else as well. So what was it, Maria?

M: Take out books on loan.

R: Yes, take something out on loan. Question number two was, have you ever borrowed money? And here I talked about the idea of owing money to people, but it was a very special collocation or phrase. What was it?

M: They own your soul.

R: No. That's how you feel.

M: Okay, okay. To be in financial debt.

R: Yes, I knew that you were going to pick that one initially, because that's very poetic, but actually it's to be in financial debt. Let's talk about grammar now. What kind of grammar did I use at the beginning of the answer to the question, do you like to lend things to others?

M: Provided it's not money, I have no issue with that.

R: What kind of grammar is that?

M: Well, it's kind of a conditional, like, if it's not money, I have no issue, I'm okay with that. So, provided it's not money, if it's not money.

R: It's a conditional, it's like a, what, a participle clause with conditional meaning. Ooh, that's gotta be C2, come on.

M: Yeah.

R: Yeah.

M: Band nine.

R: Oh, yeah, for sure. And for question number four, how do you feel when people don't return things they borrowed from you? I used a word to describe the kind of character that I have, but what was that word?

M: It puts me out of sorts.

R: No, that's how my emotions are. What about the character?

M: The character...

R: The character.

M: It annoys me no end.

R: No, that's also the emotions. No, Maria.

M: Oh, oh, orderly. Yeah, I'm a very orderly person.

R: Yes, I am a very orderly person. Like I am ridiculously orderly. It's almost embarrassing.

M: It is. Wicked. Thank you very much for listening! We send you love, energy and joy. Stay with us and we'll see you in our next episode! Bye!
R: Bye!

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