At The Pharmacy

Marco: Hello everyone! Welcome back to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

Erica: And I’m Erica.

Marco: And where are we going today, Erica?

Erica: To the pharmacy.

Marco: Alright, to the pharmacy or drug store?

Erica: Yes.

Marco: Or also in British English sometimes people will say the chemist’s.

Erica: That’s right.

Marco: So, as you know at the pharmacy you get medicine, but there’re certain vocabulary words that are related to this place, that we need to learn.

Erica: That’s right, so, we’re gonna learn some vocabulary about medicine and also some interesting phrases.

Marco: So, before we listen to the dialogue, let’s take a look at “vocabulary preview”.

Voice: Vocabulary preview.

Erica: We’re going to look at two words today that you’ll hear in the dialogue and the first one – milligrams.

Marco: Milligrams.

Erica: Milligrams.

Marco: Also the abbreviation for this is mg.

Erica: That’s right.

Marco: Okay, so, a milligram is…

Erica: A hundredth of a gram, so, there’re one hundred milligrams in a gram.

Marco: Exactly and it’s very common to be used with medicine, right?

Erica: Exactly.

Marco: You’d buy medicine in milligrams.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Okay, and what’s our next word?

Erica: Price check.

Marco: A price check.

Erica: A price check.

Marco: Okay, so, at the pharmacy or at the supermarket…

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Sometimes the cashier will ask for a price check.

Erica: And that is the action of checking to find out the price.

Marco: Uhu. Okay, so, a price check. With this I think we are ready now to listen to our dialogue for the first time and let’s see what our shopper is buying at the pharmacy.

Dialogue (First Time): [Dialogue content not provided in the source transcript]

【对话（第一遍）：源文本中未提供具体对话内容】

Erica: Oh no, how embarrassing!

Marco: A little bit embarrassing that, uh, she asked for a price check on these condoms, right?

Erica: Yeah, but you know it almo… it seems like every time you have to buy something embarrassing at the pharmacy, there’s a million people watching you.

Marco: Yeah, yeah, it never fails.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Well, let’s take a look at some of those words that we were talking about related to medicine in “language takeaway”.

Voice: Language takeaway.

Erica: Alright, well, the first word – a prescription.

Marco: Prescription.

Erica: Prescription.

Marco: Alright, so, what is a prescription?

Erica: Well, a prescription is a note from your doctor explaining what medicine you need.

Marco: So, this note from your doctor is necessary to buy that medicine, right?

Erica: Exactly.

Marco: Okay, prescription. Well, this shopper was getting some medicine and, well, the chemist or the pharmacist asked if he wanted it capsules of tablets.

Erica: So, let’s look at those two words.

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: A capsule.

Marco: Capsule.

Erica: Capsule.

Marco: Now, a capsule is like a small tube, right?

Erica: Yeah, it’s a form of a pill.

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: And it’s shaped like a tube with the medicine inside.

Marco: Inside and…

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: It’s covered in plastic, right?

Erica: Exactly.

Marco: Now, you swallow the… the capsule.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: And the tablet…

Erica: Is like a pill that is round and flat.

Marco: Okay, so, tablet and capsule.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Both are the same thing basically, but just different presentations.

Erica: Different shapes.

Marco: Different shapes.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: It’s easier maybe for some people to swallow a capsule.

Erica: You think so?

Marco: I… I don’t know, I think so…

Erica: Well, I…

Marco: Because sometimes, uh, tablets are a little bit like big circles and it’s hard to swallow.

Erica: Yeah, and I guess ca… and I guess capsules are smoother.

Marco: Yeah, exactly.

Erica: But we’re not pharmacists, so, let’s move on and focus on the language, which is what we do know about. So, the pharmacist warned the patient not to take too much medicine, right?

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: Because he might overdose.

Marco: Overdose.

Erica: Overdose.

Marco: Okay, so, to overdose, like you said…

Erica: Is to take too much medicine and get really sick or even die.

Marco: Uhu, so… so, if you overdose on medicine, it could be bad for you instead of good.

Erica: Well, obviously, very bad.

Marco: Hehe. And what about our last word for today?

Erica: Well, the shopper also asked for some eye drops.

Marco: Eye drops.

Erica: Eye drops.

Marco: So, this is medicine for your eyes.

Erica: Yeah, usually liquid like water…

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: That you put in your eyes.

Marco: Okay. So, I think now with this medicine language clear we can listen to our dialogue again, but it’s gonna be slow down a little bit.

Erica: That’ll help us understand these phrases just a little bit better.

Dialogue (Second Time - slow): [Dialogue content not provided in the source transcript]

【对话（第二遍 - 慢速）：源文本中未提供具体对话内容】

Marco: Okay, so, now it’s time for us to take a look at some of the phrases that we saw in this dialogue in “putting it together”.

Voice: Putting it together.

Erica: We’re gonna look at two phrases here and we’re gonna see how we can use them in different situations. The pharmacist warned “be sure not to take it on an empty stomach”.

Marco: Okay, so, be sure not to.

Erica: Be sure not to.

Marco: So, what does he mean by this?

Erica: He just means don’t do this.

Marco: Okay.

Erica: So, don’t… don’t take the medicine without eating.

Marco: We can mix it up a little bit. Why don’t we listen to some examples of how we can use this in different situations?

Voice: Example one.

A: Be sure not to leave your bike outside or it would be stolen.

Voice: Example two.

B: Be sure not to forget your umbrella. It’s raining today.

Voice: Example three.

C: I told him to be sure no to do anything stupid, but he did.

Erica: So, Marco, um, why should we say “be sure not to” instead of “don’t”?

Marco: I think “don’t” is sounds more like an order…

Erica: Okay.

Marco: Or very direct. Maybe “be sure not to” is a little bit softer, a little bit more friendly. So, be sure not to. Now, for our last phrase. So, the pharmacist in the end wanted to check for the price and he said just hang on there a sec.

Erica: So, that’s interesting – hang on.

Marco: Hang on.

Erica: Hang on.

Marco: Well, hang on, what… what does he mean by hang on?

Erica: He means wait.

Marco: Wait.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: It’s a v… informal way of saying wait.

Erica: Exactly… it’s also a little bit more friendly than just saying wait.

Marco: Right, exactly… And we can change the time a little bit, right?

Erica: Yeah, so, you can say “hang on a second”.

Marco: Uhu, or hang on a moment.

Erica: Hang on a minute.

Marco: Alright.

Erica: What about hang on an hour.

Marco: Well, maybe if you’re telling someone to wait for an hour: “just hang on there for an hour, I’ll be there soon”.

Erica: Yeah, but I guess it’s more common hang on a minute, hey?

Marco: Right, maybe for shorter periods of time.

Erica: Yeah, uhu.

Marco: Okay, so, with these phrases I think now we can use them in different circumstances, obviously, not only in the pharmacy.

Erica: Yep.

Marco: And, well, let’s listen to our dialogue for the last time.

Dialogue (Third Time): [Dialogue content not provided in the source transcript]

【对话（第三遍）：源文本中未提供具体对话内容】

Marco: Okay, so, with medicine an interesting thing comes up, right?

Erica: That’s right. A lot of people think that you eat medicine.

Marco: Okay, or drink medicine.

Erica: Yeah, but in English you always take medicine.

Marco: Always take medicine.

Erica: Yeah, so you never can say “oh, I ate my medicine yesterday”. It always like has to be I took my medicine.

Marco: Okay… so, you take the capsules.

Erica: Exactly, or take the tablets.

Marco: Alright, so, you take medicine. Now, an interesting thing in the United States, for example, it’s very hard to get medicine without a prescription.

Erica: That’s right, so, we always talk about prescription medicine…

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: And OTC medicine, or over-the-counter medicine.

Marco: So, over-the-counter medicine is…

Erica: Is medicine you could just buy without that prescription or note from your doctor.

Marco: Okay, so, for example, if you have a headache, you can go to the pharmacy and buy aspirin.

Erica: Yeah, and that’s over-the-counter medicine.

Marco: Uhu. But prescription medicine - you can’t get it without the doctor’s note.

Erica: Yes, and like you said in America you almost have to have a prescription for everything.

Marco: Which is strange, because people can overdose on aspirin.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Hehe. So, tell us how medicine and pharmacies work in your countries and also if you have questions or comments our website englishpod.com is always open and ready for you.

Erica: Well, thanks for downloading this lesson, you guys, and until next time… Good bye!

Marco: Bye!