"Baby, I'm Sorry"

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

Erica: And I’m Erica.

Marco: And today we have another romantic, uh, lesson… kind of romantic.

Erica: A little romantic, uh, we got a boyfriend and a girlfriend and they’re apologizing to each other.

Marco: Okay, so, it’s a very common situation and we’re gonna be talking about love. We’re also gonna talk about different pet names that are commonly used in English.

Erica: That are used with, um, with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Marco: Okay, very good. So, let’s listen to this dialogue for the first time and see what’s happening with our couple.

Erica: Okay, so, romantic and dramatic.

Marco: Yeah, I think she really needed to hear that sh… right, so, I think she really wanted to hear “I love you”.

Erica: Yeah, that’s right, and, um, there’re some interesting phrases here in this… in this dialogue and to… and today we’re gonna focus mostly on phrases. So, why don’t we start with “fluency builder”?

Marco: Okay, on fluency builder today we’re going to take a look at some of these phrases. And the first one is very important and very different.

Erica: So, obviously this dialogue is about love and we heard two different ways that this word is used. And the first one is to love someone.

Marco: Right, so, he said “I love you”.

Erica: Yeah, I love you.

Marco: We all pretty much understand what that means.

Erica: Right, but they also mentioned to be in love with someone.

Marco: Okay, so, he said “I am in love with you”.

Erica: I’m in love with you.

Marco: In love.

Erica: Okay, so, what’s the difference between to love and to be in love?

Marco: To be in love with someone means that you have these strong romantic feelings towards somebody.

Erica: That’s right, so, um, you can only be in love with your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your husband or your wife.

Marco: So, you can love your parents, you can love your family, but can’t be in love with them. You can only be in love with your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife.

Erica: That’s right.

Marco: Okay.

Erica: So, moving on to the next phrase. Now, the girl asked her boyfriend can we talk.

Marco: Uhu, can we talk?

Erica: Can we talk?

Marco: This is a very simple sentence.

Erica: Right, we know the meaning, right?

Marco: Uhu. But why does she say “can we talk”?

Erica: Okay, so, you use this when you wanna start a conversation about something serious.

Marco: Okay, so, if you wanted to talk to me about my new shirt.

Erica: I wouldn’t ask… I wouldn’t say “Hey Marco, can we talk? Oh, I really like your shirt, where did you get it?”

Marco: Exactly, right, so…

Erica: That… it has to be serious.

Marco: It has to be serious. So, usually, if somebody says “Hey, can we talk?” it means that there’s gonna be a serious topic.

Erica: Yeah, it’s gonna be probably bad news.

Marco: Maybe bad news.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Uhu.

Marco: So, can we talk? So, if your boyfriend or girlfriend tells you this, well, it’s not a good sign.

Erica: That’s right.

Marco: Alright, and the last phrase that we have on fluency builder – you know what I mean.

Erica: You know what I mean.

Marco: You know what I mean.

Erica: You know what I mean.

Marco: Alright, so, again this phrase is very simple to understand, right?

Erica: That’s right.

Marco: So, you know what I’m talking about.

Erica: You… you understand me.

Marco: Uhu. But the interesting thing is that we can also make it a question.

Erica: And it’s all about the change in tone.

Marco: Okay, so, with this in mind, let’s listen to two examples of the same phrase, but with different tones.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: And you try to see which one is the question.

Man A: I’m tired doing nothing all day here at home. You know what I mean?

男A: 整天闲待在家里啥也不干我都烦透了。你懂我意思吧？

Man B: Come on, Charles, you know what I mean when I say that I don’t like your friends.

男B: 得了吧查尔斯，我说我不喜欢你那些朋友时，你心里清楚我是什么意思。

Man C: I hate this class, it’s so boring and tedious. You know what I mean?

男C: 我讨厌这门课，太枯燥无味了。你懂我意思吧？

Marco: Alright, so, we heard the examples and, well, maybe you guessed it right – the second example was the question.

Erica: That’s right, you know what I mean?

Marco: Right, so, basically you’re asking the person if they understand your idea or they understand what you’re talking about. So, maybe you can say “So, the professor wasn’t very clear on his instructions, so, how was I supposed to do the homework, you know what I mean?”

Erica: So, you’re asking me to confirm that I understand you.

Marco: My idea.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: You understand what I’m saying.

Erica: Yeah. Okay and if it was a statement, I might say “Hey, I don’t like going to your mom’s house”.

Marco: So, I would say “What… what do you mean? Why?”

Erica: “You know what I mean”.

Marco: Right, so, I perfectly understand or know the reasons why you don’t like going to…

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: My mom’s house.

Erica: Like I don’t have to tell you.

Marco: Hehe.

Erica: You know what I mean.

Marco: Alright, very good. So, you know what I mean. Great, so, we’ve taken a look at these four phrases. They’re very simple, but the way that you use them gives them different meanings.

Erica: That’s right.

Marco: Alright, so, let’s listen to our dialogue for the second time. Let’s slow it down a little bit and then we’ll come back and look at some more phrases.

Marco: Okay, so, now it’s time for us to take a look at some more phrases, but this time we’re gonna look at them in “putting it together”.

Erica: Okay, we’re gonna see how we can use these phrases in a few different situations. So, the girl wanted to talk to her boyfriend, because she wanted to know where this relationship is going.

Marco: Right, where is this relationship going?

Erica: Where is this relationship going?

Marco: So, she wants to know what’s going to happen or what’s…

Erica: What’s the future?

Marco: What’s the future of this relationship?

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Are we gonna get married?

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Or we just… what’re we… what’s happening?

Erica: Yep.

Marco: So, why don’t we listen to some examples with different nouns and how we can use this phrase?

Man A: I don’t know where my career is going in this company. I don’t see any potential for growth.

男A: 我不知道我在这个公司的职业生涯何去何从，看不到任何晋升发展的潜力。

Woman B: This movie is so confusing. I have no idea where the plot is going.

女B: 这部电影太让人看不懂了，我完全不知道剧情走向会是怎样。

Man C: We have been in this meeting for over two hours and I still don’t know where it’s going.

男C: 这个开会已经开两个多小时了，我依然不知道这会议到底要走向何方。

Erica: Okay, so, again this phrase is just asking about the future of something.

Marco: Right, so, where the future of this movie… where is this movie going?

Erica: Yeah, what’s happening?

Marco: Right, what…

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: What… what’s gonna happen?

Erica: Yep.

Marco: Or your career, et cetera.

Erica: Yep, okay and… and, so, the girl, um… you know, she was talking a little bit about her feelings and she said maybe it’s just time we…

Marco: Okay, so, this phrase isn’t complete yet.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: We need to finish it.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: But she is basically saying “Maybe we should do this”.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: How can we finish the phrase?

Erica: Alright, so, she could say “Maybe it’s just time we break up”.

Marco: Alright, or I can say “Maybe it’s time we have a baby”.

Erica: Ouh, Marco.

Marco: Hehe. Alright.

Erica: Or even maybe it’s time we go home.

Marco: Okay, so, it’s getting late, let’s go home.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Maybe it’s time we go home.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: So, this is how we can finish this phrase. And what about our last phrase?

Erica: So, she also said we’ve had our laughs.

Marco: Okay, so, that means we’ve had our good times.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Okay.

Erica: But we can change this to we’ve had our ups and downs.

Marco: Okay or we’ve had our moments.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Right? So, that means we’ve had our good moments and our bad moments.

Erica: That’s right. Or we’ve had our issues.

Marco: Okay, so, that means we’ve had some problems…

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: We’ve had some difficulties.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Uhu.

Erica: Or even we’ve had our moments.

Marco: Okay, so, that means we’ve had… what does that mean?

Erica: Special times.

Marco: Yeah.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: So, that means we’ve had our special times, special occasions…

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: That we will always remember.

Erica: That’s right.

Marco: Okay.

Erica: So, three really useful structures that you can, uh, change the words a little bit to slightly change the meaning.

Marco: Okay, so, it’s time for us to listen to our dialogue for the last time. Now we’re ready to understand everything. And then we’ll come back and give you some examples of pet names in English.

Erica: Alright, well, Marco, you mentioned this word pet names, um, and what exactly is that?

Marco: Alright, so, pet names aren’t names for your dogs or your cats, right?

Erica: Okay, right.

Marco: They are those sweet names that you would call your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Erica: Okay, so, like baby.

Marco: Okay, in our dialogue we heard “baby”.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Right? So, we’re not talking about a little…

Erica: A little child.

Marco: A little child, no.

Erica: Yep.

Marco: This is usually how you would call maybe your girlfriend or boyfriend.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Baby.

Erica: Or honey.

Marco: Honey, right?

Erica: Yep.

Marco: “Hey, honey” or “Honey, I’m home”.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Right? But we also have other ones like sweetheart.

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Or…

Erica: Darling.

Marco: Darling.

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Or what about sweety?

Erica: Uhu.

Marco: Or cuty.

Erica: Cuty, oh…

Marco: So, some of these phrases can be a little bit like cheesy, maybe like…

Erica: A little… yeah, a little too sweet.

Marco: Too much like…

Erica: Snookums.

Marco: Snookums, snookums… Like snookums.

Erica: Okay or…

Marco: Or honey bunny.

Erica: Oh, yeah, yeah-yeah.

Marco: Hehe. We also have sweety pie.

Erica: Yep.

Marco: Yeah and some… some of them will… will make some up, right? Maybe they’ll call their… their boyfriend, um, poo bear.

Erica: Oh, yeah!

Marco: Right?

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Like, you know… like Winnie the Pooh…

Erica: Yeah.

Marco: Poo bear.

Erica: I heard dumpling is the common one.

Marco: Hehe. Also it could be… you can make up your own phrase. You can make up your own pet names, right?

Erica: Yeah, so, I wanna hear from our listeners are there any common pet names in your language?

Marco: I know that in Spanish we sometimes call the… we… we can sometimes call our girlfriend gorda.

Erica: Okay.

Marco: Which actually means fat, but…

Erica: Ouh!

Marco: It’s not in a bad way, it’s…

Erica: Really?

Marco: It’s a sweet way of sa… of calling your… your… your girlfriend, so…

Erica: And I know in French you can say ma puce, so which basically means “my flea”.

Marco: Hehe. Yeah, so some of them if you translate, you wouldn’t really use in English, but let us know, translate from your language or other ones that you’ve heard maybe in movies or talk shows and come to our website englishpod.com.

Erica: Yeah, leave your questions there as well as your pet names and Marco and I are always happy to see you there.

Marco: Okay, until next time…

Erica: Good bye!

Marco: Bye!