Daily English 1222 Describing Amounts and Movement of Liquid

Dialogue/Story

Slow Speed begins at: 1:44
Explanation begins at: 4:07
Normal Speed begins at: 21:05

Complete Transcript

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 1,222 – Describing Amounts and Movement of Liquid.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 1,222. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

This episode is a dialogue between Jerry and Helen about liquid – things that make you wet – how you describe how much liquid you have and how liquid moves. All that coming up in this episode. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Jerry: Want to help me wash my car?

Helen: I guess so.

Jerry: Good. Squirt a little of this cleaning fluid into this bucket.

Helen: Okay, done.

Jerry: Then pour a capful of this into the bucket and mix. After that, dribble three drops of this special liquid into it and stir until you get a nice layer of foam on the surface.

Helen: Okay, but I usually just use soap and water.

Jerry: That might be fine for your car, but for my baby, it’s nothing but the best. Stop!

Helen: Why? I was just going to use this hose to spray water onto the car to get it wet.

Jerry: You can’t just splash water on the paint. You have to let it flow gently down from the roof of the car in a cascade.

Helen: You’re kidding, right?

Jerry: Not at all. Splattering water on the paint could damage it in the long run. Let the water gush out of the hose and onto the roof of the car. Let it caress the car like you’re . . .

Helen: You know what? I think this is getting a little weird. I think I’ll leave you and your baby alone.

[end of dialogue]

Jerry begins our dialogue by asking Helen, “Want to help me wash my car?” Jerry means “Do you want to help me wash my car?” In informal conversational English, sometimes we will drop the “do you” part and simply use the main verb, which in this case is “want.” “Want to help me wash my car?”

Helen doesn’t seem very excited. She says, “I guess so.” That expression “I guess (guess) so” has nothing to do with trying to figure out the answer to a problem. Instead, it means yes, but in a way that isn’t very enthusiastic. You’re not really interested. When someone says, “I guess so,” he means yes, but he isn’t very excited by it or doesn’t agree very strongly with what you are saying or asking. Jerry says, “Good,” meaning “I’m glad you want to help me.”

He tells Helen, “Squirt a little of this cleaning fluid into this bucket.” The verb “to squirt” (squirt) means to squeeze or to get liquid out of a bottle, usually through a very small hole or opening. It’s the verb we might use, for example, if we were putting ketchup or mustard onto a hot dog. “Ketchup” and “mustard” are liquids that are in bottles – often nowadays plastic bottles – that you can put your hand around and squeeze. You can make it so that the liquid comes out of the hole at the top of the bottle. The verb there would be “to squirt” the liquid – to get the liquid out of the bottle by squeezing it.

Jerry wants Helen to squirt some cleaning fluid into a bucket. “Fluid” (fluid) means the same as “liquid” (liquid). Both things refer to something that, if you put it on your body, would make you wet. Well, it could have some other consequences as well. A “liquid” is a technical term that is not a solid and not a gas. In the physical world we have gases, solids, and liquids. Something that is a “fluid” is a liquid.

The word “fluid” here is used as a noun. It can also be used as an adjective. As an adjective, “fluid” means easily changeable or something that is changing. Here, it’s a noun referring to liquid. Jerry wants Helen to squirt a little cleaning fluid into a “bucket” (bucket). A “bucket” is a round container – round on the sides – that has a flat bottom. There’s no top on a bucket. Buckets are usually used to carry liquids.

Helen says, “Okay, done,” meaning she has completed that task. Jerry then says, “Pour a capful of this into the bucket and mix.” A “cap” (cap) is what goes on top of a bottle to close it, to make sure that the liquid doesn’t come out of the bottle. A “capful” would be the amount of liquid that would fit into the cap of the bottle. So you actually pour the liquid – you pour the fluid. You put the fluid into the little cap until the cap is full. That’s how you get a “capful” (capful). Notice there’s just one “l” in “capful” even though the word “full” normally has two “l”s.

So Jerry tells Helen “to pour” (pour) the liquid into the cap until she has a “capful.” “Pour” means to move liquid from one container to another. After she puts this capful of liquid into the bucket, Helen is supposed to mix it. “To mix” (mix) means to combine two things together. After she mixes these liquids together, Jerry asks her to “dribble three drops of this special liquid into it and stir until you get a nice layer of foam on the surface.”

There are several words there we need to explain. The first one is “dribble” (dribble). “To dribble” means to cause a few small drops, a few small amounts of a liquid, to fall into a surface – or to fall onto a surface, we would probably say. If you like pancakes (and who doesn’t like pancakes), you might take some syrup, some sweet liquid, and “dribble” it onto your pancakes – put a little bit on there drop by drop, small amount of liquid by small amount of liquid.

That’s what Jerry tells Helen to do with some sort of special liquid that he has. Then he tells her to stir all this together. “To stir” (stir) means to move a spoon or a stick in the liquid to combine or mix the liquid together. Sometimes, if you stir very quickly, you will cause the liquid to form what’s called a “foam” (foam). A foam is a liquid that has become or been made into small bubbles that sit on top of the liquid.

When you stir a liquid very quickly, very rapidly, air can enter into the liquid and form what’s called a “bubble.” A “bubble” (bubble) is liquid that has air inside of it. You can think of it that way. A balloon, for example, is a kind of bubble, except instead of being made of liquid, it is made of plastic. “Foam” is essentially a lot of small or tiny bubbles together on top of liquid.

Helen says, “Okay, but I usually just use soap and water.” She usually just uses soap and water when she washes her own car. Jerry says, “That might be fine for your car” – meaning that’s good enough for your car – “but,” Jerry continues, “for my baby, it’s nothing but the best.” The word “baby” here refers not to a young child, but to Jerry’s car.

Sometimes people use the word “baby” to describe something they own that they really love and they take care of. Some people love their cars like children, I guess, and that’s the case with Jerry. He says for his baby – for his car – “it’s nothing but the best.” That means he will only use the very best products. He will only treat it in the very best way. He then tells Helen to stop doing what she’s doing. We’re not sure what she’s doing. But we find out in the next sentence.

Helen says, “Why? I was just going to use this hose to spray water onto the car to get it wet.” A “hose” (hose) is a long piece of tubing that is used to move water or other liquids from one place to another. If you have a lawn, if you have grass in front of your house or in back of your house, you may need to put water on it. You can use a “hose” to get water from your house onto the lawn. The water will move through the hose, which is basically a plastic tube.

Helen is using a hose “to spray” (spray) water onto the car. “To spray” means to push liquid through many small holes, causing the liquid to go out of the hose in small drops. For example, firefighters – people who put out fires – use big hoses that spray water onto burning buildings. They spray the water. The water moves in different directions to put the fire out.

Jerry says, “You can’t just splash water on the paint. You have to let it flow gently down from the roof of the car in a cascade.” “To splash” (splash) means to cause water to hit against something, usually in a forceful way – that is, the water hits the surface hard. Jerry doesn’t want Helen to splash water onto his car. He wants the water “to flow” (flow) gently. “To flow” means to move liquid across a surface.

Jerry wants the water to come down over the car in a “cascade” (cascade). A cascade is when water or other liquid falls down rapidly over a surface. You can think of a “waterfall” – when water falls from the top of one surface down quickly to another surface – as being a kind of cascade. In fact, the word “cascade” sometimes is used to mean the same as “waterfall” in English. Here it’s used, however, as a verb meaning to have the water act as though it were a waterfall, flowing quickly, flowing rapidly across the surface of the car.

Helen says, “You’re kidding, right?” meaning “You’re joking.” Jerry says, “Not at all,” meaning “No. I’m not joking.” “Splattering water on the paint could damage it in the long run.” “To splatter” (splatter) means to cause a liquid to hit something. It’s very similar to the previous verb “to splash.” The verb “to splatter” is often used with paint as a liquid rather than water.

If you “splatter” paint on a wall, you cause the paint to go on the wall, but not in any sort of pattern. You are causing the paint to make marks on the wall that perhaps you don’t want. Unless of course you are the artist Jackson Pollock, who was famous for splattering paint on pieces of canvas – things that you use to paint a painting on. He made a lot of money splattering paint.

Jerry doesn’t want Helen splattering water on the paint of his car because he thinks it could hurt the paint. He says, “Let the water gush out of the hose and onto the roof of the car.” “To gush” (gush) means to move liquid very quickly and in large amounts over a surface. He says, “Let the water caress the car.” “To caress” (caress) means usually to touch someone with your hand in a slow, gentle, pleasant way that shows that you love that person or you care for that person. You could also caress an object like a car. And that’s what Jerry wants Helen to do with the water.

Clearly, Helen is not going to continue doing this. She says, “You know what? I think this is getting a little weird.” She’s telling Jerry that she thinks the way he wants to wash his car is strange, is odd. Helen then says, “I think I’ll leave you and your baby alone.” She saying that Jerry is treating his car as if the car were a person almost, and therefore she doesn’t want to be part of this strange way of washing a car.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Jerry: Want to help me wash my car?

Helen: I guess so.

Jerry: Good. Squirt a little of this cleaning fluid into this bucket.

Helen: Okay, done.

Jerry: Then pour a capful of this into the bucket and mix. After that, dribble three drops of this special liquid into it and stir until you get a nice layer of foam on the surface.

Helen: Okay, but I usually just use soap and water.

Jerry: That might be fine for your car, but for my baby, it’s nothing but the best. Stop!

Helen: Why? I was just going to use this hose to spray water onto the car to get it wet.

Jerry: You can’t just splash water on the paint. You have to let it flow gently down from the roof of the car in a cascade.

Helen: You’re kidding, right?

Jerry: Not at all. Splattering water on the paint could damage it in the long run. Let the water gush out of the hose and onto the roof of the car. Let it caress the car like you’re . . .

Helen: You know what? I think this is getting a little weird. I think I’ll leave you and your baby alone.

[end of dialogue]

Thanks to our scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse, for her wonderful scripts, and thanks to you for listening.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.

Glossary

to squirt – to squeeze a liquid out of a small opening in a bottle

* Do you have any mustard that I can squeeze onto the hot dogs?

fluid – liquid; not a solid or a gas

* Keep poisonous cleaning fluids away from children.

bucket – a container with a flat bottom, rounded sides, no top, and a handle, usually used to carry liquids

* The children used a bucket and a small shovel to build a sand castle at the beach.

to pour – to move a liquid or a fine-grained solid from one container to another by tipping it at an angle

* It’s really difficult to pour anything out of this big pitcher without spilling.

capful – the amount of a liquid that can fit into the lid of a container, used as an approximate measurement

* Mix one capful of bleach with a half-gallon of water and a few drops of dish soap to make a good bathroom cleaner.

to mix – to stir two things together; to combine the items in a bowl or container by moving them slowly in circles with a spoon or long stick

* Combine all of the ingredients and mix well before baking the mixture in the oven.

to dribble – to cause a few drops of a liquid to fall onto a surface

* To make a perfect ice cream sundae, remember to dribble some chocolate syrup on the ice cream before sprinkling nuts on top.

liquid – fluid; not a solid or a gas

* Ice becomes a liquid above 32° Fahrenheit.

to stir – to move a spoon or stick around a container to thoroughly mix two things together

* Please stir the sugar in the boiling water until it is completely dissolved.

foam – many small bubbles resting on the top of a liquid, usually after it has been stirred vigorously (with energy)

* A latte has more foam than a cappuccino.

hose – a long piece of tubing, used to transport water or other liquids from one place to another

* Very little water is coming out of the end of the hose. There must a leak in it.

to spray – to blow or push liquid through many small holes, causing it to form many small droplets

* If you shoot a stream of water at the new plant, you might kill the plants. Try to spray them more gently.

splash – to cause water to hit against something, making it wet, possibly in a forceful way

* The children tossed a ball back and forth in the swimming pool, laughing when it splashed each other.

to flow – for a liquid to move calmly, slowly, and gently

* The stream flows easily through the forest until it reaches an area with more rocks and logs.

cascade – to fall down rapidly or gracefully, like a waterfall

* Many hikers climb to the base of the waterfall and enjoy a picnic lunch while watching the cascade.

to splatter – to splash; to cause a liquid to hit something, usually leaving a mark

* When the police arrived, they found the walls splattered with blood.

to gush – for a liquid to move quickly, forcefully, and in a large quantity

* Please apply pressure to stop the blood from gushing from the wound.

to caress – to touch something in a slow, gentle, pleasant way that shows affection, care, and love

* He misses the way she used to caress his cheek with her fingertips.

Comprehension Questions

1. Which of these involves the least amount of water?
a) Dribbling water.
b) Spraying water.
c) Gushing water.

2. Why does Jerry tell Helen to stop using the hose?
a) Because she is applying the water too forcefully.
b) Because she isn’t using the right kind of water.
c) Because she is using too much water.

Answers at bottom.

What Else Does It Mean?

mix

The verb “to mix,” in this podcast, means to stir two things together or to combine the items in a bowl or container by moving them slowly in circles with a spoon or long stick: “If we mix red and yellow paint, we can produce orange paint.” The phrase “to mix and match” means to combine many items in different ways to produce variations: “Try to pack clothing with complementary colors so that you can mix and match the pieces to create many different outfits.” Finally, the phrase “to mix (something or someone) up with” means to confuse someone with someone else, or something with someone else: “I mixed these keys up with the others, and now I’m not sure which key is for which car.”

hose

In this podcast, the word “hose” means a long piece of tubing used to transport water or other liquids from one place to another: “The firefighters have to be very strong to move large, heavy hoses quickly to spray water on fires.” The phrase “to hose down” means to spray water to make something very wet, especially to clean it: “Please hose down the driveway to get rid of all that mud.” The word “hose” or “pantyhose” refers to hosiery, or very thin stockings, nylons, or tights worn by women under skirts or dresses: “In this bank, all female employees are expected to wear neutral-colored or black hose at work.” Finally, the verb “to be hosed” can be used informally to mean to be cheated, tricked, or harmed by someone: “You lent all that money to your irresponsible cousin and now he’s left town. You’re hosed!”

Culture Note

Car Clubs

In the United States, there are many “clubs” (associations; groups of people who have similar interests or hobbies) for car “enthusiasts” (people who like something very much). “Car clubs” are groups of people who are “passionate about” (very interested in) “automobiles” (cars and trucks). Some car clubs are for people who “admire” (like and respect) older “models” (brands or types of cars). Other car clubs might be for people who are fans of a particular brand of car, or cars with a particular “function” (use), such as vehicles used for “off-roading” (taking a vehicle where there are no paved roads).

Car clubs usually organize meetings for their members. At these meetings, the members might make presentations about their cars, share information about new developments, or get ideas from each other about how to “restore” (bring something back to its original condition) cars that they have purchased. Car clubs also help their members advertise the cars that they want to sell, helping them identify “potential” (possible) buyers.

The car clubs often organize “car shows,” or special events where the members bring their cars to the same place to show them to each other and to the public. These events usually charge “admission,” meaning that people must pay a fee to attend the car show and look at the cars that are “on display” (placed so that people can see them).

Many car clubs now have an “online presence” (they are active on the Internet). Car enthusiasts can connect with each other internationally and share “digital” (electronic) photos of their “treasured” (highly valued, financially and/or emotionally) automobiles.

Comprehension Answers

1 - a

2 - a