Daily English 1238 Making Accusations

Dialogue/Story

Slow Speed begins at: 1:13
Explanation begins at: 3:49
Normal Speed begins at: 17:40

Complete Transcript

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 1,238 – Making Accusations.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 1,238. 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 Pierre and Marie about saying another person did something wrong. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Pierre: What happened here?!

Marie: It looks like somebody trashed your experiment.

Pierre: It’s ruined, completely ruined.

Marie: Who could have done this? Why are you looking at me like that?

Pierre: Very few people have access to this lab and even fewer know which of these experiments is mine. Whoever did this knew how to do maximum damage.

Marie: And you’re accusing me? I helped you with that experiment. I’d sooner ruin my own work than intentionally damage someone else’s, much less yours. What would be my motive?

Pierre: Maybe you gave me a little too much help and now my work is outshining yours.

Marie: Your suspicions are completely unfounded. I’ve never been jealous of any attention you’ve received. You’re totally off base.

Pierre: Maybe you’re right. I’m sorry. I just can’t believe what’s happened.

Marie: I’d be upset, too, but let’s not do any more finger-pointing. We need more information before we accuse or exonerate anyone. Let’s try to stay calm.

Pierre: Yes, of course, you’re right. Hey, what happened to your workspace? It looks like it’s been tampered with.

Marie: What?! I’ll kill whoever did this! I’ll kill them!

[end of dialogue]

Pierre begins our dialogue by asking Marie, “What happened here?” Marie says, “It looks like somebody trashed your experiment.” “To trash” (trash) means to damage or ruin or perhaps even destroy something. The word “trash” as a noun means garbage or junk, but here as a verb it means to damage or physically harm something. It’s an informal verb used in this way. If a newspaper is describing a rock and roll band that damages the hotel room where they’re staying, they might use this verb. “The members of the band trashed the hotel room.” In this case, someone trashed Pierre’s experiment. An “experiment” is a scientific process used to test some hypothesis or theory.

Pierre says about his trashed experiment, “It’s ruined.” “To ruin” (ruin) means to destroy, to damage something so much that you can no longer use it or it no longer has any value. We use this verb quite often in English both to talk about physical objects as well as chances or opportunities for the future. You could ruin something you’re cooking by putting too much salt in it, or you could ruin your chances to get a job by going to an interview in a bikini, especially if you’re a man. “To ruin your chances” means that you have done something to hurt or harm your chances – the possibility of you getting a job at that company.

Pierre’s experiment has been “completely ruined,” he says. Marie says, “Who could have done this? Why are you looking at me like that?” We can imagine that Pierre is looking at Marie, thinking that it was Marie who trashed his experiment. Pierre replies, “Very few people have access to this lab.” “To have access” (access) means to be able to go into a certain place. A “lab” (lab) is a “laboratory,” a place where scientists work and do their experiments.

Pierre says, “Very few people have access to this lab and even fewer know which of these experiments is mine. Whoever did this knew how to do maximum damage.” “Maximum” (maximum) means the highest or greatest amount of something. The opposite of “maximum” is “minimum.” Pierre is saying that whoever damaged his experiment knew how to do the maximum damage.

Marie then asks Pierre, “Are you accusing me?” “To accuse” (accuse) is to say that someone has done something wrong or perhaps has broken the law. The noun “accusation” comes from the verb “to accuse.” So, Marie is asking Pierre if Pierre is saying that Marie did the damage – if he is accusing her. Marie says, “I helped you with that experiment. I’d sooner ruin my own work than intentionally damage someone else’s.” That expression, “I’d” (I’d) – standing for “I would” – “sooner” (sooner) is another way of saying “I would rather do this than that.”

So in this case, Marie says, “I’d sooner ruin my own work than intentionally damage someone else’s.” In other words, she would rather ruin her own work than hurt or damage someone else’s work. She uses the adverb “intentionally” (intentionally). “Intentionally” means “on purpose” – something you want to do and are trying to do. “I intentionally hit my younger brother when I was a child.” I did it on purpose. I wanted to do it. The opposite of “intentionally” would be “accidentally.” If you “accidentally” do something, you didn’t want to do it but you did it anyway.

Going back then to this expression “I’d sooner do X than Y,” it’s used to show just how much you did not want to do something or would not want to do something. Marie is saying that she is innocent. She didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, she would prefer to damage or ruin her own work rather than damage Pierre’s work. That’s why she ends the sentence by saying “much less yours.” That phrase “much less” means that something is even less likely or less acceptable than something already mentioned.

Marie then asks, “What would be my motive?” A “motive” (motive) is your reason or purpose for doing something. It could be a good thing or it could be a bad thing. We often use this word “motive” when we’re talking about the reason why a criminal does something bad, does something wrong. Pierre says, “Maybe you gave me a little too much help and now my work is outshining yours.” Pierre is explaining what he thinks Marie’s possible motive was for ruining his experiment. It is that Marie helped Pierre so much that now his work is “outshining” (outshining) her work. “To outshine” means to do better than another person, to be superior to what someone else has done.

Marie says, “Your suspicions are completely unfounded.” “Suspicions” (suspicions) is a belief that something is true or might be true, even though you don’t have very much evidence or proof of that. Marie is saying that Pierre’s suspicions, his beliefs about her, are “completely unfounded” (unfounded). Something that is “unfounded” has no evidence or support or facts to show that it is true. Marie says, “I’ve never been jealous of any attention you’ve received. You’re totally off base.” “To be jealous” (jealous) is to have a strong feeling of wanting something that another person has or to be like what another person is.

Marie says she is not jealous of the attention or the publicity that Pierre has received. She says he is totally “off base” (base). “To be off base” means to be completely wrong, without any logic or reason. Pierre says, “Maybe you’re right. I’m sorry. I just can’t believe what’s happened.” Then Marie says, “I’d be upset too,” meaning “If this happened to me, I would also be mad.” She continues, “But let’s not do any more finger-pointing.” The term “finger-pointing” means the same as blaming. “To blame” someone is to say that someone else is responsible for a bad situation or something bad that happened.

Marie says, “We need more information before we accuse or exonerate anyone. Let’s try to stay calm.” “To exonerate” (exonerate) means to prove that someone didn’t do anything wrong, to prove that someone is innocent. “To accuse,” then, is to say someone did something wrong. “To exonerate” is to prove that the person did not do anything wrong. Pierre agrees that they need to get more information. Then, however, he looks over at Marie’s workspace, the place where she’s working. He says, “It looks like it’s been tampered with.” “To tamper (tamper) with” something is to interfere with something, to do something that would cause damage to a process or an object.

In other words, Pierre notices that someone appears to have ruined Marie’s work as well. Now remember, Marie just said that everyone should stay calm, should not get too excited, but when she finds out that her work has also been ruined, she then of course gets very angry. She says, “What?! I’ll kill whoever did this! I’ll kill them!” She, of course, now is very angry, promising to kill whoever trashed her experiment.

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