Do You Understand This Dialogue?

to tell someone to do what they have threatened because you do not believe that they will really do it

Dialogue No. 10 – “Don’t call my bluff!”

In the United States, there are heated negotiations going on between President Obama and Congressional leaders in regards to raising the credit limit of the United States Treasury to make payments.  President Obama made a strong statement to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor: “Don’t call my bluff!”

What did President Obama mean by saying, “Don’t call my bluff?”

You may have to do some basic research to answer this question.

I don’t know what does heavy on the young mean!

Thank you Mr. Alston. I will wait for your next dialougue. 

Liana, you are 100% correct!  Kidding means joking, using “not” makes it the opposite of joking, that is, “not joking.”  Therefore, what she said to her mother is this: “Mom, I saw an UFO while walking home from school today, and I’m not joking!”

If her mother didn’t believe her, her response may have been: “yeah, right!” which is sarcasm because she really didn’t mean that she was right, but said it in a negative sense.  This is the reason tone is very important, to determine the correct context the speaker is speaking. Also, watch facial expressions to help determine the mood of the speaker, and as a result, context.  Good job Liana, you go girl!

hello Mr. Alston. 

I think the daughter meant that she was not kidding , that she had really seen the UFO .

Dialogue No. 9 – A daughter says to her mother, “Mom, I saw an UFO (unidentified flying object) while walking home from school today, I kid you not!” – What did the daughter mean, “I kid you not?”

To rest your mind, Smooth Jazz Vocals have been added to the Relaxation Lounge located on my profile page.

That is the purpose of this dialogue series, to help increase your knowledge base of authentic English as spoken by some young people who use a lot of slang, and older people who use a lot of phrases and idioms.  This information is to be combined with formal English and the result will be that you have a good working knowledge of everyday English as spoken by native speakers. Without this knowledge, an English student can be an “A” student in English and not understand English as spoken because natives do not use only strict textbook English, not even people in high professional places! I’m planning the next dialogue soon!

with all these phrases have enriched my vocabulary  , thanks a lot !!!

Okay everyone, here is the translation from slang talk to regular English.  On a roll= A series of successes; let’s call it a day= let’s stop the activities and be satisfied with the accomplishments of the day; return back to the crib= the crib is slang for your home= let’s go home; kick it= to relax.  So putting it all together, the younger brother was saying: “we’ve been working all day and have accomplished a lot, so let’s be satisfied with our work and go home to relax!  I hope this lesson has helped you, please stay tuned for the next lesson!

When you’re trying to learn the meaning of slang, phrases, or idioms, a dictionary may not help you, therefore, use a search engine such as Google to learn the meaning.

thank you very much Mr. Alston. 

Hi Liana, you are partially correct, however, to understand the complete communication of the youngest brother, you will have to know these slang phrases: “on a roll,” “call it a day,” “the crib,” and “kick it!”

hi Mr. AlstonI think that the youngest brother meant to take some rest and then return again and continue . t so? 

Dialogue No. 8 – This dialogue is on slang: Two young brothers lived together and owned a landscaping business.  The youngest brother says, “man, we’ve been on a roll since we started this morning, let’s call it a day and return back to the crib and kick it!”What did the youngest brother communicate to his brother?

Hello Liana, please go to page 3 for an explanation.  Honors went to Chilling who gave the correct answer.

GREETINGS  MR. ALSTONI think that by ” heavy on the young” , the second man meant that when he has been young it was all right than now when he is old. Please tell me if i am right or not . thank you.   

Great, let’s move on to the next dialogue lesson, stay tuned!

Thank you Mr. Alston. Now it’s meaning is clear for me.