Learn English with English, baby!

Join for FREE!

Social_nav_masthead_logged_in
 
Lindsay Pulsipher - Cat Got Your Tongue

Lindsay Pulsipher - Cat Got Your Tongue English, baby! Video Lesson

Date: Jun 20 2011

Themes: Celebrity

Grammar: First Conditional

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

In the HBO show True Blood, vampires and humans learn to live together in modern society. But vampires aren’t the only supernatural beings on the show. Some of the characters are shapeshifters and can turn into animals.

Lindsay Pulsipher plays Crystal, a woman who can turn into a panther. She also stars in a new indie film in which she doesn’t speak very much. We recently talked to her about being a cat, being silent and the phrase “cat got your tongue.” Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

Log in to Listen

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason

Jason

Lindsay

Lindsay

Jason:  Welcome to English, baby! We are here with Lindsay Pulsipher.

Lindsay:  Hi.

Jason:  Your new movie, The Oregonian, is pretty creepy. Which was creepier to film, it or True Blood?

Lindsay:  I would have to say the set of The Oregonian because it was a very small set in the middle of the woods, not a lot of us, and it was a naturally creepy environment.

Jason:  Yeah!

Lindsay:  True Blood’s more fun, I would say, than creepy.

Jason:  Got it. The fewer people around the creepier it is?

Lindsay:  Yeah.

Jason:  Right on. In True Blood, you play a shapeshifter.

Lindsay:  I do. I play a werepanther. I play a human that turns into a werepanther, and she’s pretty crazy.

Jason:  Can you tell me about that term? What is a shapeshifter?

Lindsay:  Well, a shapeshifter is a human that can turn into any sort of animal. It’s in them. They’re born that way. You can turn into a dog or a bird or in my case, a panther.

Jason:  Since your character’s animal of choice is a panther, we would love for you to share a cat idiom.

Lindsay:  Sure.

Jason:  What does it mean when you say, “cat got your tongue?”

Lindsay:  When a cat’s got your tongue, you don’t necessarily have the right words to say and you don’t know how to explain something or you don’t have the right explanation for something.

Jason:  When would someone use that phrase?

Lindsay:  Maybe when they’re a little shy or a little bit intimidated or nervous or just plain stupid.

Jason:  Ha! The Oregonian doesn’t have a lot of words in it. So was it hard to speak when you had to speak after being silent for so long? Did you ever feel like the cat got your tongue?

Lindsay:  A little bit, but I have to be honest, it felt really good to speak. It was kind of a release after screaming and calling out to nobody for a while. It felt really good to talk to people.

Jason:  Is there anything else you want to add about your new film?

Lindsay:  It’s a very surreal, bizarre film and I think that if you’re weird, you’ll like it.

Jason:  And you are in the next season of True Blood as well?

Lindsay:  I am. I’m in season 4. We’re just about finished shooting it and the premiere here in the States is June 26th. English, baby!

 

Grammar Point

Go Super to learn "First Conditional" from this lesson Go Super!

Quizzes

Go Super to take Quiz Go Super!

 

Lesson MP3

Go Super to download full lesson MP3 Go Super!

The iTEP® test

  • Schedule an iTEP® test and take the official English Practice Test.

    Take Now >

Discussion

Go Super to Listen Go Super!

Next time someone is supposed to speak but can’t find the words, you can say, “Cat got your tongue?” As Lindsay explains, this expression is used when someone can’t speak or can’t say what they are trying to say.

Although Lindsay was quiet during much of the filming of her new movie, no cat got her tongue. She was happy to talk to people afterward.

Both True Blood and The Oregonian have lots of blood, but Lindsay says filming The Oregonian was scarier because there weren’t many people around. True Blood sounds like a friendly environment. Lindsay’s character may turn into a cat on True Blood, but since she’s surrounded by friends on the set, it’s unlikely a cat got her tongue while she was filming the new season.

Can you think of something to say about this lesson? What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?

For more with Lindsay, visit our blog.

 

Comments

Log in to Comment

sportscrazy

China

so prety. i think the cat would get my tongue if i met her !

10:45 PM Jun 29 2011 |

Khalidcruise

Saudi Arabia

cat got your tongue? said to sb, especially a child, who stays silent when expected to speak, for example after being asked a question

06:42 PM Jun 28 2011 |

sheriz

sheriz

Indonesia

“Cat Got Your Tongue”does it means = speak it out,dun be just silent.. isn’t it??i remember this phrase when i watch “NOTTING HILL” it’s =Surreal But Nice,but i dunno what does it means??.. haha..

12:33 PM Jun 26 2011 |

renis_nerz

renis_nerz

Indonesia

creepy :3

04:02 PM Jun 24 2011 |

okezsoke

okezsoke

Hungary

Cat Got your tongue means that cat climb on me and takes away my tongue. What to do with it? He stole it and I need a plastic surgery.

06:35 AM Jun 24 2011 |

smart.designer

Yemen

WaaaaaaaaW Lindsay Pulsipher has  amazing look and she is very smart .Generally I dislike herrore films but i think I’ve to change my mind . on the other hand I don’t think so that is the cat got my tounge at all..

02:15 PM Jun 23 2011 |

katyuk

Ukraine

I totally agree with teamchangbest. It’s really disrespectful to say so to a person in a normal talk. I imagine this kind of situation when this phrase can be used – in some emotional cases – when you quarrel with smb for instance and that smb doesn’t answer you and you become angry and in this situation you can scream out – cat got your tongue??? But in general to quarrel is not good:))

11:54 AM Jun 23 2011 |

Madline

Madline

Jordan

I wanna also say this expression “cat got ur tongue ” it has the exact meaning that my language has so it was such a good lesson with an intersting audio ,that was really coooool thanks alot ,by the way the cat don’t get my tounge …...:) 

05:29 PM Jun 21 2011 |

ftvbftvbq

Germany

I think cat got my tongue is impossible.

01:18 AM Jun 21 2011 |

Miss.Seba

Miss.Seba

Yemen

i liked the lesson..cat got my tounge only in one situation which is when i am in a bad mood and sad i cant really talk or explain wh’s inside me.unlike some ppl when i am furious and nervous i talk without thinkning in wt i am saying i completely lose my temper that the problem may get biger and biger :)

08:18 PM Jun 20 2011 |

Bojana

Bojana

Serbia and Montenegro

I guess cat really got my tongue, I don’t know what to say about this subject. :)

07:54 PM Jun 20 2011 |

Talia Do

Talia Do

Viet Nam

Lindsay Pulsipher is great! She is not only pretty but also smart. Just look at her, the way she speaks, the way she explains things and most of all the way she laughs.


I have not known her until I found her here, in this lesson. And I think I will see some films that she played despite my fear of ghost, blood all surreal things.

05:08 PM Jun 20 2011 |

Fernandinha

Brazil

I liked this lesson! Sometimes, when I get nervous, I am unable to say what I am trying to say. I hate these moments because after them, when I feel calm, I can speak and explain all my ideas. Cat gets my tongue specially when I am speaking English. Tongue out

03:27 PM Jun 20 2011 |

dearpesar

dearpesar

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

the matter is cat got my tongue. i mean it.


it happened when i had a french kiss with that pussy cat last night ;)

02:26 PM Jun 20 2011 |

feri_1389

feri_1389

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

some times it has happned for me that cat got my tongue.Even I couldn’t say the easy words in English:))



08:45 AM Jun 20 2011 |

sofree

sofree

China

OMG, I love True Blood!!


Maybe when someone propose to me, lol~

03:54 AM Jun 20 2011 |

huongvan

Viet Nam

can i say “Cat fot my tounge” when i can not express my idea due to my poor English?

03:51 AM Jun 20 2011 |

Likes (27):

See all >

Share this lesson:

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Bebo
  • Share on Myspace
  • Share on Twitter
  • Email this to a friend
  • Share on Sina

Post Ebaby! lessons on your blog:

Ebaby! Cast