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"Bun in the Oven" With Newscaster, Stephanie Stricklen

"Bun in the Oven" With Newscaster, Stephanie Stricklen English, baby! Video Lesson

Date: Jun 26 2009

Themes: Family, News

Grammar: First Conditional

Intro

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

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

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There are some personal things that you just can’t hide. Especially if you host the evening news every night.

Last month, English, baby! CEO John Hayden was on the news in the US talking about how the site has reached one million members. The newscaster who interviewed him, Stephanie Stricklen of Portland’s NBC-affiliate, KGW, was nine months pregnant. That gave John an idea…

There is lots of slang about pregnancy since it’s something everyone can see, but it’s a personal thing that can be uncomfortable to talk about directly. There are some cruder expressions, like knocked up, but watch as John asks Stephanie to teach a cuter pregnancy idiom, “bun in the oven.”

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.

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

Stricklen

Stricklen

John

John

Stricklen:  Tonight, using the Internet to help people around the world learn English. English, baby! is a Portland deal with followers around the planet, more than a million, in fact. Joining us tonight, CEO, John Hayden. Thanks for making the time.

John:  Hi Stephanie.

Stricklen:  K. How does this work? Explain it for folks who’ve never heard of English, baby! before.

John:  Basically, it’s like the MySpace for people who want to learn English and it’s these kids that have studied their whole life, but they can’t quite get the context behind the language, so they like to hear idioms and slang and they like to do it in a fun way.

Stricklen:  You focus on conversational language.

John:  Exactly. So they have been taught the Queen’s English their whole life and they still have a hard time with natural conversation.

Stricklen:  Right.

John:  So what we try to do is give them a supplemental piece so then they can bridge that gap and then talk just like you and I are right now, in a really cool way.

Stricklen:  You wanted to try a lesson on me, so how might something like this work?

John:  Well, you’re a pretty big celebrity yourself and, you know, congratulations about your pregnancy.

Stricklen:  Thank you.

John:  So we thought that we’d talk a little bit about that.

Stricklen:  OK.

John:  Can you think of any kind of idioms that come to mind? Let’s go with...Let’s try “bun in the oven.”

Stricklen:  OK. Bun in the oven.

John:  How about that?

Stricklen:  Sure. That’s what people say…

John:  Now where did that come from? ‘Cause you don’t actually have a bun in your oven.

Stricklen:  It’s one of those, like, clever ways of phrasing what’s going on.

John:  Right. And it makes it a little bit more engaging, a little bit more fun. We can smile about it. And it’s the kind of thing that people want to learn around the world. They’re not satisfied with just knowing the word “pregnancy.”

Stricklen:  But that’s perfect. So then folks will go to your website, watch this and then maybe if they’ve got someone…Similar age, they can communicate in sort of a more casual style.

John:  Right. And when they watch movies and music and television, they’ll understand it when they hear those slangs and idioms.

Stricklen:  Thank you.

John:  Thanks, Stephanie.

 

Grammar Point

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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As Stephanie Stricklen explains, “bun in the oven” is a euphemism. It’s something you say to talk about something indirectly. In this case, it’s a metaphor. The expression compares a loaf of bread rising in the oven to a baby growing in a woman.

Can you think of another euphemism either in English or in your native language?
Watch the rest of this interview and see behind the scenes photos on our blog.

 

Comments

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NIJ321655

NIJ321655

United States

Go english bady.


 

12:42 PM Sep 01 2015 |

CharmYou

CharmYou

Ireland

Congratulations, English, Baby!

08:31 PM Aug 23 2015 |

1 person likes this

20140414

Canada

That’s really interesting idiom, I could not immaging “bun in the oven” is a pregnency. Do you agree?

09:28 PM Apr 18 2014 |

1 person likes this

wordie80

Italy

I can think of a very funny italian way of saying:

avere grilli per la testa = (literally) to have crickets in one's head

meaning a person who has many exciting ideas

 

isn't it more or less the same concept as the metaphor "to have a bun in the oven"?

bye

W80

05:15 PM Nov 05 2009 |

1 person likes this

Dni24

Venezuela

i have no idea about 1 word here in my country.. :/

08:37 PM Oct 07 2009 |

1 person likes this

babybonita

Peru

 

 It is always useful to clear up that sometimes we can not just change the words up since the expression may end up sounding weird :

Eg:

Hey  long time no see !! .woW  you have a bun in YOUR oven! ( sounds kind of weird)

But ..hey long time no see!! woW ! great news ah.. you have a bun in THE  oven!! Congrats!! :)  ( sounds more natural)

 

05:48 PM Sep 13 2009 |

1 person likes this

praveenj

India

i want be ur  frnd

 

04:28 PM Jul 10 2009 |

1 person likes this

superstars

Turkey

There are words much like Bum in the oven in turkish.But especially used for slang.Then you may go fight:)

 

12:01 AM Jul 02 2009 |

1 person likes this

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

So,remembering,don’t be shy!...Just say “Number 1” or “Number 2” to do their physiological Needs ;) hahaha

12:13 AM Jul 01 2009 |

1 person likes this

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

Here in Brazil there is a several comedies euphemisms…Two of them is classical when you are "taight",on the other hand,when you want to do their "physiological needs" hahaha…So just say "Number 1" (for pee) or "Number 2" (for shit) hahaha :P

12:11 AM Jul 01 2009 |

1 person likes this

flower20

flower20

Netherlands

why it's notFrown

06:47 AM Jun 30 2009 |

1 person likes this

s id

Saudi Arabia

  nice slang i liked it  we use this slang when we ask about  her pergnancy  rather  ur pergnant  .  we ask bun in ur oven Kiss m i right

08:24 PM Jun 28 2009 |

1 person likes this

cris-zx

Morocco

HELLO IM CRIS-Z I WILL PARTICIPATE WITH YOU AS A ASSISTANT OF THIS E-MAIL

11:48 AM Jun 28 2009 |

1 person likes this

Lidia_partner

Brazil

You guys rock ;)

08:28 PM Jun 27 2009 |

1 person likes this

Lidia_partner

Brazil

You guys rock ;)

08:28 PM Jun 27 2009 |

1 person likes this

eldeivid

eldeivid

Argentina

Congratulations!!

That's a great page! 

08:16 PM Jun 27 2009 |

1 person likes this

SÉRGIO

SÉRGIO

Brazil

Congratulation English,baby!

07:27 PM Jun 27 2009 |

1 person likes this

Vesna Taleska

Macedonia

Can you help my pleas I lake lerning English

07:18 PM Jun 27 2009 |

1 person likes this

Vesna Taleska

Macedonia

My English is no so gut bt i lake spoke

 

07:12 PM Jun 27 2009 |

1 person likes this

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